THE SOILS OF FLORIDA. 
71 
PINE LANDS OF THE MIAMI LIMESTONE. 
A considerable area of country. lying along tlie eastern border 
of the Everglades and extending from the Everglades to the^ Atlantic 
ocean is underlaid by limestone and supports a characteristic 
growth of Cuban pine and saw palmetto. The limestone is oolitic 
in character and lies very near the surface, being frequently exposed 
or covered only by a thin mantle of loose light-colored sand. The 
roots of the pine being unable to penetrate the rock, spread out 
horizontally along the surface, the pine on this land having no dis¬ 
tinct tap root. This formation is of the Pleistocene age. It is prob¬ 
able that the thin soil is due to the relatively short time, geologi¬ 
cally, that the surface has been exposed to the soil-forming processes. 
The following analyses of samples of virgin rock soil from the 
Biscayne Bay, in Dade County, were made by A. A. Persons, and 
are published in Bulletin 43 of the Florida Experiment Station, 
pp. 653-655. The analyses were made in accordance with the meth¬ 
ods adopted by the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists 
in 1895 : 
Analysis of Virgin Rocky Soil from Biscayne Bay. 
No. 
1. 
No. 
2. 
Surface. 
Sub-soil. 
Soil. 
Sub-soil. 
Coarse earth . 
.. 7.20 
7.40 
2.60 
7.00 
Fine earth . 
.. 92.80 
92.60 
97.40 
93.00 
Humus . 
. . 2.77 
.10 
.23 
.21 
Nitrogen . 
.1666 
.000 
.0182 
.0042 
Moisture at 100 C. 
. . 1.2160 
.0380 
.1660 
.1720 
Analysis of the Fine Earth: 
Insoluble residue . 
. . 87.7215 
99.0850 
98.0255 
96.5225 
Potash (K.,0) . 
.0043 
.0024 
.0178 
Trace 
Soda (NaJO) .. ... 
.0812 
.0748 
.0804 
.1046 
Lime (CaO) . 
.1275 
.0425 
.0725 
Trace 
Magnesia (MgO) . 
0612 
.0108 
.0351 
.0387 
Ferric oxide (Fe.Os). 
.0278 
.0914 
( ) 
.6519 
Alumina (ALO s ) . 
.0682 
.0162 
-j .2044 j- 
1.0363 
Pho phorus Pentoxide (P 2 0 3 ).. 
.0240 
.0224 
.0256 
.0268 
Chlorin . 
. . Trace 
Trace 
Trace 
.0483 
Sulphur trioxide (S0 3 ). 
.0103 
.0086 
.0086 
.0103 
Carbon dioxide (COO. 
.. .0000 
.0000 
.0000 
.0000 
Water and organic matter.... 
. . 11.4600 
.6620 
1.5301 
1.5606 
Total . 
.. 99.5860 
100.0161 
100.0000 
100.0000 
