The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1911-05-05
SUGAR CANE
IS OUR HOPE
flOridian Writes of Industry in
Island of Porto Rico
FLORIDA FAR SUPERIOR
Has Faith That This Stale Will be Richest
in Southland-Beiieves Sugar Should
be the Staple Crop Here.
La Isabella Grove, San Juan, Porto


Rico. April 10th, 1911.
Editor The TRIBUNE:
| am going to get up those articles
that promised you when came here,
but as l am coming home in September
to stay will contribute about that time,
giving me full two years for my re-
Elections to nature.
The "real crime that can be laid at
Florida 5 door" is the fact that they
are allowing millions of acres of land to
stand knee deep in water that If it
were in Porto Rico would be planted to
sugar cane. Itsis the sugar industry
that is making Porto Rico rich, and
Florida has equal opportunities. but it
is the customs here to grow cane, and
it isn't in Florida.
Before the freeze you will remember
that it was not the custom to raise
garden truck-it was purchased in tin
cans.
As soon as the duty is removed from
sugar and there is no profit to be made
from raising it, probably the Florida
cane lands will be in cultivation. In
the meantime they are actually trying
to plant cane in Porto Rico on every
tillable acre of land, and it is really
amusing to see hill sides planted to
cane where a pillow cannot work to
advantage.
Hillsides, swamp lands, just so it can
be gotten into cultivation by hand or
pillow, let it fall into the possession OF one
of these sugar centrals' and into
cane it goes.
met cane grower who came here
from Louisiana and he said that he had
looked over the cane lands of Florida
and that they were superior to anything
he had ever seen for that purpose. but
it would require CO cooperation in plant
ing and at least 20, 600 acres in cane to
get proper central or mill to grind
the cane and manufacture the raw
sugar so as to pay good profit to the
producer of the cane, and enable the
raw sugar to be transported to the re-
fnery at a. profit.
There are plel ty of "centras' here
working on less than 5000 acres, but
thew get Il e advantages of the facilities
enjoyed by the larger 'centrals,' such
as competition in transportation, etc.
Raw sugar is transported to N. Y. for
about So rs per ton. The Government
provides storage sheds for it at the
docks, etc.
All of these details | will 60 into
thoroughly and incorporate in an artl
Gle for you, not to boom any land promo
sition, but just to let little light 1al
on the subject.
| enjoyed the article from our frient
at Sebastian who came from Louisiana
and if men like him, who know some
thing about raising cane, will just keel
on ''raising cane" about it perhaps the
natives will actually take to raising
cane. -,
That Florida is destined to be tn
richest state of all the Southland ha
been nv dream for twenty years. ant
| have never lost faith in her future.
The fiat wood lands despised for year
will vet produce veal tn that no on
ever dreamed Of, and the swamp land'
will be the richest of all in few year
more. -,
The early settlers of Illinois settles
m the timber land which correspon tt
= our heavy hammOcks, then later o.
; spread out on the prairies, becaus
they were new settlers that came an
had to take the cheaper lands, but !
time those settlers on the prairles ha
the most valuable lands, then other
came and drained the swamps and the
sold for twice what the prairie lanC
were selling for, and the poorest LAND
of all, became those first chosen: IN
= high hammock of Florida will inside tn
next twenty years be the least through
: Of the low hammock and the swamp
r the most valuable.
d Everybody "boost" do not nee
any knockers. Il,
4 Men who will fail just because the
I know how, will fail just as easily
Florida as elsewhere.
4 There are thousands, yes, tens
+ thousands Of people in these Unite
& States who, would be glad to have
= winter home on the East Coast
Florida if they only new where to M
4 II at the price they ;, afford to pa.
I wish that the II l.UNE won't into
a million homes in tic No th-,why can
~ 10 rdia ly yours,
4, ''' CORNELIUS { HRISTlANC