March, 1911 



THE GARDE N M A G A Z I X E 



77 



tition. Thus there are three degrees of 

 wetting the land: (1) by letting water 

 run through the tile a certain amount 

 escapes from the joints and is carried 

 upward by capillary attraction; (2) the 

 bottom hole being plugged the water is 

 raised to within a few inches of the surface 

 and the ground becomes thoroughly 

 saturated; and (3) in extreme cases the 

 upper hole may be plugged and the land 

 flooded. 



Besides being invaluable in times of 

 drought and for saturating the soil at the 

 time of setting plants in the field this 

 system of irrigation is particularly advan- 

 tageous as a drainage system. In other 

 words the matter of moisture is absolutely 

 under the control of the grower. 



The cost of tiling averages about $100 

 per acre. 



Estimate cost of tilling 5 acres: 



11,000 tile at $20 per M $220 



48 stand pipes and pockets 48 



320 feet 4-inch main at 8 c 26 



Nipples and plugs -8 



Cement : 5 



Fibre IO 



Hauling materials 30 



Labor, 8 men 10 days, at $1.50 . . . 120 



Total $467 



This estimate is based on actual experi- 

 ence but may vary about $30 either way. 

 Having the work done by contract usually 

 costs more. 



Planting begins about September 1st, 

 and ends about June 1st, during which 

 time three crops are raised. In the 

 summer the land is planted in cowpeas or 

 allowed to go to grass, from which about 

 three tons of hay to the acre are cut. This 

 refers to old land in a thorough state of 

 cultivation. Newly cleared land is very 

 sour and will not make a good crop of 

 celery and lettuce, which are the two 

 principal crops of this district. 



The usual practice with new land is to 

 apply a ton of Canada hardwood ashes to 

 the acre, and sow cowpeas broadcast at the 

 rate of about a bushel to the acre, if the 

 peas can be planted before July. Should 

 the land not be ready by that time, the 

 land is repeatedly plowed and harrowed 



until time for planting the winter crop. 

 This crop on new land is usually cauli- 

 flower or potatoes. With excessive appli- 

 cations of ashes or lime, celery is sometimes 

 successful on new land, but lettuce seldom 

 does well on first-year land. 



The cost of cauliflower per acre is 

 about as follows: 



x /i lb seed per acre $ 10 



1 ton high grade fertilizer 42 



Labor ^o 



Harvesting including hampers . 7^ 



Total $ IS7 



Average yield 400 hampers 



The cost of planting potatoes, including 

 barrels at about forty cents apiece, should 



Transplanting young plants into the "prick bed' 

 whence they are later set into the field 



This is the average Florida celery head, which is 

 very profitable when the crop catches the market 

 properly 



be a little less than this. Average yield 

 about forty barrels. Average price last 

 year about S4.50 per bbl. f. o. b. Sanford. 

 This year, $4.00. 



With average yield and fair prices a 

 profit is possible on either of these crops, 

 but even with no profit, the value to the 

 land from the cultivation is inestimable. 



Supposing, therefore, that we have 

 finished our first year, that our land has 

 been thoroughly and repeatedly turned 

 up to the sweetening influences of air and 

 sunshine, that our land has been gathering 

 nitrogen from the air all summer through 

 the aid of some leguminous crop such as 

 cowpeas or beggar-weed, and that we 

 are on the ground by August 1, to 

 begin our campaign on second year land, 



:an set out 20.000 plants a day. An 

 acre takes 70.000 



then we are prepared to follow the general 

 method of the old-timers, whatever may be 

 the age of their land. The third season, 

 and each succeeding year, our chances of 

 success may be better, but in describing 

 one we describe them all. 



First, some disposition is made of the 

 summer cover-crop. It is generally con- 

 ceded that to turn under any green vege- 

 tation is to run the risk of adding more 

 acidity to our sandy soil, so our usual 

 procedure is to run a harrow over our 

 pea vines, turning them under when dead, 

 or to cut them for hay and plow in the 

 stubble. Stable manure is a luxury that 

 only a favored few can obtain. Those 

 who are lucky enough to get it now work 

 it thoroughly into the soil. 



We always try to obtain a few loads of 

 manure at $3 or more to put on our seed- 

 beds, the preparation of which is now in 

 order. For reasons beyond the logic of 

 the writer, new land is preferred for celery 

 seed-beds, and if no more new land is 

 available, those who know always choose 

 a new spot for seedbeds each year. This, 

 like many other local customs, is the direct 

 antithesis of the practice in the North. 



The early birds begin planting celery 

 about August 25 th, extremists some days 

 earlier. In order to make the seed ger- 

 minate during this hot weather, precau- 

 tionary methods of a complicated nature 

 have to be taken. Beds three feet wide, 

 raised an inch or two above the general 

 level and of any desired length, are made 

 convenient to the water supply. These 

 are raked, re-raked, rolled smoothed, ferti- 

 lized, and raked again until they are in 

 a condition of most perfect tilth. Slight 

 furrows are then made across the beds, 

 four to five inches apart, in which the 

 Golden Self Blanching French-grown seed 

 is thinly sown. Individual opinion varies 

 in the matter of raising plants. Some 

 cover the seed lightly with soil, others 

 do not cover, but simply lay burlap sacks 

 over the uncovered seeds. "Half-covers" 

 (which are frames made of plaster laths 

 with interstices of about an inch) are placed 

 on the south side of the bed, leaning at 

 an angle of 45 degrees toward the North, 

 thus completely shading them. Until the 

 seedlings are up, burlap sacks are stretched 



