USA > Florida > Florida, 1513-1913, past and future; four hundred years of wars and peace and industrial development > Part 13
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The destruction of fifty million dollars of property in one night by the turn of the wind brought a sad recognition of the truth. It took from Jacksonville the proud distinction of being the greatest orange market in the world, but it brought about the development of other resources, which have added enormously to the wealth of the state.
METHODS OF MARKETING
The methods of handling Florida oranges from the tree to the place of consumption are a recognition of the fact that honesty pays.
FLORIDA KUMQUAT
ORANGE BLOOM AND LEAVES
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FLORIDA
The most progressive growers have worked separately and together, but in perfect harmony for years to create and maintain a reputa- tion for their product in the markets of the world. An honest brand upon every box of fruit with the reputation that it brings, is the best asset that the grower can have, and these men have impressed the fact upon the less progressive growers, until as a rule, the ship- ments from the state are up to the high standards that have been fixed.
GRADING AND SIZING
Florida oranges are graded according to color, as bright and russet, with sometimes a subclassification of the two grades. Russets are the fruit on which the oil cells of the skin have been broken by the rust mite, while the fruit is green, allowing the oil to oxidize on the surface and producing a brown coating. It injures the fruit only in appearance while actually improving its flavor and carrying qualities.
The fruit is also graded according to size of its largest diameter. The size is denoted by the number of oranges that may be packed snugly into the box of standard dimensions. This package is divided equally into two compartments, each of which measures twelve inches square by twelve inches deep. Each orange is carefully wrapped in tissue paper and packed into the box according to regu- lar diagrams arranged for each size, so that when the package is closed, every piece of fruit fits tightly in its place, leaving no chance for movement or for bruising, and it can be shipped around the world.
The standard packs, or number of pieces of fruit that can be put in a box, now recognized by Florida orange growers are, for sweet oranges, 96, 112, 126, 150, 176, 200 and 250; for grapefruit, 28, 36, 46, 54, 64, 72, 80, 96 and 126, and for the tangerine, in half boxes, 72, 96, 106, 144, 150, 168, 188 and 196. Very little fruit is packed larger or smaller than these sizes.
These sizes are determined by the measurement of their largest diameters and differ successively by one-eighth or one-sixteenth of an inch. For oranges they vary from three and one-half inches for the 96 size, to two and seven-sixteenths inches for the 250 size. In grapefruit the 28 size measures five and one-fourth inches in diam- eter, the 36 size, five inches, and on down to the 80 size, four inches, and the 96's three and five-eighths inches.
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FLORIDA
ORGANIZATION OF CITRUS GROWERS
At various periods in the history of orange culture in the state, organizations among the growers for mutual advantage and protec- tion have been maintained. The largest and most important of these is the Florida Citrus Exchange, which has been in existence for several years. It includes in its membership less than one-half of the growers of the state. It has been working to secure honesty and uniformity in the packing of fruit, to build up and maintain the reputation of the product by careful grading and by preventing the shipment of green and immature fruit, which, colored by artificial heat and sweating, have been placed on the northern markets as early as October; and to control shipments in season so as to avoid glutting the markets outside the state by an oversupply at one or two points, while other consuming sections have reported a famine of these products.
The organization has accomplished much good along the lines in which it has worked and it has secured better values for the fruit that has been shipped through its agency. Many of the leading growers of the state, although not allied with the association, have worked with splendid efficiency toward the same ends. At several locations in the orange growing belt, the organization has erected and equipped model packing houses. In connection with these it has trained crews who handle the fruit from the grove to the ship- ping station, relieving the grower of all responsibility for his fruit after it is ready for the harvest.
PICKING AND PACKING
The pickers go into the grove, each wearing cotton gloves, for the fruit must not be touched by the naked hand at any stage of its progress toward the market. The fruit is clipped, never pulled, from the branch, for the stem is likely to remain on the tree and a break in the skin of the fruit starts decay. The stem, therefore, is cut close to the fruit so that it may not injure other fruit in the same package nor in any stage of packing. It is placed in canvas sacks hung from the picker's shoulder. It is deposited, not dropped, in field crates for transportation to the packing house. This is done on spring wagons, so as to avoid all jarring from the unevenness of the road.
In the packing house the fruit is allowed to "shrink" for twenty- four to forty-eight hours, and then it is placed in a large tank of water
WASHED FRUIT IN CARRIER GOING TO DRIER IN FLORIDA PACKING HOUSE
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FLORIDA
for washing. It is scrubbed by revolving brushes which remove all scale and dirt from the surface. Next it is run through a drying chamber heated artificially to about one hundred degrees. From this chamber and by the same moving platform it is dumped on wide belts of canvas, which carry it past the graders and inspectors for the final examination. From them it gocs to the sizer which, through various runways deposits it in bins, graded as to size within a small fraction of an inch and more accurately than human eyes or hands could possibly accomplish.
From these bins the packers size and wrap each piece of fruit separately and put it in the box with absolute accuracy and with almost incredible speed. The package then goes to the nailing machine and is ready, after stenciling, to be loaded into the car which stands waiting on the railroad track close to the packing house. Three hundred boxes of standard size are considered a carload, and in less than carload shipments each box is billed and the freight rate is charged upon cighty pounds weight.
The fruit is handled by male labor, excepting that in some pack- ing houses women are employed as packers, and many of them become more expert, rapid and accurate than the male employees. From the tree to the box the grading of the fruit is carefully followed, and every person who handles it is required to watch for defects that might injure the sale or contaminate the contents of the package. 'The rule, "Every doubtful orange is a cull," is hung in big letters in many packing houses as a constant reminder to all workers.
ADVANTAGES OF CAREFUL, METHODS
The question may be asked, How much is gained by these improved methods of handling oranges? It is not a question of what, but how much. The answer is readily given and it is backed by proven figures. The cost of packing is reduced compared with the older and cruder methods, from twenty to twenty-five per cent, in some cases by even larger figures. Uniformity is given to the pack and a reputation is made for the brand or stencil, which readily commands higher prices. The net result has been that these prices through several seasons in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and in most of the northern mar- kets, have averaged from twenty to forty per cent above the values obtained for fruit that does not bear these or other well known and established brands.
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PROFITS FROM ORANGE CULTURE
As to the profits to be gained from the cultivation of citrus crops in Florida, there are many elements that enter into the problem, and not the least of these is the individuality of the grower himself. Indeed, it is the most important of all, for the man who is to succeed in any undertaking is the one who is willing to learn from others; he is the one who has resources within himself to meet emergencies. Cli- matic and soil conditions here differ much from those in northern and western sections. The horticulturist who comes from these sections expecting that his experiences will insure his success here, is doomed to failure unless he shall combine with these experiences a large mcas- ure of the homely quality of common sense.
Many have made splendid profits from this culture. The oppor- tunities are better than ever before and the rewards will go to those who shall master every detail, who will take advantage of what others have accomplished and who will make of their work a science.
CHAPTER X PROFITABLE SOIL PRODUCTS
F LORIDA, more than any other state in the Union, and more than all other states combined, with the excep- tion of California, surpasses in the varieties of its soil products. The state has been selected by the United States Department of Agriculture as the most desir- able field for its experiments in the adaptation of foreign trees, forage plants, fruits and vegetables and it has estab- lished stations near both coasts of the state for this work.
Some of these fruits and other profitable soil products have been developed to a great commercial advantage in the state, and bring millions of dollars into Florida each year. The production of oranges is greater than from any other section and it would seem that this great industry is but in its infancy.
In the production of pineapples, the eastern coast of this state is particularly profitable, and the quality of the "pines," raised largely in St. Lucie county, surpasses those grown elsewhere. A stranger examining the soil would think it barren and that nothing in the way of vegetation could be produced from it. It appears to be a silicious sand, almost dazzling in its whiteness under the glare of the summer sun, yet on the authority of the Indian River Fruit Growers' Associa- tion, whose records cover more than twenty-five years of this culture, the average net profits per annum per acre from raising pineapples in this section is $210. Formerly this fruit was raised without protec- tion from the sun or the coolness of the winter months. Within recent years, however, the most successful growers have erected over their fields rough coverings of wooden slats, carried on posts from eight to ten feet above the ground. This protection is against the heat of the summer seasons rather than to ward off the cold, for the latter protection is rarely if ever needed.
The production of pineapples in 1912 approximated three hun- dred and fifty-six thousand crates, valued at $383,000. This produc-
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tion came almost entirely from St. Lucie, Dade, Lee and Palm Beach counties, the St. Lucie product being about two hundred and eighty- five thousand crates.
AVOCADO PEARS
The avocado (Alligator Pear, Aguacate) may be classed as a new fruit, although it has been raised in the tropics for a long period. South Florida appears to be the only region in which the propagation and cultivation of this fruit have been carried on sys- tematically and profitably in the United States. Experiments have been made in California on an extensive scale, but they appear not to have resulted as successfully as in Florida.
The avocado, although technically a fruit, is from a culinary stand- point no more a fruit than the cucumber, nor can it be classed correctly as a vegetable. It appears to be in a class by itself, and possibly should be known as the "salad fruit," as it is the only soil product that when ripe is eaten exclusively as a salad. The nearest approach to this is perhaps the olive, although that is regarded usually as a relish. But, like the olive, the taste for the avocado appears to be an acquired one. To the average epicure the first taste is not pleasant, but when once acquired the most critical become the most enthu- siastic over it.
The avocado tree varies greatly in shape with its different varie- ties. Some are like the Lombardy poplar, others have the shape of the American elm, although not its size, while others closely resemble the ordinary fruit tree, the leaves varying from six to nine inches in length, but all are broad. The heavy fruit is borne on long, slender stems, usu- ally at the periphery of the tree. The tree lives, in the tropics at least, to the age of eighty years, and it bears from its fifth or sixth year to old age. It is said that some avocado trees in Peru antedate the Span- ish settlement of that country, and are still in bearing. The tree in maturity bears from fifty to five hundred fruits each year, although some trees bear only ten or a dozen pears a year.
METHODS OF CULTIVATION
The avocado does not "come true to seed"; in fact, it is variable and seedlings do not bear well. Therefore, the only method of prop- agating selected varieties is by budding or grafting from the trees it is desirable to propagate. A variety has been discovered in Florida
GATHERING AVOCADO PEARS
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that bears seedless fruit, and as no use has been discovered for the seed, except to grow the stocks upon which to bud, a seedless strain of the fruit is desirable.
The avocado requires a moist, well drained soil and not subject to overflow. The soil should contain an abundance of vegetable matter. The production of avocado pears in Florida, by the report of the Agricultural Department for 1912, was nineteen thousand, four hundred crates, valued at about fifty-four thousand dollars. Three quarters of this crop was produced in Dade county. The comparatively recently created demand for this product, which is in- creasing from year to year, promises a great commercial opportunity for their cultivation, and Florida, it appears, is to be the source of the supply.
THE BANANA IN FLORIDA
Few people, however well informed, realize that Florida produces a considerable quantity of bananas, and of a quality superior to the fruit which reaches this country from foreign sources. Although it is essentially a tropical fruit, it appears to have adapted itself per- fectly to the conditions of soil and climate found on the southeast coast of Florida.
Quoting from a recent writer, we read the following:
"The banana may be, as is believed by many people, the original forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden. This would materially en- hance its general interest to man, if it were only known to be a fact. In any case, however, it is one of the curiosities of the vegetable kingdom, being neither a tree, nor a palm, nor an herb, nor a bush, nor a shrub, nor yet a vegetable, but merely an herbaceous plant with the status of a tree. Although it sometimes attains a height of thirty feet, there is no wood fiber in any part of its structure, and the bunches growing on the dwarf banana plant are frequently heavier than the stalk that supports them. There is no plant known to man which gives such a quantity of food to the acre as the banana; it yields forty-four times more by weight than the potato, and one hundred and thirty-three times more than wheat. Another peculiar fact about the banana is that few insects will attack it, and that it is practically immune from diseases that fruits are heir to."
The banana product of Florida in 1912 came almost entirely from Dade and St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties. More than twenty- seven thousand bunches were shipped, for which $18,700 were received.
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The fruit is raised with little cultivation and expense and the income from the industry is declared by enthusiasts to be largely profit.
COCOANUTS
The cocoanut tree is one of the most beautiful specimens of the palm that grows in the world. The commercial cultivation of the nut has not been undertaken on a large scale in this country, and only in Florida has it become an appreciably valuable article of commerce. Cocoanut trees when systematically laid out are planted from twenty-five to thirty feet apart, making fifty to sixty-five trees to the acre. Usually in Florida they have not been planted in groves, but rather have been used to border driveways or the edges of fields devoted to other culture. If the young trees are carefully nurtured the first nuts are borne in the fourth year. Growing wild, the tree is ten years old before it produces. Under favorable conditions it reaches its maximum yield in from eight to ten years and continues this yield until it is fifty or sixty years old. The tree produces regardless of seasons. Blossoms come forth every month and the nuts ripen about twelve months later. Thus every phase of growth may be found on each tree. From seventy-five to one hundred merchantable nuts are matured each year. The produc- tion in 1912 in Dade and Palm Beach counties was two hundred and twenty-seven thousand nuts, which were sold for $8,500.
GUAVAS
The guava grows on both sides of the state in the southern counties bordering the ocean and the gulf. The production in 1912 exceeded fifty-six thousand crates, which were valued at $50,000. In its raw condition the guava is much relished by those who appreciate its deli- cate flavor. Its greatest use, however, is in the delicious jellies and pastes which are known everywhere. The hulls or portion between the seed-pulp and the skin (which granulated substance gives it a pear-like aspect, by reason of which it is denoted the "guava pear") when preserved, is regarded as a delicacy by the natives of Cuba, whence it originally came.
JAPANESE PERSIMMONS
In Japan, the persimmon is to the natives what apples and oranges are to Americans. The Japanese varieties do best in Florida and the
GATHERING PINEAPPLES
SAN LUIS VINEYARDS NEAR TALLAHASSEE
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trees thrive on almost any kind of soil, giving good results on land too poor for other crops. It is not affected by any cold that comes to Florida, and the tree grows as well in the cotton belt as in the southern counties of the state. Although it is not yet an article of large commercial value, four thousand, five hundred crates were shipped from Florida in 1912, which were valued at $6,600.
MANGOES
The mango is one of the products of Florida soil about which little is known outside of the state, although it has been proven a profitable producer in this region. The latest official bulletin of the State Agri- cultural Department shows that twenty-six thousand, six hundred crates were produced in 1912, with a value of $26,650; and almost one-half this crop was raised in Duval county.
BERMUDA ONIONS
California for years led in the production of this splendid vege- table, but within recent years Florida has demonstrated that its soils can produce the Bermuda onion at an immense profit. In fact, with proper care and cultivation, it is said that from eight hundred to one thousand dollars may be gained on an acre of suitable ground planted to Bermuda onions. In many parts of Florida there are lands par- ticularly adapted to this product, and large profits have been reported from every section. The crop of 1912 was sixty-five thousand crates, which brought $102,000.
To enumerate the many varieties of fruits and vegetables pro- duced in Florida and shipped to all parts of the country and outside of the United States, would require much space. To enumerate some of the crops and their values as reported by the State Department of Agriculture for 1912, will give some idea of the aggregate value of of these crops.
ARTICLES
QUANTITY
VALUE
Upland cotton
42,013 bales
$2,095,973
Sea Island cotton
28,071 bales
2,188,830
Corn
5,453,936 bushels
4,455,161
Oats
287,708 bushels
232,250
Sweet potatoes
2,953,581 bushels
2,398,257
Rice
14,737 bushels
22,609
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FLORIDA
ARTICLES
QUANTITY
VALUE
Sugar cane, syrup
67,846 barrels
920,693
Field peas
76,885 bushels
149,456
Field pea hay .
9,849 tons
180,894
Native grass hay
46,650 tons
516,351
Peanuts
1,534,736 bushels
1,630,275
Tobacco
1,444,626 pounds
586,607
Velvet beans
320,930 bushels
598,815
Velvet bean hay
2,526 tons
46,673
Cassava
923 tons
5,360
Onions
65,162 crates
102,067
Lettuce
625,012 crates
818,307
Celery
420,394 crates
482,579
Peppers
250,918 crates
288,663
Irish potatoes
1,080,215 bushels
1,640,882
Cabbage
193,729 crates
295,273
Tomatoes
1,752,194 crates
2,112,829
Squashes
98,403 crates
133,183
Egg plants
39,558 crates
39,981
Cucumbers
363,390 crates
344,428
Watermelons
6,895 carloads
511,417
Cantaloupes
280,551 crates
285,023
English peas
12,045 crates
21,165
Beets
23,123 crates
35,210
Beans
768,300 crates
798,221
Pecans
16,893 bushels
94,887
Strawberries
3,513,108 crates
147,456
Pears
30,993 barrels
78,258
Peaches
178,566 bushels
225,576
Plums
17,716 bushels
23,072
Grapes
1,054,945 pounds
74,581
Grape wines
20,354 gallons
19,968
Figs
16,534 crates
25,585
Honey
675,718 pounds
72,363
OTHER VALUABLE VEGETATION
This great southern peninsula has several soil resources which have been demonstrated to be commercially valuable, but which have not been developed as great industries. They invite the inves- tigation of capitalists, and it is not a matter of doubt that the future
CASSAVA
VELVET BEANS
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FLORIDA
will bring large investments to aid in their building up. Among these are the cultivation of sisal hemp, the world's largest source of rope and cordage; the camphor tree, rice, sugar, and starch.
SISAL HEMP
Sisal hemp was introduced into Florida in 1834, probably from South America, and the plant has been developed to perfection quite generally through southern Florida. The United States imports annually approximately fifty millions of dollars worth of sisal hemp, and the product grown in Florida, according to the authority of the United States Department of Agriculture, is of a better quality than that produced in foreign countries. Indeed it is said that from the Florida plant the true sisal plant (Agava Sisalana) has been dis- tributed in nearly all tropical countries. The same authority declares that southern Florida has thousands of acres of land better adapted to the cultivation of the sisal plant than are the sisal-producing dis- tricts of Yucatan, from which millions of dollars' worth are brought into this country every year.
The plant, which contains in its leaves the fiber used in the manu- facture of rope, resembles in some respects the better known cen- tury plant, particularly in the leaves, which are several feet long, thick, and protected with a leathery outside covering. The young plant requires from one to three years of growth before its leaves may be gathered; but once set, there is no need of further planting. The parent stalk lives about ten years and from the third year repro- duces new plants from suckers, and thus the plantation is reproduced indefinitely. It requires no fertilizing and practically no cultiva- tion, the occasional removal of old and dead plants or brush being all that is required. A rich soil is not necessary for success in the growing of sisal hemp. The average annual yield from a matured plant is at the rate of about fifteen hundred pounds from each acre. The leaves are put through a decorticator, which separates out the fiber ready for spinning. A large plantation on Pine Island, at the entrance to Charlotte Harbor on the lower west coast of the state, has been devoted for several years to the cultivation of this plant. Its operations have been sufficient not only to demonstrate the successful culture of the sisal plant in Florida, but have given some interesting figures as to the economical feasibility of the industry. They have shown the cost of production to be two and one-half cents a pound of fiber, which at market values is worth six cents a pound. Deduct-
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FLORIDA
ing the expenses of gathering, cleaning and other incidentals leaves a net profit of sixty dollars an acre, extending through an indefinite series of years. It is a crop which requires no replanting and the entire labor is in gathering and preparing it for market. In other words, the net annual returns are equal to, or exceed by a consider- able margin, the original cost of the land on which the plant is grown. A plantation of one hundred or one thousand acres will return a hand- some income on the investment.
The erection of machinery for separating sisal fiber would be unnecessary for the average grower, as there is a ready sale for the leaves as they come from the sisal plant, at the establishment already in operation at St. James City. In the larger development of the industry such establishments would be centrally located to handle the product of many hundreds of acres, divided into a number of small plantations or into fewer large ones.
The process of cleaning and spinning requires but little time, for the leaves delivered to the decorticator in the morning may be turned out as finished rope in the afternoon of the same day.
CAMPHOR
The tree from which the camphor gum of commerce is made is not only a beautiful ornamental tree, for which purpose it has been used almost exclusively in the south, but it is one having a commer- cial value that in time may be made to rival the turpentine industry. The tree grows to the height of thirty or forty feet and is handsome in appearance. It is well suited for large hedges or borders and may be trimmed into any desired shape. The United States Department of Agriculture for a number of years has been conducting experiments to demonstrate the value of this tree in the production of camphor gum on a commercial basis. Complete reports have not been pub- lished, but sufficient information has been sent out to warrant the large planting of trees for industrial purposes. A practical demon- stration of the possibilities of the tree in Florida has already been made on a large plantation of several hundred acres near Palatka. A number of years is required to determine within narrow limits the profit to be derived under favorable conditions from a development of this nature. It is impossible, therefore, to give definite figures, but it is a practically assured fact that conditions in Florida warrant large investments in this industry. It has been demonstrated that the tree itself will grow to its full development in this state. With
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