The Florida agriculturist., 1907-05-15
fernando County.

fernando County.
A citizen OF this State, writing to
Home and Farm says:
Florida, generally, is thought of as a
flat country, I believe, but we have
here a pretty rolling country, lying
along the western side Of the State,
from ten to twenty miles from the
Gulf; high, heathful and breezy in
summer and still far enough south to
be balmy in winter. These hills, too,
bear a more fertile soil than the sandy
flats of other portions less favored by
nature; but the locality has been very
little developed for want of railroad
facilities until now, when it is just
about to be opened up in good shape.
Down here, in the southern part of
Florida, we have "rainy season. from
about June to September-three
months, when it rains lots generally,
stops farm work and gives us an en-
forced rest before fall planting; also
it cools off the hottest months of the
year with so much water falling and
moving away.
Balance of the year seasonable show
winter we have had quite a drouth,
such as has not been known in a gen.
Grafton, cattlemen say. Very little corn
will be planted, for the first time in
many years. But big crops of cowpeas,
sweet potatoes, peanuts, and perhaps
velvet beans will be made to supply
the deficiency; the velvet bean, though,
takes longer time to mature good
crop, and ought to be planted in March
or April Nothing equal to this crop
for soil Improvement and cheap and
rich stock feed: it leaves them all in
the distance Seed beans cannot be
had here at $3.50 per bushe1 in the hull,
and thousands of bushels for seed could
probably be sold if to be had You
can turn three to five head of Door
steers on an acre Of velvet beans, and
in about sixty days realize nice profit,
both from extra weight and increased
pound price from improved condition.
Cassava is a good crop that is vet
to be grown on large scale here, but
will yield more starch and more a1co-
hol for denaturing to the acre than
any other, according to official reports.
Also excellent for fattening for cows,
hogs Or chickens. Lumber and turpen-
tine camps are the main business now.
Local truckers sell to them for cash at
high prices, and have good thing.
Farmers and others are coming in.
mostly from Southern States and the
rich possibilities of the soil begin to
appear Lands are cheaper than in any
other Southern State, probably and we
could stand few good two-horse-plow
farmers, [ believe. Retail living prices
are about like this: Flour, Sc Der bar
rel; meal and grits, 2 IL cents; rice.
cents to cents; sugar. Z cents; but
ter. 40 cents; cheese, 20 cents: lard
and cottolene, II 1-2 cents; cabbage, 4
cents per pound; bacon and hams, 20
cents; fresh meat, 10 cents to II cents:
eggs, 20 cents; chickens, 35 cents :
hens, 90 cents; hogs, 6 1-2 cents on
loot and cattle 1-2 cents to 4 cents,
and both in demand all the time. Car
penters and mechanics badly needed,
more houses wanted, people being turn
ed away for want of them Good
churches, good schools with free books,
good people and 'dry" county.
1t is SO easy to exaggerate about a
place and so hard to find out the facts
that l hope this will strike some who
really want to know without the ex-
aggeration.