Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-28

IL ~ N "A ~ Il
mercial fertilizer to keep 1t in good con-
dition Some of the farmers plant cow
peas and after cutting of the tops, which
| stalks under which furnish considerable
nitrogen to the soil.
That is the way they start truck
| farm. and the cost of cultivation Is
cept that labor is very scarce and poor
down here. Yet, after all, 1t Is the in
dvidual and not the soil or the climate
that produces the results I have de-
scribed. No fool or lazy man can sue
coed here better than anywhere else. 1t
Is hard work to raise vegetables and re-
qures intelligence and energy and bus-
does everywhere else. And We hear only
Of those who do succeed: the failures
float silently off with the tide.
Pecans, Oranges and Figs.
Farther eastward. up the coast near
Scranton and Ocean Spring. a great deal
of money is being made by cultivating
pecan nuts. for which there is great and
growing demand. They are worth from
30 cents to $50 pound. Mr. Boldt Of
the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel takes the en-
tire crop CT man named Delmas every
year at Scranton for TO cents pound. 1t
takes a good deal of money and about
seven years of time to bring a pecan
grove to the bearing stage of existence,
but after the trees have matured they
will continue bearing for general ions. The
American people are importing twenty
hVe million dollars worth of nuts a year
and the demand of the confectionerS
trade is growing rapidly; hence it is diff
fcult to conceive of a safer or simpler
investment pecan grove that is plant
ed today will be a perpetual income to
ones grandchildren, and very little labor
m
is 1t necessary for the owner to remain
here to look after it. although it is advis-
able 10 employ a responsible caretaker
Each tree will yield from SO to 500 a
year, and farmers cultivate vegetables
and berries between the rows of trees.
The satsuma orange is also being intro
duced very largely. 1t is seedless Japa-
neSe fruit resembling the mandarin. being
small, fat. OF fine fiber and filled with
juice. The flavor depends largely upon
the cultivation. 1t is what they call the
'.kid-glove orange" because lady can
peel and eat it by parting the segments.
if she is careful. without getting drop of
the juice upon her gloves.
1t Is easily cultivated is quite hardy,
and will stand II moderate frost. The
fruit ripens in September, which gives it
the first chance i'm the market. The sat
suma has not yet become commercial
product, but the trees that have been
planted along this coast during the last
few years are beginning to bear and the
been made this winter.
Figs of an excellent quality have been
raised here for generations. but they have
never been a commercial success because
of a superstition that they require human
companionship and will not grow any,
where except in the door-yard of a home.
l suppose that notion arose from some
early failures in planting fig orchards.
which were attributed to the contrariness
of the fruit; but within the last few years
several gentlemen in this vicinity have
demonstrated it's falacy by raising fine
crops in fields far away from human
dwellings. There is fig tree In almost
every kitchen garden and in the door
yard of almost every cottage along Mis-
sissippi sound, but few vines: and the
oyster packing houses have canned and
shipped good many figs each year
There is likely to be a rapid increase in
the business because the demand for pre-
served figs is unlimited and this is one
of the few places in the country where
they can be raised.
Scarcity Of Labor.
The labor problem perplexes people
down here just as it does everywhere
else. The white natives are reluctant
to work, the colored people are infected
with the same prejudice. and SO long
as they can catch all the mullet they can
eat in a few minutes at any time of day
in Mississippi sound, and can raise a few
vegetables back of the cabin with very
little effort there is no necessity for
them to exert themselves. And as one
philosopher expressed the situation:
mo niger has to work unless he has
to. has he?"
AS 1 told you in letter from New
Orleans, the experiment of importing
Italians has not been altogether success
full. Those who came three or four years
ago now discover that they could make
a great deal more money by leaving the
nj town.
they have started fruit stores, shoe shops
and various other little mercantile enter
prises, while quite as many OF them
have purchased tracts of land so that
their own masters. The Italians har-
monte with existing conditions. They
adjust themselves very readily to circum-
stances, and have no objections to work
ing with negro laborers. The average
Italian will do twice as much work as the
ordinary negro plantation hand. for
which he claims twice as much wages.
There are unions down here to COM
pei an employer to pay poor hand as
much as he pays a good one. but the
Italian is ambitious. and as soon he
gets acclimated and learns the business
he starts in for himself. And there is
still another difficulty which was care
fully explained by a planter of long ex-
perience the other day:
1T takes three Eyetalians to drive
mule" he said land sometimes six
There Is something unfriendly between
a dago and mule critter. 1 dunno what
it is, / have never been able to figure 1t
out, but we'll broke experienced, re-
spectacle mule wont let TO dago drive
him. and when there is teamin' to be
done. I'd rather have niger boy twelve
Eyetalian immigrant and he repeated
musngly. 1T takes three dagos to drive
one mule!