FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
59 
more or less exotic food plants. Little 
by little we are learning of what can or 
cannot be grown in sub-tropical Florida, 
and each one of these enthusiastic indi¬ 
vidual experimenters is doing a work of 
value for our State which should receive 
the utmost encouragement from the mem¬ 
bers of this Society. 
Those of us who have lived here long 
enough have learned to use that phrase 
“waste land” very carefully when we ap¬ 
ply it to areas within our own State, for 
we have seen many sections, which could 
be briefly described in that way with ap¬ 
parent safety, become bountifully pro¬ 
ductive through the introduction of some 
new product or the application of new 
methods to the production of some old 
staple. It must be either a very learned 
or a very ignorant man who will make 
the unqualified assertion that any section 
of our State is hopelessly “waste land,” 
for at any time some hopeless crank is 
likely to make his dream come true and 
bring into profitable production some 
plant which will turn that particular piece 
of wilderness into a garden. 
i 
