48 FLORIDA : ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, 



CORN. 



Corn, which is the great food staple raised in the United States, es- 

 pecially in the West, and which exceeds by many millions of bushels 

 any and all other crops, is grown in all portions of the State, and the 

 produce per acre is here, as elsewhere, more or less, according to fertility 

 of soil and cultivation. Ordinary pine land will produce, say, 10 bush- 

 els ; good hammock land, 20 to 50 bushels, according to the cultivation. 

 Extra culture here, as everywhere, will largely increase the product. 

 Ex-Governor Drew has raised, near his mills at Ellaville, in Madison 

 County, 120 bushels of superior corn to the acre. Corn here is planted in 

 February to April, plowed at intervals, laid by in June and July ; blades 

 stripped for fodder, and stalks with ears left in field to be harvested at 

 leisure. It may be cribbed in field in the shuck, suffering no dam- 

 age from weather, or housed in corn-crib near the dwelling; shucked 

 and shelled if for sale or food. When fed to stock it is fed in shuck. 

 One person with one mule can easily cultivate from thirty to forty acres, 

 and as the time for planting to final plowing is only from four to five 

 months, it leaves ample time to cultivate another crop of pease or sweet 

 potatoes with same labor on same land. The corn usually raised is the 

 white variety, largely used in meal and hominy for food, especially at 

 the South. The Northern farmer who has been used to see 40 to GO 

 bushels ordinarily raised on the old homestead, should, in comparing the 

 relative production South and North, take into consideration cheapness 

 of land, number of acres which can be cultivated, time taken to make 

 crop, expense of gathering, saving, housing, and also value, transpor- 

 tation, and its quality. White is best for food. All things considered, 

 corn is one of the most useful and profitable crops to raise in Florida. 



WHEAT, RYE, OATS. 



Wheat in the northern section of the State is grown to some extent, 

 but is not generally raised as a regular crop. Rye and oats do well, and 

 are mostly sown early in the fall, affording a good winter pasturage; 

 mature in early spring, and are not thrashed, being cured and fed to 



stock in the straw. 



PEANUTS. 



The peanut, pinder, goober, or ground pea, as the plant is variously 

 called, grows well on almost any warm, light soil. The seed should be 

 planted early in the spring. The after cultivation is simple. A hun- 

 dred bushels to the acre is an average crop. They are worth $1 to $2 

 per bushel. The nut produces an oil which is said to be 'equal to the 



finest olive oil. 



PEAS. 



The common English pea is nor. cultivated as a field crop, but as a 

 garden product is largely grown for the winter market, and affords great 

 profits. The cow pea is extensively grown and produces excellent crops. 



