The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1880-12-21

clai<nn6 a a1aI1 go property cultivated, even
without fertillxin win be far more likely TO Yield
q good nef prefix on given amount of time,
labQr etG, Invested than i've tines u area r..
ceiving suoA cultivation rs h comnon with our
staple feld crops Elsewhere VII be Nnnnd en-
amples Of what has been done with vegetables
and field crops, both with and without ferlilizers,
by thorough cultivation. An acre Of cotton, yield
ing one-half or iwo-thirds of q bale - say 300
pounds. win bring al the outside, gross MOI over
$50. The same acre planted to vegetables might
be made 10 yield a net profit Of from 800 to
$1,ooOl
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 81 to $40 per month, the lAborer finding
himself
Transportation FacHkies - The transportation
facilities Of Middle Florida are Car 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. II 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 traina on the g.
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 vegetablegrowing district
of East Florida,) in order TO reach Live Oak for
this Savannah train, must be made at 8 o'clock
A M, of the previous day. Besides having to
travel more than 80 miles farther than shipment
from Tallahassee, such shipment is subjected to
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 to "catch the train"
hours previous to the time when shipment of
vegetables from Tallahassee is gathered; and,
after being nearly 10 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 s or hours more growth than the Gaines
vile shipment, and having been gathered and
packed leisurely, and therefore carefully, ia the
afternoon, in good order and perfectly dry and
free from dan.pness from the desc very important
requirement in their preservation and condition
on arrival.
Rdtes-The rates of transportation from sta
tons on the Jacksonville, Pensacola, and Mobile
Railroad will be substantially the same AS those
now published for the Florida Dispatch Line"
in the Florida Dispatch, edited and published at
Jacksonville by d. H. 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 it is in contem-
plation to reduce the existing rates as far as
possible and at the earliest possible day. This
course has been determined on by the Receivers
Of the J. P. 8 NJ r. r., for the express purpose OF
encouraging the production and shipment of such
crops in Middle Florida; and il 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 refrgerators
for such crops of fruit 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 ofien dis
astrous farming operations now common.
Actual Results.-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 sufficient inducement
to encourage any enterprising person to 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 ,S14 pounds; for the same months of 1879,
2,O67 800 pounds, and for the same months of
1880, 3,786, $50. The shipments by the Florida
DlSpdtCH AlHC NdItIuIiy Uub fCiy S"iCiuHy C5ti-
mated) for the season Of 1874 were 5000 bushel
crates or their equivalent; for 1876, 1900; for
1875, 25 900; for 1877, $4,000; for 1873, 1OO-
600; for 1879 CSC, 900, and for 1880 the enormous
amount of nearly 4OOOOOi Who can estimate
the volume Of this business few years hence?
And why should not q portion Of it come from
and yield lis results 10 the people of Middle Flor
ida?
The product of single acre of cabbages, set
two feet apart in rows three feet apart, properly
cultivated and successfully marketed, is over
1900 head The net returns in many instances
have been 10 to 10 cents per head Al the lower
rate the acre would have yielded, net. 81 $50
at the higher rate, 81 $3.50! Divide this possible
result by two, TO cover every imaginable con-
tingency and accident and there remains net
profit of 1928 TO $685. per acre!
tract of three-fOurths of an acre near Jack
sonville, year two since, produced three hun
dred bushels of Irish potatoes, equal to 400
bushels to the acre, which sold at $500 per bar
rel, 160 barrels,) yielded the handsome sum OF
$500 per acre A3
A tract Of the same dimensions (three-fonrths
of an acre. produced in 1877 crop of cucumbers
which yielded a net profit Of $31259-equal to
$41675 per acrel
A tract of three and q half acres In Nassau
county, in 1877, produced a crop of vegetables
which yielded 81 900 net-equal TO 4285.7O per
acrel A tract Of one and quarter acres in Gu
cumbers netted $500 In 1877; a net profit per
acre of $82Oi
In Leon county. in 1879 a tract of three acres