FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
67 
think a person should be careful in locat¬ 
ing a grove, so that it should not be 
flooded with water. 
Mr. Orchard: Of course, we all 
know that the humus content in ham¬ 
mock soil will run 15 per cent, higher 
than in almost any other kind of soil, 
but leaving the question of the humus 
content of the soil out of the question, 
the difficulty I find has been mainly in 
breaking up the packed, solid condition 
of the high flat woods soil and pine 
ridge soil after a period of rainy 
weather. 
Mr. Painter: There are always excep¬ 
tions. A man would not go to a sur¬ 
geon if he had his hand cut a little bit, 
and have the whole hand taken off, but 
if that hand were poisoned so that there 
was danger to his whole body, he 
wouldn’t hesitate to have the surgeon cut 
it off. So, I think if a grove got in that 
compact condition and the only way to 
save it would be to plow it, I would say 
“Go ahead and plow it.” 
But under ordinary circumstances, I 
would advise a grower to do everything 
he can to increase the humus in his 
grove by letting any kind of vegetation 
that will, grow, and cheat the fertilizer 
man all you can in that way. 
If you have men whom you must keep 
employed, rather than have them plow 
your grove, let them go out and gather 
oak leaves and grass or anything you can 
find to bring into your grove to add hu¬ 
mus to your soil. ’ 
Some time ago, a man called on me 
and asked my advice in regard to tak¬ 
ing care of .a grove, and I advised him 
to quit cultivation. He told me he had 
hired a man by the year, and bought a 
pair of mules. I told him it would be 
better for his grove to turn the mules 
into the pasture, and let his man go fish¬ 
ing. 
Mr.--: Will it take more fer¬ 
tilizer without plowing than if you plow ? 
Mr. Painter: No, sir. It will take 
less, I think, without plowing than with 
the plow, because when you cultivate you 
take away any possible chance of vege¬ 
tation growing to add nourishment to 
the soil. What has made our hammock 
lands so rich? It is the accumulation of 
humus year after year. Our pine lands 
are poor because they are burned over 
every year. But get where the fire can¬ 
not penetrate and you will find rich land. 
The accumulation has gone on until it 
has built up the soil so that you will 
not need to add much plant food to pro¬ 
duce results. 
Question : What is the best method of 
underground drainage ? 
Mr. Hume: Mr. Robinson, we would 
like to have you answer that. 
Mr. Robinson: When you have an 
artesian well, I think sub-irrigation is 
preferable. Where you haven’t, I think 
the Skinner system is the best. 
Mr. Hume: The question was, the 
best method of underground drainage. 
Mr. Robinson: I know of only one 
way; that is open and closed ditches. I 
prefer the open, but a good many people 
like the closed. 
Mr. Hume: Use tile, in other words. 
Mr. Angst: A great many people 
have tried to use dynamite for that. In 
some places they have been successful; 
