been able to afford the capital outlay required for its production. Some
small farms in Seminole County grew corn following early celery prior to
the middle 50's. Small acreages and expensive disease and insect hand-
control methods could not compete with large scale machine methods. The
small farmer in South Florida also was forced to abandon sweet corn pro-
duction. Some small farming operations still exist in North Florida where
insects and diseases are less of a problem.

 In South Florida growers operate on a cash or share rental basis
and relatively few own their land. There are more owner-operators in Palm
Beach County but a sizeable acreage is cash rented. Growers in Central
Florida are owner-operators and cash renters. North Florida growers are
generally owner-operators. The United States Census of Agriculture reported
31 farmers growing sweet corn in Palm Beach County in 1959 with an average
of 781 acres per farm. Dade County with 10 growers had 56 acres of corn
per farm. Twenty-eight Orange and Seminole counties' growers reported 271
acres of sweet corn per farm. Average acreage per farm in other counties
of commercial importance ranged from 11 to 125.

 Costs of production records1 for sweet corn in two major areas for
 the 1960-61 season were obtained from growers. These averaged 1,013 acres
 each in the Everglades area and 500 acres in the Zellwood area. For the
 1956-57 season acreages per grower were 749 in the Everglades and 417 acres
 in Zellwood.2 The foregoing data reflect, perhaps, the medium and large
 growers in the areas studied but they also indicate the relative size of
 sweet corn growers in the areas of commercial importance. During the past
 5 seasons commerical production outside of Palm Beach County in the South
 Florida area and outside of the Zellwood area of Central Florida has
 decreased.3 Both Palm Beach and Zellwood have increased in relative
 importance in their respective production areas, indicating perhaps an
 economic advantage in cost or marketing facilities over other producing
 areas and crops in the respective areas.

 In Palm Beach County several vegetable crops compete with sweet
 corn. Many of the farmers who grow corn also grow snap beans, celery,
 leaf crops or Irish potatoes. Some growers produce as many as nine dif-
 ferent vegetable crops. Snap beans and celery are, perhaps, most com-
 petitive with sweet corn for land and labor. Less investment per acre is
 required for snap beans and more investment per acre for celery than for
 sweet corn. There are, no doubt, some advantages in the use of labor and
 equipment where these crops are produced on the same farms. Any returns
 from sweet corn above cash costs of production may increase net farm
 income, although a loss might be indicated if the sweet corn enterprise had
 to bear its share of the indirect costs.

 ID. L. Brooke, Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta., Agr. Econ. Mimeo. Report 62-9,
 February 1962.
 2D. L. Brooke, Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta., Agr. Econ. Mimeo. Report 58-8,
 March 1958.
 3Appendix Table 2.