Cultivating a Citrus Grove 
G. M. Wakelin. 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen • 
It is hardly likely that I can give our 
members any new points on this subject, 
but it is doubtless a timely topic for the 
beginners among you. So please consid¬ 
er this a discourse for novices, and with 
your permission I will begin with the very 
first process, namely, the proper prepara¬ 
tion of the land for the grove. 
Without going into the subject of soils 
let us take for granted that your pur¬ 
chase, Mr. Newcomer, is really suitable 
for a grove, that it is well drained and 
has no impervious substratum nearer 
than six feet to the surface. The chances 
are that your land will be the average pine 
land of the state, so we will so consider 
it. Fertile land is at a premium here, 
and yours cannot be classed as such. 
However much Florida may be advertised 
as having a soil of incomparable fertility, 
the average is decidedly infertile. A fer¬ 
tile soil is one that contains all the ele¬ 
ments necessary for plant growth and is 
free from deleterious substances and con¬ 
ditions. Our virgin lands are acid ex¬ 
cept where limestone approaches the sur¬ 
face and are more or less deficient in all 
four elements, nitrogen, phosphoric acid, 
potash and lime—particularly the last 
two. 
The first step, then, is to make the land 
sweet by applying limestone—one to two 
tons per acre. To this might well be ad¬ 
ded the same quantity of finely ground 
natural phosphate rock, called “floats.” 
Let this material be well plowed in, and 
if subsoiling can also be done, so much 
the better. Do all this at least a year 
previous to setting out your grove and 
on this land plant some legume. The vel¬ 
vet bean will give the best yield of vines 
destined for humus and will supply 140 
lbs of nitrogen per acre. After the trees 
are planted beggar weed may be planted 
and handled with less labor but the beans 
would add more to the soil. Thus you 
have taken three long steps toward soil 
fertility. In the first place you have pro¬ 
vided lime for food and as a neutralizing 
agent; second you have provided a slow . 
but sure source of phosphoric acid, and 
thirdly you are supplying humus and ni¬ 
trogen at little cost. If you keep some 
legume growing you may easily raise a 
grove after this first expense with no out¬ 
lay for fertilizer, excepting a small 
amount for potash. This process might 
be called “making haste slowly” and a 
grove so treated will outgrow the one 
carelessly planted without preparation, 
except the digging of the holes. People 
new to the state do not understand the 
peculiarities of this soil. 
Now, the objects of cultivation are 
three fold, to conserve moisture, to let 
