FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
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enough, withhold the water and let them 
ripen and dry up. Two weeks can be 
gained in this way and two weeks often 
means a difference of $1.00 to $1.50 per 
crate. The market does not want a 
large onion. The best size is three inches 
o 
in diameter. 
No. 4—Is It desirable to prune out 
watersprouts from orange trees? 
Mr. Hart—If the sprout is where I 
can let it grow, I always save it. Their 
tops can be swung usually to where 
there is room for them, I do not Waste 
any growth that I can put to use, and 
you can put almost any watersprout to 
use. It is very rare indeed that I take 
one out. I consider that more groves 
were killed after the freeze of 1894 and' 
1895 by cutting off the sprouts, than in 
any other way. It takes away the leaf 
surface the tree should have, and I think 
every inch of leaf surface adds to the 
strength and bearing capacity. 
Mr. (-)—Do they not take a great 
deal of strength from the tree? 
Mr. Hart—No, sir ; they bear the 
second year, and properly trained, soon 
become as profitable as any part of the 
tree. The fruit bends them down and 
the next growth starts from the bend. 
The limb thickens up, the rest of the tree 
grows out around it and it becomes a 
valuable part of a symmetrical tree. 
Mr. (-)—D<o I understand that 
you would let nature do its own pruning 
unless you found that the limbs were 
bending and rubbing against each otker? 
Mr. Hart—Yes, sir; that is pretty 
nearly right. 
Mr. (-)—After the freeze of 
1894, there were a lot of sour sprouts 
came up, sometimes as many as eight or 
ten. In most instances I have left all 
and they have made large limbs. Instead 
of having a large single trunk, I have a 
number of large limbs. The trees are 
about 25 feet from each other and in 
some cases they almost overlap, but 
there is a dense growth in the center. I 
have been in doubt as to whether it 
would not have been better to thin it out 
and get more fruit in the interior of the 
tree, but I have been afraid to do it. I 
understood that you, Mr. Hart, did not 
do it, but I am a little in doubt as to 
whether I am losing fruit by not thin¬ 
ning them out, or not. 
Mr. Hart—Wlhen the sour sprouts 
came up, I budded two or three of them 
and as the buds took, instead of cutting 
them away, I cut them partly off above 
the buds and laid them down. I would 
cut them partly off and then press my 
foot against them above the cut so that 
there would be a long break or split. In 
that way I retained the leaf surface of 
the sour wood in connection With the 
root until the sweet buds became larger 
and could take care of the strength of 
the roots. After a year or two the sweet 
buds have gotten good tops, those limbs 
that I had laid down had served their 
purpose and I took them 'away. Do not 
cut them entirely away and destroy the 
leaf surface until the sweet stock is large 
enough to take care of the root system. 
Mr. Seymour—After the freeze, I had 
to saw off my trees level with the ground 
and when the sprouts came up budded 
from four to eight, according to the size 
of the trunk. I have in my grove from 
one to seven or eight sprouts on the trees. 
As to the fruit of a single stock bearing 
as much as one with four stocks, I have 
