THE FARMERS' RECilSTER. 



Vol-. II. 



JUNE, 1834 



No. 1. 



EBMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



For tliu Fanners' Rcgktcr. 

 S03IE ACCOUNT OF THE AGRICULTURAL, SOIL 

 AND PRODUCTS OF MIDDLE FLORIDA, IN 

 A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. 



Sir: 



Agreeably to the wish Avhieh you have intima- 

 ted, I proceed to give you a sketcli, though a 

 hasty and imperfect one, of the agriculture, soil, 

 and products of Middle Florida. 



The Floridas were ceded by Spain to the Uni- 

 ted States by the treaty ncgotiatetl at Wasliuig- 

 ton, in 1819, but it was not until the summer of 

 1821, tliat our flag Ava\'ed in peaceful possession 

 over the fortresses of Augustine, Pensacola, and 

 St. Marks. Soon after this latter event, numbers 

 ol" our people, Avith their characteristic enterprise, 

 prepared to settle in tlie newly acquired territory, 

 and about the year 1825, the resources of JVIiddle 

 Florida began to be developed. Up to the pe- 

 riod of our accjuisition of the Floridas, little was 

 known of their internal condition, their soil, cli- 

 mate, &c., and the most contradictory opinions 

 were entertained. Eut when 3Iiddle Florida had 

 been penetrated and ex])lored, and a country 

 found possessing a large portion of fertile lands, 

 with a beautitiilly undulating surlace, and a cli- 

 mate, as it was fondly hoped, 



" Where the flowers ever blossom, tlie beams ever shine;" 

 the most favorable impressions were made upon 

 the public mind; the expectations of many were 

 wrought up to an inordinate degree, and they in- 

 dulged the belief that they would be able to unite 

 there the various products of the temperate and 

 torrid zones. Besides cotton, sugar cane, &c., 

 many hastened to plant the orange, not doubting 

 that, in due time, they would be gratified by the 

 fragrance of its bloom, and the luxury of its fruit. 

 But, in the full tide of experiment, " there came 

 a frost, a killing frost." The memorable frost of 

 the 6th of April, 1828, and those of the two suc- 

 ceeding winters, have demonstrated to the unwil- 

 ling inhabitants of the interior of Middle Florida, 

 that, Avith them, the orange cannot be produced 

 in the open air. On the sea-coast and islands, 

 however, no doubt can be entertained of the prac- 

 ticability of producing it, because it is produced in 

 East Florida, in the same latitude, and on the sea- 

 islands of Georgia, in a higher latitude. 



Wiih respect to sugar cane, the disappoint- 

 ments have been less signal and decisive, but the 

 losses far greater. Its production and manufac- 

 ture is an expensive ])rocess, and where any 

 thing like a crop is attempted, a failure is attend- 

 ed with serious consequences. The liiilures which 

 have been experienced here in this crop have re- 

 sulted mainly from want of knowledge, and want 

 of adequate preparations for" taking ofi' the crop," 

 that is, for grinding and boiling the cane. In com- 

 mon with Louisiana, however, much loss has re- 

 RiUted from the severe frosts ofthe last three winters. 

 From my own experience, and from my observa- 

 tions in Louisiana and in Florida, I believe that 

 in no part of the United States is the sugar cane 

 BO good a crop as cottonj Qucequc ipse miscrrima 



Vol. II.-l 



vidi, et quorum pars fui. In the lower part of 

 Louisiana, howe\er, and in East Florida, that 

 culture may be advantageously pursued, because 

 there the climate is most favorablo for cane, and 

 the soil not so suitable for cotton. The high price 

 of sugar which now prevails, and which is likely 

 to continue, is an additional incentive to its pro- 

 duction in those parts ofthe Unhed States, which 

 favor it most. 



So much has, of late years, been written and 

 published in the United States concerning the cul- 

 ture of the sugar cane, that I shall be brief in 

 what I have to say on this subject. 



Two sorts or species are cultivated in Florida, 

 the Olaheite or Green Cane, and the Ribband 

 Cane. The former attains the largest growth; 

 the latter is a more hardy plant, and, therefore, 

 better ada{)te_d to the vicissitudes of our climate. 

 The mode of planting is in drills, from four to five 

 leet apart; the cane laid horizontally in the trench 

 or drill, two or three together, in order to insure 

 a good stand. The time of ]jlanting may be at 

 any time between the first of November and tlie 

 first of April, when the temperature of tlie weather 

 does not approach the freezing jjoint, at which 

 times the cane must not be taken from its beds, 

 and exposed to the air. After it has come up, it 

 is ploughed and hoed like cotton or Indian corn. 

 About the middle of October, the grindino- and 

 boiUng should be begun, as the lower part of the 

 canes is then fit for sugar, and the tops for plant- 

 ing. But it is usual also to reserve a portion of 

 the entire canes for planting. When the approach 

 of frost is feared, the standing cane is cut off at the 

 surface of the ground, and laid in large flat beds, 

 or mattresses, in which situation, if the operation 

 be properly performed, it is secure from the eliects 

 of li'ost. After this the grinding may be continu- 

 ed, and I have known sugar made from cane that 

 had Iain m maltre.'i-.-iCs lor forty, fifty, and sixty 

 days. 



From the roots of the cane lefl in the earth, a 

 second crop is obtained, which is called the " Rat- 

 toon cro])," which ripens earlier and more perfect- 

 ly than the crop from the plantings. It is desira- 

 ble, therefore, to have one half tlie crop of each 

 year from rattoons, in order that by mixmg them, 

 in boiling, the greater maturity of the one may 

 compensate, in a degi'ee, for the deficiency of the 

 other. After severe winters, however, the rattoon 

 crop has been found to fail to a gi-eater or less ex- 

 tent. In this climate the rattoons can only be re- 

 lied on lor one year, and, without them, it requires 

 fi-oin twenty to twenty-five per cent, of the whole 

 crop to rencAV it. It is obvious that this alone, is 

 a severe tax upon the sugar planter. 



The cultivation of cotton which, at first, was 

 but a secondarj^ object with most of the settlers in 

 Florida, has become the principal pursuit of the 

 ])lanters. 



TJiree sorts or species of cotton are planted in 

 Middle Florida. First, the common green-seed 

 cotton, ( Gossyplum herbaceuni) originally from 

 India, and the Levant. Second, the Mexican cot- 

 ton, (^Gossypivm hirsutvm?) Third, the eea- 



