The National tribune., 1911-04-27

these crops a strong fertilizer by plow-
! ing in velvet beans. bcgsarweed or
some similar crop.
| The soil and the sky arc so kindly
! that ANYTHING will grow if given half
a chance. Cnmradc Hapgood took me
out into his back yard. gave me some
| ripe. rcd tomatoes. showed me his Gu
cumbers. string beans, and. scratch
ing around in the hills. revealed some
| fine red potatoes that looked very ap-
pctizing at that season of the year.
Think of having all these things ready
for the table In ones back yard at
| the end of February. more than two
months before people north OF Mason
and DiXon's line have begun to plant.
elder stewart told me that the
Shakers had Strawberries for half the
year, and could have them longer. but
they got too tired of them. And such
magnificent cabbages. Round, full,
compact heads almost as big as the
old-fashioncd half-bushcl measure.
Other Crops.
Tho comrades generally are plant
ing bananas, and the success of the
Shakers warrants them in doing SO.
Humboldt says that more food can be
raised 10 the acre in bananas than in
any other crop. The bananas raised
by the Shaker colony are of a superior
variety, much more delicate and ap-
pctizing than the coarser bananas
which we get in market and which
arc brought from Cuba and Central
American countries. The pineapplcs
suffered somewhat during the Winter.
which has been the most unfavorable
for many years. There was 10 weeks
of drouth, beginning before Christmas.
school house, csta hliShcd d good news
paper, water works, electric light
plant and an ice plant. The town was
therefore given a development in
year that does not come to other new
towns for as long, perhaps, d5 20
years.
The newcomers were left in no
doubt as TO the possibilities of the
soil and climate. for everywhere
around they could sec people who
were disposed to work securing the
most satisfactory results of their Ia
hor. The little Shaker settlement ad-
Joining st. Cloud was and is an OBJ
ject-lesson of the highest value. The
land is precisely the same rs that at
st. Cloud, and the Shakers, with only
three men and four women. have
made it scene of comfort and plen-
ty. They are raising splendid pine
apples, fine bananas, vegetables of all
kinds, great crops OF corn and hay,
and are pasturing several hundred
head of fine cattle. They are securing
all these desirable results with far less
labor than would have been required
in the North.
Next to this is the attractive place
of the late Col. Cadman, of the British
Army, every inch. OF which is made
richly productive, and where the finest
of citrus fruits are produced. So high
a reputation has been gained for the
products OF Col. Cadman'S place that
all that it can produce is engaged by
buyers in the North who seek first
class products.
! have already alluded to the fine
citrus groves Jf Mr.. Hill. adjoining
Col. Cadmar's place. Everywhere
ject-lessons, in which the production
Of vegetables and citrus fruits are
richly rewarding the labor and care
bestowed upon them. What is being
done is the best possible answer to the
inquiry as to what can be done. Al
most everything that can be done in
the North with land can be also done
in Florida. and with much less labor
and inconvenience, while there arc
MANY things that cannot be done in
the North which can be easily accom-
plished around ST. Cloud.
The people who have settled in st. |
Cloud in good faith realize all this, !
and are a more contented, cnthusias-
tic community than can be found any
where else i'll the country. The chron-
ic grumblers and the men who are
dissatisfied by nature, the men who
are always seeking 4 paradise and
grumble because they do not find one
ready made to their hand, have been
nearly eliminated. The cunning ones,
the land sharps, who flock to every
new settlement like buz5Grds to a
battlefield and seek to make money
at the expense of the others, have
also been practically eliminated. Those
who remain are sober, satisfied men
and women, who realize that nothing |
comes without work except dirt and |
long nails. The future of the colony |
is in their hands, and 1t lies with them |
to make the town as attractive and |
profitable as possible. AS everywhere |
else, whatever they may do i'll the |
direction of promoting this increases
their own comforts and profits and
enhances the value of their property. |
The future Of the town is secure in
the hands of such men. The froth |
and effervescence of every new enter
prise has now blown away, the found
ations for the future have been Sc
cureIy laid, and the upbuilding will go
Oh rapidly but strongly and securely. |
st. Cloud is to become a notable
place. 1t is something in which all
the veterans of the war of the rebel
lion can take q just pride as being the
work of their comrades, with whom
they were associated in the arduous
yet glorious days of saving the coun-
try. In beauty of location, homes and
improvements. in the high character
OF the men and women who live there,
in the strong, solid progressiveness
Tor everything that makes for the pub
lie good, st. Cloud stands alone, Il
veterans of the G. y. E.-John Nc
Elroy.