FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
109 
era as & source of ammonia than any other organic matter. 
All along the coast fisheries exist which annually turn out 
thousands of tons of “fish pomace” or “chum.” The fish are 
caught, steamed and the oil extracted and the waste or pom¬ 
ace is dried and sold. Florida’s coast is teaming with fish 
that could be utilized to help furnish fertilizer for the acres 
of vegetables within her borders. They could be composted 
with muck. The chief objection to handling them, however, 
is the smell and the army of buzaards that would have to be 
looked after. There are other sources of ammonia than those 
we have mentioned, but they do not generally enter into com¬ 
mercial fertilizers and are used but very little. All those 
named except the sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda 
are organic manures and have to undergo fermentation and 
decomposition before the plant food they contain is liberated, 
hence it takes considerable longer for their effects to show 
and in a dry season there is no show at all owing to the soil 
being thoroughly dried deeper than they have been applied. 
In the above we have not mentioned any of the domestic 
or stable manures as we take it for granted that everyone 
knows their value. 
Next in order in expensiveness to the agriculturist comes 
POTASH. 
Until recent years the only known source of potash was 
from ashes, which were limited, and as a great many of these 
were used in the manufacture of soap, the supply was inad- 
aquate for the demand. It was not until the discovery of the 
potash mines in Germany that a supply of potash could be 
had in sufficient quantities to meet the increasing demand. 
As to the origin and description of this plant food we cannot 
do better than to copy a few paragraphs from one of the Ger¬ 
man Kali Woiks’ pamphlet: 
“The Stassfurt salt and potash deposits had their origin, 
thousands of years ago, in a sea or ocean, the waters of which 
gradually receded, leaving near the coast, lakes which still 
retain communication with the great ocean by means of small 
channels. In that part of Europe the climate was then trop¬ 
ical, and the waters of these lakes rapidly evaporated, but 
were constantly replenished through these small channels 
connecting them with the main body. Decade after decade 
of this continued, until by evaporation and crystallization the 
various salts present in the sea water were deposited in solid 
form. The less soluble material, such as sulphate of lime or 
“anhydrit,” solidified first and formed the lower stratum. 
Then came common rock-salt with a slowly thickening layer 
which ultimately reached 3,000 feet, and is estimated to have 
