Vegetable and Truck Crops in Florida 
/ 
C. K. McQuarrie. 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen : 
Commissioner McLiirs Report for 
1909-10 makes me feel that I must 
take off my hat to the truckers of 
Florida. A substantial increase in 
value of 70 per cent, over the previous 
year, leads us to congratulate ourselves 
on being permitted to interest our¬ 
selves in the State’s welfare to this ex¬ 
tent. Florida alone as a State can 
boast of such a per cent, of increase in 
values of vegetable products. The 
truck and vegetable crop for 1909-10 is 
reported as valued at $6,825,972. 
The acreage for vegetables in 1907- 
1908 was 42,357, and for 1909-10, 
54,047, an increase of a little over 
11,000 acres growing truck crops, and 
an increased return in value of approx¬ 
imately 70 per cent, in favor of the 
1909-10 crop. 
We are not fond of figures and will 
not dwell longer with them, but in this 
case they have served a splendid pur¬ 
pose. This 70 per cent, increase in 
values in truck crops has come with 
less than 20 per cent, increase in acre¬ 
age. There are reasons: 
1. Better and more intensive meth¬ 
ods of cultivation have been advocated 
and practiced. 
2. Truckers have learned that all 
fertilizers are not alike and no two va¬ 
rieties of plants need exactly the same 
fertilizer, and that fertilizers are really 
plant food in which the plant lives and 
subsists. 
3. They have learned how to con¬ 
trol the moisture problems and the 
value of irrigation. 
4. They realize that trucking is a 
business of itself and must be skillfully 
managed. 
5. Experience has shown them that 
inferior products cannot be loaded on 
cars and transported long distances, 
profitably to the producer. 
6. Discriminating markets refuse 
inferior products and injure the future 
sales with good products. 
7. Truckers realize as never before 
the value of good seed. and proper 
planting. 
Many of our vegetables grown at 
a season when forcing is necessary are 
extremely perishable. Careful crating 
and packing is therefore an important 
part of this industry. 
Improved quality and greater quan¬ 
tity with a correspondingly small in¬ 
crease in acreage has elevated the veg¬ 
etable industry above citrus and other 
fruits, and approaches the general field 
crop values for last year. 
It is a striking fact that several of 
our most important commercial crops 
