FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
12a 
produce certain results, but the results depend upon the soil^ 
the season and the rain they have. 
D. Greenleaf —A request was made a short time ago by a 
gensleman that the members of the Society give some per¬ 
sonal experiences and while these discussions in regard to 
chemistry are all very well, to the great majority of us 
they are a little obscure. About seven years ago I put in 
a very large irrigating plant; I got good results from that; 
at the same time I sent on and got a few tons of land 
plaster; I found that it was very beneficial, that grass 
sprang up and while there is very little plant food in land 
plaster, I thought the result justified me in sending for a 
large amount. I was interested in the phosphate discovery. 
I sent on and got fifteen tons of the Florida phosphate just 
as it was taken from the ground; the first that I put on 
had not been ground and in sixty days the effect was 
marvelous. The trees made a large, vigorous growth and 
parties who had been through the state said they had not 
seen anything like it. The results have been mainly success¬ 
ful in my experiments with this phosphate. For five years I 
have applied nothing else and to-day my grove is as vigorous 
and as fine as I could ask for, and I think we have right 
here in the state as good a plant for food as there is in the 
world and that as a rule it is the best thing that can be put 
on an orange tree. My fruit has brought the highest prices 
in the Northern markets. I merely give this as information. 
The front of my grove is clear hammock, but where I made 
the first application was light saud and about twenty feet 
above the level of the water. Part of it is in scrub. The 
phosphate I used is called soit phosphate. Others have used 
it with very marked effect. 
J. W. Russell —I think we are on the right move; that is, 
to give our personal experience. My process is to open up. 
furrows, put in stable manure and cover it up immediately. 
On part of my land I put commercial fertilisers. The stable 
manure has done the work. We have got to use something 
that will pay us better than manufactured fertilizers. Some 
gentleman has been running down stable manure. We have 
worn out the country by the use of manufactured fertilizers.. 
I say that stable manure and our own fertilizers that we can 
get in Florida are the best. 
John E. Stillman—I have been traveling over this state for 
three years selling fertilizers. I have found people who have- 
condemned every brand of fertilizer. Some maintained that, 
ground corn meal was the best fertilizer; some, that stable- 
manure was the best; some claimed that sawdust was the best s „ 
