Panama City pilot., 1907-11-28
Truck Growing in West Florida.

Truck Growing in West Florida.
The land in West Florida is peculiar
ly adapted to the growing of early /.
vegetables, being naturally very rich |.
andrequiring bit little fertilizilg. The
climate is of such a semi-tropical ma
ture that trucking is carried on nearly,
or quite, all the year, every month
being especially suited to the produc-
ton of some crop. 1t will thus be
seen that the truckers have vegetables
or fruits of some kind to sell all the
year round, so that the returns from
the well conducted farm are constant.
Both climate and soil combine in max
ing this an ideal gardening country.
A man who came to West Florida
some four years ago for his health, and
who formerly lived in Michigan, told
me that he had not missed a month
in the past three years in which he
had not had something to ship to mar
ket from his fruit and vegetable farm.
81 came here from Michigan where |
| found my health gradually giving
away under the strain of the severe
winters, but since | came to West
! Florida | have scarcely had sick
day. In Michigan our harvest is near
| ly all in one or two months; here |
ship vegetables or fruits every month
in the year. From the best land on
my truck farm | realize $50 per acre
on snap beans, 500 on potatoes, So
on melons, $50 on early cabbage, and
in the late winter from $3.50 to $3.50
on cucumberS, squash and tomatoes. |
speak of the profit in mentioning the
above prices-that is, after paying all
expenses. | frequently sell as high
as 5000 worth of pears from a single
acre, and a small vineyard of four
acres of grapes usually brings me from
5000 to $500 annually. | can make
more in West Florida in one year than
| could make in five years in Michi-
gan"
In the same county | found another
man who said that for the past five
years he has grown WatermelOns and
cantalOupes very prOtitab-y, always
managing to get his crop started
early, SO as to reach the market be-
fore others. From a single acre he
usually sells from SIS to 5000 worth
of melons, this being the price after
deducting the cost of shipping. From
| his siX-acre vineyard he tells me he
usually sells 5000 worth of grapes, like
wise getting these to market early.
He has also made a success with cab
bage. and frequently gets $50 per
acre for his crops, the average never
falling below 500 per acre.
Mr. A. B. Edwars settled four years
ago, moving to West Florida from
Northern New York. Speaking of
the section in which be lives, Mr.
| Edwars said: Ever since coming to
! Florida | have been delighted, both
with the climate and the soil. The
! health of my family has greatly i'm
! proved since coming here, and | find
I that | can make more money in
! Florida in one year than could make
in New York state in five. Here |
realize about $3.50 per acre on cab
! bage above all expenses, about SO
! per acre on early melons, on cucum-
| bers and squash $50 to 5000 per acre,
and on snap beans about 90 per acre.
| have a fOur-acre pear orchard, from
| which | usually sell about $500 worth
of fruit every year, and from two
| acres in grapes | usually get about
| $3.50. | have travelled much in the
! United States; in fact, | spent nearly
a whole year looking about before |
! settled here, and | never seen a sec
/ ton with SO many possibilities as this
! for the man who will work.
/ Throughout Holmes and Jackson
counties are to be found some of the
! finest trucking and fruit lands in the
world, and some of the most inviting
homes, occupied by planters who are
getting rich from the garden and
orchard. At Cerro GordO, Mr.. Bald
J win said that he could make on an
average, one year with another, 500
per acre, clear of expenses, growing
snap beans, cabbage, melons, tOma-
! toes, squash and cucumbers, and on
pears and grapes he could average
not less than $3.50 per acre.
/ One trucker said that he usually
gets $50 per acre from tomatoes.
shipping the fruit in the season when
the markets are usually out and real
izing the highest prices. He stated
/ that cucumbers could always be
counted on to yield at least 500 per
acre, the crop being one of the surest
that could be grown.-Pensacola
Journal.