268 FLORIDA.

of Florida, and the produce here as elsewhere varies accord-
ing to fertility of soil and cultivation. Ordinary pine-land
will produce, say, tenbushels; good hammocl-land, twenty
to twenty-fiv bsels. Governor Drew, in 1878, on com-
mon pine-land, which had been cultivated only six years,
raised one hundred and thirty bushels to the acre. Of
course, the land was thoroughly prepared, well manured,
and well cultivated. Corn here is planted from February
to April, plowed at intervals, laid by in June and July
blades stripped for fodder, and stalks with ears left in field
to be harvested at leisure. It may be cribbed in field in
the shuck, suffering no damage from weather, or housed in
corn-crib near the dwelling; shucked and shelled if for
sale or food. When fed to stock, it is fed in shuck. One
person with one mule can easily cultivate from thirty to
forty acres, and, as the time from planting to final plowing
is only from four to five months, it leaves ample time to
cultivate another crop of peas or sweet-potatoes, with same
labor on same land. The corn usually raised is the white
variety, largely used in meal and hominy for food, especial-
ly at the South. The Northefarmer, who has been used to
see forty to sixtybusls ordinil raised on the old home-
stead, should, in comparing the relative production South
and North, take into consideration cheapness of land, num-
ber of acres which can be cultivated, time taken to produce
crop, expense of gathering, saving, housing, and also value,
transportation, and its quality. White is best for food.
All things considered, corn is one of the most useful and
profitable crops to raise in Florida.
 WHEAT, RYE, AND OATS.-In the northern and north-
western section of the State wheat is grown to some extent,
but it is not generally raised as a regular crop. Sown early
in the fall, rye and oats do well, affording a good winter
pasturage. They mature in the early spring, and are not
thrashed, being cured and fed to stock in the straw.