My John Deere L110 will not start unless I give it a shot of starter fluid. I am thinking that this can not be a good thing long term.

There is a good spark, and the engineer cracks fine. Choke does not help at all.

Any advice?

You have an obvious fuel problem so let's start by draining the tank. Remove the fuel line at the carb to drain and to verify that fuel is reaching the carb. Drop the bowl of the carb and dump that fuel. Clean the neeelde valve and seat. Once you refill the tank with fresh gas raise and lower the float to see if fuel will dribble out when lowered and stop when raised. Back to you.

From here on out, DO NOT USE STARTER FLUID. Use spray carb cleaner. Carb cleaner has lubercation and won't harm the engine like starter fluid can.