Mineral Nutrition Status of Valencia Orange


cent two groves were on the Scranton and Leon and Portsmouth
series of soil, which may be classified as somewhat poorly drained
sand. Another four groves were located on excessively or well-
drained deep sands (St. Lucie and Lakewood). Most of the
groves in Pasco and Hernando counties were located on Gaines-
ville series, a well-drained sand mixed with phosphatic materials.
The native fertility of most of these soils has been described by
Peech and Young (11).
 Age.-Of the records supplied by the collaborators in the
 survey, the age of the groves was probably the least accurate.
 In addition to 22 groves where no information was available,
 only the approximate age was obtained for a number of others
 (Table A, Appendix). Table 3 shows that the range in age
 varied between 14 and 47 years, with over 75 percent of the
 groves in the age group between 21 and 35.

 TABLE 3.-THE DISTRIBUTION OF VALENCIA ORANGE GROVES
 BASED ON AGE.

 Age Groves Distribution

 No.
14-15 ................................ ........ 11 7.5
16-20 ...................................... ... 16 10.9
21-25 .....~.............. ........... ...... 26 17.8
26-30 ................-............... ....... 56 38.4
31-35 ..... ..... .. -.. .......- .-- ...... 29 19.9
36-40 ...... ......-. ..... ............. ....... 5 3.4
41-47 ........... .... ............... 3 2.1


 Planting Distance.-Wide variations in the spacing of trees
were observed from grove to grove. Double set groves were
avoided whenever possible during the selection. Nevertheless
approximately 7 percent of the groves had more than 90 trees
to the acre (Table 4). The more commonly used spacings, when
found in 10 or more groves, are in bold type. The 25 x 25 foot
spacing (70 trees per acre) was found to be most common in
the present study. It was followed by 25 x 30 foot spacing (58
trees per acre).