Florida Agricultural Experiment Station


itation of iron in soils of high alkaline reactions appears to take
place so rapidly that it usually is not available to the tree. Spray-
ing the chlorotic foliage with iron (ferrous) sulphate and man-
ganese sulphate does not seem to have been particularly bene-
ficial thus far. Tree injections with solutions of iron salts have
proved to give but temporary benefit in correcting lime-induced
chlorosis and cannot be recommended at present. Experiments
under way indicate that broadcasting manganese sulphate in
groves on marly subsoils may have the same markedly beneficial
results that have been secured recently in connection with the
use of this chemical on truck crops on such soils in Florida.
 Low hammock groves closely underlaid by marl must be han-
 dled carefully and an effort made to maintain a good content of
 organic matter and to keep the water table at as nearly a uniform
 level as possible. Instances have been noted in Florida where the
 cutting of deeper drainage ditches through such groves has re-
 sulted in a marked increase of the chlorotic condition. This
 appears to result from the lowered water table and better aera-
 tion of the soil stimulating the roots to develop downward so
 that they come into more intimate contact with the marl. Sub-
 soiling with light charges of dynamite about the trees has proved
 beneficial in some cases where occasional trees began to decline,
 especially if the layer of marl be but a thin one.
 The incorporation of organic matter into the soil is also
recommended for the groves along the middle portion of the
Florida East Coast on soils more or less closely underlaid by co-
quina limestone. It has been observed for years that the trees do
well on such soils as long as they are constantly supplied with
organic matter, but that they tend to become chlorotic as soon
as the supply of organic matter in the soil has become depleted.

 FRUIT-SPLITTING
 Splitting of fruit is of very common occurrence throughout
the citrus region of Florida. This trouble occurs more or
less during the late summer months, but chiefly during Septem-
ber and October, after the fruits have attained almost their full
size but before they color. Splitting occurs on a great variety of
citrus fruits and their hybrids. On the commercial fruits, split-
ting is limited largely to oranges and tangerines and is practi-
cally unknown on grapefruit. Of the oranges, the Mediterranean
Sweet, Valencia, and Pineapple, in the order named, appear to be