Florida is not only a new country so far as development and settlement are concerned but it is new geologically. No strata are known within its borders that are older than the Tertiary, and much of it belongs to what the older geologists called the Recent. And throughout a large part of the state there is a sort of unfinished appearance, as though its creation had been begun late in the week and Saturday night had come on before it was done. An acquaintance of mine from Illinois came to the west coast of the state a good many years ago and was very much disappointed and in his disgust he declared that Florida possessed "A soil of unsurpassed sterility".

I have often thought of what he said and wished that the state could have been born back in the Silurian or Carboniferous epochs. However, those who have come here to make their homes find that with proper treatment this poor, sandy soil can be made to produce wonderfully. Some time away back in geological history, probably when most of what now forms the state was under the sea, the sands along the New England coast were carried southward by the cold return current of the Atlantic and deposited along the shores of the southern states and over the greater part of what was to be Florida. This sand is siliceous and is practically destitute, in a natural state, of any plant food whatever. It has been worked over, to some extent, by the action of the wind and sea.

Shortly after the elevation of this sand above sea level the Georgia Pine (Pinus palustris) began to invade the region from the north, and the Caribbean Pine (Pinus caribaea) came, most likely, from the south, the seeds having been carried in by the Gulf Stream.

Quite a large area of the southeastern part of the state is composed of soft, mostly oolitic limestone which forms the rim of the Everglades. The rock generally comes to the surface and is perforated everywhere with pot-holes which are filled with sand. The lowlands of the southern part of the state are composed largely of muck or marl, though in some places they are sandy. Much of the Everglades is rich, deep peat or muck, with patches of sandy soil or rock. The Everglade soil and most of the peat or muck throughout the state are fairly rich in nitrogen and phosphoric acid, but are lacking in potash. Often this lowland soil is sour, as is much of the pineland, and it can be helped by applications of fertilizer which is rich in potash, and by being worked. In places throughout the state the pine-land is underlaid with hardpan, which tends to make the soil sour, and with such land thorough drainage is necessary. In the northern part of the state there are considerable areas of clayey soil.

It may seem that I have entered into quite a lengthy dissertation on soils in a work devoted to ornamental gardening, but as this is the foundation in which plants must be grown it is well to understand something of soils in order to plant and cultivate intelligently.

The crying need of all our sandy pine land is humus. For this reason every scrap of anything which, by its decay, will make mould should, in some way, be given to the land. I consider it nothing short of a crime against one's ground and plants to burn or throw away any trash, dead limbs, wood or any vegetable product. If one objects to putting grass, weeds and trash around in his garden on account of their unsightliness he can make a compost heap, which, when well decayed, will form an admirable dressing for his plants and at the same time will help the soil. Seaweed should be collected whenever it is possible and either used as a mulch or in making compost. Broken limbs, trimmings from trees and shrubs, grass, the refuse from waste baskets, dead leaves, everything that will decay can be piled up where it will not be unsightly and used in the good work when it is decomposed. If this heap can have a small amount of cottonseed meal or bone meal sprinkled over it occasionally and if the whole can be turned over once in a while, so much the better. Muck and peat, if obtainable, are excellent for the soil or compost heaps, so are all kinds of marine vegetation and all dead animals. The Chinese, who have cultivated their lands from time immemorial, have never used commercial fertilizers of any kind, but have kept them in a high state of fertility by putting back on them all the waste and rubbish obtainable. We in the United States, with a wonderfully fertile soil, have in a little over a century so exhausted much of our land that it will scarcely produce anything. My own ground, though mostly ordinary pine land, is far richer and darker colored now than when it was virgin soil, and all because I have put far more on it than I have taken off. I have used but little commercial fertilizer on it.

Much of the substance of vegetation comes from the atmosphere and quite a little from rain, and it stands to reason that if all the waste material on a plantation goes back into the soil it will be enriched instead of exhausted. It is in this way that leaf mould has been formed in forests; in fact, that humus has been made all over the earth.

Of course it is best to use some commercial fertilizer on our poor soil. Throughout the state quite generally stable manure is purchased, often shipped in, and applied freely to vegetable and ornamental gardens with excellent results to the plants. But there are those who think its use draws the terrible mole crickets, and it is certain that in many places in this vicinity where it is used freely these insects have become an intolerable pest, while in others where none of it has been used they do not trouble.

I think it a good idea to spread muck around trees and plants on pine land, say a couple of inches in depth; then hoe or dig it into the soil. If one can, it is better to give a little fertilizer often, working it into the ground, than to put it on in large amounts.

During the winter in Florida, - especially southern Florida, - we are liable to have warm spells with some rain. If the soil around plants is worked through the cool season and fertilizer is applied it is quite probable that growth may start, and then, in case of frost, much more damage will be done than if the plants had been left alone. It is a good rule to let plants go without culture during the time of year when there is danger of frost. Even hardy stuff is likely to suffer if frozen when in full growth. I have had monthly roses when growing vigorously killed outright here with frost, although they are hardy in Washington.

It is an excellent idea to apply a fertilizer rich in potash in the fall just before cool weather comes on; this will harden up plant tissues, tend to check rampant, soft growth, and give the plants vigor to go through the winter. Sulphate of potash, muriate of potash or kainit are excellent fertilizers for wet, sour or mucky lands which are always lacking in potash.

Where it is possible, plant a crop of velvet beans (Dolichos multiflorus), cow peas (Vigna catjang), or beggar weed (Desmo-dium molle), plowing the whole under or in some way burying it in the soil, and it is an excellent idea to do this before any planting is done. I plant the Canavalias (C. gladiata and C. obtusa) in my grounds on account of the nitrogen which their roots collect and for the great amount of humus the decaying vines produce, even though they may be something of a nuisance at times by climbing over other things or being in the way under foot.

Liquid manure is very useful, especially for potted plants or many delicate things. Such things as the greenhouse and hothouse terrestrial orchids when planted in the open ground are benefited by applications of weak liquid manure every week or so during the growing season. A teaspoonful or a little more of nitrate of soda dissolved in a gallon of water is a quick acting and handy fertilizer for pot plants. If a handful of chicken-, sheep-or well-decayed cow-manure is put into a ten-quart pail full of water and the mixture is allowed to stand a day or so it will make fine liquid fertilizer, and it may be applied every week or ten days through the growing season.