The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1881-01-19

lose their branches, die back to
stumps, and finally cease to exist,
whereupon their Industrious but dis
appointed owner sapiently concludes
that such spots are not suited to the
orange. Still, he sees thickets of
the sour kind, growing with amazing
vigor in the swamps, and so accounts
for his failure by supposng that the
roots of sweet seedlings are essen
TALLY different from those of sour
ones But with one or two light
hoeings during the summer merely
shaving off the grass and weeds, and
spreading litter, If trash be at hand,
his swamp trees will increase instead
OF growing beautifully less, and he
will fihd that both sweet and sour
have the same sort of roots after all.
For heavy lands, good mode of
treatment is TO mulch the rows
lengthwise for width of six feet
aud IN May or June plant the mid
dies with cow peas, which should be
kept clean till they cover the ground.
The clay pea is an excellent kind for
this purpose, aud the vines should be
lett to decay where they stand, there
by furnishing the needful vegetable
{ matter or humus, which of all orange
tree foods is the most precious. The
peas should be planted after a rain,
and manured in the drl!l. And Just
here is where We can use concen-
trated commercial manures advan-
tageously TO secure heavy growth
OF vines, which, in their turn, feed
the trees. No matter how thickly
the surface is mattedswith the fine
tbers OF the orange, the pea wakes
great when It's tap root gets down
into the moist subsoil All the sta.
BILE and COW pen manure collected on
a place should be used on bearing
trees to induce heavy fruitage. 1t
has been stated that our Italian
brothers deposit carefully prepared
- Srfseed c5iiDost Z; fi ii Several
shallow holes at some distance from
the stem, tor the tree to feed upon.
] have found by repeated trials that
in this way it can be fed just as
efectually, and with FAR less danger
OF burning the roots, than where the
manure is scattered broadcast.
DR.. Davis recommends the selec.
ton Of hard timber land, in prefer
ence TO pine, as containing larger
stores Of potash, and other requisite
| inorganic elements. While this is
notably true ot the heavy hsmmocks
underlaid with mari or clay, there is
much light sandy land, covered with
magnificent broad leaved trees, whose
permanent fertility is questionable.
l recolleet such a spot cleared,
manurei and chopped Tor several
years by one of our Mluorcan farmers
who well understand the capabilities
OF soils, and then turned oul to he
idle, while he enclosed and brought
under tlllaye All adjoining piece OF
pine woods. Upon my expressing
surprise, he answered with "a know
ing wag OF the head, All ! these
light hammockS won't do. The
draft OF a few years so exhau,ts their
resources, that :hey become unpro-
fitable to cultivate, and it is with
difficulty that broad leaved trees can
be again started upon them. In the
West Indies and other tropical coun-
tries light sandy lands, robbed of
their primeyal forest covering, often
lapse into scrub or become arid
deserts, as witness portions of Trini-
dad, Santa Cruz and Ceylon. Our
pine lands, particularly those with
retentlve eubsoiI, are not nearly as
destitute Of potash and chemical salts
as many would have US believe.
What has become of these elements,
slowly accumulated for centuries, by
the burning and decay OF the grass !?
They must be present, either locked
up in inert form, or leached down
into the subsoll, as is manifest from
the spontaneous uprising oil CERTAIN
plants whenever the underlying clay
is thrown upon the surface, and sub
mitted TO the ameliorating influence
of sun and air. Many OF our oldest
and most intelligent residents have
expressed a preference for good pine
land over the light hammocks, as
promising better results i'll the eud,
although perhaps not making so en'
couraging show in the beginning.