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MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A SNAP SHOT FROM FLORIDA. 



HEADING CABBAGES IN JANUARY. 



Two years ag'o today the orange belt of Florida was experiencing- 

 the most delightful stages of a boom ; with the advantages of good 

 soil, fine climate and a rapid influx of northerners eager to buy 

 land and plant orange trees, together with the close proximity of 

 the markets of both eastern and central states, central Florida 

 stood in a fair way to supply the whole world with oranges — and 

 millionaires. But, somehow or other, one of those cold, sarcastic 

 northern winds got itself pointed this way, and, presto.' — not only 

 future hopes, but also — which was more substantial — the orange 

 groves themselves were chilled out of existence in a single night, 

 and Florida today finds itself in a good deal the same shape that 

 some sections of the wheat belt have been in more than once when 

 wheat was a failure: no oranges, no other crop, and everything to bu}'. 



FIELD OF CABBAGES IN FLORIDA. 



There is but one line of defense to follow, and that is more diversity 

 in the agricultural interests of the state. So, into this line, a good 

 many of the Floridan farmers are turning, and one of the first steps 

 made has been in the raising of garden truck, principally cabbage 

 and celer3'-, which find a ready market in Chicago and New Yoi'k at 

 this time of the year. The accompanying view, taken on Januar}'^ 

 1st, shows an erstwhile ten acre orange grove, now converted into a 

 fine field of already heading cabbages. The ravages of the cabbage- 

 worm are so slight that no fight against them is necessary, and the 

 regularity of the fortnightly showers practically make this crop a 

 surety. ROY UNDERWOOD. 



Ocala, Marion Co., Florida, Jan. 1, 1897. 



