472 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Junx, 1899. 
The mixture contained 12 to 13 per cent. potash in the form of sulphate 
of potash-magnesia, 4 to 5 per cent. nitrogen in the form of sulphate of ammonia, 
and 4 to 5 per cent. phosphoric acid in the form of acid phosphate, 100 lb. 
being made up approximately as follows :— 
48 lb. sulphate of potash-magnesia. 
25 ,, sulphate of ammonia. 
27 ,, acid phosphate (18 per cent.). 
Sulphate of potash-magnesia, analysing 27 per cent. pure potash, may be 
replaced by sulphate of potash, which contains 50 per cent. pure potash. 
The trees, when very young, were fertilised with 5 Ib. of the above 
mixture, this amount being gradually increased to 40 lb. per annum, after the 
trees had reached the age of 8 years. 
ORANGE CULTIVATION AND FERTILISATION, DUMVILLE GROVE, FLORIDA, 
U.S. 
The yields of oranges produced were equally as good as those of lemons. 
The mixture applied was similar to the one used for lemons ; except that it 
contained a somewhat smaller percentage of nitrogen and a somewhat larger 
percentage of phosphoric acid, the percentage of potash remained the same. 
The mixture analysed 13 per cent. potash, 3°3 per cent. nitrogen, and 5 per 
cent. phosphoric acid, the materials applied being in the same forms as men- 
tioned in the case of lemons; 100 lb. of the mixture contained approxi- 
mately :-— 
4 Ib. sulphate of potash-magnesia. 
16 ,, sulphate of ammonia. 
36 ,, acid phosphate (14: per cent.) 
The trees when very young were fertilised with 5 Ib. per tree of the 
mixture, which amount was increased to 20 1b. per annum, after the trees had 
reached the age of 6 years. The report does not state whether this amount 
(20 Ib.) was to be increased in the following years. The observations were 
unfortunately brought to an unexpected termination by the extensive frosts 
that set in towards the end of December, 1894, and in January, 1895; as a 
résult of the frost, this grove, together with the majority of the Florida planta- 
_ tions, was completely destroyed. 
MANURING OF TROPICAL PLANTS—PINEAPPLES. 
Mr. A. H. Benson writes to correct an impression which might be made by 
perusal of an article which appeared in our May number, under the above 
heading, taken from a Florida journal, that a soil which is suitable for pine- 
‘ apple growing in that State would be also suitable for Queensland. In fact, he 
points out that the very reverse would be the case. He says :— 
In Vol. IV., Part 5, pages 374 and 375, under the heading of “ Manuring 
of Tropical Plants—Pineapples,” the following remarks have attracted my 
attention, as, if the advice given by the writer is followed by our Queensland 
pineapple growers, it is bound to end in loss and failure, as, though no doubt 
applicable to Florida conditions, it certainly will not do in this climate:— 
“ Sandy loam soils, but rich in humus, and with a hard-pan clay subsoil, 
aré best suited for pineapple culture. The soil in question contained 
pretty large quantities of humus and sand at the surface, and had a hard-pan 
bottom at a depth of 1 to 2 feet.” 
A soil possessing such a subsoil would be absolutely unsuitable for pine- 
apple culture in this colony, possessing, as we do, a climate subject to heavy 
rainfalls at certain periods of the year, and at other times to comparatively 
long periods without rain or with only a small rainfall. The effect of our heavy 
rains on such a soil would be to completely saturate it, and as the water would 
have no get-away, it would stagnate, and kill the roots of every pineapple 
