166 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
stems will do well to make the best use of 
them. 
Such questions as how much fertilizer 
to use, when to use it, and how to use it, 
are best answered by field tests conducted 
on the home grove and farm, although 
results and advice concerning similar 
work carried out at the Experimental Sta¬ 
tions and elsewhere are always useful, 
and are cheerfully given to the grower 
for the asking. However, the final an¬ 
swer to many questions must be deter¬ 
mined by the grower on his own ground. 
Nor is it necessarily a difficult matter in 
most cases to obtain really practical re¬ 
sults. Haphazard trials frequently reveal 
new facts, but are seldom of value to the 
man who makes them, because he fails to 
reason and therefore to recognize their 
significance. The true scientist experi¬ 
ments with a definite object in view, and 
deductions are made from the results re¬ 
corded, with the object of proving or dis¬ 
proving certain facts or theories. 
In seeking to increase the productive¬ 
ness of the soil there are two stages to 
be considered: First, the correcting of 
some chemical or physical condition; sec¬ 
ond, the maintenance of normal conditions 
after they have once been established. 
Needless to say that both are to be aimed 
at. 
In conducting held tests or experiments 
two systems are mainly used: 
First. A certain yield per acre is as¬ 
sumed, and sufficient fertilizer added to 
produce this, having of course due regard 
for the other factors limiting fertility. 
Second. An arbitrary formula is 
chosen as a starting point, and plats laid 
out with different amounts, omitting or 
doubling each element in turn. 
By such means, if careful records are 
kept, and no disturbing factor enters to 
upset the results, it is possible to form a 
fairly accurate idea of what a particular 
soil requires. In interpreting such re¬ 
sults there are frequently other factors 
to be considered besides the mere applica¬ 
tion of a certain amount of fertilizer of 
a certain formula. Among such are the 
materials used and the methods of their 
application, method‘of cultivation, mulch¬ 
ing, etc., as well as the question of the 
most profitable amount to apply. The 
neglect of due consideration of these 
points may mean the difference between 
success and failure to obtain the object in 
view. Above all it should be remembered 
that it is only under the best system of 
tillage, whereby the humus content of the 
soil is sustained, moisture duly regulated 
to the requirements of the crop, and the 
general maintenance of a soil environment 
favorable to Vigorous root action, that any 
system of fertilizing will give profitable 
results. 
