The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-12-14
THE SUCCESS Of -
A P0lk,COUNTY
FARMER
(By the Stroller, in The Florida
Grower)

HOIeu LOT d humber OIL CnlnSS, LOT us
cement thoroughfares, the finest in
Florida, for it's giant shade trees that
ornament the residential streets. for
it's fine homes, and as being the cen
ter of an importan trucking and citrus
fruit industry, and it is also famous
as the home of j. R. Davis, the liking
trucker" of Florida.
When J. r. Davis came to the out
skirts of Barlow sixteen years ago
there was not an acre of land cleared
in the whole section that is now so
famed as a growing section. 1t was
rich country, mostly hammock land,
and here Mr.. Davis thought he saw a
chance to retrieve his fallen fortunes,
to get back some of the money he had
lost as contractor in the Lake
Eloise district, further to the north.
! He now feels that he made no mis-.
take, even though the land he for
merly owned at Lake Eiof6e is>pow
worth very many times what it was in
his day.
When the Dixie Highway is COM
pleted in Polk County one-half mile
of its roadway will run through the
Davis farm and visitors to Florida will
be treated to sight that will convince
thin that there certainly must be
Isomething in Florida soil when it is
rightly treated and intelligently hand
led. Mr.. Davis has plans for clean
ing up the sides of the road and he
intends to have fences on both sides a
solid bank of flowers, and l predict
that in two years. time his will be one
of the most talked-of and most pic
tured truck farm in the South.
| We cannot realize what J. R. and
his good helpmeet went through in
those early days. He first cleared six
acres, about one-half of it himself all
alone, stopping at times to haul a
load of wood to Barlow, that he might
bring home bacon and grits for the
family. He says that he came here
without dollar, and believe he
meant that literally. He says that he
is not professional wood-chopper,
but he cut more wood that first year
than he has done all the rest of his
life put together. He says that he had
to 60 slow, for a man in his position
could not hope for much credit as he
had turned all his former property
over to his creditors.
Today Mr.. Davis owns outright 800
acres of land, of which over 200 acres
are in cultivation, and on which are
So buildings Of varying sizes. OF this
200 acres all but ten are irrigated and
tiled, and 100 acres are piped overhead
for irrigation purposes; in other
words. 100 acres have overhead irri-
cation, 80 acres surface irrigation, and
the whole 100 acres are tiled under
ground for drainage. Knowing some
thing of the cost of such improvement
l can readily conceive that Mr.. Davis
acres have been paying him a good
bit of money off and on during the six
teen years he has made his home on
the outskirts of Barlow.
]. r. tells me that he is a native,
"a regular cracker" he calls himself.
He is an outstanding sort of man,
rather tall and angular, without an
ounce of fat; solid bone and muscle,
and he impresses one as person who
would be hard man to down, even
If he is old enough to have grown-up
children. My acquaintance with him
has extended over period of nearly
six years, and confess that like the
man and have great admiration for
his accomplishments.
"Your labor problem must be a big
one" | said to him on the occasion
of visit lately. "How do you man.
age to keep sufficient help at all times.
Tell me something about your exper.
fences in that direction" Mr.. Davis
thoughtfully chewed straw for a mo-
ment. and then said, 81 have settled
the labor problem quite to my own
/ satisfaction. Want to hear about it,
do you? Well, it was pretty knotty
one at one time, before got on to the
right track, and l had all kinds of
trouble with my help, particularly the
negroes. You know a negro will not
work if he has dollar in his leans.
and usually the day after payday is
holiday around where there are
many cdlored men employed. You
never knew when they were coming
back. | know all my hely from the
cotton Stats, further north-that is I
look for them there, though of course
am not turning a good man awav.
no matter where he comes from. /
employ very nearly all white helm. and
every ono IF tbap, e;o,, - s....