The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1881-09-28

blessing and e'er good for barming,"
but full of pleasant surprises Tor
those who treat it properly. con-
tend there is no art in growing veg
etables in FLORIDA, and in very small
way we have tried most every KIND
for the first two years we lived on
this place, and we half starved on
bacon, bread and quinine at blgn
prices. We were told by the few we
knew, that it was impossible TO make
a garden here, hot summers, insects
ard poor land all prevented. AT last
hungry and sick, determined like
Mrs. Domby TO make San effort" SO
with my good mans help, 1--WE could
not afford dollar for that labor) logs
lying around us, wire grass thick and
heavy, we dug holes in the green
sod and pu5 in spadeful OF stable
manure, mixed it well with the sand,
and set out in the month of February
the few little plants l had grown in
box on our cabin porch and l do
assure you that nothing Peter Hend-
erson will ever grow under his three
acres of glass will taste halt as sweet
as those first little Early DIRK cab
Dage we grew in this wire grass land
of Florida, and from that time we
have had something green to eat
most of the year. This summer we
raised on a piece of ground seventy
five by thirty, lima beans, onions,
snap beans, okra, tomatoes, cucum
bers, and then mistakenly planted
watermelons, thinking the vines
would shade the ground; they did,
but the fruit grew SO abundantly that
they crowded other things, conch
peas should have been planted for
shade. This was in our grove and
besides having enough for our own
table we sold plenty to pay for pre-
| pairing the ground and planting an
acre of sweet potatoes, and we have
already begun tor the coming winter.
The second week in July we had an
acre of new land plowed near a small
pond, on it we put eight barrels Of
Stoves lime. left the green pines
standing, narrowed and fenced it,and
OH the Dist of July planted turnip
seed and Tor two weeks have been
gathering greens by the peck; we
planted again the middle of August
and again the first of this month,
September, and on the crop of turnips
as they stand, we have used little
over 25 cents worth of fertilizers not
including OF course the lime. We
have several hundred cabbage plants
set out and doing well, and are set
ting out cauliflower plants to-day,
and some celery plants coming on,
plenty Of English peas up and prom>
ising we'll and our sweet potatoes, be
sides our little experiments III small
fruits doing well, some few raspber>
ries and a very pretty little patch OF
cranberries. This is why l conclude
there is no art in vegetable growing
in this State. Give ME locality
with water convenient either pump
or pond, or both, boy old enough
to handle a plow or cultivator S.
worth of "Mape's Complete Manure,
and III grow enough vegetables tol
any family and sell enough to pay fol
the washing. Now I've told our ex'
rerience; can't some one else tell Us
how they have got along, and show
us how to improve our beginning
Write for the AGRICULTURIST. /
Col. Codrlng.on has the patient
courtesy to print such articles a.
mine, you may rest assured he viii
do justly and kindly to all. l thinl
we ought to sustain our own paper
Tor if any editor ever succeeded ii
making a very good paper out o
} materials that were apparently les
than nothing l think Col. Codring
ton has done it. We should heII
/ him Tor our own interests, remember