FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
fertilizer has been found to be very sat¬ 
isfactory, applied at the rate of 1,000 to 
2,000 pounds per acre. Where a few 
plants are set out for home use most 
fertilizers that are available would 
probably serve the purpose. 
The greatest drain on the vitality of 
the plant is the ripening of the seed and 
if the calyces are picked as soon as they 
are full grown instead of allowing them 
to become more mature, the plant, in the 
effort to reproduce itself, sends out new 
flower-buds that set fruit continuously 
until cut down by frost if it is not injured 
bv diseases or insect enemies. 
In a report from the Porto Rico Ex¬ 
periment Station, 1906, the yield per 
plant is given as four pounds of fruit 
while some plants were estimated to 
yield double that amount. At the Sub¬ 
tropical Laboratory during the past few 
years we have been engaged in the breed¬ 
ing of a variety having larger calyces 
than the common kind and during the 
last fall and winter weighed the fruit 
from eight plants of this variety to as¬ 
certain the average yield. The data ob¬ 
tained, which are given in the following 
table, are quite interesting. 
Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent one 
plant each and No. 6 represents calyces 
from three plants weighed together. The 
yield from No. 1 was so markedly larger 
than from the rest of the plants 
that it was thought desirable to save the 
seed for breeding purposes, which ex¬ 
plains the omissions in yield from Jan¬ 
uary 6 to February 8, 1908, at which 
latter date part of the ripe calyces were 
saved and the remainder February 18. 
January 25 the calyces of all the plants 
except No. 1 (which was tented) were 
picked for fear that the plants might 
freeze down in an approaching cold wave. 
193 
Subsequently all the plants in this exper¬ 
iment died from the attack of rootknot 
nematodes, except No. 1, which was 
pruned back, has continued to bloom and 
is still in active growth and setting fruit. 
Two plants which were not included in 
TABLE 
Showing the average yield of Roselle, 
variety “Victor.” 
Weight of calycs set from first bloom. 
Date of Picking 
No. 1. 
Grams 
No. 2. 
Grams 
No. 3. 
Grams 
. in 
^ E 
0 2 
25(5 
No. 5. 
Grams 
. Cfi 
g 
0 2 
£< (5 
Total 
Grams 
November 15, 1907 
1665 
695 
967 
1818 
5145 
November 23, 1907 
4055 
2885 
2050 
1290 
1465 
4585 
16380 
November 30, 1907 
1390 
1510 
1295 
785 
1940 
6555 
13475 
December 7, 1907 
35 
170 
1485 
2835 
1190 
2800 
8515 
December 17, 1907 
825 
280 
535 
1640 
7145 
5260 
5797 
5735 
4875 
16293 
45105 
Weight of calyces from bloom induced by picking. 
December 23, 1907 
115 
145 
15 
55 
55 
375 
January 1, 1908. 
315 
205 
700 
1220 
January 16, 1008. 
.... 
292 
775 
450 
1190 
2707 
January 23, 1908.... 
665 
545 
1210 
January 25, 1908. 
750 
495 
735 
335 
2880 
5195 
February 8,1908.... 
430 
.... 
430 
February 18,1908... 
2110 
2110 
March 6, 1908. 
75 
.... 
250 
50 
335 
710 
• 
2730 
1492 
2155 
1435 
965 
5160 
13957 
Average yield of calyces per plant from 
first bloom. 5638 gr. - 12.4 lbs. 
Average yield of calyces plant from bloom 
induced to set by early and continuous 
picking. 1744 gr. - 3.8 lbs. 
Total average of calyces per plant. 7382 gr. -16.2 lbs. 
the above mentioned test yielded to¬ 
gether 46 lbs. or 23 lbs. of calyces per 
plant. It should be stated that we had 
no frost in Miami during the past win¬ 
ter. You will note the great difference 
in the yield as given by the report from 
