The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1908-02-09


that there is. enough timber standing
to last at least twenty-five years. By
that time, Florala will have long since
reached is maturity, and while it is
true the variety of timber produced
about Florala is in such great guam
tity as to make numbering and the
manufacturing OF tar and turpen-
tine important occupations, there will
have been enough manufacturing in
dustries of various kinds organized
in Florala within twenty-five years as
to make the departure of the saw
mills unnoticed 1t will be but a sur
vival of the fttest.
As an instance of how productive
the soil about Florala is, l desire to
show the following, as coming from
Mr.. J. Z. Hughes, and which appeared
in the Florala Gazette a few years
ago:
'fMr. John Williams has lately been
experimenting with velvet beans, not
ing their food value for stock, and as
a fertilizer for land.
Il. wish to give a detailed state
ment as to his planting and cultivat-
ing the bean and corn together l
will first state that his land is poor,
sandy land, which, in is natural state,
would not produce over Eve bushels
of corn per acre. Four years ago Mr..
Williams began cultivating the velvet
bean
His method is first to break the
land very deep. say ten or twelve
inches This holds the moisture for
the plant to feed upon in case of
drouth. He plants his beans and corn
together. This he does by laying off
his rows eight feet apart, putting the
corn three feet in the drill. Between
the eight feet rows he plants a row
of velvet beans. The vines now cover
the entire distance between the rows
and are two feet deep The corn has
large stalks, averaging one and one
half ears to each stalk, and the blades
are green from bottom to top.
There are twenty-seven acres in
the field, and Mr.. Williams makes a
calculation like this: The beans will
fatten two head of cattle TO the acre.
The cows will average eating one
bushel of beans per day: it will take
sixty days to fatten, which makes
sixty bushels of beans to fatten cows.
Thus % acres will fatten 81 head of
cattle, making an increase in valua-
ton of $500 on the head; the "a he
making an increase in valuation of
1910. The beans are worth So per
acre as fertilizer, made by storing
nitrogen and turning under leaves and
vines as humuS matter in the soil.
The field of 81 acres will amount TO
Sf35 in fertilizer valuation. The in
creased fertilizer valuation added to
the increased value of cattle, make a
total value increase of S405. This is
the bean valuation. The corn will
average 40 bushels per acre, now
planted and cultivated as above
stated, where four years ago. cuftii
waited the old way, five bushels was
the average per acre. Now to value
the corn at so cents per bushel will
make total value of corn 500; add
this to the value of bean crop and we
have the total value of crop $1,045.00.
Note the improvements of land and
valuation of crops within four years.
We have the land we have the eli
matte conditions in our favor; we have
improved implements for labor saw
ing-we have everything for making
old Mother Earth blossom and fruit
almost like the garden of Eden
The average price of lands about
FlOrala to-day range in price fromS5
10 S25 per acre, according 10 location,
improvements, etc. However the
phrase, according to location" is