'.FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
169 
However reluctant he may be to do 
so, the newcomer has to accept the fact 
that fertilizer must be used. He has 
had no experience in growing our crops 
—likely he -has never grown crops of 
any kind, and certainly is not skilled 
in the use of the different plant foods. 
KNOWLEDGE AT COMMAND 
With the right idea of knowing how 
to spend his money judiciously, he 
starts in to learn about fertilizer, but by 
far the greater number of these new 
settlers feel that they must commence 
at the very bottom and work out all of 
this information for themselves. They 
seem utterly to ignore the vast fund of 
practical knowledge that has been col¬ 
lected during the past forty years upon 
which they could draw and save many 
disappointments and financial losses. 
Not that the mystery of plant life 
has been solved, or that any branch of 
crop production has been reduced to 
a cold science. We are still striving 
for betterment, but we have established 
a broad, solid foundation upon which to 
build,—something safe and sure so far 
as it goes, as is attested by our general 
prosperity. 
Just as we have learned general 
methods of cultivation, so have we 
learned general methods of fertili¬ 
zation. Seasons vary—different de¬ 
grees of heat or cold, and drouth or 
rainfall almost invariably bring the un¬ 
expected; therefore, it is the best aver¬ 
age which is surest to give satisfactory 
results. 
WHAT MOST “FILLER” REALLY IS 
The newcomer will probably first no¬ 
tice the analysis of fertilizer and ask: 
“What’s the rest of it, sand?” When he 
sees that including the moisture content 
the descriptive analysis accounts for 
less than thirty per cent. The idea of 
“filler” has a wonderful fascination for 
some people, but a little figuring on an¬ 
alyses will convince the most prejudiced 
that fertilizer materials contain a large 
per cent of matter more or less bene¬ 
ficial in soil building and crop produc¬ 
tion which is not recognized as of com¬ 
mercial value. It is these “carriers” 
that affect the practical value of differ¬ 
ent sources of plant food. 
Potash is potash in whatever form, 
but we cannot use Muriate of Potash 
on our citrus trees because of its chlor¬ 
ine, and we get additional value from 
Low Grade Sulphate of Potash because 
of its magnesia content. 
Phosphoric acid is ever the same, but 
it can be in such combinations as to be 
unavailable to the plant, or uncertainly 
available, or slowly but surely available, 
or in two different forms of immediate 
and absolute availability—one soluble 
in root excretions, and one soluble in 
the soil water. 
“Ammonia” is our legal term, for all 
forms of nitrogen. We not only have 
this plant food in three forms—nitro¬ 
gen, ammonia, and nitrate—but we 
have a great variety of sources of both 
organic and inorganic origin, giving 
widely different effects on both plant 
and soil. 
The novice learns that ammonia is 
