The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1884-06-11

ratio. The State of Florida is capable of
supplying the whole country with this
delicious fruit, the demand for which is
far in excess of the supply, and constant
| ly increasing, and in which it already
| does very large business.
1t has been urged that the profits of
orange growing would directly attract so
many to the business as to overstock
| the market and break it down, but lit
| tie reflection will dissipate such fears.
| Apples sell as readily now, and at as
good prices, as they did forty years ago,
yet there are millions of acres suitable
| to growing apples where there are hun
| dreds suitable to growing oranges, and
there are millions of apples on the mar
ket where there used to be one. Ii the
apple market cannot be SO overstocked
as to break it down, much less can the
Of the orange within the United States
is put down at 600, 900, 900 per annum.
A little above 50,00O,00 of that supply
is furnished at home the remainder, as
| shown in the custom houses, is made up
| from receipts from abroad. Florida fur
nishes about o7ae-taUeLfh of the supply,
eleven twelfths. The ease with which
it can effectually occupy the market
when its supply is sufficiently enlarged
| is shown in the fact that the foreign
| fruit is frequently sold in the market as
FLORIDA" fruit to procure for it a more
ready sale. Florida oranges are of a
better quality and richer flavor, and. the
| foreign article finds market only be-
| cause the home supply fails to meet the
| demand. And this demand is increas-
| ing almost as rapidly as orange trees in
Florida are multiplying.
| The pineapple, cocoanut, date palm,
! guava, pomgranate, mango, and other
| tropical and semi-tropical fruits flourish
in Florida, and are being largely grown.
| The staple commodities of Florida for
markets outside the State are enlarging
in number. The long and short staple
cotton, corn, rye, oats, rice, sugar, syrup,
tobacco, vegetables Of almost every va
riety, and fruits, tropical and semi,
i tTopical, as well as most Of those grown
III 81
l5ohge, illil Eel,
turpentine, resin, etc, are the most
prominent. The cereals grown In the
United States generally do well also in
Florida, with the exception, perhaps of
wheat, which is supposed to be more
subject to rust in Florida than further
north. For the want of proper mills for
converting the grain into -four, but few
experiments have been made in wheat;
but as it grows well in Egypt, climate
cannot be the difficulty.
One popularity of the Florida soil is
its easier culture than the stiff soils.
Another is that most of the farm labor
and tillage can be performed in those
months Of the year when the grounds
are frozen further north. Another pecu-
liarity is that the fertilizers are applied
with better effect, both because the ap-
plications are not carried away by rain
as frequently they are in hitler regions,
and because the more porous soil let's in
the atmosphere more readily to aid the
fertilizers in the work of decomposing
the minerals of the soil, and setting free
the good elements they contain for the
use of the crops grown.
FLoRIDA's FUTURE.
In the language Of Gen. Grant, Florida
ehas a great future before it. A penin-
sula stretching out from great conti-
nent like ours, affording unlimited de-
mand for all the semi-tropical produc-
tions it can supply, there is scarcely a
limit to it's resources. 1t is capable of
supplying all the oranges, lemons, pine
apples and other semi-tropical fruits
used in the United States; the 100000
600 of sugar now imported, material for
rope, bagging, loose mating, ETC., any
quantity of good pine and live oak timber,
rice, etc. It has an area greater than
New York, Massachusetts and Connecti-
cut combined, with deposits Of fertilizers
under and above it sufficient for many
generations. Florida to-day affords the
best opening in the world for young men
of small means and great energy
When the State shall be traversedl
from north to southb by the Intern ational
railroad, now in bdaily process OF con-
struction, iGs,development will be very
rapid. 1t would be difficult if not Inn
possible to find a more advantageous To-
cation for railroad, or one more certain
to ensure roads prosperity and Its be-
coming mine of wealth to its owners.
1t will bisect the entire orange belt for
distance of more than 200 miles, and a
large proportion of it's own land is capa-
BILE of producing oranges in abundance
and perfection. Its land grant OF over
5000, 900 Of acres of the finest and richest
lands in the State is of incalculable value
and ensures it's great wealth and pros
peritv. That it will do an enormous
business is evident from what has been
said above in regard to the State. Some
idea of what it will earn from the trans
portation of oranges alone may be in
ferred from the rate of freight paid upon
that fruit and from the remarkable facts