The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1891-08-08
W. Fl. LAWRENCE, Editor.
Lake View Farm. s Miles North Tallahassee
Among the Tobacco Growers OF Gads
den County.

Make XII )Wu Tue CIOpo SIOWu IL
this county and those grown il
Gadsden county, then start blind
man out and by feeling he can tel
when he is in Gadsden county. Or
this side of the Ocklocknee he will
feel cotton and corn, corn and cot
ton, then cotton, cotton, cot
ton. On the side tobac-
co and watermelons, he will
hear the hum Of voices over there;
here silence prevails to an alarm
ing extent. In fact he will travel
a "howling wilderness" so to speak
before he reaches the settlements"
When once there he will hear the
voices of white people in round
numbers, especially if he is started
out so that he will traverse eastern
Gadsden county and south Thomas
county, Georgia, as we did last Sat-
urday and Sunday. Up in that
direction is the place for 1mmigra-
ton Irsch to go and make pur-
chase Of acres by the thousands.
Let him call on W. R. Wilson, for
instance, and he find the owner of
lands galore-lands that are doing
no man, woman or child on Ameri-
can soil one particle Of good, fnan-
cially speaking, not even COW or a
sheep for we did not see a hoof
We lost thousands of dollars, pas
sing along this section by not having
cattle enough to eat the succulent
grass we saw going to waste.
The Gadsden, Leon, Thomas and
Decatur counties Tobacco Associa
ton held a meeting at Jesse OAR
cey's school house over in Georgia
and there is where we were headed.
Never miss a tobacco meeting when
there is steam, mule or horse power
to be had to take us to it.
We are proud to know that we are
humble member of this band of fifty
odd that assembled there last Satur-
day these were only "sprinkle"
from one side of one county and
a few from another, their names are
legions) and it was our pleasure to
make a talk to them on Georgia
soil.
Not Sixteen days in Georgia" but
one day convinced us that "weuns"
are sorely and sadly behind the
times and that we will have to use
catsup (catchup) three times day
to get up with them in tobacco
growing and in fact most any other
growing. There shotgun farming
does not prevail. Every farmer has
a rail fence, staked and ridered, or
wire, he does not roam the country
with shot gun at Fright shoulder
shift " ready at moments notice to
shoot down his neighbours COW. He
fences his cattle and his crop just
like other well-to do farmers are
doing today with a few exceptions
AS we have said thousand times
relative to tobacco: Gadsden county
is our schoolmaster and she is a
"plumb" good one. This makes the
fifth time we have been to school to
her and it does our very soul good
to see the progress they are making.
1t is surprising to look back three
years and then look at them to-day.
Every time we 60 there we learn an
indefinite amount Of information-in
formation that every tobacco grower
ought to have in the front part Of
his head every day from the time he
sows his seed bed until the gold and
silver jingles in his pockets for the
proceeds of the same.
They are progressive people, not
only in tobacco but most all Other
kinds of farming, and it does seen
strange, passing strange, that mere
ly crossing the Ocklocknee rive
makes such q difference, but it does
beyond the question of doubt.
To-day this and other counties il
Middle Florida have better lands
than they dare have, but there art
so many that do not appreciate tn
fact and are not improving the op
portunities given to them. We liv'
in hope that it will not always b.
"thusly."
To say that they are "chock full
and running over" is no name for i
when attending to tobacco
Every available building tina
has roof on it is hung full. Said
our friend Tom Burns as we drov
up for the night, "don'o know wha
/ can do for that mule, stalls, shed
and all are full of weed" He ha,
to turn his horses and cows out O
doors to make room to hang his to
bacco and expected to have to u.s.
his home to hang his sucker crop
We passed fine residence, neatl,
painted, with nice surroundings
Long boards were set up to the wiz
dows. Said our companion, Benz
Fairbanks Wonder what ther
boards mean ?" "Got tobacco j