Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-03-10
For the VERMONT FARMER.
A Rustic Vacation.


Little attention is paid to agriculture in
this section. No planter raises enough to
support his family aside from oranges and
sugar-eane. Settlers from the North, sx-
pectiug to raise crops they are accustomed
to grow, will meet with disappointment, aud
after two or three unsuccessful attempts fall
to sweet potatoes and dog hominy. Irish
potatoes are cultivated to some extent, but
they seldom return the seed Sweet potatoes
are better adapted to the people for, as a
class they are large, and sweet potatoes
require very little care. They usually
weld from 200 to 800 bushels per
acre. They raise what they call large crops
Of corn, averaging fifteen bushels to the acre.
Cereals are not grown in this part The
grass is Of inferior quality and grows in
punches or stools in the open pine woods,
and resembles what have heard called wire
grass at the North. During the summer
months teams obtain a scanty living from
the grass, but planters are obliged to depend
on northern markets for feed in the winter.
have not seen pair of Florida oxen that
would weigh more than fifteen hundred
pounds; the average weight being about
| twelve hundred La no northern barn will
you see in the spring as poor cattle as these
oxes Horns are the principal part OF them,
and one pair saw would have occupied
perpendicular position with the head for
base, if it had not been for several wood-ticks
on the other end which kept that part down.
The length Of cart tongue measured was
from the body Eve feet aud SIX inches there
being one foot to spare. The cart was an
agricultural wonder, and presume Of Span
ish origin of nearly four centuries ago. 1t
would probably hold up five hundred pounds,
which is more than the oxen can draw.
One of the largest sources of income is
derived from large herds of cattle roaming
in half wild state through the open pine
forest. They are Of Spanish origin, Of slow
! growth, uuJ Teacuihb maturity "u'l NV VI
six years old. They are small, round bodies,
quick and cows with calves by their sides,
and another species constructed somewhat diff
ferent from the COWS are sometimes danger
GUS Of approach The largest from drove
Of one thousand head of beeves dress four
hundred pounds. The prices paid for oxen
is about forty dollars, and for the very best
of beef twenty dollars per head.
In this part of Florida frost kills the grass
and many cattle die through the winter
Farther south the grass is green the year
round, and cattle do well. Ia the northern
part Of the state some provision is rendered
necessary for the support of the herds in the
winter Though this is the mildest climate
in the United States, cattle will not thrive
without nutritious food during the winter.
Many planters on the peninsula are en-
gagged in the cultivation of sugar.cane |
!, has been proved by actual tests that Florid'
will yield more cane per acre than Louis
/, lana Hammock lands are best adapted t,
its cultivation, though it can be successful,
raised on first quality pine land by cow.pen
ming the land. On pine land the cane viii
mature in two or three years; on ham
, mock lani eight or ten years On hammocl
= land cane reaches an average height Of ft
teen feet without manuring, while on pin
a land it averages twelve feet with manure
d Sugar made from cane grown on sandy Ian,
: is of better quality than that made from can
It grown on hammocks. The average yield o
e sugar per acre is ten barrels of 900 pound
{. each or twelve barrels of strip Of forty gal
:, Ions each. The smallest cane is kept 70
n seed and anything OF six feet in length
t called cane. The juice is extracted fror
o the cane by pressing it between two uprigh
;. cylinders Of about one foot in diameter, pre-
f PEELED by horse power. The sugar establish
meut we visited was rude affair Tw
large kettles were placed in a rude arc
s. made of clay with chimney that conveye
n the smoke just above low, leaky roof. The
D. manufacture a barrel of strip each day.
D. takes from five to seven gallons of juice
j. make one Of strip. From one acre the
d made eleven barrels of sirup, of forty gallon
l. each, worth seventy cents gallon, maxim
a. the income Of one acre S3lS.
n There is little attention paid to the cult
walton Of Gotten, but the al.absorbing, al
70 important occupation is growing oranges.
:. +. H. RICHARDSON.
Ipa..H,,J ~, FL 1S