Fitzgerald leader enterprise and press. (Fitzgerald, Ben Hill County, Ga.) 1921-1964, 1926-06-24
CULTIVATION OF RARE BULBS in GEORGIA
SOIL OPENS A new AND PROFITABLE FIELD
FOR FARMERS OF The COASTAL SECTION

The story of how wholesale gro
Ger of Brunswick won success in cul-
tivating rare and valuable bulbs on
the so-called abandoned lands" of
the Georgia coast was made public
for this isue of The Week by H. M.
Cottrell, agriculturist of the Georgia
Bankers Association. In this story
Mr.. Cottrell points out how stretch
of this land seventy miles long and
20 miles wide can be utilized for the
development of an industry which
bring rich profits to farmers living in
that section.
Mr.. Cottrell relates the success of
c. S. Tate, of Brunswick, who has
been cultivating bulbs for forty
years. In May this year Mr.. Tate
had growing on his place 5000 coleus
plants, no two Of them being alike.
He developed his own method of
hybridizing plants and would have
become a second Luther Burbank had
he devoted his entire career to this
work in the opinion of Mr.. Cottrell.
Following is the article prepared
by MIR. Cottrell on the work of Mr..
Tate in cultivating bulbs:
Mr.. Tate has been hybridizing
bulbs and other plants on his Bruins
wick, Georgia, farm for more than
40 years and his work is known and
admired by every florist and hoxti-
culturist Of high repute in the United
States. For many years he has con-
fined his commercial work to amaryl-
lis, gladiolus and narcissus. He
| found that there is peculiar type
of soil in Brunswick, Georgia, district
that is specially adapted to growing
every kind of bulb except the tulips
and hyacinths.
His preference is for high color
ing in flowers and other garden
plants. He crosses and grows the
| gladiolus because of the wondrous
variety of it's stately and beautiful
! flowers, in form, color and markings
and gratifes the thirst for the beau.
tiful. The narcissus gives him as a
foundation for hybridizing graceful
flowers with bewildering number
of attractive forms and shades. The
amaryllis is gorgeous in color, grand
in form and has wide range OF
color.
As a financial proposition, Mr.
Tate's sales have averaged for many
years $500 an acre from 20 acres or
which he grows bulbs. He has to
depend on ordinary farm help with
| poor supervision. He says that he
spends nine hours of every working
day in charge of the grocery bust
ness and can spend with his bulbs
only the time before breakfast, a
half hour at noon and between sup
per and bedtime. He is confident
that if he could spend all his time
with his bulbs and plants that he
could easily make one thousand dol
| lars an acre annually. One year the
| oulbs from one acre brought him ten
thousand dollars.
Government bulb specialists have
visited Mr. Tate's bulb farm annual
| ~ for many years. Here is what one
Of them says:
"Glynn county, Brunswick the
county seat, land equals that of
France for raising narcissus bulbs
and you are missing the greatest OPP
portunity by neglecting to utilize
your soil for this purpose. French
bulbs grow to perfection in Glynn
county and you should grow narcissi
by the millions, competing with the
French growers who export large
quantities of these bulbs to the
! United States every year. Your eli
| mate in many respects surpasses that
of France in the region where the
bulbs are grown. With the embargo
on, there is a scarcity in the North
of the flowers, and the opportunity
is the greatest at the present time.
have visited regions in California
| ,,,boro thousands of narciSSDS hnIhS