The Marietta journal and courier. (Marietta, Ga.) 1909-1918, 1910-12-02
COLONEL PAT GREEN
WRITES OF FLORIDA.
Iells Wonderful and In
teresting things About the
Land of Flowers.

ID dueHtOWh, Fla, NOV. y, 1910.
Editor Journal and Courier:
Complying with your request when
| left Marietta, l am writing you about
tlorida-at least Southwest Florida.
First of all, this climate seems just
suited to the health of our entire fam
lily. Mrs. Green has gained very per-
ceptibly in strength and weight since
coming here and is very much better
than she has been for several years.
The fall weather here has been de-
hghttul. We have had cool nights
and mornings for the last month, and
overcoats have been much in evil
dence.
1t seems rather odd that these
autumn days, when people are think
ing of Thanksgiving and Christmas,
should be the planting season here.
People are now busy planting their
crops just as we do in North Georgia
in March and April. The crop now
being planted will be harvested in
January and February, and new crops
then planted on the same land. The
second crops will be taken off by
the first to the tenth of June, and
then those who feel disposed to dc
any more work in one year will plant
third crops in sorghum, rice or other
hay crops, corn, etc. The resting sea
son is July and August, just before
or ri inn 81
The hammock lands now used fol-
trucking are so rich and the climate
so warm that crops mature quicker
than in the north. The farms are irri
gated by flowing artesian wells. Sc
that, with rich lands, semi-tropical eli
mate and an abundant supply Of
water, there is no such thing as croE
failure.
Most farmers coming here from sec
tons Of the country where general
farming is done find it difficult to gel
their ideas to conform to five and ten
acre farms. 1t is hard for them to be
duced on so small AN acreage.
A good truck farmer here will EN-
ploy seven or eight men in the cultiva
ton of crops on a ten-acre farm. The
amount they take from one of these
farms sounds like a fairy tale to a
Georgia Cracker. l know one man
who takes from $1,000 to $4,000 a
year, net of his freights, from his ten
acre farm. Another who took from
forty-eightacre farm $15,9J3 last
year. Another who bought a ten-pcr
grapefruit grove last year for $4,000
and will sell $4,000 worth of fruit, net
Of freight, from it this year; has
already sold half that amount
I know a number Of others who took
$1,000 per acre net of freights from
grapefruit groves last year, and are
doing the same again this year.
A Cobb county farmer would proba-
bly, doubt my veracity if I told him
that the best improved truck lands
sell here as high as $500 to $500 per
acre We sold a ten-acre truck farm
only a few weeks since for $4,000.
There are some that could not be
bought for less than $1,000 per acre,
because they can be made to pay for
themselves at these prices within two
or three years. None of these prices
include any buildings, because there
GRO M hui1dinpC on those farms
Yet just as good lands can be had in
the wild or uncleared state at prices
ranging from $50 to $3.50 per acre,
owing to location and distance from
town. In tracts of two hundred acres
and up good lands can be had at $40
per acre.
There are so many things that can
be grown profitably in this country
that it would make my letter too long
to mention them, but for the benefit
of some of our Cobb county sweet pO-
tato growers l will say that ordinary
pine land, which is considered too
poor for vegetable growing, will pro-
duce two hundred to three hundred
bushels of potatoes per acre, and the
prices range from 75c up.
Just as in Georgia, all farmers do
not make good here. Some make for
tunes, some are good livers and some
fail Yet | have never lived in coun-
trv which offered such opportunities