The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-08-23
q. d. Jones in Fla. Grower

1t is common of late to hear man.
people refer to our chief industry
viz, citrus fruits, especially grape
fruit, as being overdone. This tall
has been INDUCED in to such an ex
tent that visitors into this State
from all quarters, east, north and
west, have taken up the refrain un.
til many newspapers and other
periodicals have commented on the
sadness of this fact, to Florida s
unwarranted hurt. If there ever
was time when Florida was in
need of defense against those who
are proclaiming overproduction and
other vagaries of this sort, it is now.
AS matter of fact, the development;
of this great State is just getting its
energies organized and ready for a
big forward movement, and the
practical men, who are spending
their money, using their brains and
exerting their energies to this end.
deserve not the decryings of the on
lockers, but the united support Of
the believers in Florida's future
The writer has received many do
ems of letters from contemplating
settlers, and from those who had al
ready purchased land originally in
tended for citrus paintings, asking
for advice as to disposition-"now
that the citrus industry of Florida
is overdone." To let theoretical,
idle talk of overpjroduction crystal
lie itself into fact in the minds of
pople either at home or distant it
not only is rash folly, but almost
wicked.
To the man who uses last season
as his criterion, and quickly sits
down and laments his misfortune of
enc bad season, "overproduction" is
his answer. But the man who in.
vestigates the cause, who thinks,
using his head as we'll as his hands
will tell you that there is absolutely
an overproduction. "Undistribuu-
ton might be applied to last years
crop. The unexpected war coming
at the same time almost as the OPEN
ing of Floridas selling season, with
only the usual arrangements for
opening up of new selling territory.
commensurate with good business
Judgment in normal year, together
with unprecedented early heavy
shipments of immature grapefruit.
contributed heavily to low prices;
but after these things were seen, nd
it was found necessary to greatly in
crease the scope of distribution d
resort to other strenuous and new
methods, the latter end of the SO; 81 n
was normal for prices. especially 'or
oranges.
We are going to quote some salts
tics that have been carefully gath
cred, as we realize that it will re-
quire figures to convince. Alabama
has population of two million.
three hundred thousand, yet that
state consumed less than fifty thous-
and boxes of Florida fruits Arkan-
sas has a population of one million,
seven hundred thousand, and con-
sumed about twenty thousand boxes
of Florida citrus fruits. Georgia has
population of two million, eight
hundred thousand people, and Flor
ida sold about one hundred thous-
and boxes of citrus fruits in that
State Illinois has six million souls
within her borders, and Florida sold
approximately four hundred thous-
and boxes of citrus fruits in that
State.
There are number of cities of
fifteen thousand, and upwards, popu-
lation in that State that only few
trifling boxes can be traced to dur
ing the entire season; and the
further west we look, the greater
grows the percentage of population
who get practically no Florida fruit
at all. Indiana, population, two mil
lion, eight hundred thousand; Mich
igan, population three million; Ohio,
population five nearly
eleven million people-all joining
each other and receiving hardly en-
ough of Florida's citrus crop-,admit
today the best fruit grown-to
make a taste, with the exception of
few of thelarger cities, and. last,
the population of these United
States is one hundred million people,
to say nothing of Canada. The non
sense of nine and one-half million
boxes being an over-production is
clearly apparent.
The trouble is. we are not raising
enough fruit to let the country
know about it, and to enable dis
tribution that will make something
like half the population consumers
1t must be taken into consideration
that the population of this country
. is rapidly increasing by birth as well
as immigration. Those who are
qualified to talk on thesubject pre-
dict the heaviest immigration to
this country from countries of Eu-
rope after the termination of the
present war that has even taken
place, and mainly of a better class