The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1899-05-31

HuQ uOue OIL us uEtVe SCdrVeu yet, Dul
the problem lis hard to solve. I vet
have that garden, and it is a cons tant
joy, with peas, beams, potatoes, onions
beets, cabbage, carrots and other
truck coming on, but while those
things comfort the stomach, they do
not cover the back, nor the feet, nor
the head. They do not pay taxes, nor
insurance, nor the preacher, nor the
doctor, nor the heathen-so all those
persons and things will have to go I'm
paid. Thank the Lord the fishing is
good. My boy caught black bass in
the lake the other day, which measur-
ed 81 inches long and 10 inches around
the waist, and caught Dream 91a
inches long and inches in width. We
won't starve.
Another mean thing the cold did for
us. Our guavaS were all killed down
into the ground, and that loud smell
ing fruit will not help out the dizziness
of the Latte summer months. l was
counting ON my guavas. 1 hope that
all who write to me about guavas this
year will inclose stamp for return post
age, since there will be no way for me
to get even. 1 am going to have plen-
ty of water melons, but / can't afford
to let Mr. Plant haul them. They cost
me too much Labor and besides, l will
have to keep a dog chained in my mel
on patch during every night of the
ripening seasOn-one of that IS litter
which Flirt presented me last year.
to keep off the four-legged cOons. This
is a hard country where cOOns destroy
your corn and melons, alligators catch
your hogs, feas eXterminate your lit
tie chickens, big chickens devaState
your garden, gOphers eliminate your
peas, mules eat your sand, cold nlps
your oranges, fire consumes your light
wood knots before you can haul them
in, and the tax collector sells your
little farm to the meanest bidder. Ii L
could be sure of a fortune and no trou-
bles elsewhere, l believe | would be
tempted to move again. There was q
man in Kansas who moved so often
that his chickens Learned whenever
they saw a covered wagon drive up
to the gate to- lie down and hold up
their legs to be tied. 1t is a fact that
| have moved so often during the last
dozen years that whenever we get set
tied Mrs. Sawyer says to me: ''Now
Thomas, dear, please put all the boxes
them handy when we move again"
Such little remarks worry me, so L go
right off down to my garden and COM
mune with my vegetables.
[ had almost forgotten to tell you
about the moles and salamanders, and
yet l am reminded of them every time
7 step out of the house. They under
mine your garden as some human
moles and salamanders undermine
your character-while you are asleep.
They have to be guarded against. Wise
men dispute about the age of the
earth and one set declares that the
mole is strictly ''bug eater" like John
the Baptist, while the other setdeclares
that he cooks vegetables with his
meat. Either the mole or some other
presidential little grounding ni'bbles
the sweet potatoes as they grow. Ii
it is not the mole, appearances are
greatly against him. believe him
guilty. He has undermined and caused
to wilt many a promising Irish potato
plant for me this season. but he was
probably searching for the grubs
which infest the stable manure [ used
as fertilizer. He does not eat the Irish
potato. but I certainly think him a pest
among the sweets.
We might call the mole, the gopher
and the salamander, the metallenta1
of Florida natural history. That hard
word is Greek, which | have been car
rying since 1868, and this is the first Op
portunity I have found to fire it at an
unprotected community, and since
may never have another chance to USE