Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-05-08
INTENSIVE FARMING.
want " Being Done In Other States
and VIVA; Gould lie Done in Vermont.
lFrom Tn. Nnwnort E,xnress


From tnv Newport Express.J
New England IL not alone in the move
or progressive or intensive farming. It is
aEitated throughout the South, Is more
advanced, perhaps, ard possibly along DIFF.
ferent lines The movement either throuuf
the efforts of the department of agricul
ture at Washington, or the State agricul.
tural Office has been the means of open.
| ing up and putting under cultivation land.
which heretofore have bean considered o,
no earthly use Especially has this beer
the case on the Florida KEYS These
lands are Of a shell formation principally
and in many Instances free of all vegeta.
ton. In other cases, where the surface
Of the lands are low, and composed of
/ kind Of dark washed-in soil the vegeta.
tion is rank and lntermxed with palm and
oak.
Hearing Of intensive farming on Ions
! Boat Key, especially in the large yield of
! Irish potatoes, which are fast being in
troduced into Florida. we visited the
place. An obliging attendant conducted
us over the grounds and explained the
nature of the work. The yield Of pota-
toes had been large, as reported And
one thing in favor of them was the
! smoothness of the skin, there being no
| rust or Objectionable marks about them
! One advantage the South has over the
/ North, two crops are continually under
way Here was one row of potatoes ready
/ to dig while the next row beside 1t was
perhaps in the third or fourth leaf This
would continue all over the field, acres
! in width and in length. the potatoes be-
ing in different stages Of growth. As fast
! as the ripe potatoes were dug. the rows
| were refertilized, new seed introduced,
| and thus the evolution in planting went
| on. We called it two fields in one We
/ also saw fields of cabbage and lettuce,
while one large patch of ground was de-
voted to the growth of different vege-
tables to see which would do the best in
the soil
This movement of intensive farming
out on the Florida Keys is comparatively
new. The subsoi IS almost entirely of
| shell formation, which of course is lime,
| and intermixed with a top soil varying
in formation according to the lay OF the
| land. The nature OF the soil is sour. and
| Is sometimes soaked with exceedingly
high tides The parties opening up these
lands sent specimens Of the soil to aGrl-
cultural departments to have It analysed.
The reports would state the kind Of fer
| tilizer to be used. the kind Of products
that could be raised, and in many in.
stances the seeds to be used were sent
with the reports. BY doing this the de-
lpartments have made some grave mis-
takes that will not occur in the future.
They are better posted in soils than in
the markets. For instance: we saw one
large field OF cabbaEe-fine cabbage with
large, well-rounded heads. but all-pur-
,,io drug b.,
market" said the attendant, and We
will lose five hundred dollars on this
crop The ground raises cabbages all
right, but they sent the wrong kind OF
seed" He cited the case Of field of let
tuce where the same mistake had been
! made the loss exceeding one thousand
dollars. Head lettuce is what the market
demands in the South. But these mis-
takes will not occur again." he said. as
more care will be taken in getting the
right kind Of seed"
In Georgia and other Southern State'
we noticed large fields OF grain were be-
ing introduced, and as reported, witt
great success. One reason for doing this
II was said, was because the cotton had
been raised on the soil so long that the
crop was deterioratnE. and the soil need
ed q change. This did not signify that
, the amount of cotton raised was dimin-
ishing, as farming IS on the boom In the
South. and new lands are being opened
up, and with cotton for the first crop
{ Indeed we were told our Fasteners We're
T buying UP the Western lands at enormous
prices. while the Westerners, largely i'm
@ migrants. were migrating South, buyIns
- up the uncultivated tracts at a lower
- price, and starting in again as they had
:, | out West. They were making money pY
the exchange In many parts of Virginia
, we found this to he the case.
Up in the Blue Mountains of NORTH
| Carolina we spent nearly two days wan
| dering over the hills and mountain tops.
= One thing attracted our attention. TINS
! was apple orchards way up the mountain
g sides among lodges and boulders where
: the incline was nearly as steep as the
l. | roof Of house This Of it, apple trees
y growing in every available place where A
IA tch of dirt would hold one, and cared
4 for. and looking thrifty as citrus trees
=. in the South All other trees had been re-
., moved, or had never been there We don l
| know which. Why the same thing c"UN
. not be done among the rocks and bouli'H5
; OF some of the apparently barren hiISide'
: of Vermont is d question for some one
), else to decide We believe il could %
done and in remuneratve way