Putnam patriot., 1920-06-11
SEE FLORIDA WITH
 DIFFERENT EYES
The Pen;nsular State Does Not Present Same Aspect to Mir.
 Johnson and Dr. Spalding
The Doctors Reply to Mir. Johnson's
 Letter In The Patriot


 am very much pleased with the fine description given by W. s. John son of Florida. in former issue cf The Patriot. It is a pleasure to look upon the sunny side and float ] high and enjoy the thrift and pleas ure of such beautiful, grand eoun- try.
 l Mir. Johnson is in nice city, and 1 surrounded by many grand and beau 1 tiful homes of wealth and grandeur. where the money of the north has drifted to the land of sunshine. The stock no doubt is kept we'll fed upon northern grain and hay grown in the south. did not find such grandeur in any section l visited.
 visited the Orlando fair. This was we'll attended. The exhibits were mainly citrus fruits. The corn was not as fine as I would like to grow up- on our grand New England farms. Nearly every ear had been injured by the borers As for the chickens, there was a good show. The cattle and swine, if they were valued as high as Mir. Johnson states, in his letter to The Patriot. l for one should certain Iy think that man going at such speed should have conseryator. do not doubt the statement of MT. Johnson, however
 did not see any of the for ests of such stately tree as MT. John son tells about, but do know that in certain sections there are large tim bers. l passed quite number of mills where they were saving lumber but no large logs were observed.
 was not fayorably impressed about grasses and I do not think that the greater number of cattle have good feed in the sparsely settled sec tipns of the state.
 q certainly did not see any hogs that l would be willing to pay s10,000 per head for.
 l am we'll aware that there are great orchards of oranges and grape fruit in southern Florida, and they are sight.
 1 stated my actual observations. l think the man who made a clear profit of one-half million dollars upon toma- toes alone must have been profiteer. When l was in Sanford last winter they were gathering tomatoes. They 1 had the misfortune to have frost at 1 that time. The tomatoes are picked green and ripened in shipment. Some l of these tomatoes went into the New York market and I read were returned to the raisers and shippers with loss upon many of the carloads of over 1 S1 900. This is not frequent oc- euI1enee but there are losses as well as profits.
 The expense for clearing the land for oranges and gardening is quite heavy, and cultivation is also eXpens- l i've. 1 inquired of one farmer, who 1 had ten acres of as fine farming land as could be found upon which to grow large crops of celery, tomatoes, cab baee. corn. etc. saying to him: How much. Mr. Dorner, does 1t actually cost you for horse, help and fertilizer to farm one acre of land?' To my question he replied that he had made a careful estimation and found 1t to cost about $500 year. The soil re- quires much feeding to be productive He grew two and three crops year, had ten acres, and was working seven hands and four horses.
 MT Johnson says no one can see Florida by railroad train. l observed large sections by train; also several hundred miles by auto. am, how ever very glad to read and learn from the fine description given by MT. John | sen, but must say-Come down on firm ground. Mir. Johnson.
 JOSEPH SPALDING.