The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-11-30

labor, etc, invested than Eve times the area re-
ceiving such cultivation as h common with our
staple field crops. Elsewhere win be found ex-
amples of what has been done with vegetables
and field crops, both with and without fertilizers,
by thorough cultivation An acre Of cotton, yield
ing one-half or two-ihirds of a bale Say 300
pounds win bring at the outside, ososs, not over
$50. The same acre planted to vegetables might
be made to yield net profit Of from 500 to
81 900!
Land and Labor.-The very best lands, easy
of access to the railroad, can be procured in
tracts of any size desired at $40 per acre, and
from that down TO $3.50 per acre, according to
quality and location. Labor can be procured at
from o. to $40 per month, the laborer finding
himself
Transportation Fhciiites - The transportation
facilities of Middle Florida are Ear superior to
those of any other portion of the State. The
Jacksonville, Pensacola, and Mobile Railroad
extends for distance Of over one hundred
miles directly through the center of this fertile
region, with its rich lands lying along the entire
distance on either side. 1t connects directly at
Live Oak with the trunk lines leading North
East and West and shipments Of vegetables
may be made from any station on its line with
more safety, and less danger of becoming stale
and reaching market in bad order, than from any
station on any other railroad in the State. The
connection at Live Oak with trains ON the Sa-
vannah, Florida, and Western Railway is now
made at 2 o'clock, A. NJ, daily, by mail and
express trains A shipment of vegetables made
from Gainesville, (Which may be taken as the
center of the principal vegetable-growing district
Of East Florida,l in order TO reach Live Oak for
this Savannah train, must be made al o'clock
A. NJ, Of the previous day. Besides having to
travel more than 80 miles farther than shipment
from Tallahassee, such shipment is subjected 10
the usual delays in the transfers from the Transit
road TO the Florida Central road at Baldwin,
and from the Florida Central TO the jackson
vile, Pensacola, and Mobile ROAD at Lake City.
The vegetables composing such shipment must
either be gathered on the evening previous to the
shipment, or very early on the day OF shipment,
wet with dew, and packed hurriedly, and per-
haps carelessly, in order 10 "catch the train"
Such shipment is therefore, perhaps, gathered "a
hours previous to the time when q shipment of
vegetables from Tallahassee is gathered; and,
after being nearly 12 hours longer on the road,
reaches the junction at Live Oak at the same
time as the Tallahassee shipment. The Tallahas-
see vegetables to reach the same Savannah train
| at Live Oak, are shipped at O'Clock, p. NJ, of
the previous day, having had the benefit Of
some or hours more growth than the Gaines
willie shipment, and having been gathered and
packed leisurely, and therefore carefully, ia the
afternoon, in good order and perfectly dry and
free from ddmpness from the desc, very important
requirement in their preservation and condition
| on arrival
| Rates-The rates of transportation from sta
| tions on the jacksonville, Pensacola, and Mobile
Railroad will he substantially the same as those
| now published for the Florida Dispatch Line"
in the Florida Dispatch, edited and published at
Jacksonville by d. II. Elliott, the General Agent
for that line, copies of which paper will be fur
nished by him ON application free OF charge
| We say substantially" because il is in cOntem-
| plation to reduce the existing rates far as
| possible and at the earliest possible day. This
| course has been determined on by the Receivers
of the j. p. G. NJ r. r., for the express purpose OF
| encouraging the production and shipment of such
| crops in Middle Florida; and it may here be
| stated that the Receivers stand ready to employ
every approved method and appliance for the
security and the safe and rapid carriage of these
products such as ventilated cars and rerigeratOrs
for such crops of fruit as may be offered requiring
to be transported in ice; and to use every effort
to foster and build up healthy, successful, and
prosperous business which shall, TO some extent
take the place of the Improbable and ofen dis
astrous farming operations now common.
Actual Resuhs.-A few instances and illustra.
tons are here given to show what has been done
| in this direction heretofore not only here but in
other sections. The enormously rapid increase
| in the volume Of shipments Of vegetable crops
| from Florida is of itself a sufficient inducement
to encourage any enteTprising person 10 engage
| in the business TO the fullest extent Of his means
and facilities The shipments made by the
Southern Express Company for the months of
March, April, May, and June of 1878 were
| 1901 ,3l4 pounds; for the same months of 1879,
| 2,067, 900 pounds, and for the same months OF
1880, 3,786,S3O. The shipments by the Florida
Dispatch Line (partially but very carefully esti-
| mated for the season Of 1874 were 5000 bushel
| crates or their equivalent; for 1875, 12,OOO for
1875, $4,000 for 1877, 5OOO0 for 1878, over 10O,
600; for 1879, 100000, and for 1880 the enormous
huOuut VI uCuiIy TVVsvVV. VhO ~"u SotAA0~eO
the volume Of this business few years henceS
And why should not portion Of 1t come from
and yield its results to the people Of Middle Flor.
| ida?
| The product of single acre of cabbages, set
two feet apart 10 rows three feet apart, properly
cultivated and successfully marketed is over
1000 head. The net returns in many instances
have been Is 10 10 cents per head AT the lower
rate the acre would have yielded, net, 81 $50
at the higher rate, 81 $50! Divide this possible
result by two, to cover every imaginable con-
tingency and accident, and there remains net
profit of $525 10 $685. per acre!
A tract Of three fourths of an acre near Jack
sonville, year or two since, produced three hun
dred bushels of Irish potatoes, equal to 400
bushels to the acre, which sold at $500 per bar
rel, GEO barrels,) yielded the handsome sum Of
$500 per acre!
A tract OF the same dimensions (threc.fOurhs
of an acre. produced in 1877 crop Of cucumberS
which yielded a net profit Of &312.5O-equal to
$418.75 per acre!
A tract of three and a half acres In Nassau
county, in 1877, produced a crop Of vegetables
which yielded 81 900 net - equal TO $2657O per
acre! A tract of one and quarter acres in Gu