Iht  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
1063 
Str  a  wt 
•  i  t 
e  r  r  i  e  s 
Florida 
Part  I 
HE  FLORIDA  HAZARD— There  is  a  wide¬ 
spread  and  pretty  well  formed  opinion  that 
crop  hazards  are  greater  in  Florida  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  country.  Usually  it 
is  assumed  that  this  is  due  to  erratic 
weather  conditions,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  nowhere  else  in  this  country  are  the  climatic 
conditions  so  nearly  uniform  throughout  the  year, 
or  from  year  to  year.  After  a  good  many  years  of 
experience  and  observation,  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  the  troubles  of  Florida  growers  are  due  in  a 
large  measure  to  a  lack  of  proper  crop  adaption; 
and  I  may  add  that  in  a  lesser  degree  that  appears 
to  be  the  great  handicap  of  many  growers  in  every 
section. 
PREVIOUS  EXPERIENCE.— A  few  readers  may 
remember  a  series  of  articles  entitled  “Seven  Years 
on  Our  Truck  Farm,”  which  I  contributed  to  The 
R-  N.-Y.  years  ago.  It  was  the  record  of  operations 
in  Pennsylvania  on  a  small  farm  I  had  purchased 
with  very  scant  capital.  The  farm  was  gravelly, 
somewhat  hilly  and  badly  depleted  in  fertility.  It 
had  always  been  run  as  a  general  farm  with  very 
meager  returns.  After  I  took  it  over  I  continued  the 
general  farm  practice  for  a  year;  result,  gross  total 
returns  of  about  $300  and  of  course,  no  profit.  That 
would  not  do,  so  I  gradually  worked  into  the  produc¬ 
tion  of  small  fruits  and  vegetables  for  the  Harris¬ 
burg  market,  located  about  eight  miles  away.  With 
tlie  change,  financial  prospects  immediately  began 
to  improve.  The  last  year  I  operated  that  farm, 
1908,  gross  sales  mounted  to  over  $4,800,  showing 
a  net  profit  of  $2,000 — just  double  the  original  net 
cost  of  the  place.  Then  my  wife  and  I  decided  that 
the  distance  to  market  and  marketing  conditions 
were  too  wearing,  and  we  concluded  to  locate  in  the 
South  and  gro#w  truck  crops  for  carlot  shipment  to 
Northern  markets. 
POOR  RESULTS  WITH  TOMATOES.— I  have 
told  in  detail,  in  more  recent  articles,  how  we  set¬ 
tled  here  in  South  Florida,  in  the  vicinity  of  Miami, 
and  how,  off  and  on,  we  struggled  for  10  years  to 
break  through  to  success  in  growing  tomatoes ;  all 
to  no  purpose.  During  the  first  eight  years  there 
were  no  frosts  on  our  land  severe  enough  to  do  much 
damage,  but  there  were  other  various  unfamiliar 
conditions  that  prevented  success.  Those  conditions 
finally  mastered,  two  splendid  crops  in  successive 
years  went  down  by  frost,  and  there  have  been  sev¬ 
eral  frosty  years  since,  so  I  was  reluctantly  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  this  immediate  locality  is  not 
adapted  to  peace  of  mind  and  financial  success  in 
connection  with  tomato  growing. 
STARTING  WITH  STRAWBERRIES.  —  Straw¬ 
berries,  nestling  close  to  the  warm  soil,  will  with¬ 
stand  uninjured  a  degree  of  frost,  that  will  utterly 
ruin  a  crop  of  tomatoes.  Perseverance  and  adaptation 
are  both  necessary  qualities  for  a  successful  career 
as  a  grower,  and  yet,  in  a  way  they  are  antagonistic 
to  each  other.  Perseverance  in  that  tomato  game 
cost  me  years  of  unpaid  effort  and  labor,  and  yet 
what  can  be  accomplished  without  it?  Meantime 
the  local  market  had  rapidly  increased,  and  though 
1  very  much  disliked  again  to  take  up  a  crop  that 
involved  the  labor  of  personal  local  marketing,  the 
principle  of  adaption  asserted  itself,  so  four  years 
ago  we  took  up  the  growing  of  strawberries  as  a 
specialty  for  the  local  market.  This  was  not  an  en¬ 
tirely  new  and  untried  venture.  I  had  been  growing 
strawberries  in  moderate  quantities,  most  of  the 
previous  years  as  an  insurance  against  total  disaster 
in  case  the  tomatoes  should  fail,  but  now  they  were 
made  the  leading,  in  fact,  almost  the  only  crop,  and 
with  highly  satisfactory  results.  So  it  appears 
adaptation  has  proved  to  be  the  key  to  success  both 
North  and  South. 
LARGE  CROPS. — Those  who  have  been  contin¬ 
uous  readers  of  these  columns  for  the  last  few  years 
are  familiar  with  the  rather  extraordinary  records 
of  the  three  preceding  successive  crops.  The  gen¬ 
eral  interest  in  those  records  warrants  the  addition 
of  the  record  of  last  season.  The  crop  was  especially 
fine  in  quality  and  appearance  of  fruit.  The  acreage 
was  largely  increased,  the  total  area  being  ten  and 
one-fifth  acres.  The  total  yield  was  78,425  quarts 
and  gross  sales  amounted  to  $28,135.  For  the  new 
readers  it  may  be  well  fro  tabulate  the  record  of  the 
four  crops  as  follows : 
Season 
1920 
1961 
1922 
1923 
Area,  acres  . 
2.1 
4.1 
1.9 
10.2 
Yield,  qts. 
per  acre  . 
8,471 
10,014 
8,100 
7,089 
Total  yield. 
qts . 
18,158 
,  41,059 
15,515 
78,425 
Trice  per  qt. 
$0.54  + 
$0.45  + 
$0.47+ 
$0.30— 
Gross  sales  . 
.$9,805.90 
$18,530,92 
$7,349.37 
$28,135.00 
For  the  four  years  that  makes  a  total  of  18.3 
acres,  with  an  average  yield  of  8,3(59  quarts,  and  a 
cash  value  of  $3,485.85  per  acre ;  with  total  gross 
sales  amounting  to  $63,791.05.  The  small  area, 
planted  season  before  last,  was  due  to  a  shortage 
of  plants,  because  that  Summer  season  had  been 
unusually  dry.  The  yield  and  the  price  received 
were  both  lower  for  the  last  crop  than  for  any  pre¬ 
vious  season  ;  but  owing  to  volume  of  fruit  produced, 
the  net  profit  was  about  40  per  cent  greater  than 
for  the  next  largest  crop  produced  in  1921.  The 
lower  yield  was  due  mainly  to  the  fact  that  some 
A  couple  of  going-to-be  farmers  and  the  beginning  of 
their  live  stock. 
of  the  new  area  taken  in  was  not  as  well  adapted  to 
the  crop  as  the  choice  areas -that  had  been  selected 
for  the  smaller  crops  of  previous  years. 
A  REMARKABLE  FEATURE  was  that  while  the 
yield  on  parts  of  the  new  area  was  much  less,  due 
to  shorter  period  of  vigorous  growth,  the  fruit  that 
This  represents  a  new  form  of  windmill  of  small  power, 
suitable  for  light  work  about  house  and  shop.  It  is  said 
to  give  satisfaction  where  limited  power  is  required.  It 
seems  to  be  built  on  something  of  the  principle  of  the 
old  “go-devil”  mills,  which,  before  the  coming  of  gas 
engines,  were  popular  on  the  Western  plains. 
■was  produced,  both  as  to  size  and  quality,  was  pretty 
nearly  up  to  the  high  standard  of  the  fruit  produced 
on  the  better  areas.  This  rather  unusual  result  I 
believe  due  mainly  to  the  sulphur  treatment  of 
which  I  shall  speak  in  detail  later.  Another  feature 
that  tended  to  reduce  the  yield,  was  late  planting  of 
part  of  the  crop.  The  last  were  planted  December 
12 — nearly  a  month  later  than  I  have  ever  planted 
before.  This  was  partly  on  account  of  the  work 
required  and  partly  from  choice,  to  lengthen,  or 
rather  even  up  the  cropping  period.  Planting  after 
the  fruit  buds  begin  to  form,  retards  the  fruiting 
period,  but  decreases  the  crop  to  some  extent;  how¬ 
ever  with  a  large  crop  and  high-priced  market,  it 
is  better  to  hav'e  a  somewhat  lower  yield  spread 
evenly  over  a  long  period.  This  was  secured  by 
planting  continuously  for  seven  weeks. 
A  LONG  SEASON  CROP.— The  first  fruit  was 
sold  January  2,  and  the  last  May  23.  Some  former 
crops  yielded  during  much  longer  periods,  but  not 
so  heavily  for  so  long  a  time.  During  ten  weeks 
from  January  15  to  March  24  inclusive,  the  number 
of  quarts  picked  per  week  were  as  follows:  1,608, 
4.359.  8.409,  10,233,  10,669,  10,670,  14,261.  8,221,  4,- 
097,  1,690.  No  crop  anywhere  can  be  more  timely. 
It  exactly  coincides  with  the  height  of  our  tourist 
season.  Ten  to  14.000  quarts  of  berries  per  week 
made  lively  times  in  the  field,  in  the  packing  house, 
and  on  the  market.  The  help  at  the  height  of  the 
season  ranged  in  number  from  40  to  50.  About  one- 
third  were  needed  in  the  packing  house.  These 
were  white  women  .from  the  immediate  neighbor¬ 
hood.  The  pickers  were  mostly  colored  folks,  though 
there  was  some  white  help,  both  men  and  women. 
ORGANIZATION. — Affairs  in  the  packing  house 
were  managed  by  Mrs.  Hartman.  The  field  work 
was  so  organized  it  practically  ran  itself,  with  the 
joint  oversight  of  two  or  three  of  the  most  respon¬ 
sible  men.  I  did  the  marketing  with  the  exception 
of  the  home  sales.  A  pleasant  surprise  of  the  sea¬ 
son  was  that  neither  my  wife  nor  I  found  the  strain 
of  handling  the  larger  crop  any  greater,  in  fact, 
not  as  great  as  handling  smaller  crops  of  preceding 
years.  We  had  good  loyal  help;  possibly  that  was 
fortunate  chance.  Possibly  the  management  was 
more  skillful  than  that  we  suspect ;  not  much  seemed 
to  'be  required.  It  may  be  that  over-management  is 
a  greater  fault  than  is  commonly  recognized :  at  any 
rate  the  work  both  in  planting  and  harvesting,  went 
forward  with  remarkable  smoothness  and  efficiency. 
D.  L.  HARTMAN. 
(Continued  Next  Week) 
Blasting  Big  Boulders 
'We  have  in  our  fields  here  and  there  boulders  that 
have  been  fanned  ground  for  years,  too  large  to  handle 
in  one  piece.  We  have  thought  to  put  a  shot  of  powder 
or  dynamite,  and  hesitate  on  account  of  the  labor  in¬ 
volved  in  drilling  the  holes  for  the  charge.  Is  there 
not  some  inexpensive  power-driven  drill  that  may  be 
had  for  this  purpose?  Is  it  necessary  in  this  State  to 
have  a  permit  to  do  blasting  with  dynamite,  and  where 
may  I  procure  explicit  instructions  as  to  handling  and 
preparing  the  charge?  j.  c.  b. 
Greenwich,  Conn. 
THIS  work  is  both  a  fascination  and  an  invest¬ 
ment.  In  it  the  gasoline  engine  is  again  a  bene¬ 
factor  of  the  farmer;  for  where  once  a  farmer  had 
to  do  this  work  with  hand  drills,  using  a  gang  of 
three  men,  two  strikers  and  a  holder,  he  may  now 
hitch  a  team  to  a  power  drilling  outfit  and  drive 
afield  alone,  if  he  must,  and  yet  he  can  drill  many 
offending  boulders  ready  for  loading  with  dynamite. 
Outfits  are  from  6  to  120  li.p.  The  6-h.p.  rig  is  suf¬ 
ficient  for  usual  farm  boulders.  It  is  mounted  on  an 
I-beam  frame,  and  consists  of  a  6-h.p.  upright  engine 
whose  crank  shaft  is  flanged  directly  to  the  shaft 
of  an  air  compressor  delivering  its  air  into  a  tank 
equipped  with  pressure  gauge  and  safety  valve. 
The  compressed  air  is  led  through  a  wire-wrapped 
hose  to  the  drill,  which  in  this  size  is  called  a  jack¬ 
hammer,  and  which  weighs  but  30  to  50  lbs.  A 
100-ft.  hose  will  reach  a  considerable  number  of 
boulders  at  one  stand  of  the  rig.  The  6-point  drills 
are  hollow,  clear  themselves  of  rock  dust,  from  the 
exhaust  of  the  hammer,  and  cut  a  hole  a  little  more 
than  144  in-  at  the  rate  of  about  1  in.  a  minute 
under  an  85-Ib.  pressure  of  air.  The  outfit  costs 
under  $500,  and  may  be  purchased  from  one  or  two 
dealers  in  Hartford.  It  may  be  frequently  seen 
in  action  in  construction  work  of  the  State  Highway 
Department. 
In  Connecticut  it  is  necessary  for  one  to  have  a 
permit  from  the  selectmen  to  have  dynamite  in  pos¬ 
session,  but  any  trusted  assistant  may  use  the  dyna¬ 
mite  without  a  permit,  which  is  for  one  year,  and 
specifies  the  amount  you  may  require.  An  amount 
above  the  quantity  actually  to  be  used  may  be  speci¬ 
fied.  If  one  is  to  use  but  50  or  60  lbs.,  it  is  better 
to  have  the  permit  say  100  lbs.,  Avliich  arrangement 
is  allowable,  and  avoids  the  routine  of  getting  out 
a  second  permit  in  one  year. 
The  loading  of  the  drilled  boulders  is  not  neces¬ 
sarily  a  matter  of  fear  and  trembling,  but  it  is  a 
matter  of  reverence  for  the  mighty  power  bound  up 
in  a  little  tube  of  paraffined  paper.  The  jack-ham¬ 
mer  holes  readily  receive  the  sticks  of  dynamite 
