Truck farming in the Everglades

Table Of Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

L To the Prospective Truck Gardener 5

II. Agricultural Schools 7

Chapter I. To The Prospective Truck Gardener

O the city man, living on a salary, often in a dark or stuffy office, always an underling, working in a narrow groove, dependent on today's wages for tomorrow's food, the independent countryman's life must appeal, for he is a free man, master of himself, is conversant with nature in its many moods, enjoys the first fruits of the earth with the gleam still on them, and all its first impulses and pleasures. Often, as we hear country boys, on the threshold of manhood, taunted with being farmers, it makes me feel that the city boy requires training other than agricultural to teach him relative values.

City people sojourning in the country for fresh air and cheaper living, looking down on the farmer as inferior, will scarcely believe that it requires more brains to run a farm properly than to sit over a ledger, nor can they fathom the many experiences that the countryman must necessarily first master before he can be classed as a successful landholder.

The cit}^, glistening with its many frivolities, has drawn young people from the country to such an alarming extent that universal comment has been aroused, much the larger percentage of our population being today engaged in other than pastoral pursuits. This in itself would not be so alarming, were it not that the vitality of our nation is being drained proportionately, for it is a wellknown fact, if the country should today cease to replenish the city with new blood, the city would soon die for want of population.

No wonder, then, the cry of today is, "Back to the farm and nature." And back we must and will go, for this threatening catastrophe is too appalling to be passed by unchallenged.

Will not this undue proportion of population tending citywards have the effect of still enhancing the price of all farm products ? This great question has already been answered by the protests against high prices of our entire population, re-echoing as it has to the farthest corners of our civilized land. In direct consequence of this unbalanced condition of population, all food products have advanced to an almost prohibitive figure. This seems particularly so during the long winter months, when fresh farm products are to be grown only in the far South.

Will it not be wise to inquire into the probable results of this extraordinary situation? W^ithout penetrating further, has not the far-seeing individual, though hopelessly in the minority, already found the necessary remedy to combat this, which we must admit is a great and menacing evil? He has already concluded to not only rebuild this tottering economic structure by getting "back to the land," .but to replenish his depleted bank account, and wisely so.

That this feeling has already taken root is proven by the remarkable inquiry for farm lands throughout the entire country, and particularly in the extreme South and Southeast, for he who is wise enough to foresee this great tendency wishes to enjoy with his family and progeny not only everlasting summer, but at the same time to avoid the rigorous Northern winters. No wonder, then, that once it was announced that the great rich body of land in South Florida known as the Everglades would be reclaimed, thousands began to avail themselves of the valuable opportunity to secure a home and a livelihood in this superb climate — in a country where fortunes have been and will be made, with probably less exertion, on a smaller body of land, under morq pleasant circumstances, and in less time than in any known place on earth.

Chapter II. Agricultural Schools

GRICULTURAL education is at last recognized and conceded to be a necessity for the advancement of a nation. Our far-seeing statesmen recognize the value of the scientific advancement of agriculture and are gradually awakening to the fact that it is of more importance to a nation than mere Dreadnaughts. Well developed farming communities are worth more intrinsically than overpopulated business centers. Elementary agriculture is now being taught in many schools, and as soon as its real value is exploited wall become the fundamental study in all schools. It is already being recognized as the real foundation of business prosperity.

The farm is where sound minds grow in sound bodies, and where the perfection of intelligence is attained. It is here where high moral standards flourish and are brought to still higher elevations. He who is brought up amidst verdant nature, unhampered and micontaminated by vulgar business methods such as are practiced and are prevalent in thickly settled cities, is in possession of a much higher development of manhood and is apt to attain such positions of prominence as will satisfy man's highest ambitions.

DOCKS, MIAMI RIVER.

YACHTS ANCHORED AT ROYAL PALM DOCKS, MIAMI.

Chapter III. The Man Fitted For The Business

ERE I to select an ideal for this business, it would, of course, be a man of not only unusual strength of body and character but one having a great amount of both common sense and perseverance. Unfortunately, very few men have all of these qualities, but those who have weaker bodies often have the other essentials to a more marked degree. If you think you are a hustler, or rather if your neighbors think you are (and that is the only true sign), if you are of a persevering nature, if you are a friend of outdoor labor,- if you don't get tired easily, even though you have but the ordinary vitality and strength, you can, and most likely will, make a successful farmer.

The veritable giant, with all his strength and stature, is often outdone by the ordinary man, possessed of the other useful characteristics, for often weather or other conditions over which he has no control interfere very seriously with the countryman's plans, and in a short time practically annihilate his efiforts. It is then that the man with perseverance and stability comes to the front and often builds great success upon the very ashes of former failures. That this quality is necessary is easily proven, for each and every farmer, be he ever so successful, can recount at least one and often more incidents in his past in which his best efforts have been utterly wasted through no fault of his own whatever. There is no mystery in the business ; but success depends upon hard work, good judgment and capable business management.

In a word, he who is successful elsewhere is apt to be more successful here, his only competitor, the average Southern farmer, being not only a very indifferent business man, but often not overly industrious ; whereas, his Northern brother is generally in possession of both these virtues, and is, in addition, of an economical disposition, a quality sadly lacking in most of our Southern tillers of the soil. This shiftless lack of economy and industry, so eminently characteristic in the South, is not caused, as is so often asserted, by climatic conditions, but rather by a lack of educational facilities for the youth as well as the adult. For who will deny that the Northern farmer, together with his forefathers, has been forced into economy and frugality for centuries past by his competitors in business? This condition has never confronted the Southerner, he experiencing no privations caused by long winters which make inroads upon his purse. It is, therefore, a fact that the Northern husbandman, educated as he is in a superior manner, has man}' advantages in the South.

Shall the prospective grower come to this part of the country? Yes, by all means ; and although certain branches may be and will be overdone, we have up to the present time been unable to supply even a small percentage of the country's population with our products. We will soon learn to diversify, and when we get to raising sugar cane, rice, etc., we will certainly run short of land. Thus, though the field be large, the possibilities are larger.

Our matchless climate is a great temptation to prospective immigrants. Many come here who cannot endure the rigid Northern climate; others (and I fear the majority) come here tempted b}^ the fabulous prices often received by us for our products — in other words, they are attracted by the almighty dollar alone. To these poor, grasping individuals I wish to extend my sympathy, for I certainly feel sorry for those who do not naturally love their vocation ; who cannot honestly admire nature and her many beautiful products ; who do not even feel inspired or spurred onward by smaller successes to larger ones.

Yes, indeed, he who cannot work hand in hand with nature — who sees only the dollar when others admire beautiful nature — certainly deserves derision only, and can be regarded only with abject pity. On the other hand, he who loves nature and tries to operate with it is uniformly successful, his rewards being double, the money consideration being secondary, though often — yes.

IN THE EVERGLADES n

almost always- — he is rewarded with a much higher price in actual cash than his poor misguided brother.

God loves his fellow-workman and willingly lends a hand to those who cheerfully seek his co-operation. It is much easier to cultivate a cheerful disposition while you are cultivating your crops than to look upon your handiwork with a sordid, unappreciative expression. Smile, and nature smiles with you, and happiness, contentment, as well as prosperity, will follow your footsteps.

Chapter IV. Capital Required

ROBABLY nowhere can an individual start a business, agricultural or otherwise, with less cash than right here in South Florida, and nowhere can the agriculturist find a better place to invest his money.

A man can, if he has strength, perseverance, and knows the business, make a fortune here with but little capital ; in fact, all of our leading truckers came here poor, and I do not know of a single one who brought much capital with which to start. It therefore seems not so much a matter of how much capital a man has, but rather how he invests it.

The successful go at a thing without bluster and have accomplished the greater part of their undertakings before their neighbor is aware of it. On the other hand, the boastful beginner often ends in ignominious failure. A conservative estimate of the amount of cash rec[uired to start a truck farm here will depend, therefore, much on the individual himself.

Allowing he has a five or ten acre farm, including house and shed room, he will need, in addition, a horse or mule ($150), wagon and harness ($50), implements and incidentals ($100). He will also need about $40 worth of good fertilizer* to the acre (for intensive operations), besides horse-feed and provender for himself and family if he has one, making about $700 necessary and sufficient to start five acres in truck. If, however, he is not a worker, he will need v\7ages for a hired man, and this will add materially to the expense and deduct from the profits proportionately.

See last part of Chapter VI.

Of course beginnings have been made more often with much less money, and with splendid results. I will relate here my own experience in this line. My start was made wirh a capital of $1,000, and out of this a house costing $400 was built, and six acres of truck planted, mostly in tomatoes, resulting after six months of close application in a gain of $3,400, after all liills were paid, including expenses of a family of five. No help was engaged until it came time to pick, pack and ship. IVc did the work.

Many cases have been known in which truckers have given part of their time to working out for neighbors, earning thereby enough to carry their expenses, virtually getting along without capital, and winning out handsomely at the end of the season. Again, some will start on a wholesale scale, investing large sums in land, labor, tools and fertilizers, but by hiring indifferent help and trusting the project to some one else, make an utter failure. In a word, this business requires constant individual attention, and he who trusts to disinterested people generally fails, as he deserves to.

I would always recommend to all beginners that the}'- keep a reserve of funds at hand for any emergency, such as may be caused b_v excessive drouths, wet spells, frosts or other unlookedfor obstacles. While advice of the neighborly kind is sometimes good, it is best to use one's own judgment and common sense in all matters of life before accepting some one else's say so. This is particularly so in matters pertaining to trucking and farming operations in Florida.

DREDGE OKEECHOBEE DRAINING THE EVERGLADES.

RAW RECLAIMED EVERGLADE LAND, LEVEL AS A PRAIRIE.

Chapter V. Location And Selection Of Soil

ROBABLY the most important factor to the truck gardener is the selection of the soil. True, vegetables are grown in nearly all kinds of soil. but with greatl}^ varying results. LTnless the soil be not only rich, but of good depth, and underlaid with a more or less porous subsoil, to admit both water and air, results will not be satisfactory. We have in extreme Southern Florida a number of different kinds of soil, from the deep, rich alluvial soil, better known as muck beds, to the poorest white drifting sands, almost too poor to support any kind of vegetation. It is a fact that less than one per cent of the farming in this entire State is done on any but soil of a very inferior nature. However, close investigation has convinced me that most of the best farm land lies dormant today for want of proper drainage. On first sight it seems as though this could be easily remedied, for although the country is comparatively level, the good land is surrounded by somewhat higher ridges, making drainage more difficult ; and, in addition, the swamps are usually very large, and correspondingly large ditches must be excavated. This necessitates the expenditure of more money than can readily be raised by the individual, and must be undertaken by the larger corporations or by the State.

Pine land, when underlaid by a clay subsoil, gives very fair results; especially is this so if under irrigation by the method better known as the overhead system (see chapter on "Irrigation"). South of the Miami River there are among the rocky pine lands lying adjacent to the Atlantic ocean numerous pockets, often many acres in extent, where excellent crops of peppers, tomatoes and eggplants, as well as beans, are grown to perfection.

However, it requires almost double the amount of fertiliser to properly grow a crop on this soil as on the dark land of the Glades, and the profits are cut correspondingly.

The better classes of pine-land soil are underlaid, besides with clay, with a porous coraline limestone, which, when not too far above the water level, will provide ample moisture through the capillary attraction of the sun, drawing the water up from beneath the reach of the roots of the plants, not unlike a lamp wick. Some useful fertilizer ingredients also are pumped within reach of the plant roots by this natural method. Still further south, in what is locally known as the Homestead country, are very shallow beds of land composed of an admixture of sand and clay, containing nearly two per cent of iron and aluminum, in addition to almost, one per cent of phosphate. This soil, however shallow, produces excellent vegetables, and does not require as much fertilizer as ordinary pine land.

Chapter VI. The Everglade Section

ITHOUT doubt, the richest soil in the State is in the section known as the Everglades. This great swamp covers an area of over four thousand square miles, embracing considerably more than half of the territory lying south of Lake Okeechobee. This region does not present an impenetrable thicket, as is so often supposed, but it is in appearance more like an Illinois prairie, dotted here and there with a clump of trees, quite similar to our Northern windbreaks, the only difference being that they have been covered during the rainy season with more or less water. This vast area is also covered with large patches of coarse grass, which, on account of the leaves or blades having rough or serrated saw-like edges, is called saw-grass.

This grass in places grows so rank as to form a dense mass, often ten feet high. Through this tall grass here and there are winding, tortuous channels which, after enticing the canoeist through a maze, terminate more often in a still denser barrier of saw-grass. During the dry season these saw-grass beds are often fired by the Indians in quest of game, and burn to the ground, accompanied by loud popping noises not unlike the cracking of rifles in sham battles.

Should the rainy season begin after one of these saw-grass fires, the life is smothered out of the roots by the water standing over them, and as these patches seem to have accumulated a great amount of humus, being frequently several inches higher than the surrounding land, they form an enticing seed-bed for trees, and low hammocks are frequently formed in this way. There seems to be no part of this immense elevated plateau that is not reclaimable, or that will not respond to man's useful influence and energy, and thus be made extremely valuable.

Since the land is free from stumps and trees, the item of clearing needs little consideration — simply burning the grass cleans the land for the plow. The soil, although the very richest, is easily worked and irrigated and has, in addition, such climate and location as to make it extraordinarily valuable. The ease with which this kind of soil can be cultivated, on account of its light and porous nature, is another very attractive feature, especially when compared to the stiff, heavy soils of other States. Another favorable consideration is that the busy season comes here during the coolest and most pleasant time of the year, and though the labor be ever so hard, one can work in shirt sleeves ana without perspiring.

Analysis of this soil shows, besides traces of potash and phosphate, as high as three per cent of ammonia, it being in this respect a very rich fertilizer. When this tract is sufficiently drained and the possibility of overflow from Lake Okeechobee is removed, it will without a doubt become the largest, most productive Olid most profitable garden spot in the United States.

The surface soil, and the subsoil particularly, varies considerably, some parts having a subsoil of marl, some sand, and in other places the muck is many feet deep. Where there is an admixture of sand and muck, it is not only easier to till, but is naturally much better aerated and in consec^uence contains less acidity.

Were I asked to select an ideal soil I would prefer a deep sandy muck well decomposed, situated where it can be easily drained, preferabl}" on or near the bank of one of the canals, by means of which also the produce can be transported by barge directly to the steamer lines plying to and from the northern markets, thus getting advantage of the cheapest mode of transportation.

This section is attracting many settlers and when once under intensive tillage will become, without a single doubt, the heaviest producing area in the United States. It is simply wonderful to think that such a large tract should have not only the richest soil and finest climate, but be so located as to be subject to subirrigation throughout, with Lake Okeechobee as a reservoir and the entire Kissimmee River valley as a never failing supplv of not alone water but humus as well. When to this is added the water transportation it is no wonder that thousands have bought and will buy homes here. This country can easily produce forage enough to supply a million head of cattle the year around.

^ jjc :ji ^

I have often wondered why the black muck of the Everglades should contain two or three times as much nitrogen as similar land in the North. The only wa}^ I can account for this condition is that the severe disintegrating action of the frost in the North frees a much greater proportion of the ammonia, thus making it water soluble, by which agency much of it is washed from the soil and wasted.

As we can till soil here in the South and keep it active throughout the entire year, all the nitrogen necessary will be freed to grow abundant crops, and for this reason, if for no other, the producing ability of this Everglade muck soil will be wonderful.

There is no doubt whatever in my mind that this most expensive element (nitrogen) can be entirely dispensed with in our fertilizers for Everglade land as soon as the land is sufficiently reclaimed and aerated to remove enough of the everpresent acidity to allow the germs of nitrification free action. That this is true is proven by the fact that recently drained land here already produces fully twice the wild growth it formerly did.

PLOWING NEWLY RECLAIMED EVERGLADE LAND.

SEED-BEDS IN THE EVERGLADES. TOMATO FIELD IN BACKGROUND.

Chapter VII. Preparation Of The Land

OWHERE will the old adage "A stitch in time saves nine" apply so strongly as here, and the experienced grower invariably gives his soil a most thorough preparation by plowing, disking and pulverizing until a deep, mellow, compact seed bed is prepared. Often in this part of the country it is preferable to plow some time in advance of the cropping season, so as to let the land settle thoroughly, if possible catching some of the later tropical rains to help settle the soil before finally harrowing to a fine seed or plant bed.

This method of preparation has many decided advantages, inasmuch as it has a tendency to wash out any acidity contained in the soil, and deposit nitrogen absorbed from the air by falling rain, thus finding here a tempting seed bed in which to start bacterial propagation. The careful, experienced grower has his mind made up in advance as to the number of acres he wishes to plant of any given variety. He plows carefully, turning a straight, uniform furrow, in even sized lands. Should the soil contain acidity he gives the sun a chance to act before he harrows it down, and applies lime or wood ashes to further remedy this defect. All furrows must be plowed in the proper direction so water can find easy access to the lateral ditches by way of the dead furrows, for more thorough drainage.

If you are a novice you had better have some one experienced lay off your lands, or lay out your rows, for if crooked they will not only be harder to work, but will be an everlasting eyesore. In case the land is seeded naturally with foul weed seeds, it is a great saving to harrow thoroughly and let them come up several times, and bv repeated harrowings destrov the majority of them.

22 TRUCK FARAIING

This procedure cuts clown much labor when the crop is planted. Some of the best planters put in a summer cover crop of velvet beans, beggar-weed or cowpeas. This is not only a cheap way to store nitrogen, but the soil will be vastly superior in a mechanical way if shaded from our tropical sun during the summer months. This method is further commended because these leguminous plants produce a valuable crop for hay or forage when the land w^ould otherwise be dormant or grow to foul weeds. The clearing ofif of land thus planted is very easy and, when raked over with a horse rake, will often be found to be in fine compact condition for disking or harrowing without further labor of plowing.

Chapter VIII. Xo Present Danger Of Oa'erproductiox

UCH controversy has been brought up at different times concerning the danger of the trucking business being overdone in this territory. To famiharize ourselves with this, let us consider the conditions that have prevailed in former years.

I remember that nine or ten years ago a light shipment of ten cars of tomatoes going out in a single day had a depressing effect on the Xorthern markets. The prices in New York at that time depreciated from the mere anticipation of this quantity of tomatoes being thrown upon the market at one time. However, a few^ years later as high as 25 to 35 and even 50 car-loads of this same fruit were placed upon the market daily and it seems did not have the effect of reducing prices to as great an extent as those former light shipments did. During the season 1909-10, over 100 car-loads of tomatoes were shipped from Dade County per day for thirty consecutive days, and wonderful to relate, although the market at that time was not what we would consider high, it held its own remarkably well.

Whether this is actually due to increased consumption or not, I am not in position to state. I think probably the weather being very pleasant throughout the X^orth during the months of our greatest shipments, had considerable to do with it. It stands to reason that wdien the people of the North find Spring at hand, particularly after they have been penned up in their houses by inclement weather for months at a time, their appetites naturally have an abnormal tendency towards vegetables. During the time of cold weather in the X'orth ever^•bodv has naturallv

2.3 eaten largely of meats, therefore the first few sunny days are apt to bring the good housewife into the open, and the tempting vegetables displa3'ed at this time of the year by the green grocers have a strong tendency to induce her to invest in the various Southern products, so attractively displayed.

One thing we can always depend upon, no matter how large the acreage originally planted, there are always many failures to be chronicled before the season is well advanced. Excessive rains, drouth, ravages of fungi and insects have a tendency not only to annihilate the crop, but often cause a number of our novices to discontinue the business entirely. I have often met people, unfamiHar with the business, who comparatively early in the season were so disheartened that they simply gave up the struggle, for which they were sorry later on, as the prices usually, in consequence of inclement weather or the other conditions named above, advanced to an almost prohibitive figure.

The old grower, on the other hand, being familiar with production, and having in past years experienced unfavorable as well as encouraging experiences, usually is persistent and keeps right on persevering, and for this reason almost invariably comes out at the end of the season with flying colors. I frequently have known peppers, for instance, to be begging on the market, thereby causing many of those easily discouraged to neglect their crops to such an extent as to give them over to the weeds, and then for the market to advance to such a figure that those who had been untiring and faithful in their work, realized a most handsome profit in the very years in which the largest acreage had originally been planted. This is equally true of other crops.

So familiar ha;ve we grown with the different obstacles to. be encountered and such sturdy control have we of the conditions here found, that it is a common saying in the South that we make crops here. Probably our familiarity and success with the use of a well balanced fertilizer is what leads us to want to monopolize all the credit of growing our crops, forgetting that Nature is the most important adjunct.

FREIGHT STEAMER AT WHARF, MIAMI. THIS BOAT LINE INSURES LOW RATES

TO THE GROWERS.

Chapter IX

\'ERYTHING should be done to encourage cash F. O. B. sales of our products. Unscrupulous dealers usually have a great number of drummers locally known as ''tomato or vegetable buzzards" canvassing our country. They frequently quote high prices on our products, but are very careful not to tie themselves down b}- contract to any given figure. ''A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" applies here very readily. We often find that our buyer will offer us a certain figure for one of our products, which price has been inflated by the representative. We are tempted to take the risk and ship our products to his firm, only to receive a very insignificant return for the same.

It should also be remembered that if we were all to adhere to the cash or F. O. B. system of selling we would in a short time have the matter so well in hand that no loss whatever would be incurred and we could go home from market with the cash jingling in our pockets, sleeping well at night and not being obliged to think and wonder and fret about the uncertainty of our returns. For this reason also, numerous packing houses have been established throughout our growing section by the growers themselves. Some packing houses are owned or controlled by dishonest dealers, who not only ship our stuff indiscriminately, but often have a direct understanding and come here for no other purpose than to deceive.

The annual loss through dishonest commission men amounts in the aggregate to an enormous figure throughout this section of the country. Co-operation among the growers whereby these frauds can be detected and exposed would work a great benefit in favor of the ag'riculturists of this section ; and each and evervone of the new-comers should reahze this, and should bear in mind that one of his first duties should be to join a branch of the Local Association now being established throughout this section and thereb}' help to eradicate this dishonest element.

STATE CANAL IN THE EVERGLADES^ FOR DRAINAGE^ IRRIGATION AND TRANSPORTATION.

HVi'tv

^kn

TEMPORARY DAM IN STATE CANAL, TO BE REPLACED LATER BY PERJ'IANENT LOCKS.