The National tribune., 1909-07-29
A New Workers. opinion of Florida.

A New Workers. Opinion of Florida.
| Testimonials as to what is possible
in Florida are abundant, and The Ma
tonal Tribune could fill columns with
them, but quotation or two from the
pen of E. P. Powell, the well-known
| New York farmer and writer on agri-
cultural topics, will suffice. Mr.. Powell
went to Florida in 1904. Speaking after
| four years of experience on a 10-acre
farm in a letter to Country Life in
America" he saws:
| Florida cultivated with brains can
do almost anything. 1t did not take
me long to form the conviction that no
State in the Union has more elements
of prosperity in climate and soil than
Florida. One of the first things that
you will discover when you discuss hor-
ticulture and agriculture, is the pre-
dominance of the cannot
The Northern farmer who does not
care to raise garden crops or orchard
fruits can try timber raising. The ca
alpa does finely in Florida, and it bids
fair to become the great National tim
ber tree, to furnish the railroad ties
and telephone poles of the future. Of
nut trees, the pecan is most promising,
but the hickory is all right and the Eng
l1Sh and japanese walnutS take well to
the soil. A man can easily combine
this industry with fruit-growing.
Hogs can be fattened at trif1ing
expense, altho hundreds of carloads of
pork are still imported into the State.
Cattle can browse in the woods the
whole year thru, and it is a curious fact
that the pine woods furnish a rich
fodder grass, after being annually
burned over.
Hens know no Waiter here. Their
vitality is not used up in defending
themselves against zero weather. The
hens rpnIlira l1afp IN fn1l 4
of cassava and another of COW peas.
These. with sweet potatoes and Irish
potatoes constitute all necessary food,
except what they themselves gather.
"Cassava is grown easily to yield
three to 15 tons per acre. From it is
manufactured starch, at sS per ton. and
yet it is more valuable as stock feed
One farmer said to me: 1t takes six
NILS OF corn to make meal for a horse;
1t takes only two hills of cassava. For
NY horse l sprinkle a little meal over
the cassava, and it makes a perfect ra-
ton
You can secure a flowing well any,
wncre in these truck farm sections by
boring from % to 80 feet. 1t is a curl
Gus sight to note every dooryard turned
into lettuce patch, irrigated by water
flowing from these shallow wells. Land
IS increasing in price, but it is stin
cheap enough even in the trucking
Counties-from SO to $40 per acre.
The problem for the farmer in the
North is what to do about the hard
Winters. They demoralize all but the
most vigorous. Special diseases take
advantage of our devitaliZed condition
and after 80 years of age We dread the
approach of the blizzard months in the
North. / can say honestly and advised
iy to host of Northern farmers, Go to
Florida When you get there, be will
have to spend a month getting ready
for Winter, and another month getting
ready for Spring. You can grow some
thing at all seasons. If frost does oc-
cur once or twice in the Winter, II does
little damage"
In letter written Christmas to the
Unity, of Chicago, he said:
Il have resolved this morning to run
the risk of meeting a blizzard, and tell
you how some of your readers might
get away from zero weather and spend
their Winters happily. Imagine us with
our coats off and our vest, too, clad
Just as thinly as possible, making gar
den at any time of the year, and equally
at any time enjoying garden stuff We
have green peas climbing up, with po-
tatoes of both kinds growing, of course,
any quantity of lettuce, celery and what
our mothers called sass. There is no
end of oranges, and the best of them
lie on the ground just as apples do in
the North These we are privileged to
pick up, whether we own them or not.
Grapefruit is just as plentiful, and l can
see three or four groves where 1 sit die
tating this letter. 1t is a wonderful
sight to see the trees, loaded with gold
en- balls and bending till they touch the
ground
I'VE can pick 20 varieties of roses.
Including magnificent Marechal Neils
as big as your fist. The Gamma bed gives
us huge clusters. and the chrysanthe-
NUNS have not got quite thru blooming.
We are succeeding admirably in doing a
ment said we could not do Among
the rest We are growing apple trees,
with system of heavy mulching, Just
as well as we grow them in New York
We have no coal bills and cannot
wear out our clothes. and half a fellow
can grow his own vegetables, eggs,
chickens, fruit-everything but a little
sugar and meal. with the stuff that the
women use TO make pies and puddings
light and digestible. / have one big
watermelon vine growing as an expert
ment; but, as a rule, we do not plant
them until February. Bees work all
Winter, and you ought to see an orange
grove in blossom and full of these
honey-makers. 1t sounds as IL they
thought il was Paradise. / brought my
coiiies with me, and they also vote that
Florida is great"
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