The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-06-12
HOw:to Live in Florida.


question, and so will continue with it,
Every small lake or river abounds
in fish, and enough can be caught to
supply the table, and cure the balance
for future supply; part of day in
each week could be allotted for fish
ing. Hunting takes up too much time
and is precarious occupation still
game viii now and then come in your
way, and makes a nice change in the
diet. Half an acre in upland rice, if
You have high land, viii give sufii-
Gent for family use. If your lands
are marshy plant golden rice, and if
low pine land white rice. Cow peas,
Of all kinds. can be grown on the
poorest land, and if properly prepared
are very nourishing made into soup,
or stewed with meat. The vines can
be plowcd in for fertilizer. During
the civil war these peas were much
used as a substitute for coffee, and q
northern farmer has recently informed
us that he has been trying it, and can
not distinguish the difference His
plan Of preparing it, is to grind the
peas in the corn mill and sift the meal,
using the fine particlesSfor soup, and
parching the coarse parts like coffee,
using it in the same way. For tea,
the lemon grass and orange leaves
are an agreeable substitute, both be-
ing wholesome and palatable; lemon
grass is much used in the West In
dies and is there called fever grass"
being an excellent corrective of ma
laria. After using them for short time
you will not care about Chinese tea.
For sugar, you may plant sorghum
or sugar cane, if q mandatory is
near, or if you can afford to purchase
machinery. At all events your bees
will give you plenty OF sweetening,
without labor on your part. Excel
IrhnSs -,'Sr0ciOt%vry us.r=gEaa .saas1c frssI
honey, and the wax ID always salea-
BILE at csc to zoe per lb. If you pre-
fer the sugar, however, sell the honey
and buy it. For vinegar, you can
make excellent vinegar from ripe
plums ana peaches, cane juice and
bananas-the last fruit makes the
best. You can grow enough of these
for family use, bat we do not recon-
mend them as profitable crop except
in the more southern part of the State
or in some favored localities. Season.
ing stuff of all kinds, peppers. parsley,
thyme, ETC., you can grow. Your gar
den will produce everything that you
have North, and many things that
will not grow there, besides. Plant
pigeon peas around your fences; they
are perennial, ornamental, excellent
food for man or beast, and chickens
are remarkably fond of them. Salt
you will have to buy, bat that is an
item that does not make large hole
in the pocket. You can grow chufas,
peanuts and gouhers to feed your pig
and keep your childrens' teeth at
work; small patch of each viii be
sufficient.
How to fertilize your land To grow
all this is the serious question. If
you are near a muck bed there will
be no difficulty put it in your pig
pen and under your chicken roost-
with this you can raise almost every
thing. Save all the Stops about the
house, and soap water; turn in your
COW pea vines; throw al the grass
You weed out in the pig pen; pick
up decayed leaves and do The came
with them. Suppose You are too
poor to keep q horse and wagon to
draw the muck, you can give your
labor to some neighbor, who keeps
them, for the use when he is not work
ing them.
There is no fear OF al industrious
man supporting his family well on
five acres of land in Florida; the
curse is, that poor people have too
much land, they stand still and are