The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1920-10-15

Tue crop dt harvesting time. Inc
best way to keep potatoes thru the
season, especially where they are to
be kept in quantities, is by means of
the sweet potato storage house. Since
lumber is expensive it will be possibly
more economical for a number of
farmers in a community to, join to-
gether and build house which will
take care of the potatoes for the en-
tier community.
The time for gathering and storing
sweet potatoes will soon be at hand.
1t is a well known fact that thruout
the state, as well as other sections
of the sweet potato growing area,
large percentage of the crop is lost
each year thru careless handling and
improper methods of storing.
Farmers should be sure to gather
their sweet potatoes before the frost
has killed the vines, as this injuries
the potato and makes them more sub
::ect to rot.
TIE digging and handling should
be done very carefully; instead of be-
ing handled as stove wood it would
be better to handle them as eggs, in
order not to bruise and skin them.
Plans for the construction of the
sweet potato storage house may be
had by writing the Experiment Sta
ton, or from Farmers Bulletins go
and SAT, U. S. Department of Agri-
culture, Washington, D. C.-Agricul-
tural News Service.
Florida Has $4,000 Farms
The census shows 6,459,99S farms in
the United States, an increase of 49,
ed with the corresponding period end
.ng with 1910, showed sharp relative
decline, falling off ga per cent as COM
pared with percentage gain of 1913 in
1910, according to figures announced
by census bureau.
No explanation was given for the
small increase of 10 per cent in the
number OF farms, but officials believe
an abnormal migration of country
folks to the cities and the discovery
of new oil deposits were the principal
factors.
OF the total number of farms in the
country, more than one-third are oper-
ated in the South, where there are
2,63G,10G, as shown in the 1920 agricul-
tural census. Two OF the eleven
Southern states showed declines while
the remainder gained during the last
ten years. The census bureau, for the
information OF farmers, defined "a
farm" as a piece of land operated by
one person.
The number of farms in the South
and their relative increase follows:
Alabama 256,026, a decrease of &c
per cent.
Florida, $4,000, an increase of so.
Georgia, 310,737, an increase 6.S.
Kentucky, 270,676, an increase "A.
Louisiana, 135,455, an increase 1874.
Mississippi, 272, 497, decrease OF.
North Carolina, 269,74O, an increase
6.3
South Carolina, 1864, an increase
go.
Tennessee, 252, 1891, an increase 81.
Texas, 435,666, an increase 4.3.
Virginia, 1S6,011, an increase II.
| *** =
Offer Promising Field for Ameri-
| can Live Stock
American purebred animals to the
value of 100000 were sold in South
America during the first six months of
this year, and livestock commission
ers sent to South America to develop
the American purebred industry in
| that country report that the field is
very promising. Even in out-of-the-
way places where transportation facili-
ties are poor purebred hogs and high
grade and purebred bulls have been
found by the commissioners. At Law
ras, town about $50 miles northwest
OF Rio de Janerio, there is an Ameri-
can mission college whose farm con-
tains purebred Duroc-Jersey hogs and
Brown Swiss and Holstein cattle, the
foundation stock of which was import
ed from the United States.
Most of the cattle in the State of
Minas Geraes, one of the important
stock-arising sections of Brazil, are
| daily stock showing considerable Hol-
stein blood. The cows are MIXED
once a day and produce on an average
about three quarts of milk. The COM
icc CT ~f