Zbe Xanb of ©ppo^UTUty F wBmmmBmm Moiil!,!-, BAY BY M< ><>NI.IC.IIT. NEAR WEEKS BAY Glass /^R^- PLEASANT HOMES AND PROFITABLE FARMS IN THE SOUTH SKETCH MAP OF THE GULF COAST REGION. The location of Magnolia Springs in relation to Mobile and Pensacola is shown, and the fact indicated that it is in the same latitude as Jacksonville and Saint Augustine, Florida. THE MAGNOLIA SPRINGS LAND COMPANY Magnolia Springs, Baldwin County, Ala. CHICAGO OFFICE Suite 1304, Chamber of Commerce bidg. Cor. La Salle and "Washington S..S. Telephone Main 3012 5S4* BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION. This little book is prepared in order to describe and picture the conditions of residence, climate, agriculture and industry in the most favored region of Southern Alabama, near Mobile Bay. It is intended to interest readers, in the hope that some of them may become purchasers, and it is, therefore, an adver- tisement to this extent. There is more in it than advertise- ment, however, for it contains general information of crop, business and other conditions that should be of interest and value to anyone desiring to be informed of a rapidly devel- oping, but long undeveloped section of the country. TMP96-007612 we[?KS,Jbay and entrance to mobile bay. 2 'Ojo -o 0f1fii tsnnv THE SHIFTING POPULATION. Anyone who observes the trend of events with even casual care, may note the remarkable change of conditions within the last few years in regard to the movement of the popula- tion. There was a time, not long ago, when practically all of the emigration within the United States took East and West lines of march, approximately following the parallels of latitude. Likewise, as between town and country, the movement was almost entirely towards the cities, great and small, from the rural districts, the shift from city to farm being but rarely made. There were reasons for all this. Pioneers settling new portions of the country preferred keep- ing within the limits of the climatic conditions most familiar to them, having only their ow r n experience and that of their friends to guide them in the strange surroundings they were to enter. And so far as city and country were concerned, the former so completely monopolized the more attractive ele- ments of social life and business opportunity that no one could be surprised at the tendency of active young men and women to leave the farms for the enticements of city life. Now appears the change. The course of the stream is shift- ing to the North and South channels, and at the same time has come a manifest movement from the cities back to the coun- try. One of the principal reasons for this movement is the general feeling of unrest and uncertainty due to the increas- ing antagonism between employer and employee. Present con- ditions are such that the employee does not know what day he may be let out by his employer or called out by his trades union. Thousands of people realizing these conditions are putting aside a considerable portion of their earnings, with a view to making themselves independent of either employer or labor organizations. The current is turning southward because the most desirable lands of the Great West are now occupied or held at high prices; because the South can be reached, and its products can reach the North, in half the time that serves for the journey between the far West and A BALDWIN COUNTY LIVE OAK TREE. Some of these are veritable giants with an immense spread of branches, sometimes to a diameter of 125 feet. East; because lands in the South are held at prices mod- erate in the extreme, and choice locations are yet to be had; because the conditions of climate for health, comfort and profit are so favorable, and because a wide increase of knowledge makes the experiment of moving South and changing to a milder climate no longer doubtful, but most attractive. This book is intended to relate in plain and frank fashion the exact conditions to be met in one of these most favored regions, where a multitude of attractive circumstances unite to make it worthy of careful attention from anyone contem- plating or willing to contemplate a change. We cannot deny enthusiasm in the cause for which we speak. Knowing its true merits, we wish to speak earnestly and emphatically. But there is no purpose to be extravagant in claims or in lan- guage — only to state facts as they are. BALDWIN COUNTY AND ITS PROSPECTS. The completion of the Panama Canal will bring the whole Gulf country, and lower Baldwin County in particular, to the front, because at the foot of our county is one of the two deep water ports along the entire Gulf. Over one-half of the population of the world lives in China and India, and those who have studied Asiatic conditions predict that there is going to be an awakening of China similar to that of Japan, which has caused the latter to change from a state of semi-barbar- ism within a few years to high state of civilization. B'esides the Asiatic trade, the canal will soon serve the west coast of North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, the Phil- ippines, and all the islands of the Pacific. It is predicted that within a few years there will be more commerce on the Pacific than there is on the Atlantic Ocean. For this reason it is absolutely certain that one or more trunk lines will seek an outlet in south Baldwin County. Lying betwen Mobile Bay on the West, and the State of Florida on the East, extending northward some seventy miles from the clear waters of the Gulf of Mexico, is Baldwin County, Alabama, containing within its limits natural re- sources able to support a large population. It is the remarka- ble possibilities and opportunities now offered in the most favored part of this most favored region that we wish to bring to your notice. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BALDWIN COUNTY. The eastern boundary of Baldwin County is formed by Perdido River and Perdido Bay, and its western by Mobile Bay and the Alabama River, with the Gulf on the south. A well-defined w r ater-shed running North and South turns the numerous streams in some instances eastward into the Per- dido River, and in others westward into Mobile Bay. This guarantees good drainage everywhere. According to the United States Coast Survey, Baldwin County is the highest land adjacent to the coast from Maine to Mexico, the gen- eral level being from 40 to 350 feet. The result of this is that the current of the water courses is invariably rapid, and the streams pure. Immediately along the Gulf shore there are, indeed, sandy, low-lying areas. But from a point a few miles north, where the lands of this company begin, marshes, malaria and mosquitoes are virtually unknown. This tract is situated from nine to fifteen miles from the Gulf. There is very little good land south of the tract. The northern part of the county is rolling, and as the Gulf is approached it be- comes more level. THE BEST OF LOCATIONS. It is, then, in the most attractive situation possible, that the holdings of the Magnolia Springs Land Co. have been selected. They comprise 30,000 acres in a compact tract, as far south as possible not to encroach on the low and unde- MAGNOLIA RIVER, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS 6 sirable Gulf shores. This large tract is high, well watered by many streams and rivers, well drained, and blessed with a host of natural advantages, some of which will be named later. To the west lies Mobile Bay and its southeastern ex- tension, Bon Secour Bay. To the east is Perdido Bay. To the south lies the great Gulf of Mexico itself. And this proximity of salt water on three sides assures equable cli- mate and wholesome air at all times. From Mobile Bay a smaller arm called Weeks Bay extends inland, and here the two most important rivers draining and watering the tract find their outlet — Fish River and Magnolia River, — both clear and rapid streams, and both, like the bays themselves, naviga- ble. Magnolia Springs, the shipping point and most important settlement of this part of Baldwin County, is located on Mag- nolia River immediately adjacent to the lands of this com- pany, while Bay View, a newer settlement, is directly on Weeks Bay. A CLIMATE ALMOST IDEAL. Here in the Highlands of southern Alabama the climate is unsurpassed for its general qualities. It is a radical error to suppose that the summers here are trying. As a matter of fact, most Northern cities have hotter days than are ever seen here. The shore line of Baldwin County, on Mobile Bay, is used by the people of Mobile and other sections of the south for Summer homes, the prevailing southwest winds and higher land making the east side of the Bay much cooler than the west side. .The general character of the climate is truly unexcelled. There are no extremes of heat and cold, the temperature rarely exceeding 90 degrees in the shade dur- ing the warmest summer months, or falling much below 30 degrees above zero during the coldest winter months. A sun- stroke has never been known in Baldwin County, and there is nothing to forbid a Northerner from doing field work exactly as he would at his Northern home. Thanks to the Gulf breeze, you will not feel as uncomforta- ble here when the thermometer registers 90 degrees, as yon ONE OF MANY TRIBUTARY STREAMS FLOWING INTO MAGNOLIA RIVER. will in the North at the same temperature. It is always cool here in the shade, no matter how high the mercury may stand. June is usually the warmest month, as the Gulf breeze which serves to temper the heat, and is felt to a lesser degree for a distance of 100 miles inland, is irregular then. B'ut during July and August this breeze springs up shortly after sunrise in the morning and continues until sunset, being succeeded after night by a land breeze. The nights are always cool. The day begins to grow cooler about 4 p. m., and by bedtime it is so cool that you require moderately heavy covering on your bed almost every night in summer. When it comes to be winter, conditions are likewise favor- able. The winter months are similar to September and Octo- ber in the northern states, enabling outdoor work every day in the year. Instead of the barren bleakness of the north- ern winter, there is perpetual verdure with the luxuriance, 8 warmth and color of the southern clime. The cloudy, gloomy day is the exception, the azure sky and wealth of sunlight the rule. There are practically no fogs in this section, such as -weep up from the ocean along the Atlantic coast. Rainfall. — The average annual rainfall in Baldwin County is about sixty-five inches, (more than anywhere else east of the Cascade Mountains on the Pacific Coast), admirably dis- tributed throughout the year, the greatest fall being during the early spring months and during July and August. The prevailing southwest winds over Mobile Bay seem to condense the moisture in the atmosphere so that it frequently occurs that it is extremely dry on the west coast of the Bay, while there is abundance of rain in Baldwin County. This evenly distributed and abundant rainfall is usually a guarantee against droughts and crop failures, producing the most favor- able agricultural conditions. In some countries this rainfall might prove excessive, but here the height of the country, the rapid fall of the streams in their short course to the sea, and the sandy character of the soil, all serve to guard against harm. Domestic Water Supply. — Not only does Nature give gener- ously of rain and rivers for their manifold uses. She is equally kind in the supply of water for domestic purposes. The water supply on these highlands is not only unusually plentiful, but of the very best character, pure, soft, free from organic or mineral matter, and easily obtainable. This water is the purest that has ever been analyzed, and is now being bottled and shipped to Northern markets. The many streams of rapid flow offer good chances to develop water power for profitable use, though this has not been done yet. Health Conditions. — No other consideration equals in im- portance that of health, when one is contemplating a change of residence. Statistics in the Surgeon General's office at Washington show that Baldwin County is the healthiest region in the United States. The reports of the United States Marine Hos- pital Commission show this coast to be absolutely free from all local or malarial diseases. The near presence of a large body of salt water furnishes an atmosphere charged with ozone. The entire region is sandy, and the growth for 100 miles in every direction away from the Gulf is of the richest kind of pine forests. The constantly moving winds, either from the Gulf or the piney region, together with the absorbent qualities of the soil, give an atmosphere pure and salubrious. The high, rolling character of the region, the sandy loam soil, the rapid fall of the various streams, the abundance and purity of the water, and the freedom from extremes of heat and cold, all produce conditions most favorable to health. Endemic and epidemic diseases are almost entirely unknown in this part of the South, and the most contagious diseases will not spread away from cities or the vicinity of large rivers. Eminent physicians recommend this region to persons suffering from weak lungs, asthma, catarrh, bronchitis, rheu- matic and kidney complaints. The air is in itself a tonic, and persons who have become debilitated from overwork, or other causes, have tried its effects with highly gratifying results. Man}' an invalid has come to this country broken down, depleted in strength, and hop- ing little from the change, only to regain not only his former vigor but more robust powers than he had before. Many invalids are beginning to un- derstand this fact and profit by it, and there are many peo- ple today in the North who would spend the winters here, and many more who would locate a Baldwin county rosebush. permanently among these Southern pines, if they knew the truth about the climate. -^>-> HOME OF F. H. BRUNELL MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. For sufferers from Bright's disease and kidney troubles, Baldwin County is the best place in the world. The combi- nation of almost absolutely pure water, free, from limestone or other mineral constituents, with Gulf breezes through piney woods, and mild climate, results in cures when all medical aid fails. MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. Magnolia Springs, the headquarters of this important enter- prise, is a charming little village on Magnolia River, near its outlet into Weeks Bay, and equally convenient to Fish River, which flows into Weeks Bay from the North. It is a beauti- ful winter resort, patronized mostly by northern people. Dur- ing the winter of 1903-1904 the demand for rooms was so great that not all could be accommodated, and many were obliged to put up with sleeping quarters in tents. This, however, CHURCH A7 MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. proved no hardship, for the genial climate and attractive surroundings made the experience a pleasant one. Since that time the hotel accommodations have been greatly enlarged, and it is likely that visitors can be accommodated without difficulty, unless the influx should be even more rapid than is expected. There is a Protestant church at Magnolia Springs and a Roman Catholic church not far away, and a school is located for the benefit of the colonists. It affords every convenience and facility for business and social life. Between Magnolia Springs and Mobile there is direct and regular steamboat service, which makes the town accessible by a delightful journey across Mobile Bay. The telegraph line, which extends from the railway to Fort Morgan, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, passes through Magnolia Springs, and a telegraph office is maintained here, the only one in this part of the county. There is also a telephone and a daily mail service. HOME OF WALTER DOUGHTY, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. SOIL OF THESE LANDS. Although the soils of this great tract vary in character and fertility, they are, broadly speaking, highly productive. Gen- erally speaking, the land is a sandy loam with clay subsoil and sand and rock shales, shading in color from the richest yellow to a crimson red, and thus showing the presence of iron. Limestone is not found in this section of the country, hence the softness and purity of the water. The soil is friable, easily worked, and responds quickly to good cultivation. It is easily cultivated with a small amount of labor. The thick subtratum of gravelly clay which under- lies the sandy loam, may be reached by the plow in mosl cases. This is a fertile cla}% and holds moisture and such manure and other fertilizer as may be applied to the soil. Market gardeners near the lame cities of the North use annually from twenty to thirty tons of barnyard manure per acre, and find it profitable to do so. If the soils here are I rented as liberally, they will produce from two to four crops 13 per annum, and the cash realized, from the sale of the prod- uct will be from three to ten times greater than that from a like area in the Northern states on account of getting the top prices of the early markets. The soil in these lands now offered for settlement pro- duces a wide range of fruit, vegetable and field crops, which by intelligent cultivation reach the highest perfection. Vege- table humus, lime, and phosphorus are more or less deficient. The plowing under of vegetable substances supplies the humus, while the others are easily obtained by the use of fertilizers. In this way the land is soon brought to a high degree of productivity. For a plant food and green manure, nothing can surpass the velvet bean, which reaches its highest perfection on these lands. The universal testimony is that it establishes a high degree of fertility more economically than can be done by almost any other process known. Alfred W. Dean, an Ala- bama neighbor of ours, reports in detail his experience in raising velvet beans to enrich new piney woods soil. In the spring he planted velvet beans on newly broken ground, in rows three feet apart, using no commercial fertilizer at any time. He cultivated frequently as long as he could get through the vines, and by the time frost came there was a mat of them three feet deep, covering the whole ground, that could not be plowed under. In the spring, when they were very dry and broke easily, he plowed them under. Here is what he reports further: "I planted the ground in sweet potatoes, melons and garden truck. A part of the potatoes and melons I planted without any fertilizer and raised good crops, better than some of my neighbors who fertilized heavi- ly. I set one-half acre to plum trees, using no fertilizer, and they made the finest growth I ever saw, making limb growth of five to seven feet, and not a poor tree among them. They average as good as adjoining trees set a year sooner, which were fertilized well. So I am convinced that a plenty of vegetable matter plowed into our soil is about all that is needed. The soil where the beans were is very much more mellow than the adjoining ground. We find the velvet beans 14 VELVET BEANS ON 25-FOOT POLES. to be the greatest grower of anything we can raise, and they seem not to need fertilizing. The bean ground stood dry weather far better than any other. We find the beans to make the best of feed for horses and cattle. When the beans are al- lowed to ripen, or nearly so, very little other grain is needed, and hogs fatten well on the beans." Crops are sown and gardens made in January, February and March. Such is the affluence of growth that any man who will properly care for forty acres in this tract will with half the labor make more clear money every year than can possibly be made from 200 acres of the best farm land in the North. The diversity of products, early marketing and top price obtained, the equable climate, the equal and favorable seasons, the distribution of rainfall, and the comparative freedom from the ravages of the devastating insects that prey upon the crops of other sections, all combine to make this a favored region for the farmer. '5 OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE COLONIST. There are some facts of special importance which bear immediately upon this tract, and which make the offer- ing of the Magnolia Springs Land Company noteworthy above all other similar undertakings. Farming in the South is in most details an entirely different matter from farming in the North. Here is an apt example tnat proves knowledge to be power. John B. Foley, of Chicago, the organizer and principal owner of the Magnolia Springs Land Company, is known throughout the country as the proprietor of Foley's Honey and Tar, a throat and lung remedy in general use. He is a stockholder and director of the following companies: The National Fiber and Cellulose Company, the Franklin Desk Company, and The Modern Grocer, a trade paper of national circulation. He has entered the present undertaking with full certainty of its high merits, and is giving it his personal attention and energy. MODEL FARM. The founder of the company himself expects to be a per manent holder of lands here, and of a residence. The com- pany, therefore, has established a Model Farm to be operated permanently in the interest of the colonists, and all of the experience gained there will be absolutely and freely at the service of the settlers and colonists on these lands. We can- not emphasize too strongly the importance of this to every purchaser. The manager of the Model Farm has visited the Agricultural Stations of Florida, Louisiana and Alabama, and the United States Agricultural Department, keeping in touch with them at all times. Making a special study of the con- ditions and the scientific work there, the information thus gained will be applied practically on the Model Farm, thus saving years of study and experimenting for indiivdual colo- nists. It is not at all rare for northern and western farmers to go into the far South and make utter failures because they do not understand how different are the conditions from those to which they have been accustomed. 16 INDUCEMENTS TO SETTLERS. Nowhere els; 1 , so far as is known, can such a combination of advantages be found. It is the fixed purpose of this com- pany to build for the future, to establish a permanent and prosperous community, and to make its patrons contented by every reasonable effort in their behalf. It is the aim of this company to sell its lands as generally as possible to bona fide settlers. We have seen the evil resulting from the action of other companies who have operated elsewhere in Baldwin County and in the South, in selling land on very small payments, regardless of whether or not the purchasers settled there. The result has been that while the land has been sold, it lias not been generally settled upon, and the few who became colonists soon became discouraged from the absence of neigh- bors, schools, and social life. It is this fact that has decided us to bend all our energies to the development of this attract- ive region around Magnolia Springs, where every advantage of social life, pleasant surroundings, telegraph, regular trans- portation, daily mails, and the other blessings of civilization will not be denied. Such advantages can be fully appreciated only by those who have been isolated in the woods or on the prairies away from any near neighbors, pioneering in the old way. This alone is worth much to those who are of a social nature, and enjoy more or less contact with their fel- low men. SOME ADVANTAGES OF LOCATION. The advantages at the command of settlers on the lands of the Magnolia Springs Land Company, near to Magnolia Springs, are not merely those of social and personal character. Nowhere is the influence of climate upon vegetation more marked than here in the vicinity of the Gulf of Mexico and Mobile Bay. It is recognized locally as a rule, that for every mile nearer the Gulf, produce conies t,. maturity and can be marketed one day earlier, and the earlier it is marketed the higher ■7 prices it commands. Vegetation is at least two weeks earlier on this tract than in the northern part of the same county, and we have practically finished shipping early fruit and early vegetables before farmers thirty miles north begin to ship. To illustrate this, near the southern border of this tract a farmer realized $7.50 per barrel for his Irish potatoes in the Spring of 1902, while only twelve miles north but half as much was paid. From forty to sixty-five barrels can be raised to the acre, according to the amount of fertilizers used. This comparative difference in the date of maturity holds good with other vegetables and also fruits. It requires no more fertilizer and no more labor to produce the crop on this land than twelve or twenty miles farther north, but the enormous advantage in reaching the market with the earliest product is apparent to all. And yet it must be remembered that this tract is almost at the southern edge of the available land before descending into the low, boggy, sandy, unproductive areas actually bordering the Gulf of Mexico, and consequently no competitor can obtain advantage over us by moving very far southward. California at a Disadvantage. — The Magnolia Springs Land Company's lands in Baldwin County, Alabama, can meet com- parison with any tract offered for settlement in the United States. We can market our fruits and vegetables in the cities of the North and East from two to three weeks earlier than those of California. The flavor of our fruits and vegetables is finer, the excessive woody fibre being absent. Our freight rate to the Northern and Eastern city markets is only about one-third that from California, and the time required for shipment is only about one-third as great. There are solid vegetable and fruit trains leaving Mobile for the North every clay, and running through on express time. Both the trunk lines of railways operating from Mobile to the North and East, the Mobile and Ohio and the Louisville and Nashville, give these fruit and vegetable trains the right of way. These railways give good service and make reason- able charges on produce. Their rates are less than those 1 8 charged by the railways on market shipments from Florida to New York. Thus while the rate on Irish potatoes per barrel from St. Augustine, which is almost due east of Mag- nolia Springs, to New York is 85 cents, the rate from Magnolia Springs to Chicago is but 70 cents. In twenty-four to thirty hours produce will be in St. Louis or Cincinnati, in thirty-six to forty-eight hours in Chicago, or forty-two to sixty hours in New York. In addition to this railway service, the fast steamers of the Mallory Line ply directly between Mobile and New York in regular serv- ice, giving an alternative freight route, and the consequent cheaper rates forced by competition, on all except the most perishable products. A final factor not to be forgotten is that these crops are raised without irrigation in Baldwin County, thanks to the ample and well distributed rainfall and the humidity of the atmosphere. In California, on the other hand, expensive irrigation is necessary. Furthermore, in that far-away Pa- cific coast state only those spots are green to which irriga- tion is applied. Everywhere else, except in the rainy season, the whole land is dry and dust-clad. Here, on the other hand, it is a land of beauty and perpetual green freshness, not only where man cultivates it, but all around. There is an equal advantage over the prairie and alluvial land of the great farming states farther north. Every North- ern farmer knows the misery of mud, and heavy hauling over heavy roads after rain. Here, in Baldwin County, the favor- able qualities of the soil and the perfect drainage keep the roads almost beyond criticism at all times of the year. There is neither dust to blow nor mud to cling, and the roads are hard and beautiful, be the season wet or dry v SOME DETAILS ABOUT CROPS. A list of the crops which it is possible to raise with profit on this land would include almost every farm, orchard, and garden product of the temperate zone, and some of the sub- tropical productions. The variable nature of the soil is [9 adapted to diversified crops such as cotton, corn, oats, sugar cane, sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, cereals, tobacco, and a perpetual growth of grasses for grazing the entire year, and for hay when cut at the proper time. Fruit, in particular, thrives, especially the peach, pear, pomegranate, fig, straw- berry, blackberry, grape, both wild and domesticated, and melons. Fruit growing and truck gardening for the market are growing industries, reaching the Northern market early in the season, when prices are highest, and when Northern fruits ripen the surplus stock is readily sold in Southern cities nearby. Crimson clover, Japan clover, and Mexican clover are grown with great success. Cassava is a crop of increasing importance. The velvet bean and cow pea are ex- ceedingly valuable for enriching the soil, and for fodder. Two and three crops of cow peas can be grown each year, enabling the Southern farmer to produce a larger crop of hay, that is worth much more per ton, than in the North. Corn is successfully cultivated, being planted in early March and maturing in July and August. Along with corn may be planted peanuts, of which sixty bushels can be raised to the acre, bringing from 75 cents to $1 per bushel. Rye will grow and yield fair average crops. Rice, peanuts, watermelons and textile plants, cotton and hemp, are staple and profitable products. On the vegetable gardens and truck farms, asparagus, beans, beets, kale, cauli- flower, cabbage, carrots, celery, cucumbers, egg plant, horse radish, potatoes, turnips, rutabagas, mustard, okra, onions, English peas, and tomatoes, are among the highly successful plants grown. The early vegetables bring from $100 to $250 per acre and are followed by a crop of hay, and then a Fall crop of Irish or sweet potatoes, or the ground may be sown with oats for pasture. In fruits we have the quince, apricot, nectarine, fig, grape, pomegranate, pear, persimmon, peach, plum, strawberry, blackberry, dewberry, raspberry and mulberry. Japan chest- nuts, pecans, and peanuts flourish as if native here, and may be sure of a ready market. The above cut gives a splendid idea of the present appearance of the larger part of our tract. FRUIT CROPS OF BALDWIN COUNTY. The establishment of large nurseries and experimental gardens in this latitude, which have introduced the Japanese or oriental fruits and propagated them with our native va- rieties, has given to this territory a type of fruit thoroughly adapted to this region. The climate and soil both favor the production of fruits of the finest form, flavor and color. Mobile Bay affords the same sort of water protection to lower Baldwin Co. that Lake Michigan gives to the fruit growers of Michigan, giving Michigan its great advantage over Wisconsin. The Peach. — The first carload of peaches to reach the Chi- cago market in 1904 came from Baldwin Co. The peach in this section, however, has about all the diseases it has else- where and requires the greatest care to be productive and profitable. Bitter disappointment is in store for most of those living at a distance who are depending on others to give proper care to their orchards, and who are led to believe they will have a substantial income from them within a few years. 21 The Plum.— This section of country produces plums of the most delicious varieties in great abundance. The oriental varieties grow rapidly and bear abundantly, often producing profitable crops the second or third year after the transplant- ing. The Grape.— Grapes can be grown here in such profusion as is not seen elsewhere east of the Rocky Mountains. The season being long, the vines make double the growth that they can in the North. They also grow much larger than in the North and bear with greater abundance. The favorite is the Scuppernong, which is a native grape and is positively free from all diseases, and never fails to bear a crop of fruit. The largest grape vine in the United States is near Daphne, Bald- win County, being 27 inches in diameter and spreading over an acre. The Fig. — The fig was introduced into this region ninety years ago, and trees planted soon after that time are still yielding crops which bring $40 and more to the tree. The fig tree in Baldwin Co. has no diseases and requires less care than any other kind of fruit. The aver- age profit as reported from the growers is about $250 per acre. One company has been organized to specially develop the fig industry, so great is the confidence in its future. We believe there is more profit in figs than in any other fruit raised in Baldwin County. The Japanese Persimmon.— This is a fruit which is rapidly rising in favor and proves very profitable here. The ease with which it may be propagated and planted, the great beauty of the foliage, the value of the fruit for drying, for fruit catsup and for the city markets, and the freedom of the tree from insect enemies, combine to make it a favorite commercial product. Large profits are reported from its culti- vation. We have already named some of the minor fruits, and need not expand upon them here. We may repeat, however, that the cherry-plum, the apricot, the pomegranate and the quince are all available for this region, being prolific and profitable. The banana does not come to maturity for commercial pur- poses, but it is an evidence of the mildness of the climate that every dooryard may have one of these beautiful plants in it for adornment. Berries and Small Fruits do well with hardly an exception. The strawberry profits are sometimes enormous. They grow continuously for three or four months, so that the southern plant produces many times the quantities yielded by the north- ern plant, the crop being shipped from February to June. It is safe to say that a profit of $200 or more per acre can be realized by judicious management. The raspberry, like the strawberry, is very prolific, and following the strawberry in season, brings a handsome price to the grower. The black- berry likewise is a profitable and easily grown fruit. Of crops less conspicuous but promising large returns to those who will give attention to them, are the products of the camphor tree, the cinnamon tree, the pecan and the walnut. Flowers. — Every home can have its flower garden of japon- icas, roses, violets, hyacinths and other delicate blossoms which grow unchecked throughout the year, summer and winter alike. In the forests grow quantities of yellow jas- mine, honeysuckle and magnolia, TRUCK FARMING. The period of experiment is passed long ago and we know that the market gardener of the South can ship his vegetables to the city markets of the North with perfect success and great profit. In the personal experiences of settlers in the vicinity of Magnolia Springs, printed elsewhere in this book, we show what can be done with some of the most profitable of these. We must not fail to add asparagus to the li-t. which is one of the most profitable crops known for the early market. It is a vigorous grower in this region, and can be placed in the Northern markets by the first of February each year, insuring large returns. A fair estimate of the profits which can be made is $300 or more per acre. 23 Cabbage, peas, beans, cucumbers, carrots, celery, lettuce, turnips and radishes must be added to those that have been named elsewhere. All of the estimates and reports made herein can be authenticated if further details are desired. The Magnolia Springs Land Company has at hand a large amount of detailed information on the exact methods of culti- vation, the varieties recommended, and the profits to be ex- pected from all of the products suggested in this pamphlet, and it will be a pleasure to reply to any query, relating to any special subject that has interested any reader. To illustrate what can be done in lower Baldwin County in truck gardening we give below examples of several crops that can be raised on same land in one year. Irish potatoes planted in January harvest last of April or early in May. Cow peas planted early in May harvest early in July. Fall crops of Irish or sweet potatoes planted in July harvest in October. Plant cabbages in October and market them in January. A total of four crops in one year, and the first crop of potatoes will net several times as much as the northern farmer realizes from his single crop for the whole year. POTATOES. We sent several carloads of potatoes to Chicago the Spring of 1904 and it is simply the truth that they made quite a hit on South Water street. We shipped these potatoes to Geo. Middendorf & Co., 135-137 South Water street; H. Woods, 127 South Water street; C. H. Weaver & Co., 129 South Water street, and J. C. & C. R. Scales, 114 South Water street. They were noticed on the street at once by the other commission men as being much superior to the other early potatoes coining from Florida, Texas or Louis- iana. As soon as the other dealers noticed these potatoes they commenced to telephone over to our Chicago office and write letters, both to Chicago and Magnolia Springs, asking us to send them some of our potatoes. While the Texas and Louis- iana potatoes were selling for $1 20 to $1.30 a bushel, our potatoes sold for $1.80 a bushel. 24 VIEW OF POTATO FIELD. MAGNOLIA FARM HOUSE IN BACK GROUND. One leading commission house which is rated probably as high as any commission house in Chicago, offers to make a contract with us for next year for 300 acres, and will enter into a contract to pay us $3.00 a barrel at Magnolia Springs for all No. 1 potatoes. He further states that four-fifths of them will be No. l's. At this price our colonists can realize anywhere from $60 to $100 per acre, above all expenses. This will include fertilizing, seed potatoes, and the barrels, but does not include labor. Now, at this price we would realize from three to four times as much for this first crop as the Northern potato grower gets for his whole year's work on his potato crop. Assuming that we will accept the proposition as made to us, on the basis of 50 barrels to the acre. 40 barrels at $3 r barrel would make $120. and 10 barrels, say, at $2 a barrel, 25 would be $20, total $140. The cost to raise these potatoes would be as follows: Fertilizer $20.00 Seed potatoes 8 . 00 Fifty barrels 12 . 00 $40.00 making practically a net profit of $100 an acre, covering all expenses, except labor, and it does not require any more la- bor to harvest potatoes in the South than it does in the North. It has been estimated that one man can take care of 40 to 50 acres of potatoes up to the time of harvesting. It must not be supposed from above that it is necessary to use $20 of fertilizer on all crops. This amount is used only for early vegetables, wdiile for fruits, sugar cane, cotton, corn, etc., only from $3 to $6 an acre is ordinarily used. Potatoes have been a leading agricultural product in Bald- win County for years, yet the growers there have never been bothered with the potato bug pest, and have been saved the trouble and expense of spraying their vines. Bearing in mind the fact that two or three other crops can be raised on the same land in the same year, we are convinced that there is no land in the world whose productive value and surroundings are as good as ours, that can be bought for as little money. Now, here is a question in mathematics: If the best corn land in Illinois, that will net the farmer on an average $25 an acre, is worth from $125 to $150 an acre, on this basis what should our land be worth, which is more favorably situated for health, that will yield several crops, practically a guarantee of $75 to $100 an acre on the first, besides two or three successive crops which will yield fully as much more. A bale of cotton to the acre can be grown on the same land in same year, after potatoes are harvested. 26 MELONS. Heretofore "\ve have not advised growing anything that required quick selling as our transportation was not good, having to send our products from Magnolia Springs to Mo- bile by boat. Now that the railroad is being built (its ter- minus will be on our tract) and we are assured that it will be completed and cars running by next Spring, we think it well to call your attention to some very profitable crops for which our section has special advantages. We grew on our Magnolia Farm as fine Canteloupes and Water Melons, on new land, as ever were grown in the South, supplying the leading hotels at Mobile. The Spring of 1904 the writer was shown a statement of net returns from a little over 100 acres of Canteloupes grown on a gulf coast farm. It amounted to over $18,800.00, an average of over $175.00 per acre, after all expenses for freight and commission were deducted. These figures were taken from the bankers' books where returns from Melons were deposited. We have investigated in South Water street, Chicago, what they pay for Melons grown in different sections and learn that Canteloupes grown in our section and marketed early bring $4.50 to $7.50 per crate of 45 Melons, which would net our farmers from 8 to 12 cents each at Magnolia Springs. Northern grown Canteloupes sold in the Chicago market at from 10 to 25 cents per one-half bushel basket. At these prices, after deducting freight, baskets and commission, they would not net the grower one-half cent each. It must be re- membered to emphasize our advantages that whereas the Northern grower is unable to mature any other crops, our growers can mature at least two other crops. Then take Water Melons. We get $250.00 per car of 1,000 to 1,200 Melons, freight is from $80 to $90, making, say, $160.00 per car. Oklahoma Melons sold for $150.00 per car, freight is $70, making $80, or just about one-half what our Melons would net. Indiana, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri Mel- ons brought from $75.00 to $115.00 per car, after deducting freight, $30.00 to $75.00 per car, besides the commission does 27 not leave much for the growers of Water Melons in these states. Equally as good if not better returns can be realized from Head Lettuce, Bermuda Onions, Tomatoes and Celery, for we can always get the top prices of the early markets for all these products. The United States Department of Agriculture in Bulletin Number 150 recommends corn, clover, and fruits of all kinds for new lands. Strawberries do particularly well on new ground recently cleared. Upon such soil they make a most satisfactory growth and fruitage, and much less labor is required to keep the weeds and grass down, as the ground is not impregnated with foul seed. In Baldwin County, Irish and sweet potatoes and tomatoes do especially well on new land. The potatoes yield well, and are symmetrical in form, clear in color, and very free from scab. Bermuda onions re- quire sandy soil of moderate richness to obtain the best results. At least 100 bushels to the acre may be expected from the cultivation of this valuable crop. There is a total absence of the potato bug in Baldwin County, so that the farmers here are saved all/ the trouble and expense of spray- ing their potato vines. The tomato is relatively free from blight, and less liable to be choked or smothered by late summer grasses. Melons of all kinds do well on new land. GRASSES AND FORAGE CROPS. Of all the forage crops to be considered for this region, it is probable that cassava, velvet beans and cow peas must be placed at the head. Cassava has been introduced compara- tively recently into this country, and it has been found to be of astonishing value as a stock food. Measuring by its food value in corn, the equivalent of more than 200 bushels of corn may be raised on one acre. Furthermore, one acre of cassava will equal five acres of corn in making starch, and the starch is much superior to that made from corn, and commands a higher price. Tested on pigs and cattle, it has been found to be of the utmost practical value as a forage plant, and altogether, it bids fair to be the most valuable 28 DOUBLE CROP FROM ALABAMA SOIL. Thrifty corn shading a six-foot man, with a crop of cow peas beneath. crop for feeding stock ever introduced into this region of the South. Velvet beans hardly fall below it in value. All of these are of special value in thin soils. Cow peas, for instance, grow luxuriantly on the poorest sandy soils, and two or three crops can be grown in a year. Its long tap root penetrates deeply into the soil, and brings up fertilizing constituents to be used by other crops. Plowed under, it fertilizes the soil perfectly. As stock food, it surpasses red clover. Cut for hay, it is of great value, and the pea itself serves as food for both man and beast. Bermuda grass, Alabama clover, crab grass and alfalfa are other forage crops. Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, upon returning from a re- cent southern trip, called special attention to the importance of cassava and velvet beans in the prosperity of the region. He declared that there is no reason why this should not be- come a great cattle-raising section, with these crops at com- mand. The velvet bean enriches the soil besides making an excellent food for cattle. It gathers nitrogen from the air 29 and stores it in itself and in the soil. Cassava is in some re- spects better than corn for fattening stock and it can be pro- duced at much less cost. The State Agricultural Station has carried out an experi- ment to test the actual increase of value from this feed. A native Florida steer weighing 732 pounds was purchased at 5^ cents per pound. From Sept. 11 to Nov. 11 it was fed the amount of velvet beans grown on one-fifteenth acre, and the amount of cassava grown on one-twenty-third acre. At the end of the sixty days it had gained 130 pounds in weight, and was sold for 6y 2 cents per pound, bringing $11.87 more than it cost. This is at the rate of gain per acre, if stock had been fed to that amount, of $107.77 profit for two months. ABOUT CASSAVA. In the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Post of May 30th, 1903, there was an item about making glucose from potatoes and cassava, in which it stated that according to the U. S. De- partment of Agriculture the advantages of Florida (and the Gulf coast) for the growing of Cassava would cause the re- moval of the glucose industry from the corn to the cassava belt. We are in receipt of U. S. Department of Agriculture bulle- tin No. 58 on "The Manufacture of Starch from Potatoes and Cassava." This states that fresh cassava yields 25.9 in weight of starch from fresh root, or if made into glucose the yield is 30 per cent in weight. It states that from 4 to 8 tons may reasonably be expected from ordinary pine land. The bulletin does not give credence to statements that from 40 to 50 tons to the acre can be grown (our information is from 5 to 15 tons to the acre). The bulletin gives market quotations for starch from a trade paper for each month. This table gives the range of prices of corn starch in barrels from $1.40 to $2.00 for 100 pounds, while for cassava (tapioca) starch the range was from $4.00 to $5.25. Now, estimating the yield of cassava at only five tons or 10,000 pounds, it would yield 2,590 pounds of cassava starch and at the minimum price of 4c would net $103.60, or if made into glucose would amount to (30 per cent of 10,000 pounds) 3,000 pounds at $1.70 per 100 pounds, 3o CASSAVA FIELD, SHOWING THE PLANT 31 FOUR HILLS OF CASSAVA ROOT, WEIGHT 96 POUNDS. ON THIS BASIS AN ACRE WOULD YIELD ABOUT 32 TONS. THIS, HOWEVER, IS MUCH ABOVE THE AVERAGE. 32 (presenl carload price) $51.00 net. The Florida cassava starch mills pay the farmers $6.00 per ton, and we understand thai they realize $50.00 per acre, so the yield must average aboul 8 tons to the acre. Farmers' bulletin \«». 100 of the U. S. Department of Agri- culture on "Hog Raising in the South," states (page 27) "in tests at the Florida station (Bulletin No. 49 of Florida Ex- perimental Station) the increase in weight in hogs fed seven- ty-five days cost only $1.04 per hundred from cassava, while the corn fed meat was $3.06 per hundred." In this estimate cassava was reckoned at the price paid at the factories, viz.: $6.00 per ton, though the cost of growing it was less than 2 cents per pound, so that the actual cost to a farmer who raises his own pork and cassava to put fat on his hogs would be about one-third of 1 cent per pound. The U. S. Bulletin No. 100 further states that "Similar results have been secured at the Louisiana Station, and for the extreme southern section of the country where the climate gives at least 8 months fredom from frost, pork can doubtless be produced at less cost from cassava than from any other plant." Both cassava and velvet beans being sub-tropical plants, requiring long immunity from frost— seven or eight months— to come to perfection, neither one will thrive many miles north of the Gulf coast (so that we have an immense advan- tage in the cultivation of these exceptionally valuable prod- ucts). LIVE STOCK INDUSTRIES. Hogs and sheep are specially favored. There are more than :)0 natural edible grasses indigenous to the Gulf coast. The dreaded northers of Texas are absolutely unknown. A- to food supply, during the brief winter months, this may be afforded by providing any of the heavy growing legumes, such as beggar weed, cow peas, velvet beans and cassava. Expert cattle feeders could not distinguish between cas sava-fed and corn-fed beef raised on the Florida Experimental Farm. When it is remembered that an acre of cassava will go as far as five acres of corn for stock feed, the advantages of southern Baldwin County for stock-raising are evident. 33 Winter pasture of sufficient strength may readily and cheaply be provided in the shape of winter barley, winter oats, etc., on which stock will graze and thrive abundantly. Already there is one large ranch in Baldwin County, where a herd of several hundred native cows with grade Hereford bulls at their head are showing what may be done in this direction. The men who take up this industry are certain to reap rich rewards. Experienced stock-raisers claim that in southern Baldwin County beef can be raised at a cost of one and one-half cents per pound, and hogs for one cent per pound. SUGAR CANE. Sugar cane in Baldwin County, Alabama, is the most profit- able staple crop that is grown anywhere. It does well whether there is much or little rain. Mr. Snyder, who operated a farm near Magnolia Springs for forty years, told the writer that in all that time he never knew a failure of sugar cane. The state chemist of Alabama recently visited Mr. Smith's new steam syrup mill, a few miles north of us, and he said that it was the best that he had ever analyzed. The yield of sugar cane in Baldwin Coun- ty is 25 per cent, more than in Louisiana. We are in receipt of the Florida Bulletin No. 82, and are much interested in the article by Prof. R. E. Rose, state chemist. Prof. Rose states that sugar cane was first culti- vated in Florida nearly 400 years ago, and in the whole state of Florida there has not been the slightest improvement in the manufacture of sugar or syrup in that period, and he esti- mates that about 60 per cent is wasted, as compared with the product of a modern mill; we quote him as follows: "In no other agricultural and manufacturing enterprise has the farmer and manufacturer failed to take advantage of the improvements in methods and machines. I can only attribute this to the generally accepted belief that cane growing and syrup making, even under the present crude and wasteful method, is considered a most profitable business. I have talked with hundreds of farmers in all parts of the state, from Pensacola to Key West, from Jacksonville to Tampa, and have yet to meet one who 34 did not positively assert that he derived more cash, with less labor per acre, from his cane patch than from any other crop." However, we note by the December issue of the "Stock- man," published at De Funiak Springs, Fla., that a company has just been organized to plant 3,000 acres of cane near Tallahassee, and it will put up a modern plant, the first one in the state of Florida. Mr. E. Smith, whose farm is a few miles north of us, came south a few years since from Findlay, 0. He landed in Bald- win County with but $3 or $4. It took him several years to get enough ahead to get a start on a 20-acre farm. He has made enough on his small tract to put up the only steam syrup mill in the state. He has made a special study of sugar cane and was appointed by the Governor to represent the state at the Sugar Cane Growers' Convention in Georgia. Mr. Smith is on our pay roll in an advisory capacity to instruct our colonists on sugar cane and other crops suitable for Baldwin County. The writer visited Mr. Smith's place in the Spring, and he told him that he expected to realize from 700 to 800 gallons to the acre (we learn from good authority that as much as 1,000 gallons have been made to an acre in Baldwin County), but on account of the un- usually dry summer he only got 660 gallons per acre. He made an exhibit of Baldwin County products at the State Fair at Birmingham and took first prize on everything ex- hibited. While he was there he showed samples of syrup he made, and took orders for a large part of it at 70 cents per gallon. Now estimating the average at 50 cents per gallon (if we go into the business extensively, as we hope to, we would have to sell the same quality of syrup as Mr. Smith makes at 50 cents per gallon wholesale), which would yield an average of $250 per acre. Then there are about 2 1-2 tons of leaves, which makes excellent forage, at $15.00 per ton. amounting to $37.50 or a total of $287.50 per acre. According to the estimate of Prof. Stockbridge of the Flor- ida Experimental Station it costs $50.00 per acre to grow sugar cane. This is at the State Agricultural College, and 35 ££?*\£ A SUGAR CANE FIELD AT MUSCOGEE, MAGNOLIA SPRINGS. 36 A THREE-YEAR-OLD PEACH ORCHARD IN BALDWIN COUNTY. it usually costs a state more than a private individual. We cannot understand why it should cost this much, but we will accept his figures, so that with a minimum amount of 500 gallons per acre, at the wholesale price after deducting packages, commissions, etc., it would net $187.50 per acre. Now for comparison we want to pat only ten acres of our sugar cane land, costing $550.00 (a crop that never fails). against the product of a 200-acre farm in the corn belt of Illinois, which would cost at least $25,000.00. Cost of ten acres of our land $250 Cost of clearing and fencing 200 Cost of fertilizer LOO $550 The average net income from farm land worth $125.00 to $150.00 an acre in the corn belt of Illinois is from 4 per cent, to 5 per cent, (we understand that 5 per cent, is a liberal esti- mate), 200 acres at $125.00 per acre, $25,000.00; 5 per cent. 37 income on this investment would be $1,250.00. Net profit on 10 acres of sugar cane at $187.50 an acre, or $1,875.00 on an investment of $550.00. THE TESTIMONY OF ACTUAL EXPERIENCE. There is no evidence of what can be done equal to the evi- dence of what has been done before and is now being done by others in this vicinity and under like conditions. Here are a few experiences related by our neighbors in Baldwin County near Magnolia Springs, all of which can be verified by any inquirer. The prices obtained would have been fifty per cent, more in many instances if there had been such a mutual association as now exists, to care for the marketing of the crops. One of our Baldwin County neighbors, Mr. Albert Stevens, who came here in June, 1900, having moved to Englewood, Chicago, eleven years before, from Massachusetts, states that he raised thirty-two bushels of corn on one-half acre, and on the same ground and in the same year raised thirty-five bush- els of string beans which sold for 70 cents a bushel. The beans were planted late or they would have sold for more. He then got a crop of clover the same season from the same ground. His wife reports that she planted a switch from a fig tree, one and one-half feet long, in January, 1901, and seven months after planting it figs were growing on the bush. In January, 1902, it was three inches in diameter, and five feet, eight inches high. She set out a mulberry sprig one foot in height in the spring, and in the fall it was eight feet high and had been cut back three times. She planted a rose bush four or five inches high in April, 1901, and six months later it was ten feet high. She set oat a peach seedling in February, 1901, and one year later it was seven feet six inces in height. Mr. Kruger, of Magnolia Springs, offers testimony of pe- culiar value because of the care with which he has kept his records in every detail. He is recognized as a most careful observer, and is the local correspondent and crop reporter for the Alabama State Agricultural Station at Auburn. He has been experimenting as to the value of high fertilization, cul- tivating six acres in the process of his tests. On the six 38 acres he spent $80 for fertilizers, of which he put $41.50 on one acre, and the remainder on the five acres. From this highly fertilized acre he first produced watermelons from 800 hills, to the amount of $124.93. At the same time he was raising Irish potatoes between the watermelons, and his crop of these from the same acre was $97.03. Next he followed with velvet beans for hay, raising one and one-half tons worth $15.00 per ton, or $22.50 in all. On this acre, therefore, he produced in one season crops to the value of $204.46 above the fertilizer. Other items in his balance sheet are hardly less interest- ing. He raised 122 bushels of Irish potatoes on one acre, at a fertilizer cost of $17, and sold at an average price of $3 per barrel, after which he got a second crop of sweet potatoes from the same ground. One -half acre of beans yielded him $90.60 at a fertilizer cost of $12, and a second crop, without fertilizing, of sweet potatoes followed. On three-fourths of an acre of "sweets" he made $111.20. On one-third of an acre he raised muskmelons which sold for $30.05, here like- wise getting the second crop of sweet potatoes, with no more fertilizer. Mr. Kruger came to Baldwin County from Northern Illinois, because of asthma. Unable to work as hard as a well man might, he cultivated but six acres. On this much land, however, he supported his rather large family, and cleared $500 above all expenses, a pretty good evidence of what can be done under existing conditions. Mr. Gregory, formerly from Massachusetts, came South because he had asthma so bad that he could not work half the time, and since he has been in Baldwin County, he has never had an attack, except three or four days after he first came. On one and one-half acres, he raised 200 bushels of sweet potatoes. His estimate is that 100 bushels of pea- nuts can be raised to the acre. One hundred blackberry bushes produced four bushels the second year, and on a straw- berry patch twenty-five by seventy-five feet (they bear tour or five months in Baldwin County), he raised five bush- els of berries. His peach trees produced fruit the first year, and the second year more than he could use. 39 Mr. Turner came from Plainfield, Will County, Illinois, fifteen years ago, keeps a store, saw-mill, and cotton gin, and does some farming. He raises from thirty- five to fifty- five bushels of upland rice per acre, the market price of which is 75 cents to $1 per bushel. On four, rows, 210 feet long, he raised velvet beans at the rate of 480 bushels per acre. Velvet bean pods are fully as valuable for stock feeding as the same quantity of corn. He took pear trees from a nursery of four-year stock, planted them on Christmas day, 1900, and in 1902 they bore fruit. He has grape-vines twelve feet long, from cuttings one year old. A California grape-vine planted in March. 1901, bore grapes the same summer, and is now twenty feet long. He had a remarkable experience with sweet potatoes. By special attention and putting a consider- able quantity of good manure on a single acre of forest land, he got a crop of 675 bushels. He states that ordi- narily this region will raise from one-half bale to one bale of cotton to the acre, at a cost of $2.50 for fertilizers. It costs 14 cents per hundred for ginning, and the grower gets thirty bushels of seed to the bale, or one-half ton, which is worth $27.50 per ton. He further states that in Baldwin County he can raise half as much corn as on best Illinois and Iowa corn lands, and get a higher price for it, and then, be- sides, get a second crop of hay, which yields from one and one-half to three tons an acre. Then he follows with oats, making nearly three crops a year. He plants corn in April and harvests in July. After cutting his hay in October, he plants oats, anl lets the stock graze on it through the winter. Three or four weeks before he wants to cut the oats, he takes the stock off. After the oats, he plants a crop of sweet potatoes, this being his rotation of crops. Mr. Dunn, a native of Northern Alabama, has been in Bald- win County six years, has 120 acres, of which fifty are under cultivation. He averages about forty bushels of corn to the acre, and uses very little fertilizer. After the corn, he raises cow peas for stock feeding, making hay from the vines after picking off the peas. He raised 200 bushels of sweet potatoes to the acre. His sugar cane yielded 260 gallons of syrup from less than half an acre, and the second year he made 270 40 VA* ■kl'V ■HBBf^l -yfe ^r.^iLfl fcj t ^tjs '^RJl ^fli p^h& KJjft':'." JN5: ■BJU. *",'.',.•. ^MM BjSL';. , T^L ^'4 ^ IT." , \ J ^ BANANAS IN A MAGNOLIA SPRINGS DOORYARD. gallons from the stubble crop of the first year. He had peach trees that produced a good crop the third year after planting peach stones. His cotton produced a bale to the acre after a fertilizer cost of $2.25 per acre. He grafted a Japanese per- simmon on a common persimmon tree in March, 1900, and eighteen months later gathered a fine crop of fruit. From one persimmon tree he sold 100 of the fruit for $4. They aver- aged fourteen ounces each. He has a banana tree from which he gathered a bunch of bananas in the fall. Mr. E. Smith writes that he raised 700 barrels of po- tatoes on fifteen acres, which he sold for $3 per barrel. Seed may be charged up at $10 per acre, but he got a second crop without additional fertilizer. He planted cow peas, got one and one-half tons to the acre, and sold them for $15 per ton at the barn. The hay crop would nearly pay for the ferti- lizer and the labor, leaving the potatoes as the net profit. THE COLONY PROPOSITION. The Magnolia Springs Land Company, with 30,000 acres of selected lands in the choicest part of Baldwin County, adja- cent to Magnolia Springs, offers an opportunity not often equaled, to those seeking favorable homes in the South. It will sell tracts of forty acres for from $S00 to $t,200 on easy terms, the conditions being as follows: 4i A LOOK ACROSS THE LAND. Those who desire to take prompt advantage of the oppor- tunity offered, by becoming actual settlers, will pay one- fourth down and give notes for the balance, due semi-annual- ly, in three years. They will be located on lands from which the heavy timber has been cut for lumber. Their wel- fare will be guarded in every possible way. Those who cannot consider an immediate move south- ward are provided for in an equally desirable manner. They may purchase their tracts by equal monthly payments at a small advance over above prices. Ten acre tracts near Weeks Bay and the Magnolia River are offered to those wishing specially desirable residence lo- cations, where orchard, garden and home may be combined with the most attractive surroundings. 42 A SCENE ON FISH RIVER. This view is taken a few miles from the outlet of the river into Weeks Bay. The water in this beautiful river is very clear and deep, and its current and depth are affected by the gulf tide for a considerable distance. It takes its name from the abundance of fish found in it. We believe that southern Baldwin County is a land of un- usual and noteworthy opportunities and remarkable possi- bilities, whether for the man of moderate means or the one of considerable capital. One who may be absolutely without cash wherewith to make a beginning must consider fairly the conditions to be met, and the situation he will have to face for a few years. Agents, in their eagerness to sell, often fail to explain that it takes time to clear land and grow a crop, and that preferably all colonists should have money to tide them over until the land is clear and the first crop sold. Also they should have money to buy what stock they desire, and to erect the necessary buildings. A fair estimate is that the colonist should have $f>00 or more capital in order to carry his enterprise through to advantage, and of course 43 A CREOLE HOME NEAR MAGNOLIA SPRINGS This picturesque southern residence of Captain Alex Voltaire, a native Creole, whose ancestors have lived here since early in the eighteenth century, is typical or many such charming homes. The Creoles are the most orderly and law abiding of citizens, and good neighbors. They hold their lands under the old Spanish grants. They farm but little, but draw their living from the water, as oystermen and boatment. the more money the settler brings with him, the easier the development of the property will be, and the sooner the returns will begin to come in. Nevertheless, this is by no means the absolute minimum. Thanks to the genial climate and the favors of nature, men can and do come here with small resources other than their energy and perseverance, and establish themselves prosper- ously and comfortably. More than one settler who camped in a tent for his first winter, without suffering in the least, now lives here as a substantial resident. If one has the courage to endure the hardships of pioneering in a pleasant region for the first year or two, he may work out his suc- cess with much less capital than has been named. Living expenses are less than in the North, for fuel costs nothing but the trouble of gathering it, and as the climate is mild, not so much clothing is needed. Houses do not need 44 to be as well built, lumber costs about one-half what it does in the North, and labor is cheaper. Nevertheless, it takes some capital to establish one's self in any place, if time and convenience are objects. It is necessarily a slow undertaking to enter a new country with unfamiliar surroundings, and establish a home and an income from the soil, without imple- ments, stock and something to live on during the period of development. With this presentation of what we have to offer, we ask consideration of the opportunities and condi- tions that have been described. We shall be pleased to reply with ample information on any detail, in response to a let- ter of inquiry from anyone interested in the subject. BALDWIN COUNTY LEADS. A Baldwin County neighbor of ours made an exhibit of his products at the Alabama State Fair at Birmingham. In a let- ter to the Fairhope Courier, he says: "I wish to say that I captured five blue ribbons for Baldwin County. In fact, I took first premium on everything entered, namely, cane syrup, best bundle of cane, paper shell pecans, pomegranates, and last, but not least, Japanese per- simmons. People here cannot believe a fruit as fine as these persimmons can be raised in Alabama. They are the pride of Horticultural Hall, and I only wish we had a better dis- play of them." Cotton is a crop that does not always appeal to a northern farmer, but when a Baldwin County farmer can get six bales of cotton from four acres of land, as has been done this year in Baldwin County, it must not escape notice. It has been repeatedly demonstrated that more cotton to the acre can be harvested in this county than is being obtained from the "black belt" land. Prof. Dewey of the Fiber Bureau of the United States Department of Agriculture states that he sent seed of long fiber Egyptian cotton to the different cotton sections of the South, and that he received the best product of this valuable cotton from Baldwin County. To those not familiar with the top prices obtained in the large cities for early fruits and vegetables, the estimates 45 given herein may appear to be exaggerations. We would suggest to them that they first find out from their local gardener or orchardist as to the quantities grown per acre; then inquire from some reliable commission house in the largest cities (500,000 population or more) as to the top prices for earliest crops; allow $100 per car for freight, and putting the information from these sources together, they will then appreciate the conservativeness of our figures. Twenty acres under cultivation in Baldwin County will afford anyone an independent income, while forty acres well cultivated will produce a handsome bank account. In estimating net profits on vegetables and fruits over all expenses, it is safe to count on freight rates from Magnolia Springs to Chicago as within $100 per car in carload lots. The rate to New York is a little more. The organization of a local shippers' mutual sales arrangement makes it certain that carload shipments can always be made. The advantage of having a telegraph and telephone office of our own is fully realized when we want to market the early vegetables. At that time, every day counts, and with prices at different markets varying, the telegraph enables us to reach all of them, and get best quotations before shipping. Magnolia Springs has the only telegraph office south of Bay Minette, a distance of forty miles. A branch of the Louisville & Nashville R. R. is now being built and will be completed in time to move the spring crops of 1905. Its Southern terminus temporarily will be Foley, a new town on our land five miles east of Magnolia Springs. We will thus have the advantage of both rail and water transportation, and the low freight rates that such competi- tion always assures. A tobacco expert, formerly of Florida, who has moved to Baldwin County, expresses his confidence that tobacco will be one of the most profitable crops grown here. One thousand dollars per acre can be realized from the Sumatra tobacco raised in this section. Prof. Voorhees, professor of Agricul- ture at Rutgers College, New Jersey, in his authoritative work on Fertilizers, says that the best quality of tobacco for wrappers can grow to advantage only on light, sandy soil, the very sort that is available here. 46 There are excursions twice each month when a low rate for the round trip can be secured. Full information will be furnished by application to our office or to our agents. Pur- chasers will be credited the amount of their railroad fare. ANSWERS TO UNREASONABLE PREJUDICES AGAINST GOING SOUTH. Most people who have not traveled in the South have a wrong impression about the conditions there. This holds par- ticularly true of Baldwin County. The principal objections we hear are as follows: First, unhealthf ulness ; second,, extreme heat; third, a superabundance of mosquitoes and snakes; fourth, swamps; fifth, negroes; sixth, lawlessness. Health. In changing location the first consideration should be health. According to the statistics, which can be verified by writing to the Surgeon General's office at Washington, Baldwin County has the lowest death rate of any county in the United States, being less than eight per thousand. The reason for this is that the land is high and there is a total absence of malarial conditions. Then, the water is extraor- dinarily pure; analysis shows that it contains less organic and mineral matter than any water that has ever been analyzed, and there is a firm now in Magnolia Springs that is bottling this water and shipping it North. Then, being so near the Gulf (10 to 15 miles), we have the benefit of the Gulf breezes, and the combination of the high land, abso- lutely pure water and Gulf breezes through the piney woods, makes it the healthiest locality in the United States, and particularly adapted for people with kidney, rheumatic or lung trouble. Asthma or catarrh cannot exist in this climate. Heat. According to the Government Weather Bureau rec- ords at Mobile, the average temperature for the Summer months is as follows: June, 80.3; July, 81.9; and August, 80, and the average for 25 years in July has been 81.44. Now, inasmuch as we are some 25 miles south of Mobile, and have the advantage of the Gulf breezes, the temperature is always about five degrees cooler in Summer and five de- grees warmer in Winter. 47 Mosquitoes and Snakes. Another mistaken impression is about the snakes, mosquitoes and other insects. Now, the truth is that one can find more snakes within ten miles of Chicago than they can in Baldwin County. The reason for this is, the native razorback hog considers a snake a delicate morsel, and as these hogs run at large, we think that accounts for the scarcity of snakes. Although there are plenty of mos- quitoes on the Mobile side of Mobile Bay, there is a singular absence of them on the Baldwin County side, and those who live in the highlands are never bothered with them. Another strange characteristic of our county is that while the raising of Irish potatoes is quite an industry, there is a total ab- sence of potato bugs. Swamps. Our land around Magnolia Springs is 125 to 150 feet above the Gulf, and we have no swamps. Negroes. We are aware of the prejudice of Northern people about locating in the South on account of the negroes. There are comparatively few negroes in Baldwin County. In the eastern end of the county they are not allowed at all. In Magnolia Springs we believe there are but three negro families. Baldwin County is going to be emphatically a white man's county, and it is being settled by Northern peo- ple almost exclusively. Lawlessness. Baldwin County has the proud record of being the most law-abiding county in the South. THE MAGNOLIA SPRINGS LAND COMPANY Magnolio Springs, Baldwin County, Ala. CHICAGO OFFICE Suite 1304 Chamber of Commerce Bldg. Cor. La Salle and Washington Sts. 4* SOME THINGS WORTH KNOWING. Baldwin County watermelons are famous even in Alabama, where so many good melons arc grown. They are large, sweet, sound, and prolific, and wherever shipped make a prac- tice of topping the market. Baldwin County is particularly adapted for growing fine tobacco. "With similar soil and climate and conditions, to- bacco growers in Northern Florida arc realizing from $300 to $1,000 per acre on Sumatra leaf wrappers and Havana fillers. Cattle, hogs, sheep, horses, mules, poultry and bees each offer opportunities for large profits, thanks to the splendid forage grasses, the genial climate, and tbe good water. Sheep or Angora goats serve well to assist in clearing the new land, fertilizing it at the same time. An Oil well was sunk five miles south of our tract and when the oil-bearing vein was struck the oil shot twenty feel in the air. As this book goes to press we learn that the company drilling the well are bringing in pipe. Indica- tions of oil exist in several places on this tract. This coast country is an ideal region for the sportsman. The neighboring bays provide salt water bathing, and the bays and rivers and creeks together give the fisherman his choice of fresh water or salt water fish. The finest oysters in the South are grown in Bon Secour bay, and may be de- livered at the door of the settler near Magnolia Springs and Weeks Bay. During tne winter the bays, bayous, and streams are alive with ducks. Snipe shooting is fine. Quail, partridges, doves, wild turkeys, rabbits, and foxes are plentiful, and deer are found in the pine woods. The bays and streams abound with the finest fish. Bass, speckled trout, mullet, flounders, pickerel, blue fish, red fish, grouper, pompano, sea-trout, stur- geon, sword fish and tarpon are captured. Oysters, crabs and shrimp of the finest quality are found in abundance. ;■ R IP «r •...£• .'' 'jr.J h-4't: >■:■■■:■■ P - ■. "'\ J y: ■■'■■ & ,'■ ^3$^k^ . /