134 
SEVENTH ANNUAL MEETING OE THE 
countries he learned to use water—when he could get it. 
Little by little, experience and science have been broadening 
man’s intelligence. To-day, both fertilizers and water, enough 
and of the right kind at the right times, are recognized as 
equal factors in plant growth. If they are not naturally 
present, the cultivator of whom we are thinking finds means 
to supply them. He would rather cultivate 100 acres per¬ 
fectly than 200 imperfectly, or even 40 or 20, or 10 or 5, 
or the smallest portion ol the earth, and make it do its very 
best, rather than any larger amount that he could not be 
sure to supply with every needed advantage. And he would 
regard this preference not as a question of taste or pride, 
but as one of clear business sagacity, as so many of you 
have illustrated in your own experience. 
But all this leads back again to the question of fact with 
which we began. I restate it in plain terms: Is the rainfall 
here in Florida satisfactory to you as horticulturists? Do 
you have enough rain for your growing trees and plants ? 
Do you have enough rain when it is needed? When you 
most need rain do you have most? If you had the fabled 
power of old Jupiter Pluvius would you use it as capric¬ 
iously as the custom has been of late? When yon pray for 
three inches of rain are you not put off with a half. When 
you would be glad of an inch, do you get but an eighth ? 
When you ask for a sweet shower, are not the heavens as 
brass? 
At such crises—all too frequent, as every cultivator must 
need ofess—how comforting it is to have a little genii by 
the edge of the lake or by the side of the creek or well, 
who, at one’s command, will stir up the fires, open the valves 
and pour over the thirsty land abundant streams of life-re¬ 
newing water. How vegetation revives under the magical 
touch! How it grows! How it blooms! How it bears the 
full fruitage! How it crowns the year with gladness! 
In the light of this experience, and in view of experiences 
elsewhere, need I sav more to prove that the man who ir¬ 
rigates a tract of land no larger than he can handle thor¬ 
oughly and who practices intensive cultivation, is the suc¬ 
cessful cultivator? Of course, some men can handle more 
than others, either by reason of larger capital or better ad¬ 
ministrative ability, or both, but the amount is usually that 
to which a man can give his personal attention. 
I urge this point especially in the interest of the small culti' 
vator. He needs, to support a family, hut little land if it be 
well cultivated, but here in Florida that little must be irri¬ 
gated. 
I pass on to consider the further question: How shall we ir— 
