176 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
who have spent many years here, and 
have on several occasions seen the 
smiling features of our fair state dis¬ 
figured almost beyond recognition by 
natural causes, are forced to admit 
that Florida also has several natural 
disadvantages, among which may be 
mentioned the poverty of the soil, un¬ 
expected visits from Jack-frost in win¬ 
ter, the insufficiency of rainfall during 
the growing season, and a pretty good 
supply of insect pests of all of the lead¬ 
ing and up-to-date varieties; and one 
or two other disadvantages from which 
nature is not responsible, viz.: the high 
freight rates and poor services im¬ 
posed upon us by the railroads. 
Some of these adverse conditions 
have been overcome by artificial 
means, and most of the others can 
and must be, or the horticultural in¬ 
dustry will be overcome by them; and 
as I understand it, one of the principal 
objects of this Society as a body, and 
of each member as an individual, is to 
give each other the benefit of what¬ 
ever knowledge or experience we may 
have gained in our attempts to meet 
and overcome any one or all of these 
difficulties. 
The problem of poor soil has been 
solved to the satisfaction of all con¬ 
cerned by the fertilizer manufacturers 
of the state, who have placed within 
our reach, in convenient and available 
form, all of the necessary elements of 
plant food so essential to plant life, 
and in which our Florida sand is so 
deficient; thereby enabling us to not 
only make two blades of grass grow 
where only one grew before, but even 
making it possible for us to grow good 
crops of fruits and vegetables where 
nothing could grow before; thus, in 
my opinion, placing the fertilizer man¬ 
ufacturer in the front rank of public 
benefactors. The Florida Experiment 
Station and also the United States De¬ 
partment of Agriculture have given 
and are still giving us valuable infor¬ 
mation along the line of insect exter¬ 
mination, by sending to our assistance 
specialists of the highest order, men 
specially trained and fitted for this 
kind of work, who are industriously 
devoting their time and talents to sci¬ 
entific investigations and experiments 
along these lines. It has been my 
privilege to become acquainted with 
several of these gentlemen during the 
past two years and make myself some¬ 
what familiar with the work they are 
doing, and it gives me pleasure to say 
to this Society that they are meeting 
with success and are getting results 
which could never have been obtained 
in any other way and which will be of 
inestimable value to the horticulturists 
of Florida. 
We look to the Railroad Commis¬ 
sion, to the Inter-State Commerce 
Commission, and the Florida Fruit and 
Vegetable Growers’ Protective Asso¬ 
ciation, for reduced freight rates and 
better transportation facilities. 
So with all of the other problems 
disposed of, we now come to the ques¬ 
tion of irrigation. This scarcity of 
rainfall during the growing season, 
just when rain is most needed, is, in 
my opinion, the most serious difficulty 
with which the fruit and vegetable 
grower has to deal. It causes him 
more disappointments, more heart¬ 
aches than all of the others combined; 
it sours his disposition, causes him to 
