The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1889-01-16

1t is often inquired by those residing in
the North and West, who propose to set
tie in this State-"Can as O. farmer sue
coed in Florida?" The answer about to
be made applies, with equal force, to
those already here but who have not yet
solved, one way or the other, that very
important problem. Success in agricult-
ure, as in other pursuits, depends more
on the man than on his surroundings !;
and important as may be certain cOndi-
tiOns of soil and climate, it is nOtdepend-
ent so much on these as upon the skill
and tact and physical vigor of the indi-
vidual himself. This may appear like a
vague, indefinite statement, butinstances
to illustrate it are not by any meansla lack
ing.
There are many who come to Florida
and fail to make farming profitable, as
has been the case with them everywhere
else, and doubtless will be, as long as they
live. Advice to this class is useless-en-
tirely thrown away-in other words, they
lack inherently the elements of success.
But there is much larger class, who,
upon coming here, speedily acquire a
competence, although they have never
been able to prosper elsewhere. In less
than a decade many men accumulate
fortunes, as they are estimated in rural
circles, who could never make ''both ends
meet" whence they came; and moreover
this result may be achieved with but half
the toll for which but a mere subsistence
could be gained in other places.
None, however, may escape the original
curse, imposed in the dawn of creation.
There can be no success anywhere without
labor, no matter what may be the amount
of natural talent or special fitness one
may possess for his chosen vocation.
Labor is the tombstone of Wealth-it is
the price paid for prosperity here, as in
other sections of the world, except that
i'll Florida there are favOring circum-
stances to aid manual labor, almost to-
tally absent in all other sections of the
land. Some of these advantages may be
named: Among them are the curative
influences of the climate-cOntinuOu sue
cession of crops during the entire year
one of these when impossible anywhere
else in the Union, consequently very valu-
able for the prices realized; constant ia
cilities for outdoor labor in winter, and a
variety of tropical productions that can
not be grown in any other section OF the
country, scarcity creating demand and
keeping up values.
The question of success in one case and
failure in another is matter furnishing
much food for serious thought. Two men,
for instance, settle down side by side on q
tract of Florida land. They have the
same kind of soil, are equal in cash re-
sources, commence operations together,
and are affected by other conditions pre-
cisely alike; yet in a few years, while one
will be far advanced on the road to fort
une, with comfortable home and a val
liable property, the other will have failed
and moved away-his farm sold for taxes
and his furniture parted with to ward off
starvation. He naturally curses the
State and says: 'Nobody can live in
Florida" while his neighbor blesses the
day he came, and eXclaims Eureka
I've found it at last-this is the place fo1
me-" And thus it is in every sphere Of
life.
1t is not that elusive thing called luck
nor yet to any very great extent of mere
pluck, so much as it is of brains, that en-
ables man to prosper in Florida. Nc
prediction may be absolutely correct as
to individual cases, but taken collectively
and in a general sense it may be safely as
serted that the great majority who SETTLE
here very materiallybetter their condition
The farmer who comes to Florida must &C
back to the very alphabet of his agricult
ural knowledge, and learn anew the
whole art as it applies to this semi-tropi
cal region, and this is just where his keen
ness of perception and aptitude for new
ideas, If he have them, will serve him best
He muSt abandon the idea Of raising