NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2229 



valued at $57,270; cabbage, S06 acres, valued at S57,- 

 191; and turnips, 445 acres, valued at $29,470. Vege- 

 tables of less importance grown were asparagus, beets, 

 sweet corn, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, green peas, 

 green i)eppers, and s(]uash. 



The acreage occujiied bj' the flower and plant industry 

 in Georgia in 1909 was 144 acres and the value of the 

 products $271,427. The area of land under glass was 

 867,222 square feet, of which 741,672 square feet were 

 covered by greenhouses and 125,550 squa.'e feet by 

 sa.shes and frames. 



The area on which nurserj' products were grown in 

 1909 was 1,502 acres, an increase of 56.9 per cent since 

 1S99, when the area was 957 acres. The value of the 

 nurserj' products in 1909 was $366,433, as compared 

 with $172,143, the value of the nursery products in 1899. 



T. H. McHatton. 



Florida. 



The history of horticulture in Florida (Fig. 2515) dates 

 from the earUest settlements, and even prior to that 

 period the aborigines carried on a desultory plant-grow- 

 ing. The peculiaiity of the soil, however, prohibited the 

 extension of this work except i.i a few isolated places. 

 It was necessary to introduce commercial fertilizers 

 before horticulture could make rapid progress in this 

 state. Up to the time of commercial fertilizers, it was 

 thought that, the hammocks were the only places 

 capable of raising fruit, the remainder of the arable 

 land being so sandy and wanting in plant-food that 

 remunerative crops could not be grown on it excepting 

 after it had been "cow-penned." 



Such a soil, containing often over 90 per cent sand 

 and insoluble matter, at first sight would seem to be 

 absolutely worthless for horticultural purposes, but 

 with the advent of the new horticultiue it becomes the 

 ideal soil. It is a lodgment for plants in which occurs 

 no material that will prove deleterious to the crop, and 

 all that is necessary is to add to it the material that will 

 cause the plant to grow to the necessary size and pro- 

 duce fruit of the desired quality. Beautiful thin-skinned 

 oranges grow only on land properly fertilized and not on 

 soil impregnated with great quantities of organic 

 nitrogen, i.e., fertile lands. 



In building up the land from the ocean bed, refer- 

 ring especially to peninsular Florida, the wind and waves 

 have sorted the particles to some extent and have ele- 

 vated various parts more than others. The separation 

 of the larger particles of sand from the finer, with a 

 porous substratum, has |)roduced what is called a 

 "scrub." The railroad surveys indicate that the maxi- 

 mum elevation in peninsular Florida is about 300 feet. 

 Thus it happens that, although this land is thirsty, it is 

 rarely or never spent of its capillary moisture. The 

 areas of scrubs may vary in size from a few acres or even 

 less to many thousands, but they are always sharply 

 defined, having a speciaUzed flora. The soil in a ham- 

 mock is of a finer texture and is not infrequently 

 underlaid by clay. It often occurs that land of this 

 texture is only a few feet above sea-level, or it may 

 be elevated and rolling, but is always covered 

 with a good growth of hardwood or of cabbage pal- 

 metto, or both. This cla.ss of land has long been 

 desirable for horticultural purposes, and is still re- 

 garded a-s valuable. These regions are more or less 

 isolated, and varj' in extent. Such land usually con- 

 tains sufficient fertility to raise several crops of vege- 

 tables. Flat woods land is usually level, varying in 

 fertility from 96 per cent of sand and insoluble matter 

 to that which will produce a crop of tomatoes. This 

 class of land comprises about seven-tenths of the land of 

 the peninsula. With proper treatment it raises good 

 crops and is capable of remarkable improvement. The 

 characteristic plant of this land is the long-leaved pine. 



The foregoing discussion relates to the state indepen- 



dent of latitude and climate. The state is also divided 

 into four regions, according to climate and latitude: (1) 

 western Florida, that part of the state lying west of the 

 Aucilla River; (2) eastern Florida, that part of the state 

 lying between the AuciUa River and a line drawn from 

 the mouth of the St. John's River to Cedar Keys; (3) 

 central Florida, that part of the state lying between 

 eastern Florida and southern Florida; (4) southern 

 Florida, including the counties of Brevard, St. Lucie, 

 Palm Beach, Dade, Monroe, Lee, DcSoto and Manatee. 



Citrous fruits develop best on hammock and rolling 

 pine land, preferring the cabbage palmetto hammocks 

 or a hammock containing a mixture of palmetto and 

 hard wood. The lime alone does well on the sheU and 

 coquina lands of southern Florida. The rough lemon 

 stock is preferred in southern Florida, especially on the 

 higher sandy lands. For western Florida the Satsuma 

 orange is the best variety. For eastern Florida varieties 

 that mature their fruit before Christmas may be 

 planted. In central Florida all the varieties of Citrus 

 do well, especially toward the .south and in protected 

 localities. 



Peaches grow in all sections, preferring hammock or 

 roUing pine land or even level pine land if perfectly 

 drained, but the varieties best adapted to different 

 regions vary considerably. 



-IC/^SO/^WLL^r 



AucusrwE 



2515. Florida, to show main dis- 

 tribution of horticultural crops. 



Plums, as a whole, are adapted only to western and 

 eastern Florida, preferring hammock and rolling pine 

 land. Burbank does well in the western section. In the 

 eastern section Terrill, Botan and Burbank do well. 



Of the pears, KiefTer, LeConte, and Sinith do well 

 in western and eastern Florida on hammock or rolling 

 pine land. 



Grapes grow rapidly, but need careful attention to be 

 kept in good bearing condition for a period of years. 

 Hammock land is preferable for them. The native 

 varieties grow to an immense size and produce great 

 quantities of fruit with minimum attention. Of Vilis 

 rolimdifolin, the Scuppernong and Thomas grow luxuri- 

 antly in all sections. Flowers grows well in western 

 and central Florida. 



The kaki, .Japanese persimmon, needs good hammock 

 land or well-drained high, or more or less undulating, 



