Methods of Citrus Culture 
C. H. Thompson. 
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
While I have reason to question the 
good judgment of the committee in put¬ 
ting me on the program for a paper on 
this important subject, as there are others 
who are better qualified, yet as one who 
is vitally interested in the citrus industry, 
I shall not shirk my duty, and trust that 
what I may offer may be a help to some 
one engaged in the industry. 
I have little that is new to offer, as the 
method here advocated to a greater or 
lesser degree is followed by a large num¬ 
ber of the growers of the State. 
Having been in the business for many 
years, and having met with a fair meas¬ 
ure of success, I think I am justified in 
advising my fellow growers to seriously 
consider the method as here set forth. 
What I may say applies to that char¬ 
acter of soil known as the high pine land, 
and while it may apply successfully to 
other types of soil I am not advocating 
it for such, for my experience has been 
confined to the high pine land. 
As you well know there is very little 
natural fertility in such soil, but it acts 
as a fine anchorage for the trees, and 
many of us prefer to give our trees just 
the food we wish them to assimilate. By 
so doing we think we make a superior 
quality of fruit. This superiority will be 
governed by the knowledge of the grower, 
and his practice in caring for his groves. 
While the high pine land is deficient 
in plant food it has many fine qualities, 
among the most important being its re¬ 
sistance to drouth, as it is a well known 
fact that groves on such lands will not 
suffer nearly so much in a long contin¬ 
ued drouth, as groves on, heavier and 
lower lands. Such soil also is very easy 
of cultivation, and to keep in good me¬ 
chanical condition. 
We take it for granted some one may 
read these lines who has in mind the 
planting of a grove, so would advise the 
careful selecting* of good ground and lo¬ 
cation. A soil with clay a few feet un¬ 
der the surface with good drainage is an 
ideal condition. If it is land that has 
never been cultivated, and I prefer such 
for a grove, there will likely be some na¬ 
tive timber on it. The first important 
step is to completely clear the land of all 
trees, stumps and roots. If these are left 
in the grove to be removed later they 
will likely be for years an annoyance and 
a nuisance. Put the ground in thorough 
preparation by deep plowing and cultiva¬ 
tion, then plant good strong thrifty trees 
in rows thirty feet apart, and twenty-five 
feet in the row. This may seem, while 
trees are small, like a waste of ground. 
