The sea coast echo. [volume] (Bay Saint Louis, Miss.) 1892-current, 1909-01-23
e. N. AGENT SUBMITS REPORT
70 Secretary Of Biloxi Commercial
Club-Coast Soils Valuable for Cit
rus Fruits, Radishes, Lettuce, irish
Potatoes, Strawberries and Cabbage.
Transportation Facilities.

Bay st. Louis, Miss, Jan. II, 1909
Mr.. D. L. Mitchell, Secretary Biloxi
Commercial Club, Biloxi, Miss:
Dear Sir-Yours of the 9Th inst.
concerning the fertility of the sol
adjacent to your city and it's adapta
bility to the culture of fruits and veg
etables, will say that I found while
| there. within the small area that
came under my observation, a variety
of soil each of which are admirably
adapted to the culture of certain pro
ducts.
| The highland, as you know, is the
| sand land and is best calculated fol
| the growing of citrus fruits, radishes
| lettuce and Irish potatoes, four OF the
| best paying crops produced in the
| South, the latter three of which come
l in at time with the least competi
ton in the Northern market; the
| success met with by your orange
growers. is as we'll known to you
as it is to me.
| While the sandy land mentioned
above is also good cabbage land, it is
not as valuable as land with clay
| sub-soil because of the fact that an
immense amount of fertilizer is need
| ed to mature a cabbage crop.
a clay sub-soil holds the fertilizer
| better and cabbage grown upon such
/ land can be grown at lesser ex-
! pense because thereof.
| lie lower lands within the vicin-
! ity of your city upon which water
does not stand for any length of time
after a heavy rain is ideal for straw
Gerry growing.
| Strawberries grown in the altitude
lions being normal, with the proper
, selection of varities could be placed
| II the Northern markets as early as
March 18th, at time when car loads
could be disposed of around 25c per
quart.
The gray sandy surface with clay
sub-soil found so abundantlv in that
vicinity is ideal strawberry land
The sub-soil of this land is near
enough the surface that the roots of
the strawberry plants will enter this
clay sub-soil and the plants will not
die from the drouth (should dry sea-
son Gomez which is not the case with
deep sand. There is enough gray,
sandy surface to form a warm soil
and mature the strawberries at the
proper time. This same class of land
and you have considerable of it, still
i little lower than that which is suit
..ble for strawberries, is especially
adapted to the growth of cucumbers.
/ Will state, broadly, that the Biloxi
section possesses all the advantages
Tor truck farming possessed by any
JUher point along the Gulf Coast, or
POINTS in South Baldwin county, Ala,
and will produce with the same cul-
-GiVatlon and fertilization, as great a
s reid as points above mentioned or
Southern fruits and vegetables.
In addition to this the trucker at
Biloxi would have sale at Biloxi
gd local Gulf points for a great
lany packages of his fruits and veg
etables.
In addition to the advantages pre-
sented as to altitude, latitude, rain
tall, topography and season of matur-
lCy of crops, the trucker who locates
at Biloxi has the advantages of eli
mate superior to Southern California
II East Florida. He lives in an at
-losphere that the Northern tourist
comes thousands of miles to enjoy
aaring the winter season, and the
Ueaithy people of New Orleans and
lie interior towns of the South seek
daring the summer months.
| have never been able to under
and, with Long Beach on one side,
u you that ships scores upon scores
cf cars of vegetables each winter and
spring, with Theodore and points on
the other side that ships hundreds
0t cars of potatoes, cabbage, ETC., why
5iloxi has remained so long simply
Is winter resort and an oyster town.
mere are no vegetables grown in
The semi-tropical climate of our Gulf
| Coast States, except pinapple, that
caunot be grown, and grown success
Lully from a financial standpoint, at
BIoxi.
IN addition to all these natural ad-
>antages the truck growers at Biloxi,
! ike the truck grower at other points
sportation facilities in the South.
He SHIPS his perishable stuff, when
refrigeration is necessary, in the
oest refrigerator car built, insuring
safe arrival of contents to destina-
ion, be that destination Boston or
! Duluth. He ships his stuff in a re-
! frigeratOr car when refrigertion is ne
/ cessary, at a cost for refrigeration OF
practically only the wholesale cost
! Of ice. This great advantage not pos
/ sessed by truckers who grow fruits
ana vegetables along railroad sys-
/ TEN that does not operate its own
refrigerator cars.
Rapid transportation of perishable
strff, perfect cheap refrigeration, are
clements always considered by the
man who engages in the fruit and
vegetable business
Again, practically every city in the
Central North that draws upon our
territory for its supplies, is reached
by passing over but two railroad sys-
TENS, the advantage of which is well
Anown to all shippers of perishable
stuff.
NV, as to the best method of in
dueing northern immigration.
Many Northern people visit Biloxi
dHlipg the winter season.
Had your people vegetable gardens
properly managed in the vicinity of
sodr town, your hotels and boarding
/ houses drawing their numerous sup
] lilies from these gardens, would, in
itself, be great advertisement.
/ would suggest to your club that
you select a piece of land or pieces
of land, and grow potatoes and straw
berries in quantities sufficient to load
cars, which in itself would not only
be a paying investment, but would
also be an object lesson to the pros
pective nomeseekers. would also