GARDENING IN SOUTHERN FLORIDA. 



towns appointed resident agents to attend the 

 sales and buy up anything suitable for their par- 

 ticular markets. 



At the present time, several auctioneers make a 

 special business, every day, of selling garden pro- 

 duce in all the garden centers in Worcestershire. 

 I know one grower who rents several hundred acres 

 of land in that locality, who planted one year five 

 acres of wallflowers to be retailed in his store in 

 Manchester, more than one hundred miles from the 

 farm. Very, few send their produce to the commis- 

 sion agent now, as they can load up and send it to 

 the sale shed, have it sold and receive their money 

 in a few hours. There is no loss of time, no credit, 

 no anxiety, no risk of transit. The purchaser re- 



223 



packs, loads on freight train, and forwards to des- 

 tination. Three years ago when I left England the 

 auction worked well, and both the seller and the 

 buyer felt satisfied in every way. I may say that 

 the flowers were mostly sent loose in baskets, feach 

 variety by itself ; some few were made up, but not 

 many. 



I cannot see why some such plan would not work 

 well in America. Could not an auctioneer be in- 

 duced to hold a sale once or twice a week in the 

 large towns ? Such a practice would stinuilate trade. 

 A better class of stuff would be produced, the 

 grower have a certain outlet for his produce and 

 the dealer would make a better profit. 



Mmnesota. G. M. Stratton. 



GARDENING IN 



OUTHERN Florida is preemi- 

 nently the land for successful 

 and profitable gardening on the 

 intensive plan, from the fact 

 that every square foot of the 

 land devoted to this industry can 

 be kept profitably occupied b}' 



growing plants throughout every 

 month of the year. There need be no vacant 

 spaces in the garden, and land and fertilizer can be 

 utilized to the fullest extent. October is the month 

 in which to commence regular gardening operations 

 here. 



The primary requisites for the highest and most 

 complete success in Florida, are a tract of fertile 

 soil, well drained, either naturally or artificially : a 

 good fence around it that will exclude both tame and 

 wild animals (I prefer woven wire fencing with inch 

 and one-half or two-inch mesh) ; a force-pump, 

 tank, hose and other appliances for supplying and 

 distributing water from a well, lake or pond when- 

 ever the heavens fail to furnish the requisite 

 amount of moisture ; and readily adjustable protec- 

 tive covering to shield the more tender plants from 

 the occasional frosts of winter or the scorching 

 raj's of the summer sun. 



The land should be abundantly supplied with a 

 large amount of thoroughly decomposed vegetable 

 matter to retain moisture and fertilizer for the use 

 of the plant. The old settlers who have cattle sup- 

 ply the requisite amount of manure by cow-penning 

 the land for a few weeks before the time of plant- 

 ing, by which means they secure the benefit of the 

 liquid as well as the solid excretions, and pack the 

 land firmly by the trampling of the cattle, a course 



JTHEKN FLORIDA. 



decidedly beneficial to the loose Florida soils. 

 Those who do not h&\e cattle depend upon the use 

 of chemical fertilizers. Cotton-seed meal is most 

 largely used, but usually in conjunction with bone 

 meal and potash, or cotton seed hull ashes, or hard 

 wood ashes — ashes being regarded as especially 

 valuable. The incorporation of a large portion of 

 the fertilizers with the soil several weeks before 

 planting the seed or transplanting the plants from 

 the beds where they were started is considered the 

 better plan. 



A piece of hammock, or a tract of comparatively 

 moist land on the margin of a lake, or a well- 

 drained " bay-head," is usually preferred for a gar- 

 den, though many excellent gardens are lately being 

 made with good results near, residences on the high 

 prime and black jack lands. With these, however, 

 ready facilities for copious and frequent watering 

 are indispensable, as there is so little vegetable mat- 

 ter in these soils that the water does not spread 

 from side to side in the ground, but takes a direct 

 downward course. 



On these higher and less retentive soils, muck dug 

 the year previous and exposed to the atmosphere, 

 or composted with shell lime or potash, is used with 

 excellent results, not because of its especial manu- 

 rial value, but because its use makes the soil more 

 retentive of moisture. 



The most wide-awake culti\ ators give their ground 

 several deep plowings, with as many harrowings, 

 applying a large portion of their fertilizer during 

 the progress of the work, the aim being to make a 

 deep, rich, mellow soil, and afterward rake a good 

 supply into the earth. After planting, the ground 

 is compacted with a heavy roller. In fact, the man- 



