The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1892-06-25
OFFICE OF STATE LABORATORY

u. o.
Departmentof Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
DEAR SIR: Your esteemed favor of
%, enclosing a letter from Joseph
Ware Esq. of New York City is
received. In reply to the inquiries
made by this gentleman permit me to
say. So far as my observation goes
the employment of tobacco stems is
looked upon with favor by most of
those orange growers who have used
them in their groves.
The soils OF Florida differ greatly
in character and composition and
therefore require different manurial
treatment. If we except a narrow
belt in the northern portion of the
state, these soils, as is we'll known.
are for the most part very silicious.
They usually contain a fair proper
ton Of basic phosphates, in some
instances sufficient amount of lime
to be termed ca'careous, but in al
most all cases so far as my knowledge
goes they are greatly deficient in
potash. Except in the cases of
hammock" soil, saw-grass lands and
the reclaimed regions, in the southern
portion OF the state, humus and cog
nate products of the decay Of vece-
table matter, are usually present in
small quantity. AS might be ex-
pected nitrogen and nitrogen COM
pounds are also found only to a
limited amount To some extent
climatic condition and the rapiditv
with which chemical changes occur.
compensate for this natural sterilitv
of the soil.
In some respects the composition
OF tobacco stems admirably meets
these average conditions. They are.
iich in potash. They contain fair
proportion Of nitrogen and small
amount Of readily assimilable phos-
phoric acid. Another point in their
favor Is that they are among the very
few fertilizers and fertilizine mater
lals which are here sold for less than
their intrinsic value. Being a waste
material, manufacturers of tobacco
are glad to dispose of them at low
price, IN some instances for what will
barely pay the cost of handling and
removal. / think the greater portion
of stems sold in this state are grown
in kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri
and as the tobacco from which they
come is a heavy strong variety and is
grown upon rich soil the stems con-
tain rather more than is usual Of the
three above manurial elements. |
think it may be assumed that fair
average sample of dry stems from the
"Clarksville" and Green River coun-
try will contain at least s per cent
of potash p per cent of nitrogen
estimated as ammonia and e5-IOOths
OF one per cent of phosphoric acid.
Now if We estimate these fertiliz-
ing ingredients upon the same basis
as has this year been adopted for
cotton seed meal and other vegeta,
bic substances used for fertilizers,
the following will be the approximate
retail value at prominent importing
points.
1850 pounds Of Potash at 5H cents pound $3.50
ID Nitrogen as ammonia at ;12
cents 500
II g 50 Phos. Acid at S cents per
pound IS
add freight on car lots from Kentucky cay SEQ
$ls.65
Now these can, / think, be had in
Jacksonville for $3.50 or $500 a
ton, at interior points of course they
will cost whatever the additional
freight may be.
1t will be well to remember how
ever that tobacco stems, from the
conditions under which they are OBJ
tanned necessarily have very wide
range of composition and value. The
following analyses made by myself
gives, | think, fair illustration Of
this. The average weight of the
stems was obtained by taking fifty
stems at random from the sample
examined, weighing them and of
course dividing this weight by the
number taken. This was done as a
guide to purchasers and shows in a
general way that the heavier the
stems the richer they may be ex-
pected to be in manurial value. The
analysis of the Florida grown sample
Cuban tobacco, raised by myself, is
inserted to indicate how greatly soil
climate and variety affect the compo-
sition Of this singular plant. 1t may.
not be inappropriate to state that |
have received from DIR. Peter; of