FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
151 
ways going on through the foliage,and re¬ 
duces considerably the drying out in tran¬ 
sit that would otherwise be hard to over¬ 
come. Evergreens should nearly always 
be defoliated when transplanted, for 
otherwise the evaporation of sap is so 
great through the foliage that the trees 
have a hard struggle for life, and if ship¬ 
ped during hot weather they are apt to 
scald in transit, especially if out for some 
time. 
PREPARATION OF THE GROUND, AND 
FERTILIZING. 
The preparation of the ground for the 
tree is of great importance and is too 
often neglected. The ground should have 
been broken up very deep with a turn 
plow and thoroughly pulverized some time 
in advance of planting. If the land is 
new, this will enable it to mellow and 
sweeten up, that is, lose the acidity which 
so often occurs in our Florida soils. And, 
right here, I want to say that new land 
should always be used for trees subject 
to attacks from the root-knot nematode, 
such as peaches, mulberries, figs, etc. The 
root-knot nematode is generally plentiful 
in old lands, while new lands are fairly 
free from it. By using new land your 
trees have a chance to get started well 
before this pest becomes sufficiently 
abundant to do any damage, and then 
the tree is generally able to resist its at¬ 
tacks. 
It is a pretty good plan to use half a 
pound to one pound per tree of some good 
high grade commercial fertilizer at time 
of planting or before, mixing it thor¬ 
oughly with the earth in the holes where 
the trees are to be set. This puts the 
fertilizer right where the tree can take 
advantage of it immediately it puts out 
new feeders, thus enabling the tree to 
put on and maintain a good first growth, 
and by reason of this good first growth, 
the succeeding growths will be much bet¬ 
ter. In other words, this will get your 
tree established in a way impossible if 
you depend upon using the fertilizer after 
the tree has started growth. 
The particular brand of fertilizer does 
not so much matter. There are a num¬ 
ber of excellent brands sold by manufac¬ 
turers and dealers in the state. It should, 
however, contain about the following pro¬ 
portion of chemicals: Ammonia 4 to 6 
per cent.; Phosphoric Acid 7 to 9 per 
cent.; Sulphate of Potash 3 to 5 per cent. 
SETTING THE TREE. 
In setting the tree, generally consid¬ 
ered a simple task, care should be used 
to see that roots are placed as near as 
possible in the same positions they orig¬ 
inally occupied, and to have the earth 
packed very firmly around them. It is 
'a good idea to place your tree in its 
proper position, then pack earth around 
the lower roots with your hands, then 
pour in a bucket of water and allow that 
to settle into the earth. This will firm 
the earth around the roots far better than 
you can do it otherwise. Then fill in 
the hole, and pack the earth down hard 
by stamping it with your feet. After the 
hole has been filled, make a basin of earth 
around the tree, say, a couple of feet 
across and pour in another bucket or two 
of water, and after that has soaked in, 
throw some loose earth over that to pre¬ 
vent scalding. 
Ordinarily trees should be set the same 
depth in the ground they originally were 
in nursery. Nature marks the proper 
earth line, and it is generally a good idea 
