The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1890-04-09
State Experimental Stations.

for the establishment of experimental
stations in different sections of the State
to be controlled by the State Bureau of
| Agriculture, and he expresses thehope that
| public opinion will so influence the next
Legislature that it will make the required
enactment authorizing the work.
He says it is the desire of the Agricult-
ural Department of the State and all
connected with it to make it useful
branch Of the government, and to give
ample and satisfactory returns for the
money expended for it's maintenance.
With this object in view the Expert
mental Station plan has been hit upon.
1t is not the idea OF the department to
establish the proposed stations at one
time, Or to ask of the State large ap-
preparation for the purpose, but to es-
tablish them by degrees, as opportunity
offers or the needs of the country or made
evident. For instance, it would begin
with an experimental orange grove to be
established in some section of the orange
growing region, and the system to be ex-
tended and multiplied until every section
of the orange growingregion habits own
experimental grove. So we presume, it
would be in the strawberry region, the
vegetable section, the farming counties,
andso On, until every section had it's sta
ton experimenting with the products and
on the soil they were most interested in.
Mr.. Robinson's plan, on the expert
mental orange grove for instance, is to
have five acres of suitable land donated
for the purpose to the State, selected by
men OF known repute as successful orange
growers, and located, if possible, near
some large town, and of, easy access to
those most interested. The land would
be carefully prepared for orange growing
according to- the most approved methods,
and young trees as nearly equal as posi-
blein size, health and general condition be
secured and planted by expert workmen
Themanufacturers offertilizers sold in the
State would we notifedthat competition
examination and test of theirgoods would
be made on the grove. A certain number
of trees would be assigned to each brand
of fertilizer entered in the contest, to a
portion, ofwhich would be applied an equal
number of pounds of fertilizers of the re-
spective brands, to another portion of
the trees set aside for each brand would
he applied the same value of fertilizer as
ascertained by the current selling
price in the retail. market, and to another
portion of the trees would beapplied any
amount which the manufacturers them
selves would designate. Such fertilizers
would be taken from goods offered for
sale in the open market
Counting the details of the plan, Mr..
Robinson says:
81 would have the trees all subjected to
identically the same treatment in other
respects. Each tree should be MANFRED
with same fertilizer, and no other, for a
succession of years, the longer the better.
A careful and exact record of the methods
OF culture and trea tment, with climatic
and meteorological record of each year
should be kept, and in this way acontin-
uOus object lesson in orang growing and
the use of fertilizers would be given. In
| addition to this, there are good number
OF other experiments that might prOfita-
bly, be made, and which will readily sug-
| gest themselves One tree. for examDle.