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R), in the opening two paragraphs of a chapter on “Bringing
Citrus Trees into Production”, contains the following:
During the first two or three years after planting a
citrus tree, growers should not seek to obtain the
earliest possible production of fruit but to develop a
sturdy tree to good size so that it will bear
productively over a long life. * * * Growers need to
aid the growth of the trees only by supplying favorable
conditions for their development. With no crop to
consider, growers can devote all attention to promoting
vegetative growth. Sometimes growers will give minimum
attention to these young trees because they are not yet
returning any income, but to neglect them is a mistake
that will be regretted for a long time because of its
adverse effect on the trees’ future bearing.
By established custom in Florida, citrus trees are
classed as nonbearing during the first four years after
they are planted as yearling trees. Although they may
bear a few fruits as early as the second or third year,
all efforts are correctly directed toward tree growth,
and any fruit production is incidental. * * *
[Jackson, Bringing Citrus Trees into Production,
Citrus Growing in Florida, 137 (3d ed. 1991).]
The last paragraph of the same chapter, contains the following
statement:
Beginning with the fourth or fifth year, when the
trees are considered of bearing age, practices in grove
management differ somewhat from those outlined above.
The following chapters are devoted to the care of
bearing trees. [Id. at 146.]
Other contemporaneous materials offered by respondent
generally reflect that no meaningful production occurs until the
third year, with full production commencing in the fourth to
sixth year of tree growth. Petitioner’s experts highlighted the
fact that the corporation’s particular experience demonstrates
that citrus trees are capable of producing some fruit by the end
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