The Ordway new era., 1917-04-20
Roberts Gives
Good oliinters


Cocoanut GROVE, Fla, April 10
Editor New Era: Better late than
never-,so will answer some of those
questions the good neighbors asked
me before leaving Ordway in Novcm-
ber. One who walks the streets of
my native" vilage-nearly so. at
least my adopted village-said:
Roberts, could l go down to Flor
ida and put in about ten acres OF
tomatoes-just to pay expenses, you
know, and come out o. K? / am
anxious to see that country which Is
attracting so much attention; maybe
move there. You know / am really
southern man." etc.
l looked into his fine, clear eye,
admired his broad shoulders and
manly physique-over six feet
middle aged, rich southern tone of
voice-just the man to endure the
itching mosquito while his hands
were full of plants-they always bite
just when both your hands are tied.
Then he had another means Of de-
fense not all of us possess. He could
say d-n while the sulphurous sparks
emitted from his face. Yes, l sized
him up as just the man for the Ever
glade trucking. But in spite of all
this l hesitated. you might do
well, but" l left him gazing
after me while l had pressing bust
ness some, place else.
Men have written me numerous.
letters in past years asking, Can L
make a good living in Ordway? Can
l buy. farm and make what these
folders say men are doing?" A hard
letter to answer. 1t lies on, my. desk
/ a,ln ,,I p,,I .,f, h,e
been enclosed l must answer. So,
my indefinite reply is generally mean
| ingleSs. Haven't time, to, tell them
al1-Of. those who have succeeded
and the army who have failed can
truthfully remark on our. weather at
:. Ordway if in May or, June, or, October.
tell them how. busy the honey bees
are or. what fine, apples l haxe-some
years.
!. So I must tell my, neighbors who
have, the, Florida bee, in. their. bon7
nets.
| Endurance Required.
Had Brother w. come here last
fall and planted tomatoes they would
have. borne heavily, and when half
grown February 2-ground hog
the mercury dropped for two nights
1 to % degrees. Tomatoes, beans, pep
!
cabbage wereF scalded to the ground.
Now had Brother w. been here the
important question would have been,
what would he do? Crawl again into
his hole and wait six weeks-sE would
he have started plowing February 3,
reset the whole patch and this week
begin shipping tomatoes, beans. ETC.,
to New York and get fabulous prices?
Had I known this mans nerve and
general makeup as to- sticking quail
ties. l could have answered, intelli-
gently,
So at Ordway. Our Scotchman at
Olney Springs seems to have made
money every year, wet or dry. Had
he asked me about Florida I could
have answered that this state is full
of just such humanity as Colorado
good, the bad, Industrious, the lazy,
men al!.nerve and men with weak
spinal calums, just .men- and the ',,n-
just. So you anticipate my answer,
II don't KNOW" But I can tell you
of Swede named Peters who bought
section. of rather wet land covered
with trees and sawgrass. He drained
and cleared and fertiliZed and starved
for five or six years. Last year his
profits. ou.6p acres of tomatoes:were
just 100000. This year the. freeze
ing and working day and night. and
sowing broadcast hundreds of tons
of fertilizers, he is now sending from
fivsi.to ten cars of tomatoes to New
York and in teii' days more will ship
about thirty cars per day. So-he did
not crawl into his hole on February 2.
The Good and Bad.
We know men at Ordway who
study sugar beets-how to plant, how
to cultivate, how to water, ETC., and
can make 500 per acre net on his
beets. A neighbor gets seven tons
per acre and growls all winter-in
his hole-about Ordway soil. Would
you like to be banker? Well, If
you make a successful one you must
first learn to size up your customers.
Here is man who has met bad
year-no money. The good banker
examines his spine, his diet, his hab
its, his drink, his family record, etc.
L. he passes anywhere from 80 to 95
says, "How much today, Jaek?" ..
The year here has been a fairly
prosperous one-fair crops and good
prices. OF course the tourist crop
is the biggest "ever." Miami, the
Magic City, shows no signs of slow
ing up. Several immense new hotels
and dozens of apartment houses have
been built the past summer. yet they
were all crowded, cots in Railways
and on porches. Citizens were asked
to open their houses for the visitors,
and yet crowds were Obliged to go
on to Havana or sleep in the roads.
Rents have been fabulous. These
money hogs from our eastern cities