Florida: An Ideal Cattle State Part 4

There are vast areas of cheap and hitherto waste lands in every part of the State, lying open the year round to the genial and fructifying rays of a semi-tropical and sub-tropical sun, which need only the expenditure upon them of money and labor to fit them for the support of herds and flocks greater than any other region can maintain. We have every reason, as we face the new year, to take courage and to gird ourselves for the task of turning into reality these gracious possibilities which nature has spread about us with a lavish hand.

The past year has been signalized by one great achievement, carrying two others in its train. The great achievement to which I refer, the greatest by all odds ever accomplished in this State, is the creation by the Legislature of a State Live Stock Sanitary Board and the appropriation of public monies for the carrying on of its work; and the two consequent achievements are the beginning of definite, determined, statewide, co-operative and adequately supported efforts to eradicate the pestilent cattle tick from all our borders and to control hog cholera. * * *

And I venture now to say--and I say it with pardonable pride and great pleasure--that no state in the Union has a more carefully considered, better balanced and guarded, and more rigid and effective law, covering the matter of live stock sanitation, than has Florida. Perhaps a detail here and there needs to be amended and strengthened, but, on the whole, the measure was a good one and is working well. * * *

I may add, finally, that the State Live Stock Sanitary Board, in the two great undertakings to which, for the present and the immediate future, it will, of necessity, chiefly devote its energies, the eradication of the cattle tick and the control of hog cholera, we are leaning heavily on two co-operative agencies. The first of these is the Federal Government, through its Bureau of Animal Industry, and the States Relations Service.

In Dr. E. M. Nighbert, inspector in charge of the work of tick eradication; Dr. A. H. Logan, inspector in charge for hog cholera control; Dean P. H. Rolfs of the University, director of the Experiment Station, in charge of the work in Florida of the States Relations Service, and the numerous a.s.sistants placed by the Federal Government, under the direction of these three gentlemen, we have a large body of capable, trained and energetic experts, whose co-operation with our Board is of inestimable value to the State, and whose maintenance costs us nothing.

The members of the State Live Stock Sanitary Board serve without remuneration, so that we have in Florida approximately thirty men who are engaged in promoting the work of live stock sanitation without expense to the taxpayers of the State. It is fitting, I think, that this a.s.sociation should be reminded of this very great and very costly, but nevertheless wholly gratuitous, service which is being rendered to the interests which we represent. * * *

So much for the past year; now for a glance forward.

What I have just been saying indicates clearly the special work to which we ought, in my judgment, to devote ourselves in the immediate future--I mean the complete and final eradication of the tick in every county in Florida and the largest possible measure of control of hog cholera. If we see clearly, we see that these tasks are preliminary to all others. *

Fortunately the tick is a very weak and vulnerable enemy, though so mischievous. Put all the cattle of Florida through the dipping vat once a fortnight for five or six months, and there would be no more ticks left in this State than there are snakes in Ireland. Let us consecrate ourselves here in this meeting to the doing of this thing, and doing it _soon_.

Hog cholera is not so simple and manageable an affair. In the micro-organism which causes this disease, we face an enemy far subtler, more cunning, more elusive, more persistent and more swiftly fatal than is the tick. It escapes observation by the most powerful microscope; it laughs at quarantine lines; it flows in the stream; it lurks in the pool; it rides upon the foot of beast and bird, the shoe of man, the wagon's wheel; it soars aloft on the buzzard's wing; you can not catch and dip it.

I earnestly advise the formation of local live stock a.s.sociations throughout the State, at least one in each county affiliated with the State a.s.sociation, and having special committees on Tick Eradication and Hog Cholera Control, composed of the ablest, the most energetic and the most influential men in the various communities. Let these a.s.sociations hold meetings at regular intervals for the free exchange of views and experiences; let expert and interesting speakers from abroad bring to these meetings fresh information and impetus; let there be added such social and entertaining features as may be available--music, barbecues, moving pictures, boat excursions, what-not--to attract the mult.i.tude, relieve the monotony of farm life, and increase neighborliness and good community feeling. Let the co-operation of the banks of the region be secured, for the generous financing of pig clubs and corn clubs. * * *

There is one other matter of prime importance to which I invite your attention. If the live stock industry of Florida is to be put on the most stable basis and developed with reasonable rapidity, immense sums of money will be required. Fences must be built; drainage ca.n.a.ls and ditches must be dug; improved and more nouris.h.i.+ng gra.s.ses must be introduced over vast areas; other great areas must be planted with forage crops; silos must be built; plows, harrows and other expensive implements must be purchased; horses, mules and tractors, herdsmen, farmers and laborers must be secured and put to work in great numbers; a mult.i.tude of pure-bred bulls and cows, boars and sows, rams and ewes, stallions, jacks and mares must be imported for the improvement of our native stock.

Where are the necessary funds coming from for the financing of those enterprises? Perhaps the large ranch owners can take care of themselves, but what our State needs above all things else is thrifty farmers by the thousand, now on the ground or drawn from other states by our surpa.s.sing advantages of soil and climate; where shall these secure the funds necessary for the development of their more modest holdings?

Florida is a relatively new and scantily populated State; there are here no great reserves of cash and securities, acc.u.mulated and bequeathed by generations of toiling and thrifty ancestors, as in some parts of the country. Many of the banks are doing their best to care for our live stock interests, but the ability of our local banks--and I speak now as a banker--is strictly limited in this direction.

What we need in Florida, in my judgment, as the very next step to be taken, is one or more strong cattle loan companies, such as flourish in the West, whose sole business it will be to provide the funds necessary for the developments which I have mentioned, so far as cattle are concerned. This is a matter which will occupy us during one entire session of this meeting, and I need not, therefore, deal with it further now, except to say that the present time seems especially propitious for the securing of such funds as we need for this business.

Men are asking how they may make safe investment of their savings in these troubled times; the future of the railways, now under Government control, is uncertain; industrial enterprises have been largely thrown into abnormal condition by the war; stocks, bonds and other similar securities have in them today a considerable speculative element which gives pause to conservative investors. But amid all this flux and uncertainty, here lies the land, as from of old, unchanging, peaceful, fruitful, a mother's full breast, and upon the land feed and grow, enriching and renewing it forever even as they feed upon it, the friendly animals, whose flesh and milk support our life from the cradle to the grave.

There is nothing speculative here, and I am confident that investors, perplexed now by the unheard of aspect of the world's affairs, will be disposed to put their funds more and more into the soil and its products, if they are shown the way; and the cattle-loan company, organized and administered by experienced and careful men, can show them the way and lead them safely in it.

And now, gentlemen, we will proceed to the program our Executive Committee has provided. I hope that our meeting together, the messages which will be brought us from abroad, and the various discussions in which we ourselves shall engage, will serve to hearten us for our work and help us to feel, amid the toil and perplexities of our daily task, that in providing a more copious supply of food for the world, in causing two blades of gra.s.s to grow where one grew before, and in transforming these blades of gra.s.s by the mysterious and wonderful processes of nature into the thoughts and loves of men and women, the orator's speech, the poet's song, the statesman's wisdom, the soldier's fierce energy, the mother's brooding care, and the babe's new life, we are doing our part to support and render more rich and worthy this wondrous human drama and are partners with G.o.d in the work of his earthly kingdom.

FLORIDA SUITED TO EXTENSIVE CATTLE RAISING.

Texas Ranchmen Declare Conditions Ideal for Cattle, Sheep and Goats.

The impression made upon a prominent Texas ranch owner who recently visited the great cattle ranges of Florida was that Nature has been too good to the cattle industry in this State to encourage improvement in the crude methods of breeding and handling stock which have been in vogue for years, for the cattle owners have made money without trying.

Among those who spent a week during the latter part of August inspecting range conditions were M. Sansom of Fort Worth, president of the Ca.s.sidy-Southwestern Commission Co., director of the Federal Reserve Bank and owner of large cattle ranch interests. * * *

Mr. Sansom expressed his impression of Florida's opportunity for raising cattle in these words:

"The only trouble you have in Florida, Nature has been too good to you.

If it had done half as much for Texas the Government officials would not now be worrying about the future meat supply for the United States and our Allies. I have seen Texas when the cattle were no better than the grade I have seen on this trip. We started twenty-five years ago to improve our herds and stayed with it, until today we furnish some of the best breeding and feeding cattle for the Northern States.

"Florida now has very great advantage over pioneer Texas, as you can get some of our good breeding stock and make rapid progress breeding up your herds. The Osceola Cattle Co., in Osceola County, has started along right lines, and the manager gave me some figures on calf production which show that his herd are producing a larger percentage of calves than we get in Texas.

"But your luxuriant range gra.s.ses and abundance of stock water are almost unbelievable. Your range will carry from three to ten times as many cattle per section as the Texas land in a normal year. And when I say normal year I want you to remember that sometimes the rain clouds forget all about Texas for months at a time, and then our ranges suffer from drought, as large sections of them are doing at this time.

"You have a sheep country as good as exists, and a goat country better than any other. It is too bad that you do not raise more sheep on your ranges, for they do not hurt the cattle pastures, eating only the tender blades down under the more mature gra.s.s. We run thousands of sheep on our cattle ranges in Texas. The goats will be a distinct benefit to the Florida ranges, as they do not eat much gra.s.s when they can get underbrush, briars and weeds. By having those cleaned out of the pastures the gra.s.s will have a better chance to grow.

"I am informed that Florida does not have to combat coyotes, which are our worst sheep enemies, so you really have no serious losses to antic.i.p.ate on your sheep investments. And yet there are very few sheep on the ranges we have visited. It is to be hoped that your cattlemen will use more sheep on the ranges.

"The range country should become the calf incubator for the Southeastern States, the offspring being sold at weaning time or as yearlings. That will give your ranges a larger carrying capacity for breeding stock and let the grain-producing sections do the finis.h.i.+ng."--_From the Manufacturers' Record, Sept. 13, 1917._

CATTLE RAISING IN FLORIDA.

As I Saw it on a Thousand-mile Tour of the Central Part of the State.

_By A. C. Williams._

Wasn't it Saul who went out in search of a.s.ses and found a kingdom? You men who are familiar with the Bible can answer that. But I can testify that I, while not in search of a.s.ses, duplicated Saul's experience during the past month, when, in company with M. Sansom, W. N. Waddell, Caesar Kleberg and Tom T. East of Texas, Dr. L. J. Allen of Oklahoma, Geo. M. Rommel of Was.h.i.+ngton, P. L. Sutherland, C. L. Gaines and J. G.

Boyd of Florida, I had the pleasure of a thousand-mile trip through the central part of the State of Florida.

Nature has been very kind to Florida, providing delightful climate, fertile lands and adequate rainfall for farming purposes; broad prairies, carpeted with succulent gra.s.ses 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, b.u.t.ter 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, j.a.panese 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 of good hay, and beans which are high in feeding value. The beans may be left on the vines for pasturage, or gathered and ground into bean meal, which is excellent for cattle feeding. j.a.panese cane resembles our Texas ribbon cane. It makes good silage, keeps well and is highly relished by cattle. The Florida beggar-weed grows as a volunteer in old fields of a light sandy soil. If cut at the right time it makes good hay, and, while it is rather bulky for silage alone, it is said to add greatly to the fattening value of silage. Corn and cow peas need no introduction to our readers.

The most common gra.s.ses are several varieties of paspalum or carpet gra.s.s, switch gra.s.s, wire gra.s.s, little blue maiden cane and Bermuda.

Crab and Natal gra.s.s are volunteers which follow crops on sandy soils.

Both Guinea and Para gra.s.ses thrive in South Florida, where less liable to injury by frost. Fort Thompson gra.s.s, which resembles giant Bermuda, with larger joint, stem and leaf, is a native of Florida, which will some day be recognized as one of their very best pasture gra.s.ses.

With their open range and native cattle--a poorer grade than our old-time longhorn--the cattle business of Florida today may be compared to that of Texas twenty years ago. What they need is more bulls and experienced cattlemen who will apply the intelligence, energy and persistence that know not failure.

Leaving Kenansville at 8:15, we were soon out on the Kissimmee prairie of thousands and thousands of acres of open range. Here, where the gra.s.s was very luxuriant, resembling a hay meadow, we saw several hundred more of the small native cattle, followed by the common scrubby bulls. The fat four-year-old steers weighed around 550 pounds, and are valued at $30 per head. The cows weighed around 500 pounds. The range herds of mixed ages and cla.s.ses are valued at $20 per head. We soon left the public highway, circling marshes and dodging palmettos. Our next stop was on Gum Slough Ranch, where we were told that on a pasture of 10,000 acres there were 6,000 cattle. The ground was well covered with carpet and a variety of other gra.s.ses, and did not show the effects of close grazing. The cattle were in good condition and of better quality than most of the others which we had inspected.--_From The Cattleman, September, 1917._