The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-12-07
FLORIDA IS THE LAND OF GREATEST
OPPORTUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES
lBv James r. Murphy

FLORIDA rs the greatest field 0.
land opportunity in the United
States today for the man of indus
try and initiative. With 33,000,0 ,00t
acres of land, about two per CEN
of which is cultivated, and with ;
population of about 100000, it of
fers a great field Of cheap land fol-
the farmer and the home-seeker.
The average man looks upor
Florida as vast wilderness of low
lands and swamps, with no Other
industries than lumber, turpen
tine and orange groves. Yet this
year it is estimated that the corr
crop of Florida will exceed by
more than a million dollars the
value of the orange and grapefruit
yield.
This is indicative of the trend
of development in Florida. Fol
many years the land development
companies have ben selling then
land in ten acre plots and tens Of
thousands all over the United Stat
es have purchased these small
tracts.
In our own development in Put
nam and Marion counties more
than three thousand such tracts
have been sold and most of these
buyers are anxiously waiting the
day when they can come to Flori,
da and take up their residence
there. These people will not be
long in the state when they will
want to buy more land to extend
their farming operations along
the line of general farming and
stock raising.
In this connection | want to say
that in the next few years ' Flor
ida will be recognized as one of
the greatest live stock states in the
Union. Anyone who has kept up
with the trend of events knows
the tremendous demands that the
necessities of the European war
have made upon the live stock in
dustry of the world, knows that
the production Of pork and beef
offers a most inviting field for
profitable investment.
Florida, with its mild winters,
its natural pasturage all the year
round, its abundance of good wa
ter, and its growing season of
from 300 to 365 days a year, pos
sesses advantages for live stock
raising that no other state can e.
quail.
The lumber and turpentine in
terests and other large land-own-
ing concerns recognize this fact
and are preparing to fence their
land and raise live stock or lease
the pastures These interests that
for so long sked upon land as
merely a by-product have been a.
wakened to the fact that their
land is now a valuable asset or a
serious liability according to the
use to which they put it.
The progress of the state is so
rapid that they cannot let it lie
idle any longer. With $4,000
600 worth of bonds floated in the
last year for good roads, principal
and interest on which must be
met, with many more millions of
dollars going into new school
houses, and other public build
ings, the man who owns large
tracts of land must turn it into
profitable use or lose it.
Recognizing this fact, the lum-
Der and turpentine interests have
combined under the name Of the
Cattle Tick Eradication committee
of the Southern Settlement and
Development Organization, and
have assessed themselves on an
acreage basis to raise fund of
100000 year to carry on cam
paign Of education to arouse pub
lie opinion to the necessity of pas
sing laws to rid the state of the
cattle tick, an insect something
like the sheep tick, that sucks the
life blood of the cattle and keeps
it stunted. This campaign is be-
ing so vigorously conducted that
already immense ranches are be-
ing fenced in and improved stock
is being brought into the state.
Near Palatka, local lumber
company combined with Western
capital have fenced in 10000 acres
of land on which they have 5000
head of cattle. They have 1900
acres in corn and velvet beans
on which they will fatten the cat
tie for market. Aside from this
they depend entirely upon the ma
tural pasture for about 8 months
of the year to keep the cattle. No