The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1885-04-15

from the mouse was small MUCK POIu.
we ha an old lcrse, an old cart, and we
hired an old Dutchman of unknown an
tiquity. Combining such a force as that
we succeeded in getting some mack put
ar01nd some of our trees. That peram-
bu3ating combination of old age held out
about two weeks, when it all came to
grief together, like the deacen's "One
Horse Shay The Dutchman died, tire
horse died, the cart became wreck,
ib2lt the muck is there stills permanent
the stable, INSTEAD of throwing it aroand
the trees an its uncured state, which
Favored Ws with O. larger crop of cane
grass than was Blessing, so we learned
not to do Shat aIw more. So you see,
when we first began to make our grove,
circumstances forced us TO adopt "a sys-
tenn of mastery inactivity. We had
little means, ard were ignorant about
the work before us, and there was no
one here who knew enough to enlighten
us, yetN there had been as many eX
perts as there are now, we did not have
the money to aid us in taking their adj
vice practically. So our oldest trees
grew uB and were reaE,y to beas without
any fertilizers, but such as we had on
the place, and but little attention of any
kind. eOur first Thousand oranges were
gathered from trees that had been
mostly left Jaturess care. providence
kindly helped us VIXEN weNwere unable
to helF CURSE yes, ard | sh3ld never eat
betberiSruit iu Florida, notw1 thstandlng
all the facilities wehave noW for making
dozen oranges grow on a small tree,
that for its good ought not tc have any.
This winter, having two horses, we have
spread muck from athe stable over the
grove, lettiEg it lieon the surface while
the trees were resting after the fruit had
been EatheBed, and now in April we are
beglnHing CIR Spring work TN the grove
We tkinkdf the plan of spreading the
Commercial featiazers ,ate in the fAll
and aeaving them until blowing time,
were adopted, itewould re6eve the fertl-
lizers. of much that the parties who use
themlrsx tessgiv velyscompla6n OF as obyec-
tiomasle. Ireat them as,@e may, how
ever, sSheyare a; priceless tSoon to this
country. t@ur trses have a beautiful
young growth and an abundance of
bloom. After they have been trimmed +,
hOed, washed, saRd the .green growth
between the rowstturned, Emder, we WILL
do m@more till the rainy season begins,
then pIow'and hee them. salce or twice
more during the year, and cur fruit will
compare !favorably with .any in the
country. "a member of one of the old
est business firms in New York city,
whom we have newer seen,ito whomwe
shipped some fruit, writes, "Your er-
anges tfaatWe tested were mest delicious !;
we raUely ever set such fruit in the
market How. do you do it?" .As /
have said, we have succeeded so far lin
our small way by learning how not to do
it. They have hadsa naturalGnd healthy
growth, without being stimulated or an
necessarily cultivated. The high pres
sure system an orange growming is only
another eNempl1fication of American
,restlessnesS-
Let us look at the routine style of
doing it. A party buys piece of land,
has it cleared, stumps and all if he can
afford it, fenced and ,staked ont for OF
ange trees, the average size tof which
an inch and half through. Now we
who have seen such trees set, know that
the roots do not eNtendfar fromithe stem
of the tree. These trees are generally
set from % to 30 feet apart eadh way.
sistently pillow over the whole distance.
OCINOCA CllO IISOn, W1lOlO OIdHSC iOOOo@
won't treach in twoyear' time at soonest.
l suggested this to gentleman extern
sively and successfully engaged III or
ange growing, and he replied, -"You
have given me an idea" (which l cor
daily hope was of use to him.
And now that / have told how we
don't 90 it in the grove, and why we
don't, would like to say what has in
duced me to write ON the subject atall,
when there are so many probably much
wiser than ourselves in the business.
Every week, nearly, We hear Of or meet
many who have come, or wanE to come
to Florida, who are nearly as poor il
ready money as we were when we be-
gan, with our first thirty little trees in
these wild green woods. l would like
to encourage them in their efforts, how
ever small. They may not be able to
fer6ilize their trees much the first few
years, but they will probably grow more
healthfully for it, and before or by the
time they get to bearing, they will be in
condition to take the fertilizers advan-
tageously, and the owners by that time
will be able to procure them. So come,
get piece of land, however small, as
near transportation and to town as
possible, to get work if you need it. You
will find plenty to welcome you, and to
be as neighborly as you could desire.
We started on this Florida road long be-
fore you, and notwithstanding all the
blunders and rough places, you will find