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AGRIOUIV RAL ADVAHOEMli-N II AGRIOULTfURE
AND HORTIUTJLTURE IN FLORIDA.

Intro auction
Edu oation Necessary to Stable Democracy.
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F6DUOATION AL ADYVAOEMiENT- JI ACG'I CLURILE

ABD HORTICULTURE IN .LOI.IDA


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Introiluct i on.



Edcoation Deccsar.y to Ztable Demooracy.

Gar present system of education had its origin

in a monarchial form of governmSnt. it, thuref'o-e,

partook much of the form of government under wi:idh it

was fostered. In an aristeoratio government, it mattered

not how many toiled incessantly, so long as the chosen

few wero privilegedl to follow the bent of their own inali-

nations to the fullest extent. Under suob form of

government, a few extremely talented indivilus3 arose,

especiRlly alonL the lines of studio that did not displease

the rules. The rc2.t mnr.c" of humanity, howrvor, were

not considered as worth;7 of attention. It was really

Sons.ilto:.-cd dangerous for them to obtain the rudiments of

an orution. The 'ery : uunLAt.ion of a democracy rest

on the assumption thst cvroryone of thle electorate body

hMe at- least a reaconablo understanding of L.hoe questions

of government necessary to the fullest development of the
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individuals who make up the democracy.

Our own g-overrment is only a limited demoorary;

Pnd In some of the "'tcnhlne-ridden" districts, it is

ortremely limit1o3. "ic -ro, in act, I: a large extent,

governed, by an pffloe-hc. lding oligaroby, -hicch Jiff.?rs

from n monarchy only in that the cloctor.-te may et

irrorular intervals rnovre the reiplYning oligrcich, and

replace him by another. ThCosa .ondi:ti'n will continue

to Cic.Kt :: lonc as the elecotorpte bo1)0y rc-_ain incapable

of ihein'g its neods, uand ex rousing then -.+t the polls.

Great ho1.".inps of prope-tyaro not, to mTaind, incom-

patille itl a. perfect democrMaoy Nor are groat varia-

tions in intellectual attainmernts antAagonis ic ;d a

democracy. But it is iinposible for a puro democracy

to exist unsullied, unless the imwajo--ity of the electorate

is capable of understanding and voting intl.Liigcntly on

both loool and national questions. As long nas wo havo
an tmeducated electorate, either one "boss" or another

.-ill rnle; but aB the electorate becomes more oducotctd,

the boca retroaLs, and finally orits the fI'olI. Our

own government bas riven u- a striking ill-untration of

how an almost perf,,t crrganilzatio$ may be rorverted to

selfish ?n-is. B.t Iy the education of the masses,
first one redoubt and then another has been taken from






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the offioe-holding aristocracy. Formerly, the electorate

was not alloevdo the a-AiLghb to eoloot theo LV-e&deint of the

UnitOd states, b 't now this'C is prr.ctioally conceded,

:-ltiouti'nh the Ctonatittion oL the L.rnitea StLa-nos reserves

the vlgIh.'- of n c2octoral col?.Cg, -nt- ve Stll ro

hrmoLgh 1.t h emoipty fcnm of voting -for the menmbc-r of t~ Is

oleoteral. oollego In !Iany oi our States, the u. -.

senatorss are votod for in tho primaries, or F.t the gen-

eral election, and. the te.at-e Legislatures go through the

fare of electing the senators,


21B/?nIDAMNsAn- DIFFICULTY

The difficulty is E. deeper one then more dollars

a(nL cents. You can't drive an Amxnerican, saor csn be

bought, but a great many mroro may bc led. Oua ideals

are toward a demooraOy,

J.aturally, :o 'bi.-40e0y Lhat since the rurel

pop-.l ation is unnabic to cond its children to school, then

by incrc'.ei.g the earning capacity ol the rural adult, the

diffic-lty will be iromoved, and all of our children put

into the schools. Let us examine the public schools

Btat;itioW of Statoes in Tvhich the earning capacity of the

adult is sufficient for comparative ease, and whore




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chil&rron arc not permitted to labor in factories, Massa-

ohusotts will furnish as a good illustration.

in Maounohusetts, according to the 69th

2cafneul, 6hore were:

515,000 children of school afr:e,

498,000 *" attending school,

404,000, or 78% in average atendanoce,

45,000, or $4, attending hiph school, (about one-

ounrth of those that should be there).

Theae figures show us that the difficulty is

a .indsamental onc, and not the practical one---the want

o' ,."Iealth.

in tho Unitod states, only 13% of our schoni

popul-tion hEre reached the last :-.-ade in fh(1 high .,chLool,

or a little moGr thn a. third of those that should d be there.

The aboemnce -f wealth 'i. a potent factor for

non-attondanco on ochools, but it is not the fundamental

drl.fi..lt:r. T.':.' dif-.ulty l:es in the fact that

our present cho- ourri.iuluim is faulty, ;'c are not

ed
-.:hol, om,.on sohoo c'.cu-.rse, beginning in the primary

.-rr..e, through the g-ra:r;aar Cohool, and eapeooally in the

hv.-t (cohonl, edua-'ccs *.;he individual -or u)rofiessitonal life,

which coup.-i:es only 3' of our population. To the othe-r-




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975 of our populTAtion the studies ..re purely non-vocational.

lhinl- of :it, le6ice and rentle.o.z 97) of our

p,-ople, including C.4 rura3 popurJtion, ao.-e required to

e.,;pt. c,. purely nu-.-vocational courcec or none, simply that

a 3'b ,a'y be fittr. -for tl]ei: o:utlcn, i. i'-t i..lly a

fomplipLiOit "o our resoplt D3,; .cr:k thet Do la._e a po-3io2ltage

of our children a. .'L taking the otudieo in thli higher

grades aw- all. Our 'pn.soa'lt 1r0.dl and hilgh schools l re

uhape(l their ,jour.uos in ouch a wayr as to Onable thoir

gcradujatos to ent 'r a -;ollege or TullvorCity, without
c-.,-:iination. They are given a direct through tiokot, on

a- limited e-ro's train, which n,-o no Ato, at -flag or

vway s".taL-.onis" ; w-hilo the through --oti.enagera" r -;nbehr only

L:,e-,Ier!h of o0,0 o-.)o cent, of our school por-uls.tion.

We .he. built s-plondid teri-ini'l faoilitios, but those

who .ih tc. Lc.ote .t 'JEt" stA.tlons have to rol. off liYe1

chuant. o. 1cl from -.i fl.t cnr. in other wr-ids cur n*res-

r--t c-.rriculum 'o:>0 7.L all its ener lie toward is.king college

or .u -'::sity cn-i:::.es; ...ilQe it'L: offorte tozarcl making

Onfr-on ,lmon and \o-'.t..I, that ,ot-,t ir.,.Hs of oun population,

is, purely inci&:onul. ,ir' ,irosonir grafcuar and high

l,-hoole a re fas'hionod af.er the ulcd r.oaleJty, sehoe leg.-

t-irate auccoe.or theo; ona in 1no riso elaim to bo. In







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passtig, I maI y be permitted to ,niy that our Uni'voersity,-

ha ,)rolad.
au to inoludo instmrut:ion in vootLional linic, thet include

about 'hr.o-fourths of our pupulat'ion. It Mill take time,

however, for thoe gra.lod zhosls LJ Ci' boys fr ontcir.ng

the Univ oeaity.




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SWerld 3 ovemaent. It has not been so
many year distance since all education, solenoe and
other advancement of the human race was airoum-
soribed and localized in more or less restricted com-

ammities. As a matter of fact, some of these comma-

nities advanced far ahead of their times. As an 1l-

lustration of this, we may trace the civilization

of Greece, Which had its philosophers, poets, and

to some extent scientists before the Christian

era. Mhoh of the good work of these men was lost

by the subsequent subjugation of these people. The

gast valley of their ew ta ia, the valley of the

Nile, and other instances may be called to mind where

engineering feats of wonderful proportions were ear-

ried on six to ten thousand years ago. The re-

sults of this labor are still apparent. In the

meantime the science and the art of this work was

completely lost. It has been only in recent years

that the soienoe of engineering has again reached

the height attained by these old and almost pre-

historic nations. So long as these communities

or nations remained isolated, they were able to de-

velop along certain lines, frequently to the neglect

of all other lines of education and building.

It only remained for an oppeortne time for the






barbarians or more vicious nations to conquer them
and destroy utterly their literature and their art.

A striking and very similar illustration may be

taken from the American continent. The works of the
Aztecs in erecting their great pyramids, one to the

sun, the other to the moon, are still wonderfulf

the American continent. These Aztecs developed a

very high degree of clLlizatton, and must have

developed a high dree of science, from the fact that

they have shown ae accurate knowledgein building,

especially engineering work, and an accurate knowl-

edge of the calendar as we know it today. The

Aztecs, however, were isolated, aM. in time fell
a a--
prey to more savage but very much less cultureS

race, which we now speak of as the Indian. These

in turn were subjugated and practically destroyed

by the Spanish Conquest.

At the present time we are living in an

age when time in the past is practically annihilated

by historic books, phbleasphies, and all that has

been accumulated in the past, making it possible for

us in a single hour to traverse thb whole vast extent

of time from the beginning of recorded data to the

present. The telephone and telegram are annmhilati'

distance. By means of the telegraph, we are today
^^/ I PJ ^ "^ -t<







-ectod with them than we wore seventy-five years ago

.1ith New York or Ohicago.
We are likewise a great deal more affected by

what is done even in remote parts of the earth,, both

morally and financially, than ever heretofore. To be

a successful cabbage grower in Florida, the horticulturist

must ]mow the extent of the Nava Scotia crop, the ex-

tent of the Danish crop,and the extent of the German

crop, and of course mast have full information sa ti the

extent of the cabbage product of the United States.
one
This is only an illustration of the many that might be

cited on this question.

We are today vitally affected in citrus growing

by the output from distanteparts of the world. ne look

upon California as our competitor, and one with whom

we have to reckon. Too many of us, however, forget that

Arizona, Mexico, Texas, JamAica, Porto Rico, and the

M&diterranian region are also competitors. While we

have developed the art of producing citrus fruit to such

an extent that,w4th the aid of the tariff, we need not

fear the introduction of fruit from tih Moditerranian re-

gion, we still find them competitors when we wid to

ship fruit to Europe, to Oanada, or to other places.

As pineapple growers in Florida, we think of

Cuba abd Porte Rico as our strong competitors, and think








uhem as being in the field alone. This, however, is
noteentirely correct* Hawaii ships a gr-at amount of

fruit into the Pacifio Coast. The kalayan Peninsula

competes strenuously for the market in canned pineapples.

Yet the Malayan Peninsula is located on the other side

of the world.

The Florida potato grower must take Alto consid-

eration the crop that is produced in practically all of
the United States, Europe, and even compete with bermuda.

The ever-production of the crop for the fancy market

resulted in two very serious years for these people.

Since that time the demand has grown very rapidly, and

now it appears as though it would be almost impossible
to produce anoalbrpotatoes to satisfy the market. But

this is only apparent, since the production of only a

few carloads more than the market will quickly absorb

would result in a very serious slump of prices,

The younger generation of us will have to com-

pete streaonasly with the fruit output of South America

and Africa. Already these countries are sending their
product into the markets of Europe, and thereby curtail-

ing the source of consumption for our products. The

United States has already seriously felt the inroads in

the tiropean market made by the Australian meat and other







sniimal products. Argentina now stands seco f in the

acreage of corn product, the report for 1009 giving her

nearly seven million acres. The capital of the.

United States is flowing in a great torrent into heoxco.

A few years ago the United States Consul at Mesico City

told nm that there was upwards of $500,000,000 of United

States capital invested in Mexico. most of this going to

the mines. Agriculture was following very rapidly behind

in the amount of United States capital that it was absorb-

ing. Large areas have been Vnd are being planted to

citrus fruits. By tariff legislation it nay be possible

to keep these fruits out of the markets of the United

States, but such an artificial barrier cannot keep them

from flowing over into Oanada and other places where our

fruits now find a good market. In certain sections of

Central America large areas are being planted to citrus

orchards, and it is purely a question of developing trans-

portation facilities to bring those into active competi-

tion with our fruits. The transportation facilities are be-

ing rapidly developed, and will be greatly stimulated as

the tinm for the opening of the Panama Canal approaches.

All of this brings us face to face with the

fact that we are only a small part of the world movement.

A moment ago I called your attention to the fact that







the previous history of the world these movements took

place in isolated centers. By means of our literature we

have annihilated the past time, and by means of electricity

we are annihilating distance, Jow, in the place of

progressive movement being localized, it is present in

all nations. Evon static Turkey and Persia are being

affected by this upward educational movement of today.

The leaders i scientific thought today must Imow what

the results are of the investigations in the laboratories,

whether located at Oeylon, or Tenkys, at San Francisco,

Chicago or New York, at Edinburgh, Berlin or St. Peters-

burg, or any other place encircling the globe. Should

Dr. Koch make an important discovery in connection with

the sleeping sickness of interior Africa,tomorrow all
announce
the papers encircling the globe would-kamR tho fact.

While the earth is no smaller than it was ten thousand

years ago, man's power over matter has increased so im-

measurably that he is in reality brought into daily and

almost hourly connection with even the remotest portions

of the earth.
this
At first it might seem as though it was a long

distance from citrus growing. To understand our pres-

eant situation, however, it becomes vitally necessary far

us to understand the world movement. We are in such

immediate communication with all of our competitors, and







competitors are in so close touch with us that un-

as we understand the whole situation, and take advantage

of the opportunities as they occur, we shall be hopeless-

ly lost in the competition. The serious question with

us today is, what are we doing to better our conditions,

to increase our power of producing crops and reducing the

cost of production of the same. We all know that the

cost of production has increased greatly ih the last fif-

teen years. Fertilizers have increased in price, labor

nearly doubled in price, transportation has been but

slightly reduced, and the purchasing power of the money

we receive in return for our products has decreased about

50 per cent.

We are now face to face with a situation that

demands the most earnest and energetic study of our

oreblems, both from a technical and. a practical stand-

Woint.

Educational Movenont in Mlorid


Florida was the first place now in the United States

receiving colonists from Europe. For various reasons which

not be gone into at this time, the development has been

extremely slow. At the present time our area is probably

the most sparsely settled of any State east of the Mis-







4a pl. Various causes have contributed to bring this

about. vie are now, however, receiving immigrants from

almost all parts of the Ubited States, the main reason

for this being the fact that good, available farm lands

in other parts of the United states have been practically

all taken up. The last west has been conquered. Con-

sequently the early developers, those who have been crowded

out of the older sections, must turn in another direction

to secure cheap and suitable lEnds, A large number of

our population from the over-crowded sections of the Mid-

die West and West, are also pouring in on the immense

unsettled portions of the Northwest Territory in Canada.

Enough of our citizens have already moved across the bor-

der to make the population equal to that contained in

Florida, In other words, the United States has already

contributed more than one State to the development of

Canada. Many of our citizens are not satisfied, however,

to leave the protection of the flag under which they wore

born and raised, but prefer to seek employment and a live-

lihood even in far-pff Florida, that has been represented

to them as a place where it is almost impossible to live,

This movement and unrest has its basis in some fundamental

conditions. The fundamental condition that is confronting

these people is that of being able to make a subsistence

and a good livelihood under










We are vitally interested today in knowing what

factors are at work for the improvement of our conditions.

We must improve our conditions,or be left far in the rear

of this world upward movement. de cannot remain static.

If our methods of handling our citrus groves are not

better next year than they are this year, we will find

ourselves hopelessly outclasse Kby this severe and serious

competition. In our democratic form of government, we
cannot expect a dictator to rise and. drive us forward

to the proper handling and to proper thinking. The

upward movement must be through the upward movement of at

least a large proportion of the agricultural people.

Our leaders may legislate and prescribe 4lws for our

guidance, but unless these laws receive an intelligent
support, they will be practically dead letters on the

statute books. This may be very distinctly illustrated

by the laws on our statute books pertaining to the organ-

ization of a county Horticultural Oomrl'ssion. These

Commissions have all the pewer necessary to carry out
any reasonable line of work in any county. Yet so far

as we know, not a single county has taken advantage of

this law.

Some lines of work are being carried out which

will in time give us much better agricultural and horti-


cultural conditions in the State.


One of these move-







ments is the teaching of the basic principles of agricul-

tnre and horticulture in all the rural schools of the

State. Naturally, the introduction of agriculture

has met with the same opposition that the introduction

of grammar and physiology met with in74ur common schools

curriculum. It is no more likely that the teaching of
text
agriculture from an elamentarL/book in the coimtry

school will make a trained agriculturist than that the

teaching of grammar in the country school will produce

a finished poet or prose writer.




'a s


Institutes for young people have been held in
a number of the counties of the State this years This

brings practical farming education to the youth, who will

soon be the bread-winner and. bread earner. To enumerate

all of these would require more time that would seem prac-

ticable in a short speech like the one today. In Alaohua

County, as an illustration we have held. 14 of these in-

stitutes, with a total attendance of 955 persons. Since

the above suimary was made, several more institutes have n

been held, carrying the total number over a thousand.

Of this 955 above mentioned, 626 were school pupils,

189 were men and 140 women. This shows a lively inter-

est in agricultural education in the State. Not only

to the young people attend, but it arouses interest in

the work among the older people. At those institutes

the lecturers of the day were rather incidental to the

final object, since the *!Wect of the lecturers was to

instruct the pupils in agricultural work and at the same

time distribute packages of selected corn, This corn

was intended for planting by the pupils, and in the sum -

mer it is intended to follow this with contests for the

best corn produced, and also later with a contest in

corn judging,


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Farmers' institutes Eroper. The Parmers' Insti-

tute work proper during the present fiscal year, that
last
is beginning with the first of/july, has been carried on

rather more vigorously than in any previous year. Up

to kay 8 we had held 114 sessions, scattered from Ponca-

cola on the west, to Miami on the south* ve have not

visited every county in the State, from the fact that

certain counties are more wide awake to the wants of

these institutes than others, and as a rule, those who

make their wants Imown are the ones who are likely to get

them supplied. The total attendance on those institutes

will run somewhere in the neighborhood of seven thousand.

In this connection I may say that the farmers of the State

are probably more active and more insistent than the

fruit growers.

County Fairs. These firs are being held in

a great many different counties of the State. They are

not always known under the name of fairs, though in sub-

stance they amount to the sane thing. Santa Rosa, Waltom,

Washington, Holmes, Jackoon, Gadsden, Loon, Jefferson,

Madison, Suwanee, Marion, Polk and. Dado are all confident-

ly looking forward to an exhibition of agricultural and

horticultural products this sun.rer and fail. A number of

these counties held fairs last year, and in almost all







,sea the institution was a financial success. Prom

.educational standpoint they were much more successful

than from a financial standpoin The total attendance

upon these institutions woald amount up into the hundreds

of thousands. These are very important gatherings from

the fact thvt they bring the city more closely in touch

with the country.

The Intorstate Fair. Daring Hovember of this

9St will be heol the Interstate Fair at Oensacole. A

dozan or fourteen counties of tFlorida and Alabama will

be represented in these contests. From a financial

standpoint this far was more than a success last year.

This can also be said of the fairs that wore held at

Ooala, Lakeland, and at hiami. At the Interstato Fair

there will be offered a silver cup trophy for the corn

judging contest.

The above named agencies are very potent factors

in tha upbuilding of the agricultural and horticultural

interests of the State. They come more, however, as

an expression of the existing conditions than as a direct

effort toward the formulation and carrying forward of

definite ideals. This work of leadership and presenting

of ideals is to a large extent t1e commission of the

University of Florida. Necessarily the institution,

since it belongs to the people, must Em to a considerable







tentn, adapt itself to the conditions as they are found.

would be a practical folly to attempt to copy or model

our institution after that pointing in any other State

whose conditions were entirely different from those found

in Florida. Consequently, this institution must blase

its own wc7". rvhile the nxperinooe in other States will

be of much service, it can only be used as suggestions.

To carry out the ideals of "*,ro roessive eductional work

the Univorsity has offered coursoj in cor1respondnci::e in
agriculture. This has proven to be extremely popular.

Last year the registration w r over 400 in the courco.

Tjis year the rog'istretion is .about 600, nine different

courses being offered in place of one that was offered

lest year. It is the intention of the institution to

continue to offer these corro-,nondence courses.

T io Oitrus Sominar. As an e-:pression of the

fact that the institution is aUcUompt-iiF to moot the needs

of the State, we must cite the case of the Oltrus Semi-

nar. This institution was held, not with a view of giving

information of an elementary character in connootion with

citrus culture, but to present the latest scientific

discoveries in connection .ith this groat industry.

As the name indicates, no attempt was made to make this

Gitrus Seminar in any way a informal matter. The lectures

were delivered in an informal way, and constant questions

and interruptions were invited. The speakers for the
I








ot part were from the Bcperirnent Station workers. The

citrus growers themselves, however, aided vory greatly

to the succcos of the meeting, in that certain ones of

them voluntee-red. to give short talks on specific subjects

about which thor- knowprobably more than anyone cleo.

The character of the work cf the Seominar wo .rmch as would

have made it of very little value to one who was not

thoroughly verseood in the citrus litor-tureo 'The average

attendrnoe on the meetings weas 34.7 per section. Twen-

ty-eight persons (.Ci.roctly,- interested in citrus :-rowing

in ilorida attondod the meetings,


Oonclus ion.

The conditions undor which wo find. ourselves

existing today are very diffTeforot from those that have

been ex-norionoed horetofore. ,o p'ro in the midst of a

worldwide movoment,- educational, tinLnoiol, scientific,

and othorwioo, Ito eff'-cts acre worldwide; likewise

out competition is worldwide. Our sources of information

are limited only by the climate in which citrus fruits
will grow. iQe imITt J-ow w hiat is harn--en-an in every land,

not only of the citrus growing rogri.ong, but of the

agricultural regions o.s well, Wio arc more and more

interdopondent upon one t-no'iher than ever before, As

our problems of production arxe being solved, our








'blems of distribution become more severe. Your

attention has already beon called to the fact that the

prices received for our fruit at the prosont time are

not as groat ao they wvere fjitcen years ago, and. yet the

purchaning power of the dollar which we receive for our

fruit has fallen very i;Latei-ally. It therefore becomes

more and more -neooo~sary to curtail the o:monzes of r-r:oduo-

tion to inure peorfoot and rinompt dlolivory, and in very

manner possible provide for ,. s.-,ving of tho waste product.