ture has been very kind to Florida, providing delightful climate,
fertile lands and adequate rainfall for farming purposes; broad
prairies, carpeted with succulent grasses and watered by running streams
for live stock raising; timber galore for sawmills, and countless beauty
spots beckoning to tourists. But the citizens of that State have been
slow to take advantage of their opportunities. Agriculture in many
sections has been a neglected art. Practically all of the foodstuffs,
including grain, meat, butter and eggs, have been produced outside the
State. Colonization companies have devoted their energies to boosting
orange orchards and truck gardens (the "poker game of agriculture"), and
little organized effort has been made to attract farmers and stockmen of
tireless energy--the backbone of any community.

Among the neglected industries, none stand out more conspicuously than
stock raising. The native cattle, inbred, stunted specimens of doubtful
origin, have been turned loose on the free, open range to rustle for
themselves, and little effort has been made in most sections toward
breed improvement. Due to the mild climate, good range, adequate water
supply and absence of screw worms, coyotes and other pests, they have
survived. And with open range and no expense they have been very
profitable. In our entire trip we saw only two or three flocks of sheep
and goats. They were of better quality than I had expected--fairly good
for mutton, but light on wool.

A new era is dawning for the cattle business of Florida. The war has
forced a reduction in the exports of turpentine and rosin, and the large
land owners are turning their attention to improved stock raising. A
packing house has been erected at Jacksonville. Systematic tick
eradication is being carried on. Large tracts of land have been fenced
and stocked. Hundreds of well-bred Texas cows and registered Hereford,
Angus, Shorthorn and Brahma bulls are being purchased, and the work of
breed improvement is growing in popularity.

Good feed and forage crops can be grown in most sections, and with this
new movement for improved live stock will come deeper interest in
agriculture. The chief forage crops now produced in that State are corn,
velvet beans, Japanese cane, sorghum, cow peas and beggar-weed. The
first three perhaps take the lead. The corn and velvet beans are planted
together, in rows from four to six feet apart. The beans grow very rank,
producing an abundance