Show MORE FLORIDA LANDS in last weeks issue of the news an article appeared under the caption ol 01 0 reply to J C knudson on florida which was written as a reply to the interview the news had with sir fr knudson relative to what he found in florida and which was printed in th news of march bryant greenwood in their reply make some statements which do not tally at all with what mr ened so son n found and taken in connection will biti some ot of the statements contained in the printed literature which the pro motors are circulating when a care ful ul study of them is made the mattei appears in a different light the ir article states that the drainage ot of the everglades Js Is being undertaken ba b the state ot of florida under the dirac tion of the united states government in tact fact one MIGHT say it is a govern ment project it if one might say so why not make it a positive statement and say that the government is sup er intending the drainage of 0 the ever glados glades in the booklet issued by th tb company the statement is a made that the state of florida has let a contract tor for the construction ot of a cans cana from lake okeechobee to the hills boro river which will pass through the south portion of these lands but no reference is made to the connect tion with the united states government in carrying out the project but to give a few facts relative to the drainage the company states in its booklet that lake okeechobee v 22 feet above sea level and the ob eject is to lower the lake 4 teet feet by means of the canal above referred to which at the same time is expected to drain the country through which it il passes parses the lake ike is 22 fe feet et above sea level f the canal takes it down 4 teet which leaves lt it then only 18 feet above the level level of the ocean in order berto to goat get any volume pt of water to pass pasa out oje of the lake the canal would have to b 0 dug to tosi a depth or of at least 10 feet which would reduce ae the height above sea level to 8 feet the canal runs a distance of miles more or less leas and in all that distance there is only a fall of 8 feet giving an average fall of less than one inch to tho the mile feet can ani ocean in brigham city there is s v grade of the city streets running cast and we west st Is about per cent or three feet to every loi feet or practically feet to the mile compare these figures with 8 feet to one hundred miles and that through a marshy country and it can plain be seen what the palm beach farm company has got up against in the mat tar of draining the everglades but it can bo be stated in even stronger strong sr terms than that mr knudson sallee up the canal from its mouth a certain distance to a large dam that had beer constructed sir mr wenger one of the ag ants selling belling the lands in this state told him that the dam had to bo be con strutted ted in order to stop the water from backing up into the canal ano the operators then commenced digging from tho the other end in other words the water that should flow through the canal to the sea turned around and run up hill the reply n last weeks issue alac has something to say in a discredit ing manner of mr Knud sons of the climatic conditions in floride florid and goes on to quote from secretary wilson who is reported to have said there thera la Is but one cast coast of florida in the world there are no DO othi portions of tho the united states where climatic conditions are as near perfect mr Knud sons version of the climate Is that it la Is so fine that if a person had a barrel of brigham cit soil down there and planted his tool foot in it it would grow the climate unfortunately does not make the soil eoll fertile however and the fact still remains that the soil on the tract that thai tho company Is using for denio demon netra stra eions Is mostly seashore sea shore sand and ill air knudson stated to the news man that he defies the promoters or agents to show account sales ot of crates of 0 tomatoes from one acre of 0 tho the demonstration farm irom from which ho he took the samples of soil eon or sand from tho the booklet tho the following extract Is made giving figures on what five acres will do five acres of land planted in oranges or grapefruit would cost including the land clearing the planting and labor with the fertilizer about the first year the labor and fertilizer for the following years would cost about as continued on page 7 MORE ANENT FLORIDA LANDS continued from first page follows follow a the second year tho the third year the fourth year the fifth year tho the six sixth th year the seventh year etc making a total ot of approximately 2350 for tho the seven years tho the credit side of the account taking as a basis a profit of 2 per box for chef the fruit ault should net the approximately as follows the fourth year fifty boxes of 0 fruit the fifth year boxes of 0 fruit tho the sixth year boxes of fruit the seventh year boxes of fruit 1000 the eighth year 1000 boxes of fruit 2000 making a total return from the grove at the end of 0 the ath year of and from then on to keep the grove in condition cultivation and fertilizer should not cost much over per year and the returns would gradually increase as the trees grow older and bear more heavily fro from m the foregoing it win will be seen that the promoters have calculated the expense for seven years which makes a total of 2350 for the five fire acres and in making up the credit side thoy they have figured in eight years and got a total of which Is hard to understand taking the expense for eight years at the same ratio as the prec proceeding ceding ones the total would be 2750 which would cut down the profits in eight years to 1050 these figures are given on the supposition that there Is a crop every year and in the expense account no record Is made of spraying which Is just as important and mors more so down dov n in florida than it is in any other part of the united states tazy also figure their fruit on oil a basis of 0 2 a box which is the high water mark and it is dollars to doughnuts that more often the profit is less than 2 per box according to the statements of ono one of the promoters ot of the project the company has purchased acres of land in florida for which they paid per acre which totals for the tract nine hundred acres of land were purchased for a town site which could not have cost the promoters moro than each purchaser of a contract being given fiven a lot in the townsite which makes the total capital outlay of the promoters less than one hundred thousand dollars do lars the company then r set et aside for road purposes and they allow their agents thirty dollars for each contract which they sell which makes an item of oe placing gf f all these F items on the debit side the total Is on the cr credit e d 1 t side of the ledger Is the selling price of the contracts for which the promoters ask each which makes the entire tract worth allowing tho the promoters say the magnificent sum of for advertising and boosting the proposition which added to the cost of the land and expense necessary to get it in shape for selling makes makes a grand sum of which deducted from total amount to be realized from sale of the land leaves the promoters the SMALL profit of on an investment of less than no wonder objection is made to a report like mr air knudson gave tho the company speaks profusely of the orchards that can be grown anybody in this section knows that a tree will die the moment the roots reach stagnant water r knudson dug down in a place e after place and always with the same result water in about two to two anit and a halt half feet but alter after all Is said mr knudson did not go to florida for the purpose of seeing the lands and gather information with which to k knock nock the proposition lie ile was sent rent down there on a pleasure trip tho the greater part of his expenses being paid by the clotere cotore of men at this end who were taken up with the proposition and anxious to invest some of their money ile he had nothing at stake and could have returned home with any kind of a i story the gentlemen whom he represented however are his friends and mr air knudson had no occasion nor any desire to misrepresent the facts to them he told them his story and to them lie ile told them his story and all who are acquainted with the gentleman know that he Is not in the habit of 0 telling things that are untrue and more especially under such conditions would any person be careful to state the exact facts mr air knudson had filed an application for a contract and deposited 10 on the same to show just how much in earnest he is the news was given permission to publish the following letter which was written on march and to which he has as yet received not so much as the scratch of a pen in reply march 1911 bryant greenwood 1407 republic building chicago in gentlemen I 1 am irk in receipt of your circular letter of the also certificate of purchase chichi return herewith and request that you cancel same I 1 just recently returned from your holdings in florida ana and need consult none of the many you claim chaim have been there to learn of tho the good things you are offering you state that your land has many natural advantages of soil that it is suitable for vegetables vegetable ff i and i citrus fruits I 1 spent nt three days on your land and failed to find any soil and dont believe you have it on your en tiro tire tract I 1 bely know and so do you that you have no land that will produce either vegetable or fruit of any kind in its native state it must be well fertilized before it will grow vegetation of any kind the 71 climate you do not exaggerate exa it Is delightful I 1 might say a great deal regarding your roads but it Is only a waste of time you know the condition of the country in this respect as well as I 1 do I 1 think less of the townsite property than I 1 do of the land so there is no encouragement so far as I 1 am concerned in holding one of your contracts you will therefore please can |