The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-10-09

engage in this work, and likely to be
at all successful in even the common
est kind of gardening, you will find
a hundred too little experienced to
do even that. l find that Mr.. A. is
man who starts in with very wide
swath and runs out to a point. He
plants more than he can by any
means take care Of In fact, he seems
not to have learned that trees need
anything beyond planting, and very
poor planting at that. Mr.. 8. plants
everything on a dry, poor, shell
mound, or sand hill, with not the
least idea of supplying food and wa:
ter, and has never yet been able to
coax either orange or fig trees to
grow. Anything that can be killed
he will find sople way Of killing.
These men are fair representatives Of
a large proportion of the people who
come here expecting to support
themselves from the soil Others let
their trees die from neglect, and
everywhere inexperience and the con-
sequent bad luck are discouraging
the present population and frighten-
ing away from the State those who
would otherwise become residents.
Do you wonder that I want to know
who made the trial of these fruits be-
fore accepting as fact the statement
that they cannot be grown here :?
Col. Redmond has found most of
the list 1 have spoken Of producing
successfully on the Gulf Coast, and
we know by report that they are al
so successful in nearly or quite every
county in the State, so that the fact
is already established. 1t is beyond
doubt that anyone, in Eany part of
the State, with the same care in the
selection of varieties, in choosing To-
cation, in providing for the wants of
the growing trees, and by the same
skill and care that are needed and
applied everywhere in the known
world where success has been
reached, may have larger variety
OF fruits without glass, than can be
grown in any other State in the
Union with the possible exception of
California. The soil and climate here
are such that we shall have much
experimenting to do before we shall
know just how to manage every kind
of fruit tree-and there will be fail
ures and discouragements. But has
this never happened elsewhere ? Has
success ever been reached but
through failure and disappointment
1t is no part of my present purpose
to furnish list of varieties OF kinds
of fruits that have proved adapted
to our soil and climate, or to give
directions as to the proper manage
ment. leave this to ADLER hands.
merely wish to protest that the
fact that Messrs. A., B. and c., hay
ing planted an orange tree ora pear
tree, and failed to make them grow
or produce fruit, should not be taken
as even 1''imG .tacie evidence that
there is anything in either soil or eli
mate to account for the failure. On
the contrary, from what I know of
the methods practiced by these men,
bers of the alphabet and the BODY
polite, ana from the fact that thew
have no better luck, even with or
anges, figs and bananas, the onlv
thing that would surprise me would
be success. The best cultiyators fail
sometimes, with all the care and skill
they can command. Why should
those eoer succeed who give neither,
OF these to the work There will he
quite variety of these fruits nlan+.
ed here this season that have hereto.
| fore been neglected. Tot