The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-30
WHATS THE MATTER
WITH FLORIDA"
ARCADIA Enterprise.)

1 y
discussed quite frequently and
you get different view of the
subject as often as you hear it
discussed. One will say we need
good roads, another better sys-
tenn of marketing our fruits. an
other more publicity, and so on
down the line.
The fact is there us nothing
the matter with Florida; not
tarnation thing in the world. 1t
Is the greatest state in the Union
in thousand different ways. 1t
is a land where every prospect
pleases and the only fault we can
find is with her people. Florida
would be by far the richest state
in the Union today if her peo-
pie would only have it that way,
land when we set about to reme-
idy our own faults all the good
things which we look forward to
will come of their own volition.
Some of the conditions which we
must remedy before Florida can
take her place in the front rank
are given below.
Walking down the street of a
Florida town you will see cold
storage eggs shipped in from
the North. when Florida winters
make conditions ideal for egg
producing and this state should
be supplying a dozen northern
states throughout the winter.
We know a man who owns a
thousand head of cattle in
South Florida who goes to the
butcher shop every day and pays
forty-hve cents for creamery
butter and twenty-five cents for
packing house meats shipped in
from the North. This same. man
ships his cattle to the northern
markets by the train loads.
We know man who has
bushels of lemons rotting under
his trees. We have alos seen
Florida limes--the finest that
grow-going to waste in the
wild groves Of the jungles in
this county. And yet you will
find on sale in almost every city
in the estate lemons wrapped
with Italian labels.
Florida spends thousands of
dollars every year for imported
hav when South Florida lands
can produce better hay and
more of it to the acre than al
most any section of the United
States. We let our own hay go
to waste and pay the northern
farmer SIS per ton for his hay.
Recently we saw a party TAX
ing lunch on a dock in this
country. They were eating
Norwegian sardines and Alaska
salmon with Kansas City crack
ers, Baltimore catsup and St.
Louis pickles. The sardines !
cost ten cents. the salmon twen-
ty cents. the crackers five cents
and the catsup fifteen cents and
the pickles twenty-five cents,
a total of seventy-fve
cents. 1t is safe to estimate that
the luncheon party paid a tri-
butte of fifty cents to foreign in
dustries. But the worst feature
Of it is that from this very dock
where the lunchers ate shipped
ped hundreds of carloads of null {
let. mackerel. trout and other
fine fish every day. Mullet are
the most abundant in Florida
waters and the fishermen have
'old them this season as low as
,ne and one-fourth cents per
pound. Canned. dried or pick
ed. thev will compare favorably
vith-anv other fish product on
he market. Our sardines are
second to none. Large quanti-
les of tomatoes go to waste in
,ur fields after the shipping sea-
on is over which should go into
.atsup and supply not only the
domestic demand. but a large ex-
,ort trade as well. The same is
argely true of cucumbers and
'ther kinds of vegetables and
ruits.
Thse are only few of many
Ike conditions that prevail
throughout the length and
reaith of the state. Every state
as a label Displayed on our
rocerv shelves but our own.
We can find coolies of dollars
Or the auto factories in the
orth and the oil kings of Wall
treet. but il some one of us
hould suggest putting money!
ITO a home manufacturing en-
.rprise TO convert our raw ma