The Florida agriculturist., 1889-12-25
For THE FLORIDA AGRICULTURIsT.
West Florida Matter.
THANKFUL FOR ABUNDANT CROPS. THE
IMPORTANCE OF PROPERLY SAVING AND
USING COTTON SEED.

The day set apart by our Chief Magis-
trates as a day of thanksgiving was OBJ
served pretty faithfully by our people,
for they feel that truly the harvest has
been an abundant one. The like offruits
and nuts can scarcely be remembered by
that wonderful parsonage "the Oldest in
habitant. Peaches, pears, plums, figs,
grapes, quinces-in fact all the fruits that
are wild or cultivated in this section have
been in the greatest prOfusiOn. We shall
have more varieties in cultivation when
the West Florida Fruit Growers Associa-
tion gets into good working order, SO
that trees can be had at living prices,
and enough fruit grown to bring a
market to us. We are out ofhome grown
fruit now except Calhoun county oranges,
and as they are selling at twenty cents
per dozen we can afford to eat oranges;
but they are not so sweet as the East
and South Florida Fruit We do get
dreadfully tired out with reading GLOW
shall we market our oranges?" Our
State agricultural papers have little else
now but oranges, oranges, oranges, till
one not interested in the business feels
like he has no part nor lot in the whole
State because he has no oranges. Our
generosity ought to enable us to be pa
tient with our fellow-citizens while they
discuss their one vital interest on their
side of this great State. On this side we
want to know more about how to mark
ct our short staple cotton and syrup.
The present years crop has goneinto the
hands of local merchants some time ago,
but what shall we do with the next crop?
We were under the impression at one
time that the owners of cotton mills
could be induced, even forced to send out
buyers to the cotton States and buy
from the growers direct, and that the
transportation could be so arranged
that it would not be necessary to break
bulk till delivered at the mills. Now that
kind dofmarketing is worth talking about
and writing about and cultivating cOttoI
to sell; but alas, so far tits a fOrlorn hope
and the same old order of five rsix steps
on the ladder of trade is still observed
and observe another point in the business
too, and that is that the grower is always
the bottom of the ladder, and when the
money is handed down from the top it il
wonderfully diminished in bulk by the time
he gets his hand on it. Itstrikes me tht
question what shall we do with cotto1
seed" is one that might be prOftably dis
cussed. 1t is conceded | believe that only
one third of the weight of seed cotton is
lint. Now when it is considered that
every five hundred pound bail leaves be-
hind it a thousand pounds of seed, and
that thousands of bales are annually
produced in this section, is it not won
derful that there is not home market
for them? But there is a home market
after most ruinous pattern, and thatis
selling them to local merchants to bt
shipped to the mills, and in the spring
buying commercial fertilizers to replace
them. OF course all the money, if any
is received for them, is spent before the
fertilizer time comes around again, and 6
mortgage must be made to secure the
man who bought the seed and sells the
Commercial" This merchant supplies
most of the provisions that farmers use
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