FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
157 
place that I could make neither grove 
nor garden, that it was absolutely 
worthless for either, and I was regard¬ 
ed as an object of pity, and no one ex¬ 
pected me to make anything at all, 
much less a living. 
I am perfectly sincere when I tell you 
that cow peas did not get six inches 
high, and that one-eighth of an acre of 
sweet potatoes without any fertilizer 
made only four bushels of indifferent 
potatoes. After a few years I made six 
hundred bushels of sweet potatoes per 
acre and grass and peas grew waist 
high. About this time I heard that 
Prof. Rolfs was an authority on vege¬ 
table growing, and I immediately pro¬ 
cured his book. I do not remember 
when it was written. After reading it 
very carefully I loaned it and it was 
passed along*. My recollection now is 
that he did not think such land as I 
owned could be successfully cropped 
with anything. But my faith was 
strong in Florida—I had to make good, 
as I had burned my bridges and had 
spent nearly all my money. I lived on 
that place for twenty-one years and 
grew almost every vegetable with suc¬ 
cess. I failed on asparagus, rhubarb 
and French artichokes. I grew twenty- 
two different vegetables successfully 
simultaneously. Up to this time I had 
not visited other parts of the State and 
had not investigated the East Coast 
to any extent. When I bought the 
place I believed that any place in Flor¬ 
ida was a good place and did not know 
that other places were far better 
adapted to growing vegetables. 
I am telling you this only to em¬ 
phasize this point: That given fertilizer 
and moisture, or drainage, as the case may 
need, there is no land in Florida (or but 
very little) cultivated zmth intelligence 
zehere vegetables may not be grozmi suc- 
cessfully. But does it pay? 
Yes; if I made it pay on such land 
as I have described, you can make it 
pay. I have never been a large grower, 
and I know there are those present 
who know much more about this sub¬ 
ject that I am able to tell, those who 
have specialized and made a wonder¬ 
ful success. But my advice, especially 
to the beginner, is not to go too large¬ 
ly to one thing, as a failure often 
means disaster. Many farms have a 
variety of soils, and he who owns one 
is fortunate, as there is always some¬ 
thing that will be at home on each 
grade. 
For the last four years I have lived 
at Fellsmere, where there is a variety 
of soils—high grade flat woods, prairie 
and thousands of acres of rich muck. 
The main crop of the year is tomatoes, 
and, in spite of the unfavorable season 
there is a large acreage of very fine 
tomatoes. The farmers have made fine 
lettuce, celery, beans, egg plants, straw¬ 
berries, and everything that the season 
would permit. The land has produced 
abundantly. Those who have planted 
strawberries, and there are many who 
have planted small patches, are so well 
pleased with the result that they in¬ 
tend to plant for the Northern market 
next fall. Our farmers are planning 
to follow the vegetable crops with for¬ 
age. Sudan grass, cow peas, beggar 
weed, velvet beans, fetereta, Rhodes 
