CELERY COLONY

CULTIVATING

COMPANY


OBJECT:
Improvement of
Florida Homeland
Company's Tracts at
Celery Farms
Florida





HEADQUARTERS
Celery City, Volusia County
Florida






























A Pecan Grove.









With its 58,680 square miles of territory
extending over a latitude of 450 miles d
a longitude of nearly one-fourth that
tance Florida must, perforce, have a vari
climate-even though it all be semi-tropica .
So, also, may it be claimed that certain prod-
ucts of old Mother Earth may be cultivated
and grown in favored spots with much greater
profit and pleasure than in locations less suit-
ably located. One portion of the State may
raise certain crops with great success, while
those who would seek to produce the same
crops elsewhere might find themselves verg-
ing upon bankruptcy through following the
same methods.
The soil is varied, possibly, more than in
any other State in the Union-and only by
constant tests and frequent experiments can
its efficacy be determined. Up to a compar-
atively few years ago the average Floridian
was content to exist in a very modest manner,
and by raising a few razor-spined porkers,
some native cattle, a patch of sweet potatoes,
some seedling fruit, and a little cotton he
lived a life of placid contentment, nor sought
enjoyment he knew not of. His gun would
bring him game and his hook and line would
secure him fish with which he varied his table
supplies, and he was satisfied without life's
luxuries.
But a change came over the State when
the outlying districts commenced to send their
residents here to see if there could not be
introduced new life and new blood and new
impetus to what had heretofore been staid






and romnae. When the newcomers be-
gan to show what certain soils would produce

fde intensive farming and gardening show
yi ls never before dreamed of, when horti-
c.'ture left the rut of custom and boarded
e automobile of progress and science, then
did not only Florida sit up and take notice,
but the entire United States began to figure
that there was something doing in the Penin-
sular State.
Then came northern capital-just as it
flew to the development of the Middle West,
the Far West, and the Great Northwest-and
commenced to make vast inroads upon vacant
lands which might possibly be made vastly
productive. Great areas of land were picked
up at remarkably low prices and sold to oth-
ers, who in turn doled out small parcels to all
who would buy-totally regardless as to
whether the soil was "real soil," or simply
marsh, bog or sand. There were many tracts
good; there were many bad. Some bad tracts
were admirably located; some good areas lost
their attractiveness by being illy situated as
regards transportation facilities for the fin-
ished product.

Florida Homeland
Company's Lands.

Just at this time, when practically all well-
located and fine-soiled lands have been se-
cured by large companies, the carefully
chosen lands of the Florida Homeland Com-
pany are thrown open to settlement by pro-
gressive people-and at a price and upon
terms which seem, indeed, to bar no one who
seeks a Southern home in a section which





bids-faj' to bie an extremely prolific one. Ad-
mirably situated upon a bran'-oftire most
wonderful railway in the United States-the
Florida East Coast line-midway between and
bordering upon two noted locations (the e
known over the whole country as a prod er
of much-sought celery, the other known as e
home of the famous Indian River orange)-
and possessing also the convenience of water
transportation-the Celery Farms tracts are
become quickly known. The location is an
apt one and the rich phosphatic soil indicates
a luxuriant growth of both celery and oranges
-heretofore considered to be exclusive prop-
erties of its neighbors-while potatoes of both
varieties, vegetables of all kinds, grapes,
grapefruit, pecans and peaches, and all trees
and shrubs, will spring from the soil-the
virgin soil-with a richness of growth indeed
pleasing to the settler willing to take hold and
do things for a year or two till the home is
thoroughly established and the orchard placed
upon a profitable basis. Then comes the leis-
ure-the harvest home, the electric bulb re-
places the oil lamp, as in ancient days the
lamp superseded the candle, and the candle
the rushlight, the auto takes the place of the
family horse-and vacation comes when in-
vited.
This pamphlet is not an advertisement for
the Celery Farms tract now being sold by
the Florida Homeland Company, of Jackson-
ville, Florida. It is issued by a company
working in collaboration with the tracts being
sold-and is only gotten out after a careful
examination of the land mentioned and an in-
vestigation into the reliability and standing
of the Company handling the property. These





being ascertain to be gilt-edged in every
way, steals wlre taken to aid prospective resi-
dents of the tracts.

What Crops Will
Promise Well
This is a broad topic and to be fully cover-
e2 would demand a booklet many times larger
than this one. If you have carefully studied
the printed matter sent out by the Florida
Homeland Company you will understand that
the soil greatly in evidence is of the best to .
be found in Florida for the production of al-
most any crop. Of course there are crops
which produce greater returns than o.thers-
but those demand more minute attention, and
those crops we would suggest shoquj be post-
poned until such a time as the owner shall be
upon his own land and personally see to the
harvesting and marketing of his crop. We
refer especially to cabbage, cauliflower, let-
tuce, strawberries, blackberries and celery;
all excellent products, meeting a good sale-
but really requiring the owner right on the
ground to conduct his own affairs. Besides
that, these crops can be grown with greater
success after the soil has been the better
prepared and pulverized by a year's planting
of other things. For these reasons the Cel-
ery Colony Cultivating Company suggests that
the planting of these crops be postponed for a
year.

Irish or White
Potatoes.

There need be no hesitation as to planting
these, for, as a usual thing, there is but little
likelihood of their going wrong. This crop






has made a reputation T"-Florida-and the
Celery Farms Tracts being m- rirth's seuth
of the most noted potato centre in the Stat,
there seem% to be no reason why the crop
should not be ready for harvest three wets
earlier and better prices be thus secured. We
think it very conservative when we assert Nat
from five acres of potatoes 250 barrels shofId
be produced, and, being harvested prior to the'
first of April, the crop should bring a good
price. In giving figures it is our purpose to
be below what we actually think the results
will be-because we would rather please a
customer by reporting an additional 50 or 100
barrels than to have an opposite result. Then,
too, we figure on $5 per barrel, when the
chances are that $6 will be the price for the
high-quality early potatoes from this rich soil.
Only the most modern and best machinery
will be used by the Celery Colony Cultivating
Company in planting, cultivating and harvest-
ing potatoes and only the best seed will be
used. The results should be far above the
estimates given here.

Sweet Potatoes
Always Good.

Over all the South "the sweet potato grow-
in' on de vine" is illustrated by the untold
quantities of that product annually consumed.
As with the white potato, the early crop is
the one that counts-although the sweet po-
tato is never out of season, nor does it go
begging for consumers. While it requires an
altogether different mode of culture and con-
siderably more work than the white potato,
it is an excellent crop and yields of from $240






up, per acre, are veyl common c'rps. IF'de-
mands goodsaed and seedbeds, careful hand-
ling in planting the slips and honest cultiva-
tion; these being given, the real profit lies in
the price for the early yield.

Thf Common Peanut
MAkes Good Crop.
The peanut has always been neglected in
Florida-except as a stock food-but where-
ever grown it has found an excellent market.
Everybody in this vast America of ours longs
for, yearns for, and must have this easily
grown morsel-the demand is good and ever
growing. With the soil and climate given
at Celery Farms there is no reason why the
yield of peanuts should not be enormous. The
crop has one thing in its favor that is indu-
cive-it is not a "field-to-consumer" produc-
tion. They are not perishable and bear stor-
age under proper conditions. However, for
the better varieties there is always a big de-
mand and the grower is not forced to hold his
crop for any length of time.

Almost Everything
Grows Here.
It would be consuming too much space to
name every product of the ground that can
be raised with profit upon these lands in ques-
tion. Cantaloupes, Watermelons (none better,
juicier, sweeter anywhere), Cucumbers,
String Beans and Peas, Tomatoes, Green Pep-
pers, Onions (the Bermuda kind, with a $400
yield per acre), Eggplant-all these and more
will thrive and profit the producer. But on
these crops, excepting watermelons, canta-
loupes and cucumbers, it were better to wait






till onaer-trTw crops o)-potatoes were har-
vested and the soil made the ftirjby constant
cultivation.
Forage Food
For Stock.
One of the members of the Celery Col ny
Cultivating Company has been experimenting
with a forage food, and now has a large quan-
tity of Florida-grown seed of a stock food
which will run at least 15 tons to the acre-
and even much more than that. The seed
stalks are now more than 15 feet high-but
the plant itself is mowed when about four
feet high. From the stools come new shoots
and a second, third and even a fourth cutting
may be made. In a state where hay sells for
$20 to $25 per ton a yield of 15 tons of a sub-
stance better than most hay means a hand-
some profit-especially when it betters, rather
than depletes, the soil. This forage is neither
teosinte nor kaffir corn, but seems to possess
the excellent qualities of both these goods.

Alfalfa Now Being
Grown Here.

Many assert that alfalfa, the stock food
and poultry food that has been a godsend to
the West, cannot be grown in Florida. This is
a mistake. The writer is now growing it in
the northern part of the State, and there
seems to be no good reason that with proper
care, good seed, proper fertilization and care-
ful innoculation it cannot be produced upon
these fertile tracts at Celery City. Produce a
quarter-acre of it and there will be sufficient
inoculated soil to plant a full acre. It re-
quires a bit of patience and some time, but a





few acres of alfalfayield big retffrrs-and fits
the-soil-fofs.at' abundant after-crop.

Should Plant Orchards
Soon as Possible.

whatever else one may do after fencing his
trAct pains should be taken to get at least one
atre in- orchard at the start. Whether Pecans
or Grapefruit or Oranges be selected, see that
it is out quickly and thus gain a year's
growth. With 25 pecans and 96 peach trees
to an acre there can be run fifty rows of
white potatoes between the trees-each row
200 feet long, or forty rows of sweet pota-
toes, thus getting back the cost of the trees
and a profit. The second year there will be a
great crop of peaches-but the cultivation of
the soil can continue for at least five years.
The fourth year, under ordinary conditions,
the pecans will commence to yield. We plant
nothing but the grafted, 5-7 foot, healthy trees
of any chosen variety of the pecan, and these
rarely fail to live if properly cared for the
first two years. By the time these trees shade
the peach trees and the growing crops the
owner can well afford to devote the whole
acre to the pecans-or give the field over to
his poultry for a shady range.

Grapefruit and
Oranges.

Hon. A. S. Mann, an authority on citrus
fruits, declares that Celery Farms is an ideal
spot for the culture of oranges and grape-
fruit. And why not? All about the lands of
the company are to be seen these varieties of
trees heavily laden with fruit-while the trees





are but infants: close by" re,,grown the cele-
brated Indian River orange- fese gblMen
globes that command the highest prices jof
any American-grown oranges. The soil and
climate at Celery City is peculiarly ad ed
to these fruits and there is no reason wj a
thousand acres may not be producing e
fruit within a comparatively short time.
with a pecan orchard there can be a crop rais-
ed between the trees till such a time as they
commence to bear-for the cultivation is an
aid to the orchard-and a profit to the owner.
The owner of a Celery City tract who will
start out by making a one-acre or two-acre
orchard and add one acre to it each year will
not only bank for himself but for his "chil-
dren's children"-and this point should be
well considered.

Grapes.

Whether or not the bunch grapes, such as
the Niagara, the Delaware and the Concord,
can be successfully raised in this locality is a
question of moment. It is a known fact, how-
ever, that the several varieties of the Scup-
pernong family are prolific producers. They
are an arbor variety and require but a short
space of time to cover and shade and beautify
anything in the shape of a canopy. They
grow here to an immense size-and produce
an abundance of fruit. We personally believe
that the bunch or trellis grape will do equally
as well, and the Celery Colony Cultivating
Company will utilize one acre of its demon-
stration farm in proving that 200 Concord,
Delaware and Niagaras can grow without
trellis or support and become money-makers.





Celery Colony
Cultivating Cnupany.
*he new-comer, seeking Florida's soil and
cl ate from every portion of our vast do-
mat, finds local conditions different from his
ho e customs. The soil, the seasons, the veg-
etation, the culture, all seem strange to the
Vast majority-it is the same sun with its un-
rivaled setting as the day closes; the same
moon with its magnificent cloud effects; the
same rain with its productive moisture. That
is all. All else is different to a greater or less
extent.
Realizing these things, the Celery Culti-
vating Company propose to aid all who come
here-as well as all who purchase with the
intention of coming here later on and taking
residence among us. It will endeavor to ren-
der service to those on the grounds who do
not know, or who partially know and wish to
know more. It will undertake to improve
tracts bought by those who desire to remain
away from here another. twelve months or
more, but who are anxious to fence and put
their land in tillable condition and start an
orchard of some sort that a home may be act-
ually made ready ere the owner sees it. It is
optional with the owner whether his newly-
bought tract merely doubles in value by sur-
rounding improvements or whether it goes
into the $300, $400, $500, or $1,000 an acre
class because of its actual worth as a pro-
ducer.

Will Do Its Best
In Every Case.
The Celery Colony Cultivating Company
does not claim to know it all, nor does it as-







sert that it can produce a .lriLaf at one turn
of the wheel. It cannot produce pecans from
pennyroyal, pluck potatoes from palms, &or
gather grapes from gooseberries. But the
Company does assert that it can aid the IFew-
comer in various ways and it will be read at
all times to advise freely the better plans Lo
pursue. The Celery Colony Cultivating Com-
pany will contract with a limited number of
tract owners to fence, clear, and break their
land, as much or as little as may be desired,
and to set out high-graded, grafted stock,
healthy trees of the variety best suited for
each tract and to care for the same for a
period of one or two years-giving each indi-
vidual tree the nourishment it may need in a
thorough, systematic and careful manner.
The owner of any tract which the Celery Col-
ony Cultivating Company has agreed to im-
prove may visit his property at any time,
unannounced, and will find that every item in
the contract has been fulfilled-always pro-
viding that the proper season for the improve-
ment has arrived. The Company's own farms
are in the Celery Farm Tracts, at Celery
City, and the owners cannot afford to play
with its patrons. It is a strictly business prop-
osition-and every proposition will be upright
business.

Personal Supervision
On All Contracts.

We desire to impress upon all who may
contemplate making a contract with us that
we shall sign only a limited number of con-
tracts and that number will be so small that







every class o.-'mprovement will be carefully
inspected each day-if necessary, each hour.
It/will stand buyers in hand, consequently, to
immediately enter into correspondence with
the celery Colony Cultivating Company, stat-
ing4recisely what sort of improvement is de-
siyed this season. Prices cannot be given here
for the simple fact that so closely is this Com-
pany figuring upon costs that slight variations
in the general aspect of the tract will enlarge
or lessen the bill. Personal inspection of each
tract must be made before figures that will be
satisfactory to each party can be made.


Estimates Will Be
Furnished Free.

When opening correspondence it will be
necessary to give us the Section, Township,
Range, Block and Tract precisely as your
allotment is made by the Florida Homeland
Company. Do not omit either of those five
points-as such omission will force us to
write you for it. We have no means of find-
ing this out except from you and a blunder
would be a costly affair. Then tell us what
you wish done-as closely as you can. We
will inspect your allotment and give you fig-
ures on the work; possibly will make some
suggestions in the matter. If you wish us to
send you an outline of your tract showing
the shape, where the bay is located, where the
trees are and the variety, what of it is ham-
mock land, etc., you should enclose us three
dollars ($3), and this amount will be credited
to you if you make a contract for anything
more than fencing.












In Conclusion.

We have endeavored to put facts plainly
before you in this brief booklet. The possi-
bilities of Celery Farms are many-it is up
to you, the purchasers of these ten-acre
tracts, to "make good." We show on the
last cover page an illustration of cabbages
of which the grower raised 8,000 head on one
acre-at the same time producing sugarcane
from which he netted $580. All do not gain
these results, yet it can be done again. The
Celery Colony Cultivating Company will aid
you all it can, whether you are here on the
grounds or at your home. We shall be
pleased to hear from you. Letters promptly
answered. We are with you for a Greater
Celery City-a greater Celery Farms. -Are
you with us?
Address every communication to -Celery
Colony Cultivating Company, or W. L. Thorn-
dyke, Manager, using the postoffice address
given on the title page until the new post-
office at Celery City is established, due notice
of which will be given.
CELERY COLONY CULTIVATING
COMPANY,
W. L. Thorndyke, Manager.


















*1i.


INDUJSTRIAL RECORD
JACKSONVI LLE, FLA.