The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-05-21
ANSWERSSTORY
IN MAGAZINE
FROM FLORIDA
AUTHOR SHOWS WHAT THE
FACTS AND FIGURES REALLY
ARE COUNTRY GENTLEMAN
CONTAINS AN INTERESTING
ARTICLE ON LAND OF FLOWERS.

An article appearing in the issue Of
the Country Gentleman of May 10th.
entitled Facts and Fiction from Flor
i6a," by Harry snowden stabler. has
attracted widespread attention, espe-
cieIly throughout this state.
The following Is a copy Of a letter
written to that magazine in answer to
the article and is self explanatory:
II note in your publication of May
from Florida" by Harry Snowden
StabIer.
THE writer is native of Oregon but
has lived for eighteen years in the
South-in louisiana, Mississippi and
Florida, and has been for six years in
years have been spent, in part in till
ing the soil. He is now secretary Of
the Pensacola Commercial Associa-
ton.
''The subject of Mr.. Stabler's article
Is one in which we are all very much
interested in Florida. To one living
on the ground, his statements suggest
many things, a few of which 1t strikes
me as being worth while Offering to
your readers.
The settler or sucker whom Mr.
Stabler says he interviewed. was Ger
tainly not wise IN buying land in Flor
ida or anywhere else, without looking
at 1t: the lack of Judgment he exer-
cised in the purchase of his land GER
tain1y disqualif1es him from deciding
whether or net black jack land will
produce anything. The original growth
on the ack-jack land was spruce or
long leaf pine. The soil Is almost with
out fail of a very sandy character.
lying N ridges of greater or less ele-
walton. On this type of land, the yell
low pine does not reproduce after being
cut: the pine growth Is usually fol-
hardwood
consisting principally of b1ack-ta
oak.
There are twenty or more distinct
varieties Of soil In Florida; almost al,
of them are capable of producing some
agricultural crop; the black jack ridge
land is one of these In it's native con-
dition; It Is one of the poorest Of the
agricultural lands, however, and only a
few crops should be attempted on II.
Now, one of the troubles with the
average settler is, he does not consider
the varieties Of soil in the state, and
does not pick out the soil that will
produce the crop he wishes to grow;
instead, he picks out piece Of and
irrespective Of the character of crop he
expects to grow, and tries to produce
any kind Of crop he desires.
Mr.. Stabler makes his sucker say
that he could not drain the land; that
1t needed drainage. This must have
been very exceptional piece of black
ia ok land. All that I have ever seen
or had described to me needs water
not drainage.
1--WE wish to take issue with Mr.
Stabler's own statement with relation
to blackjack land. He says: And
finally, with scrub or black Jack land
on which the only thing you could
raise would be an umbrella The
blackjack land Is usually Norfolk
sand, and In the soil survey of Escam-
bia county made by the bureau of soils
United States department of agricu1-
ture, we find the following statement
relative to Norfolk sand: Because of
Its loose structure and low productiv-
ity, Norfolk sand Is not we'll suited to
the heavier crops, such a cotton, corn,
cane, etc. It's texture and general
character are better suited for quicker
and lighter growing crops, such as
tuce, Irish potatoes. peas, spinach,
berries, etc, and such other crops like
melons, cantaloupes, sweet potatoes
cow peas, and peanuts, which thrive
best in a light sandy soil. There is a
large percentage of sand in this soil,
and its efficient drainage causes it to
warm UP early in the spring, and II
can also be used for growing harder
vegetables during the winter
AT the present time, there is very
little soil Of this character under Gull |
tivation; 1t IS farned in a desu1tory
manner with little recognition of its
special merits.
THE Norfolk sand needs close at
tcntion and special methods to obtain |
the best results. One of the chief diff |
to droughtiness (this does not sound |
ike Mr.. Stabler's sucker who says 1t |
needed drainage). This can be some
what corrected by the addition Of |
humus to the soil, by the blowing I'M |
der of green crops, such as velvet |
81 oh
plication of lime to prevent acidity and |
hasten decay
II am taking exception TO Mr. sta |
bier's statement with regard to black |
jack land because there is a consider |
able amount of il in Florida because
it is not true that it is worthless, and |
because the man that says that any
Florida land is worthless and does not |
grow anything has certainly never seen !
the sand ridges on which the valuable |
crops Of pfneapples are grown on the
EEa st Coast.
Mr. StabIer says that the main
thing to remember is that the soil of |
the good lands and the bad are origin
ally almost exactly alike The me-
chanical analysis Of the Norfolk fine
fire gravel per cent. coarse sand 81
per cent medium snd 81 per cent fine
sand 29.7 per cent, very fine sand 25.4
ger cent, silt 21.9 per cent, clay 11.6 |
per cent. Inc mechanical analysis OF
Norfolk sand is: Fine gravel 2.1 per
cent, coarse sand 20.9 per cent, medium
sand 255 per cent, fine sand 325 per
cent, very fine sand 6.4 per cent, silt
7.S per cent, clay A per cent. Now
while these two soils. one good and
the other so-called poor, are of the |
Norfolk type, there is as much differ
ance between them, to a man that
knows anything about soils, as there is
between darkness and daylight, and a
novice could tell them apart by anaIy- |
sis.
1T is not my purpose to criticize the
main purpose Of Mr.. StabIer's article. /
think it highly commendable and I Il
m sure his rnissta tements were unin- Il
-entiona. and due to lack of authorita- II
i've information. II
II entirely agree with the sentiment
With which he closes the first article in
he series: The Almighty has put to-
zether in this state soil and climate