The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1889-01-23
Our Pineland Soil.

Our Pineland Soil.
Last week we stated in these columns
that the pine lands of our coast belt are
everything they should befor truck-farm-
ing Though naturally not SO rich as the
lands in some other regions, they are rich
enough, for no lands are naturally sufi-
GENTLY rich to meet the requirements Of
the trucker-he must make up his soil to
the required standard. While it may call
for little heavier manuring the first sea-
son to bring these lands up, when onceup
they are as easily kept to theproper de-
gree of fertility as would be the lands of
any other locality, etc. We now have be-
fore us statement published by Mr.. q.
l.. Brown, a prominent New York truck
farmer, which makes our position entirely
plain. Mr.. Brown writes of the farmers
raising truck to be sold on the New York
city markets. He says, through the
Fruit Recorder, that any Industrious and
intelligent man, suitably located, may
soon realize a fortune by cultivating five
or six acres to truck. But to do this he
must raise great crops. The money is
made solely by heavy use of manure
No depending upon natural fertility will
do in any case. Say, for instance, a gar
dener puts one acre to beets. His land is
supposed to be naturally rich, so he APP
plies no manure. Under the best of tillage
his land will yield about two hundred
bushels of beets worth, say 500. Here
are the figures in his case:
200 bushels of beets, worth. ....... 500 90
Flowing twice W
Seed and sowing 10 %
Weedlng. ~ w
harvesting w
Iota w
$5l co
This would not begin to do for truck
farming, says Mr.. Brown, SO he puts his
gardener to fertilizing, making him apply
fifteen cords Of stable manure to his acre.
This gives him four hundred bu3hels of
beets, worth, at the present prices, 5000.
The figures in this last operation would
stand thus:
400 bushels of beets worth 5000 90
Fifteen cords manure, at SIS per
cord ....................... 90
Flowing Twice :....................-........ w
Seeding and sowing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. 10 90
WeedlnS ~ w
Harvesting. ............................ 90
Total ............................. .$121 90
w
This makes a much better showing,
still it is entirely too light for truck-farm-
ing. This man did not use enough ma
nure; for best results he should have used
double the above quantity. Mr.. Brown
then proceeds to figure up his operations
with thirty cords of manure:
Thirty cords OF manure, at SIS per
cord. $3.50 90
Flowing twice w
Seed and sowing. 10 OO
Wedding. ~ w
Harvesting. ...~............ ............. 16 90
Total cost. w 90
900 bushels of beets, worth. $3.50 90
Profit $246 90
At this rate the profit on six acres of
land would be 81 ,476, which looks lit
tie more like business, compared to 1921,
the profit on six acres OF best naturally
rich land without manure.
OF course beets might not be the crop
we would raise here in the coast belt, but
no matter-heavy manuring would do on
any other truck crop the same way. We
have given the figures on beets simply be-
cause Mr.. Brown happened to do so. Mr..
Brown is excellent authority, and hence
we cannot at all doubt the correctness of
this showing.
The truck-farmer in the coast belt pine
country is able to do even better on his