The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1885-01-07
84
Florida Horticulture-An Lions.

q
Ii. ii. Alden, q vegetable gardener and
fruit grower. He says that in Florida
very decided climatic variations will be
found in going short distances in 'lati-
tude. For instance, at Townsville, lust
inside the Georgia line, the favorite
peaches for shipment to the North are
the Alexander, Beatrice, Amsden, and
Briggs Early May; whereas at this place
only about go miles south of that, these
varieties will not fruit. He tried them
all at Kingsley Lake, a region very favor
able to the peach, about five miles dis
tant from Lawtey, and in the course OF
six years he never got a peach. But the
Peento will fruit in two years, and the
Honey peach and the natives (of various
kinds 10 remarkably well here. Peento
is a large yellow peach with blushing
cheeks, which has ripened as early as
April p, but generally comes in May
Two weeks later comes the Honey, a
very sweet peach, too sweet for the Bos-
ton market, though it sells tolerably well
in New York and Philadelphia. Then
the native peaches ripen along until
large. The native Floridians classify
their fruit only as "clar- stones" and
presses" The native free-stones are
of many varieties, white and yellow;
not infrequently as large as mans fist.
They sold in Lawtey last summer as low
as 30 cents bushel, from that up to 81.
There are few native trees in this vi
cinity called the October peach (gener-
ally ripe about September 25) he has
known clump of three or four of these
which have borne regularly the last sew
Ell years. They are of good quality.
The native Floridians were at first
strenuously opposed to allowing their
seedlings to be budded. They insisted
that the stones of budded peaches would
not produce their own kind, while those
from their seedlings would But they
are changing their minds now.
In 1879 Mr.. Alden planted quarter OF
an acre in the open field to cucumbers.
1t was tract which had been cultivated
about twenty years without any manure
since the original cow-pen, and was
SO poor and run down that it would
not sprout cow-peas" (the Florida ex-
preston to denote extreme poverty.
As a fertilizer he used single wagon
load of muck, on which the soap-suds
and Stops of the house had been thrown
for some time. OF this he put about two
quarts in hill. In addition to this he
used commercial fertilizer to the value
fenced no trouble whatever from insects,
except from the white cricket. This
cricket has long underground passage
leading to chamber in which it depos-
its the leaf-cuttings, and little farther
on is another chamber, apparently serv-
ing as dormiGory.
From this quarter-acre he sold 100
crates (of a bushel each) at 81 a crate,
beside about % bushels of culls, and two
barrels for picking. The freight charge
was 10 cents a crate. The crates he
made himself. The quarter-acre, there
fore, Melted him $12S.50, saying nothing
about the culls and the pickles" When
the cucumbers were gone, he straight
ened the vines into rows, made ridges
over them, and grew 35 bushels of sweet
potatoes as a second crop.
Another year he planted, in Decem-
Der, 80 hills of cucumbers under glass.
This required 80 sashes, costing about
something like $3.50 apiece. He used
less than So worth of commercial fertil-
izer. Owing to the earliness of the sea-
son and the absence of bees, he was
obliged to impregnate the female bios
SONS with camel's-hair pencil. From
the 80 hills he sold 25 crates of cucum-
bers at $40 a crate, and Is crates at pri-
ces ranging from 81 down to S. crate,
as they advanced. His receipts, there
fore, were $40, from which must be de-
Quoted cost of sashes and freight charge
as above.
In addition to the cucumbers, under
these sashes he also started, in 1 inch
pots, enough cucumber plants to set 2 !
acre (for open air culture), and enough
tomato plants to set acres. These GU
cumbers, being ahead of his neighbours
who planted their seeds in the open field,
brought him $3.50 a crate. But the to-
matoes were not very profitable. Flor
ida tomatoes, before being shipped to
New York, have to be wrapped in tissue
paper, like oranges, each one by itself.
Mr. Alden intends to grow cucumbers
under glass this winter on larger scale
than before.
Cucumbers, Hubbard squashes, mel
ons, &C., have no insect enemies which
prey on the foliage (the mole cricket
sometimes takes the seed when planted
very early, except the red spider, which
destroys them as hot weather comes on.
But second crop can be grown in au-
tumn. OF a crop OF Hubbard squashes
ripened about July 4, Mr.. Alden's family
cooked the last about ten days ago.
Mr.. Alden related little history OF
the ant-lion which is interesting. 1t is a
black insect which has habit of snap
ping like the snapping-bug with which
your Northern readers are familiar. BY
this swapping motion it rounds out fun
mel shaped depression in the sand about
two inches in diameter, the sides slop-
ing down as steep as the sand will lie.
Underneath the bottom of this funnel
the ant-lion lies in wait. When an ant
runs into the funnel, the sand, sliding
down, generally carries it to the bottom,
where the little insect seizes it. If the
ant attempts to climb up, and is likely
to eScane the ant-linn sets III q NionrOuS