The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1893-08-30
STOP THE DRAIN OF GOLD.

harping of the "drain of gold from Eng
land;' it was his sole theme of conversa-
tion and his constant nightmare. The
country, in his opinion, was going to the
demnition bow-wows at a Nancy Hanks
gait because the gold would be drained
from England.
Now, the AGRICULURIsT is not an
alarmist, it does not think that Florida
or any other section of the country is
going to the demnitiOn boW-wOws or any
other kind of bow-wows, but it cOnfesses
to very marked degree of fear that our
State will never attain that degree Of
prosperity to which she is entitled until
something is done to stop the drain OF
gold Tor Sherman certifcates) from the
State. This is a vital question. 1t mat
tiers not how much we produce and what
we get in currency for our productions,
it will profit us but little if the sum to-
tai is sent out of the State. AS rule
the money we realize from our crops goes
North or West to purchase articles and
products that could be easily and profit
ably grown or manufactured in Florida.
If these things were produced here the
money, instead of going abroad to IN
crease the prosperity of other sections,
would remain within our own borders
and assist in the development and up
building of the State. True, we are
coming to the realization OF the fact
that ,,,o oo, ,1rod,1co6 M anv of the thinOS
that for years we have been purchasing
elsewhere and paying freight equal to
the original cost of the articles Only
a few years ago hay and forage was
very large item-and it still is-but OF
late years our people have been produc-
ing largely of this commodity. Corn and
other grain was a prolific cause OF our
depleted exchequers. We refer especially
to the southern section Of the State
known as the orange region. In this
section of late years the orange growers
to some extent have turned their atten-
ton to the raising of corn. Many OF
them planting it between the rows OF
their young orange trees and have no
difficulty in producing crops that pay
we'll for the time and labor expended.
Near DeLand there is a large grower
who produces about thirty bushels OF
corn per acre between the young trees
and harvests enough each year to teed
the MANY head of stock he owns. An
other grower we know has cleared ten or
twelve acres of hammock land, and at a
small cost produced thirty or forty bush
els of corn per acre-enOugh and more
than enough to carry him through the
year. This is one way to stop the drain
of gold the fear of which caused Mr..
Bopo much trouble. 1t is, in our opln-
ion, the only way
There is another channel through
which the gold flows from our State
northw ard in constant and increasing
stream from May to September This
is the spending of the summer in the
North. Of course every mans money is
his own and he has the right to use it as
he pleases, but Florida as State Will
never prosper so long as tens OF theus-
ands of dollars are annually spent IN the
summer visits North" 1t is tax that
the wealthiest country on earth could
not stand. From the little town OF De-
Hand. a place of perhaps three thousand
lnonulati0n. it is estimated this summer
lat least $40, 900 or 1000 has been car
lried away by those who visited the North
land who will bring nothing back with
4, VI &c IL 11Cf co