1«« 
THE KURAI> NEW-YORKER 
February 11, 
Hope Farm Notes 
FLORIDA NOTES. NO. 1. 
'•Happy Days.”—I am told that a mild 
blizzard with cold and snow is raging 
throughout the North. The report may be 
true, but it seems like a far-off nightmare 
lying here under the Florida pines. 1 he 
sun is hot, and I have taken off my coat 
for comfort.* There is not a cloud in the 
sky. If I felt that it was worth while to 
hunt for a thermometer I should expect to 
find it registering about ‘JO degrees. The 
calendar seems wrong some way, for it sob 
emnly asserts that this is January Jo- 
Over the fence among the orange trees the 
children are digging in the sand wearing 
clothes that would seem warm in a New 
Jersey June. There is just enough breeze 
to ripple the surface of the lake. An old 
man walks slowly along the road, and a 
group of women and girls dressed in white 
are coming out of the village store. I 
might perhaps go on and sketch an outline 
picture of this part of Florida so that you 
could see the stretches of pine, the roads 
"paved” with pine needles, the trees hang¬ 
ing with gray Southern moss, the green 
orange trees covered with golden fruit, 
and the white sandy soil, hot and dry, 
stretching away in little ridges between 
which lie little ponds or lakes where the 
water has run into the hollows. All this 
can be pictured, but no one can put on 
paper the dream and balm of nuud which 
comes stealing upon you when you once 
get south of Jacksonville. Again and 
again the weary and worn have gone sailing 
up the St. John’s River in the Fall, sick, 
tired and despondent, to come back in 
April full of nerve and battle—carrying 
something from this Florida air which 1 
cannot describe. The Spaniards, the I rench, 
and the English fought for this country, 
and spent princely fortunes in order to 
hold it. Cape Cod is a sandy spit of soil 
thrown up by the sea just as Florida was. 
Florida has every advantage of soil and 
water and climate. It would seem as if 
nature had blessed the southern sand spit 
and cursed Cape Cod, yet as I lie stretched 
out under the pines in January I hud iuj- 
self comparing the work of the two sec¬ 
tions in history, and the enduring^ record 
which the men from frozen Cape Cod and 
siinnv Florida have written upon this con¬ 
tinent, I think the future may tell a 
different story. Much of what we call 
worthless desert to-day in former centuiies 
provided bread for the world. \Mien sup¬ 
plied with water the dry sand responded 
as by magic. Pour water upon this Honda 
soil at the right time and it always re¬ 
sponds. Nature holds water, in those lakes 
and ponds, and the water level is easily 
reached. I think the coming Florida farmer 
will learn how to water a few acres and 
make them support him. But I am ahead 
of my story. 
The Si*ot.—L et; it be understood that 
what 1 have to say in these papers applies 
only to a small section in the southern 
part of Putnam Co., Florida. I will dis¬ 
arm criticism to begin with by saying that 
I came and stayed right in this spot, 
am not prepared to give information about 
Marion Co. cattle raising, celery growing 
at Sanford, or truck and fruit in Dade 
Co. I came here to see the Hope Farmers 
and get rested. I hope to see the other 
sections later, but this report is from one 
small section, and does not represent the 
entire State. I am still convinced that 
the best wav to start for Florida is to 
carry the price in your pocket. Several 
young men that we know have gone farther 
south than this point, and found good 
work at orange packing. Right here there 
Is nothing a workman could get to do. 
It seems to be settled that, here, at least, 
it would be folly to try gardening or 
Winter trucking unless one lias an irrigat¬ 
ing outfit and can have water at comnirnd. 
The Winters are dry and in this bright 
sunshine, crops must have an abundance of 
water. As most of you know, the Hope 
Farmers left New Jersey about December 1. 
Including the three little ones that I 
brought from Alabama there are 10 young 
folks. There were six adults in the party, 
and Uncle Ed and Aunt Patience live with 
us Then when I came there were live 
hoarders, but they were so much like mem¬ 
bers of the family that you could hardly 
separate them. When I got off the cars 
most of this outfit and a good share of the 
rest of the population were lined up as a 
reception committee. It seemed good to 
see them all again. There are three little 
red-heads now to divide attention. Dinner 
was soon ready and I was ready for it, for 
I got off one train at Jacksonville and got 
on another without any breakfast. Even 
the Florida air will not fill such an aching 
void as an empty stomach. It is something 
of a job to feed 23 people, but our folks 
have the game pretty well in hand. A 
number of Uncle Ed’s chickens had walked 
into the pot. Mother was master of cere¬ 
monies. She put on a large white apron 
and served up the chickens while the two 
boys with jacket and apron acted as wait¬ 
ers. W© had potatoes, stewed corn, onions 
from the garden and Aunt Patience had 
made some pumpkin pies that would have 
flattened your troubles into squash. As 
for oranges and grape fruit, all you had 
to do was walk out to a tree and pick 
what you wanted. The doors and windows 
were wide open and the warm January 
sun streamed in, and above the water tank 
at the highest point the flag was out in the 
breeze. Some of these critical tourists who 
aim to get more than their money’s worth 
might have thought there was not quite 
style enough—though the boys did their best, 
but our folks testified by appetite that the 
dinner was a success—all hut the milk. 
Mother put on a wry face as she turned to 
milk a ‘‘tin heifer.” What I want is a 
row ” she said, and as I had come down 
for a cheerful and useful job, 1 decided 
right there to investigate the Florida cow 
industry first of all. There was an¬ 
other want, for in spite of the abundance 
of oranges, the little people pleased me by 
asking: 
“Kin 1 have a ’n’applet” 
That’s encouraging and later I was able 
to buy some second-class York Imperials at 
75 cents a peck. IIow the children did 
gnaw them! 
The Cow Question. — I found that in 
this little place of about 150 people there 
was one cow—that one nearly dry. Our 
folks had been able to buy about three pints 
of milk per day, and the baby took one 
quart of that. This milk cost 10 cents 
a quart, and was nearly guiltless of cream. 
The people were using condensed milk or 
going without. All through the woods around 
the place were little droves or bunches of 
woods cattle—small runts, mostly horn, 
neck, tail and legs. The cows give hardly 
enough milk to raise a little rat of a 
calf, and a man would take his life in his 
hands to try to catch and milk one of 
these rangers. There may be those who 
like to mix condensed milk in water and 
call it the real article. I do not, and 
it seems a shame to try to raise children 
without good milk. So, after a night’s rest 
we started cow hunting. Uncle Ed. had 
already traveled some 50 miles in a fruitless 
search and had a few more trails to follow 
up. The most promising clue he reported 
was a clergyman, who claimed to have “a 
gallon and a half cow.” This man had 
refused to talk business on Sunday. Surely 
here was a man to be patronized first of all, 
and his cow must be a good one. Down 
in this country they do not estimate a 
cow’s value by the pounds of milk she will 
give or the per cent, of butter fat. She 
is a “three-gallon cow” or a“ two-gallon 
or whatever they claim. I never did expect 
to see a gallon shrink to a quart or a 
pint as rapidly as it does here, when you 
actually put real milk into it—not until I 
milked'a Florida cow. But a clergymans 
gallon must be like his cow and so I went 
after him first. 
A Cow Hunt. —Frank, the bob-tailed 
horse, looked a little weatherbeaten but 
still in the ring as he started along the 
road for the clergyman's cow. He still had 
on the shoes which were needed in New 
Jersey. They were polished smooth in the 
'Florida sand, so that the old horse could 
hardlv get a footing. We pulled these shoes 
off at once and he went much better bare¬ 
footed. You people who talk wisely about 
"good roads” ought to come to Florida and 
pull a few loads over the road we followed. 
Within the town limits and for some space 
outside a layer of dry pine needles about 
three inches thick had been put on the 
road. This is now loose and open, but after 
a heavy rain it will pack down solid and 
firm. When we got away from this “pave¬ 
ment” we struck deep sand, with here and 
there a stretch of low flat land much like 
our northern swamps. Through these low 
places usually ran lazy little streams with 
no dash, or sparkle like a brook in the hill 
country, but with a brown colored liquid— 
which seemed to he the leachings from the 
pine needles. 
During a drive of some five miles wo 
passed 11 deserted houses. In fact there 
were but three houses at present occupied. 
Many of these houses must have cost 
originally at least $5,000—one at least 
could hardly be duplicated for $10,000. 
There thev stood, lonely and desolate—with 
barns falling in decay and fences down. 
Around each one could be seen the ruins 
of an orange grove. Here and there some 
hardy sprout from an old stump had sur¬ 
vived and now carried a few oranges, but 
most that remained were dead stumps or 
blackened sprouts. Twenty years ago this 
was a thoroughly prosperous section. 
Oranges brought good prices and crops were 
fair. A good grove was easily worth $1,000 
per acre and readily salable at that. Men 
who thought themselves long-headed and 
shrewd bought this land, planted, as they 
thought, permanently, and built homes that 
were to endure. Then, all of a sudden, 
came the great freeze, and in 48 hours 
prosperity and hope were changed to deso¬ 
lation. The trees were killed to the ground. 
Much of this property- had been bought and 
developed with borrowed money. A few 
stout hearts located near the lakes or the 
railroads, worked at the groves, sawed off 
the frozen wood, and either budded the 
sprouts which came up or left the best of 
them to grow into a bush form of tree. 
They have endured through several lighter 
freezes and are still shipping oranges and 
grape fruit, though into a poorer and fail¬ 
ing market. Away from the lakes, along 
such roads as that which led to the clergy¬ 
man’s cow, the groves were mostly aban¬ 
doned, and with them went what was 
thought to be the only way of making a 
living in this country. 
I wish I could take a company of the 
poor dupes who put up their money on 
“booms” and Florida speculations through 
this section as night is coming on. I can 
think of nothing more fittingly described 
as "God-forsaken” than a region of aban¬ 
doned farm homes from which no lights 
shine at night. If a man felt his money 
burning in his pocket for a _ land invest¬ 
ment this sight would cool it off, yet I 
believe to-day that these level fields could 
still be made profitable at stock raising if 
a man had the capital to start and carry 
him along until he learned how and got ac¬ 
quainted with the Florida climate. The 
failure of the orarnge crop put a curse on 
this country, yet I firmly believe that some 
day northern Florida will find herself with 
new crops and products and make good. 
Take it from me once more, however, that 
the man most likely to be happy in Florida 
is he who goes there with the price in his 
pocket and the cost of a return ticket salted 
somewhere against a time ol need. lie may 
not need it at all, but it is better to have 
it. 1 ought to add, and it will appear later, 
that this particular road over which we 
travelled is not typical, but worse than 
most others. 
But I am getting away from the clergy¬ 
man's cow. After much turning and twist¬ 
ing around corners and asking the way we 
learned where our reverend friend lived. 
All along the sandy road we had pleasant 
reports of that cow. She was. reported as 
"white and black” and giving “ a gallon 
and a half.” Visions of some fine Holstein 
rose before me, but Uncle Ed somehow 
was not so enthusiastic. We finally came 
to the end of our road to find a small 
house and barn surrounded by a barbed 
wire fence. Three dogs ran out to meet us 
and a Rhode Island Red rooster left his 
family to come up for a closer view. Uncle 
Ed is* wise to Florida ways, and he did not 
get out of the wagon among those dogs. 
We called, but the clergyman was not at 
home. It seems he is a “bach.” living 
alone—no doubt his church is off in the 
woods. In a little pasture back of the 
house stood the cow. h. w. c 
The Best 50c. Shirt in America. 
It is the shirt for you to wear every day on the job—extra strong, roomy 
and comfortable, shapely, attractive in fabric, patterns and colors, rein¬ 
forced and GUAR ANT kED. 
U. 8.Government test proved the value of khaki for army wear, and 
personal test by you will prove the wonderful strength, the never-wear-out 
features of the Chamois Skin Work Shirt. 
Your dealer can supply you: it not, send us his name, your collar size 
and 5Uc. in stamps for sample shirt and book of new patterns. 
The President Shirt Co . 
121 Wyoming Si. Baltimore, Md. 
CAHOON SEED 
Saves buying expensive drills. Most 
perfect broadcast sower for all grain 
and grass seed. Accurate, simple, 
durable. Made of steel, iron and brass. Lasts a life time. 
Saves time, saves seed and gives bigger crops. 
Highest priced sower made, but pays for itself many times yearly. If 
your dealer cannot supply you, we will deliver the Cahoon to any 
express office east of the Mississippi River on receipt of $4. Send for 
"Seed Sowers’ Manuals” tells howto produce bigger crops with 
less seed. It’s Free. 
GOODELL CO., 14 MftlN ST„ ANTRIM. NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
SAVE HALF Your 
Paint Bills 
By using INGERSOLL PAINT— proved 
best by 66 years’ use. It will please you. 
Only Paint endorsed by the ‘‘Grange.” 
Made in all colors,—for all purposes. 
DELIVERED FREE. 
From the Mill Direct to You at Factory Prices. 
INGERSOLL PAINT BOOK —FREE 
Tells all about Paint and Painting for Durability. 
How to avoid trouble and expense caused by paint! 
fading, chalking and peeling. Valuable information 
fro. to you. with Sample Color Cards, Writ* me. DO 
XT NOW. I can .avc you money. 
0. W. ingersoll, 246 Plymouth St.. Brooklyn, N.Y. 
STOUT—STRONG-DURABLE—CHEAP 
Brown Fences will outlast any other because of 
heavier wires and thicker galvanizing. Investigate 
before you buy. 160 styles for all purposes. 
Bargain Prices-14c Par Rod Up ] 
delivered at your railway station. Send today for ] 
catalog and free sample for test. 
THE BROWN FENCE & WIRE CO., 
Dept. 59 CLEVELAND. OHIO j 
FENCE 
Madeof High Carbon Double Strength 
■ Coiled Wire. Heavily Galvanized to 
prevent rust. Have no agents. Sell at 
factory prices on 30 days’ free trial. 
We pay al I freight. 37 heights of farm 
and poultry fence. Catalog Free. 
COILED SPRING FENCE CO. 
Box 263 Winchester, Indiana. 
13l Cents a Rod 
-r* y —I— For 18-in. 14 S-4e for 22-in. Hog 
Fence; 15e for 26-1 neh; 18 8-4* 
for 32-inch; 26e for a 47-inch 
Farm Fence. 48-lnch Poultry 
fence 28 1-2*. Sold on 30 days 
trial. 80 rod spool Ideal Barb 
Wire $1.45 Catalogue free. 
KITSELMAN BROS., 
Box 230 88 UNCI E, IND. 
FROST 
WIRE FENCES 
a d 
A Heavy Pence mad© of Hard wire, 
, built with one purpose in view, 
that of lasting and satisfactory 
service. No repairs. Free catalog 
upon request. Ask your dealer. 
THE FROST WIRE FENCE CO. 
Dept. H CLEVELAND, O. 
Higher Cost of Living 
Does not Include Fence 
qZA H 
1 Itfe 
Ten years ago it 
took 2 bushels of corn 
to buy 1 rod of fence. To¬ 
day 1 bushel of corn will buy 2 
rods of better fence. 
Price Low— Quality Better Than Ever 
Within ten years farm prod¬ 
ucts have greatly advanced in 
market value while the price of 
woven wire fence has been re¬ 
duced. These are the reasons: 
Newer and improved methods 
of digging the ore, shipping to 
the furnaces, melting into steel 
and making into finished prod¬ 
ucts are in force. Ten years 
ago operations were on a small 
scale. Today the plan of oper¬ 
ation is vast. The manufac¬ 
turer is able to deliver the fin¬ 
ished goods quickly, of better 
quality and at a lower price. 
Tv_1 17 Stocks of American Fence are carried in every place 
L/GS-IClfS JliVdryTVriGrC -Where farm supplies are sold. The Fence Is shipped 
to these points in carload lots, thereby securing the cheapest S®’Igdeller 
freight thus made enables it to be sold at the lowest prices. Look lor Uie^American Bence dealer 
and get the substantial advantages he is enabled to offer. He is there to serve t p 
person, offer the variety of selection and save the buyer money tn many ways. 
American fence is made bet¬ 
ter than ever. It is a thorough¬ 
ly galvanized square mesh fence 
of weight, strength and dura¬ 
bility. Large wires are used 
and the whole fabric is woven 
together with the American 
hinged joint (patented)—the 
most substantial and flexible 
union possible. Both wires are 
positively locked and firmly held 
against side slip and yet are free 
to act like a hinge in yielding 
to pressure, returning quickly 
to place without bending or 
injuring the metal. 
FRANK BAACKES, Vice-President and General Sales Agent 
American Steel & Wire Company 
Chicago 
New York 
Denver 
San Francisco 
Send for coin) of “American Fence News," profusely illustrated, devoted to the interests of **”"%£ *"* 
showing lunofmee maybe employed to enhance the earning power of a farm. Furnished free upon application 
