FLORIDA 



FLORIDA 



591 



different regions vary considei-ably. Among those 

 adapted to western Florida we have Alexander, Early 

 Cream, Elberta, Florida Crawford, General Lee, Im- 

 perial and Powers' September. For eastern Florida, 

 Angel, Bidwell's Late, Colon, Ferdinand, Honey, Im- 

 perial, Oviedo, Taber, Triana and Waldo. For central 

 Florida, Angel, Bidwell's Early, Bidwell's Late, Mag- 

 gie, Peen-to, Waldo and Yum Yum. For southern 

 Florida, Angel, Bidwell's Early, Bidwell's Late, Mag- 

 gie, Peen-to, Yum Yum, and others. 



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

 eastern Florida, preferring hammock and 

 flat-woods land. Burbank does well in 

 the western section. In the eastern section 

 Babcock, Botan and Burbank do well. 



PEARS. Kieffer, LeConte and Smith 

 pears do well in western and eastern Flor- 

 ida on hammock or flat-woods 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 a minimum attention. Of V. ro- 

 tundifolia, the Scuppernong and Thomas grow luxuri- 

 antly in all sections. Flowers grows well in western, 

 eastern and central Florida. Of the true Vitis section of 

 this genus, Cynthiana, Ives and Norton do well in west- 

 ern Florida; Cynthiana, Ives, Niagara and Norton do 

 well in eastern Florida ; Cynthiana, Niagara and Nor- 

 ton in central Florida. 



KAKI (Japanese Persimmon). This fruit needs good 

 hammock land or well drained high, or more or less un- 

 dulating flat-woods land. It is better adapted to west- 

 ern, eastern and central than to southern Florida. The 

 following varieties do well in western, eastern and 

 central Florida, and under most favorable circumstances 

 in southern Florida : Costata, Hyakume, Okame, Tab- 

 er's No. 129, Tane-nashi, Tsuru, Yeddo-ichi and Yemon. 



MISCELLANEOUS TREE FRUITS. Under favorable con- 

 ditions Jennings and Red Astrachan apples may be 

 fruited in western Florida; Santa Fe apricot in western 

 and eastern Florida. Figs do fairly well for home use 

 and for canning or candying in eastern and central 

 Florida. They need a compact, fine-textured soil. The 

 following varieties fruit more or less abundantly: 

 Black Ischia, Blue Genoa, Brown Turkey, Bruns- 

 wick, Celestial, Green Ischia, Lemon and White Mar- 

 seilles. 



Mulberries will grow on hammock or good quality of 

 flat-woods land in all sections of the state. The following 

 varieties have given good crops: Downing, Hicks and 

 Stubbs. Pomegranates make a more or less ornamental 

 fruit. Acid, Purple and Sweet do well in western, east- 

 ern and central Florida. Pecans do best on low ham- 

 mock land, especially in western Florida. They succeed 

 well in eastern and central Florida, but have not been 

 introduced into southern Florida sufficiently to permit 

 definite statement. 



STRAWBERRIES. The growing of this crop is con- 

 trolled largely by efficient and reasonable transportation. 

 If the crop cannot be placed upon the market promptly 

 it is worthless. The development of this industry is, 

 therefore, coincident with that of efficient and reason- 

 able railroad transportation. Probably nine-tenths of 

 the fields of the state are planted on moist flat-woods 

 land, or what is locally known as gall-berry flats. Such 

 land is cleared and thoroughly drained by means of 

 open ditches. On such land strawberries begin to ripen 

 in January and continue until May or June if properly 

 cultivated, though the season of profitable shipment 

 rarely extends beyond the middle of April. Especially 

 prepared refrigerator cars, so constructed that the ice 

 tank is filled from the outside, the water melted from it 

 carried off without entering the car, keeping the apart- 

 aent occupied by berries dry and cool in transit, are 



>w carried by some railroads on express trains. The 

 plants are usually set out every year, in August, Sep- 

 tember and October, and bear a good crop the following 

 spring. The most successful strawberry growers con- 

 tinue to cultivate a portion of the old field to secure 

 new plants to be used the following fall for planting out 

 the new field. Cloud, Newnan, Lady Thompson and 

 Wilson do well in western, eastern and central Florida. 



38 



PINEAPPLES find their most congenial habitat on 

 scrub land. Soil from pineapple fields contains a large 

 per cent of sand and insoluble matter, as high as 98 

 per cent. The land must be well drained, free from any 

 standing water, even during the rainy season. The most 

 extensive pineapple area is located on the sand hills 

 near the coast. The character of the vegetation and 

 physical condition of these hills or dunes is essentially 

 that of the scrub land of the interior. The slat sheds or 

 pineapple sheds, which are constructed to afford a half 

 shade, serve a good purpose in summer as well as in 



Citrus, hardy varieties . . 

 Citrus, once productive . . // 

 Citrus, now productive . . 

 Strawberries. 

 Pineapples 



winter. In summer the 

 slats reduce the amount of 

 sunshine that reaches the 

 plants and consequently 

 the intensity of heat, though proo- 

 ably not the total warmth. In win- 

 ter they interfere with rapid radi- 

 ation, which would occur as the re- 

 sult of a sudden freeze or of a 

 frost. The slat shed is a simple 

 structure, the essential part of it 

 being the roof or covering, which 

 is made of boards or slats fastened 

 so as to leave an opening between 

 the boards or slats equal to the 

 space covered by them. These vary 8 24. Horticultural zones 

 in size from a common plastering of Florida, 



lath to boards 4 inches wide. The 



height of the covering above the ground varies from 6 

 feet to rarely more than 10. The most extensive fields 

 are located in southern Florida. Smaller areas have been 

 planted in central Florida ; nearly all of these are pro- 

 tected by sheds, some of the sheds being so constructed 

 that the roof may be closed completely. The islands 

 or keys underlaid with coraline breccia form one of the 

 most suitable habitats for this plant, while the low, fer- 

 tile islands or keys are worthless for a pineapple plan- 

 tation. Red Spanish is cultivated more extensively than 

 all the other varieties combined. It is a hardy variety, and 

 one suited to extensive planting with a minimum amount 

 of attention. For extensive culture Egyptian Queen, 

 Porto (Puerto) Rico and Ripley Queen do well generally. 

 Smooth Cayenne is promising, because not spiny. The 

 total amount of fruit produced annually varies consider- 

 ably, but has probably not exceeded 100,000 whole barrel 

 crates. This, however, is only a fraction of the possi- 

 bility and probability of pineapple growing in Florida. 



BANANAS are cultivated only for local markets, but 

 form a source of considerable revenue to a number of 

 plantations. The land best adapted to them is a low, 

 moist hammock or a bay head, especially such soil as 

 is composed largely of muck. Baracoa (Red Jamaica), 

 Cavendish, Golden, Hart's Choice and Orinoco ("Horse 

 Banana ") are leading varieties in southern Florida. 



GUAVA. The guava has attained considerable im- 

 portance, though as yet it is not cultivated exten- 

 sively. Plantations exist in various portions of the 

 state, but the greater quantity used in canning and for 

 jelly is collected from uncultivated or from originally 

 native growth. The native varieties grow well on any 

 fertile soil that is well drained. Fertile soil on coral 

 breccia is a favorite spot for the wild guava. The most 



