FLORIDA. STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
113 
fed stock and the scrubs which have to shift for themselves. 
PHOSPHATE. 
To one the mention of this word brings a smile, for he 
at one time owned phosphate lands, but sold at the right 
time. To another it means broad acres of pine forest un¬ 
derlaid with supposed wealth, but a poor bank account. 
They either did not get the “paying take,” or they have not 
the means to develop this wealth and are too short-sighted 
to let some one else develop it. When phosphate was first 
discovered in Florida, many thought that the cost of fer¬ 
tilizing materials was going to drop way down, and many 
believed that all they had to do was to pile on the phos¬ 
phate. How bitter the disappointment. Ignorance and a 
one-sided fertilizer again worked havoc with the pocketbook 
of the grower. To-day you can ride through the piney 
woods, and I will guarantee that you can find men that 
would not ha~e the “durned stuff on this grove if you would 
put it on for nothing.” Notwithstanding all this, phos¬ 
phoric acid has its place, and must be used to properly de¬ 
velop and maintain plant life; for it is the connecting link 
that holds all vegetable and animal life together. You can 
not destroy it in any way. 
The best source of phosphoric acid is still an unsettled ques¬ 
tion. We have a large list to select from. First, bones of all 
kinds, refuse matter of different kinds which also yields am¬ 
monia and potash. Canada, South Carolina and Florida have 
vast beds of phosphatic rock which can be mined very cheaply, 
especially the two latter states, so there is very little 
possibility of this element of plant food becoming scarce. 
Chemists claim that phosphoric acid is phosphoric acid 
wherever found, whether from bone or rock; but these same 
chemists will tell you that ammonia from one source is much 
better than from another. If this is so, why not phosphoric 
acid. All plants do not have the same absorption power auy 
more than the animal kingdom. A goat will thrive and fatten 
where a bullock would starve. A blackjack oak would grow 
and extend its branches in all directions, while an ornge tree 
would soon die. This is all owing to their foraging powers 
and their ability to digest the food that comes in their way. 
From what I have seen, I believe the best source of phospho¬ 
ric acid for the average Florida soil is from bone, and one of 
the best and cheapest forms being dissolved bone black. Acid 
phosphates give excellent results on heavy soils, hence their 
great demand in Europe and elsewhere. I am now watching 
the results of the use of Florida acid phosphate on orange 
