The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1910-04-17

In this day of high prices for the
most common necessities, and with
the prices growing higher, the people
are beginning to think there is but one
way out of the difficulty and that IS
to get back to the land.
Many inhabitants of the cities, north
and west, are looking towards the
sunny south with longing in their
hearts for a home in the equable
climate where fuel is cheap and where
food can be grown by themselves on
their own land.
Some have tried the experiment
with varying success, others have be-
come discouraged after few months,
or perhaps year or two of effort re-
sulting mostly in failure and have re-
turned to the old way of hunting JoD.
They came filled with the idea that
all one had to do was to put seeds into
the ground and that soon they would
have a luxuriant garden; that fruit
trees OF all varieties would grow and
bear in from two to three years, with
very little cultivation. This idea is
prevalent more particularly of Florida,
and there Is a reason for ii.
All the magazines picture this state
as the land of flowers; the trees and
shrubs as luxuriant and ever green;
the magnolia, cape jassamine and bay
tree are shown in their perfection.
The celery lands are widely adver-
tised; the citrus fruits are used as
illustrative of the fertility of the soil,
and reading and hearing of this won
derful varsity, beauty and perfection
of Florida products, the home-seeker
comes to this land of promise and
sees, in many instances, wide ex-
panse. of sandy soil utterly unlike any
thing he has known, north or west.
He starts to work bravely and
plows deep. They always pillow deep
back home" he says, then he sows his
seed and awaits the result hopefully,
but alas, instead Of the luxuriant gar
den he has dreamed of and worked for,
he sees few tiny plants which stand
few days, sometimes but a few hours
and then turn yellow and disappear.
He asks his neighbors the cause.
They reply, 'The land is sour
He looks about hi mand sees very
few gardens worthy the name. No
one seems able to tell him anything
practical and finally he writes to the
experiment station of West Florida,
saying: 'T am from the north and
find the soil and conditions entirely
different from anything 1 have ever
known. What crops or garden truck
can I raise here in West Florida
What Is to be done to get the soil In
bearing condition." And the reply
comes, 1T depends on what you want
to raise"
Great help that
This is not felton, but an actual
fact.
This particular homeseeker. not
being of the easily discouraged variety
began experimenting and every yea,
made a success of something; always
keeping a note book in which all sue
cesses, and, which is really of more
Importance, all failures We're jotted
down, with the reason for the failure
if known, and now each year sees
fewer failures and more successes.
This month book was sent me en-
titled, "The Lure of the Land, a Cal
to Long Island" that is as interesting
as a novel.
This book is published by the rail
roads experiment station, Nos. ant
2, and is written by Edith Loring Full
lerton, wife and equal partner of H
B. Fullerton, the manager of the ex
pertinent stations.
This book is a complete guide tt
farming and truck gardening; it tell:
of the composition of the soils in the
two stations, of the food needed fol
certain plants and how to supply it
1t gives an account of the benign anC
and malign insects and how to conquer
the latter; in short, the book tells the
story of the making a paradise OF
earth from the raw material, and are