9 



Louisiana the possible area is but small. In Florida the climatic con- 

 ditions are more favorable, but the laud and location suitable are not 

 one hundredth part of the State. Another fact lessens the possibility 

 of yield. Orange culture belongs to the class of skilled labor. Hun- 

 dreds engaged in the business will fail, because success requires intelli- 

 gence, application, patience and skill. Hundreds have already failed 

 from one or all of these causes, and have left the State, never dream- 

 ing that they alone are to be blamed for their failure. Men in the 

 very communities thus abandoned have succeeded because they were 

 more prudent in the selection of soil and location, and used their 

 intelligence and the intelligence of others and persevered in the face 

 of partial failure brought about by ignorance. But those men who 

 failed took no advice except that of the land owner who offered to sell 

 land cheaper than any one else. They read nothing that had been 

 written by men who had succeeded. They took no warning of those 

 who had failed. Stilted on their castle of self conceit they stood, nor 

 deigned to look down to the humble but prudent laborer for advice, 

 till their castle fell and they left the State imagining that the "Sand of 

 Florida" had proven an unstable foundation and overthrown them 

 and their castle. Such instances will repeat themselves. Whoever 

 may succeed, such men will fail. Whatever may be written and 

 wisely written on the subject, and however published, whether in book 

 or journal, will not be read by them. But while the above facts will 

 lessen the general yield of oranges, it will make the business vastly 

 more profitable to the men who possess the virtues necessary to success. 

 The orange will pay beyond any other fruit at half a cent an orange 

 on the tree. In Europe, where lands are exceedingly high, a grove is 

 considered a most profitable investment even when the fruit sells from 

 two dollars to four dollars per thousand. Ten years ago the Florida 

 orange was considered well sold when the grower could get one cent on 

 the tree. Few now sell for less than., one and a half cent, and some 

 average at their groves as high as four cents per orange, and the price 

 *till advances. 



In no business can a young man with pluck, intelligence and 

 application, so certainly lay the foundation for a competency and 

 fortune as in orange growing in Florida. With the exercise of these 

 he may in ten years be what the country could call a rich man. 



