\ 110 1 17 The Paper-Shell Peean The Satsuma Orange and The Mobile Plan MOBILE CHICAGO f\*Mk ^ -J A - 1 fe QQ ci >*g^ M m § Jo ^jfe£ & Jr- \;a * s j| k ^ Ji & ■ ■ ^ J» ^H^i ■Hjjjn ^ F ■ . i-ji y ^^ ^ w The Paper -Shell Pecan and Satsuma Orange Orchards ON The Mobile Plan Offer an Assured Income for Life and a Home for Retirement Adjoining a City of 75,000 People on the Gulf Coast NO CO-OPERATIVE SCHEME NO IRRIGATION PROJECT NO SPECULATION NO ISOLATION NO STOCKS NO BONDS You Can Acquire a Home in the Land of Sunshine, Roses, Culture and Refine- ment in a Suburb of Mobile >\ ^v CCU2S0S78 PREFACE. WE will present to you in this booklet vital facts in regard to production of paper- shell pecans and Satsuma oranges. The facts and figures given have been secured from the most reliable and authentic sources pos- sible — among these being numerous bulletins and reports issued by the United States Department of Agriculture through its experimental stations — reports of meetings of National and State hor- ticultural and nut growers' organizations and various publications dealing with these subjects. We have also included valuable information relative to supply and demand, markets, importa- tions, carefully gathered from successful growers and horticulturists and from government statis- tics. As very little is known by the general public in regard to the exact possibilities of paper-shell pecans and Satsuma oranges, we have endeavored to bring as much information as is possible in this little booklet to the reader in a concise and interesting manner. MOBILE FARM LAND COMPANY (INC.), Mobile and Chicago. Mobile Farm Land Co. (Inc.) 514-516 Commercial National Bank Bldg. CHICAGO Telephone Randolph 2343 Mobile Office Ground Floor, Battle House DIRECTORS Louis J. Davis, Manager Mobile Gas Company - Mobile Theodore K. Jackson, President Mobile Electric Co. Mobile Charles D. Willoughby, Cashier First Nat'l Bank - Mobile George Fearn, Jr., Geo. Fearn & Son, Real Estate Mobile Edward W. Faith, Attorney-at-Law - - - Mobile Harry O. Hanson, Cashier Mobile Gas Company - Mobile Benjamin S. Cowen, Mobile Farm Land Company - Mobile OFFICERS Louis J. Davis ------- President Theodore K. Jackson - Vice-President Harry O Hanson Secretary Benjamin S. Cowen - General Manager and Treasurer Louis C. Irvine - Sales Manager E. K. Dyar - Farm Superintendent (Recently in charge of Ex-Vice-President Fairbanks' extensive farming operations in Illinois) FRISBIE & GEIS Commercial National Bank Building CHICAGO THE PAPER-SHELL PECAN And How It Has Developed From the Original Wild Nut to a Remarkable Com- mercial Success. |HE first record of the pecan is dis- covered in the history of the early French settlers of this country. Bienville, a French explorer, land- ing on the shores of Mobile Bay in 1699, found one of the staple foods of the Indians — a palat- able nut growing wild in the dense forests around this beautiful bay. This nut — now known as the common pecan — became one of the first articles to be exported to Europe by the early colonists and since that time many people in the South have been profitably engaged in the gathering and sale of the wild pecan. Speaking of the tree itself — it is essentially an American tree — growing luxuriantly as a forest tree in the alluvial bottom lands of the southern Mississippi Valley — rarely being found north of Mason and Dixon's line. It is a member of the hickory family (hicoria pecan), being extremely hardy, resembling in The Mobile Plan p a2ee i e m general appearance the oak. An idea of its age can be gained from the fact that several large trees recently cut down showed by the annual "growth rings" that they were over 600 years old. These trees were still bearing and there is a notable tree in Mexico, which is five feet in diameter, bearing over a ton of nuts annually. The pecan has a root system radiating from an exceptionally large tap root that goes deeply into the ground, drawing up moisture from the subsoil, making the tree proof against lack or excess of surface moisture. As the pecan blooms late in the spring, the buds are never here injured by frosts, and a notable feature is the almost absolute freedom from insect pests and diseases. Everyone is familiar with the small wild pecan, from one-half to three-quarters of an inch long, with its hard shell, and the thick and bitter inner partitions of the nut. But, of the paper-shelled pecan, little is known to the average Northerner. Its development has been restricted almost entirely to the central Gulf Coast and this development has all occurred within the memory of this generation. About forty years ago Colonel W. R. Stuart, a retired wealthy merchant of New Orleans living at Ocean Springs, Miss., became interested in the - The Late Colonel W. R. Stuart Pioneer of the Pecan Industry The Mobile Plan Page ten development of the wild pecan nut and began ex- perimenting — with the idea of eliminating the hard shell and thick bitter inner partitions and producing a nut that would rival the English walnut in palat^bleness. Colonel Stuart noticed early in his investiga- tions throughout the South that occasionally a tree was found growing under favorable condi- tions that produced the kind of nut he had in mind. He selected the best specimens of these nuts and planted them, caring carefully for the young trees — but you can imagine his disappointment when these trees reached the age of bearing at the end of seven or eight years — to find that the nuts produced were not like those he had planted, but were only ordinary wild pecans. Realizing that the ideal pecan could not be successfully developed from seed, Colonel Stuart resumed his experiments from another angle. He went back to the trees from which he had secured his seed nuts — and by taking scions or buds from these exceptional trees and grafting tkem onto seedling stock — he was able to secure the same excellent nuts — and solved the problem of propagation. From this time on, many experiments were made by Colonel Stuart, Mr. Theo. Bechtel of Page eleven The Mobile Plan Ocean Springs, A. G. Delmas of Scranton, Miss., Oscar Oliver of Louisiana, C. E. Pabst of Ocean Springs — originating nearly all of the standard varieties of the paper-shelled pecan in the Mobile district among which are the Stuart, Mobile, Frotscher, Alley, Delmas, Success, Pabst, Russell, Lewis, Hovens, Jewett, etc., etc., many of the varieties being named after their originators. These men have worked out the details of propagation, cultivation and fertilization past the experimental stage to a state almost reaching perfection, until today we have the paper-shell pecan — with a shell so thin that it can be crushed in the palm of your hand and the inner partitions are nothing but tasteless tissues. It is as large as the average English walnut, but on account of the thin shell there is a much greater proportion of meat to each nut — and the meat being exceedingly sweet and rich and of a delicate texture, forty or fifty nuts making a pound, as compared to one hundred and twenty to two hundred of the ordinary pecans. The reader will see from this that while the early growers who followed Colonel Stuart's first efforts and tried to grow the nuts from seed, failed, after waiting eight or ten years for the trees to produce the ideal nuts, yet with the study of its culture and the growing popularity of page thirteen The Mobile Plan this nut, the pecan tree has been developed to the hardiest, longest-lived, and most dependable and productive nut bearing tree known. THE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS OF THE PECAN NOW A CERTAINTY. The Experimental Stage Is Past. The United States Department of Agriculture, the State Agricultural Experiment Stations, and the success of nurserymen and private growers have lifted the growing of pecans in a commer- cial way up to a permanently established basis. Nuts are becoming more universally recog- nized every day as a staple article of diet. Many prominent physicians and sanitariums are recommending raw foods chief of which are nuts as an exclusive diet. Many restaurants in this country serve nothing but raw foods and nuts, and more and more the public is being educated to the consumption of these nutritious foods. With the continual destruction of our natural forests the nut bearing trees are growing scarcer each year. It would require the planting of large groves every year in order to keep pace with the destruc- tion of our wild nut trees to say nothing of coping with the continually increasing demand. The Mobile Plan p age fourteen Manufacturers of candies, confections and table delicacies are opening up new sources of con- sumption almost daily. Importation of nuts into the United States has more than quadrupled during the last decade, the value of the importation amounting to over $15,000,000 annually. Taking these facts into consideration, can there be a doubt in your mind that the growing of paper-shell pecans can be anything but a tre- mendous success? When the people of this country import and pay heavy duty on $15,000,000 worth of nuts every year, it is apparent that we have been overlook- ing one of the greatest opportunities for a suc- cessful commercial proposition that has ever been offered. The Age of Bearing, Yield and Price. The paper-shell pecan trees are produced from seed — the nurserymen beginning with the planting of the nut, and produces what is known as a seedling. This seedling he carefully cultivates and cares for until it is two years old, when he root-grafts or buds into the seedling stock, scions or buds taken from a tree of known variety, cutting off the seedling trunk and diverting the entire Page fifteen The Mobile Plan strength of the two-year-old root into the grafted or budded section, which now becomes the main trunk. When this young tree has had a three-year growth, under proper care and cultivation, it is ready to transplant to the orchard. This is what is commonly known among nurserymen as a "three-year-old" grafted or budded tree, although in reality it is a five-year-old tree (dating from the planting of the nut), and if it has been grown under right cultural methods, it will invariably be larger and stronger than an average five-year- old seedling tree. It is a much more expensive method to plant nursery grown trees than to begin with the nut, but it saves years of time and it is an absolute guarantee of desired results. In fact, it is the only safe and sure method to pursue. If good, thrifty, ''three-year-old" grafted or budded trees of the best varieties, grown in the nursery as above described, are transplanted to the orchard where soil and climatic conditions are suitable to the variety selected, and then properly cultivated, fertilized and cared for, they will yield, dating from the time they are set out in the orchard, as follows: The Mobile Plan Page sixteen 6th year 10 pounds 7th year 25 pounds 8th year 45 pounds 9th year 70 pounds 10th year. 100 pounds These figures are not estimates but are the tabulation of averages secured from figures given by scores of nurserymen, horticulturists and private owners of pecan groves. Even considering that the constantly increasing demand for paper-shell pecans, which cannot be bought in the North •for less than $1 per pound, will not sustain the high price, we must believe it will at least assure a stable price. Let us put the price of the fancy paper-shell pecan down to the present retail price of ordinary seedling pecans — 25 cents per pound — and we secure the following figures — based on the planting of 18 trees to the acre and a low average on yield and bearing age — from a five-acre orchard of paper-shell pecans : After Pounds Income Income Income per planting tree, per tree, per tree. per acre. five acres. 6th year 10 $ 2.50 $ 45.00 $ 225.00 7th year 25 6.25 112.50 562.50 8th year 45 11.25 202.50 1,012.50 9th year 70 17.50 315.00 1,575.00 10th year 100 25.00 450.00 2,250.00 We have seen nuts on a one-year-old tree in the nursery row, and know of a tree four years old from the bud which bore forty pounds. Water Front Scenes The Mobile Plan Page eighteen These, however, are exceptional cases. Seedling trees 25 years old often bear from 300 to 500 pounds. As indicating the extraordinary value of such a tree, we might mention one owned by Mr. J. W. Laurendine in Mobile County from which he sold in one season 400 pounds of nuts- for $400.00. He also received in the same season $200.00 for wood to be used for the purpose of budding other trees. You understand, of course, that the pecan is a large spreading forest tree and in its later life requires a great deal of space, although in the first twenty-five years it will not occupy all space allotted to it — when the trees are set out fifty to fifty-five feet apart each way. It is, therefore, economical and profitable to combine with the cultivation of the pecan some sort of tree requiring little space and which will yield a profit from these waste spaces. In all the range of horticulture, no more ideal tree for this purpose can be found than the SATSUMA ORANGE. The Satsuma Orange has been introduced into this country from Japan — it being a variety of the Mandarin — an orange grown in the northern part of Japan where there is danger of frost, Page nineteen The Mobile Plan under conditions similar to those found in the Gulf Coast of Alabama. It is budded on the hardy, frost-proof native stock of the citrus trifoliata. This produces a dwarfed tree about eight or nine feet in height that seldom shows signs of life until early in the spring, thus reducing the danger of frost to a minimum, and it has often withstood a temperature of 10 degrees above zero. The Satsuma orange is slightly smaller than the ordinary sweet orange, slightly flattened, colored a deep yellow, and of a sweet and de- licious flavor. It has a loosely adhering rind and the seg- ments are easily parted. This feature gives it the name of the "kid-glove orange." Probably the greatest marketing advantage of the Satsuma is the fact that it ripens very early — in September and October — before any other varieties are on the market and naturally meets a large demand at good prices. In addition to this early-ripening feature, it will hang on the trees until along in January, and unlike any other orange, it can be safely left on the tree until thoroughly ripe and then shipped without danger of decay, thus making it one of the most dependable shipping crops. The Mobile Plan page twenty The Satsuma is easily cultivated, comes into bearing in about three years after planting, con- tinuing to bear for a generation, and is notably free from disease and insect pests. The pecan trees are planted fifty-two and one- half feet apart each way and half way between them we plant Satsuma orange trees, alternating the rows of pecans with rows of Satsuma oranges, and in this manner two hundred and thirty-four of these trees will be planted in each five acre tract. On account of the fact that the Satsuma orange has such a sparkling and lively taste and can be put on the market long before any other variety, it naturally brings a high price — the average return being from 15 to 25 cents a dozen wholesale. However, assuming the unusually low price of 12 cents per dozen and basing the yield of each tree far below the average, we give herewith a table of additional profits obtainable from plant- ing 47 Satsuma orange trees to each acre or a total of 234 trees to each five-acre pecan orchard, including a column showing the total profits from both the paper-shell pecan and the Satsuma orange trees. Page twenty-one The Mobile Plan After In- Oranges come per tree. planting trees. 6th year 7th year 8th year 9th year 10th year This table is probable results 300 400 500 500 500 per tree. $3.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 Income per acre. $141.00 188.00 235.00 235.00 235.00 Income per five acres, $ Combined crop pecans and oranges, five acres. > 930.00 1,502.50 2,187.50 2,750.00 3,425.00 705.00 940.00 1,175.00 1,175.00 1,175.00 not an estimate of possible or It is the very low average of actual, tabulated results covering many years' experience under all conditions — and in many in- stances the figures have run a great deal higher than any we have quoted. Mobile is 770 Miles South of Chicago (Twenty -eight Hours' Ride} • • • • • • • X • • • • • • • X X • X • • • • • • X X X X X X • • x • X • • • • X X X X X ■ • X • V • > • • • • X X X X • • • • • • • "2 X X X X X > • X • • • X • • • X X co • X • • • • • • - X X £ • X • • • • X • X • o X X X X X X X <0 • • • X • X • • • • X X • X • X • X • X • • • x x X X X • X • - • ■ • • X • X • X X X X X • X • • • • X • X • 60 Foot Boul eva rd A Five-Acre Tract Dots show Pecan Trees, crosses indicate Orange Trees. Pecan Trees 52 l / 2 feet apart. 91 Pecan Trees and 234 Orange Trees planted in each five-acre tract Speaks for Itself Meat of the Pecan. Actual Size ADVANTAGES OF PAPER-SHELL PECANS OVER APPLES, PEACHES AND PEARS. Paper-Shell Pecan Or- chards are not seriously injured by drouth; are rather benefited by heavy rains; survive all such fight frosts as we have ; have no serious diseases or vital enemies when bearing; require little care, labor or attention when they begin to bear; are not perishable, can be gathered and marketed w h e n convenient and prices are highest and be- ing shipped in bags or sacks the expense of box- ing and crating is saved. live and bear vigorously for hundreds of years; are profitable to a much greater degree than any other nut or fruit; provides a constantly in- creasing income through- out the life of the owner and the lives of his sur- viving wife, children or other descendants or de- pendents ; rendering him independent for life and protecting his posterity against poverty and want. Apple, Peach and Pear Orchards are killed by drouth; are ruined by heavy rains; suffer from the intense cold of the North; are destroyed and often completely exterminated by parasites and pests; require constant care and at- tention and considerable labor, including spraying, pruning, etc. are perishable, harder to handle, must be picked promptly, boxed, crated and wrapped, and if there is a "glut in the market" the returns are nil. and, even when supple- mented by side crops the returns are no earlier than from pecan orchards so supplemented ; yield precarious profits and even under the most fa- v o r a b 1 e circumstances, less than the paper-shell pecan ; even if they attain their natural age, yield an in- come for only a compara- tively few years, which may be cut " still shorter by the destructive activi- ties of parasites and other pests, which may at al- most any time destroy your orchard and your in- come. Page twenty nine The Mobile Plan THE MOBILE PLAN And What It Means to You. The Mobile Farm Land Company has, after careful investigation, selected, with the advice of horticulturists thoroughly familiar with all dis- tricts in which pecans and Satsuma oranges can be profitably grown, a large tract of land near the city of Mobile and will plant this land, won- derfully adapted for the purpose, with pecans and Satsuma oranges and keep the trees under expert care for five years, turning over the five-acre orchards to the purchaser at the end of that time. On each five acre tract will be planted 91 three-year-old grafted or budded paper-shell pecan trees of selected varieties, and 234 one- year-old Satsuma orange trees budded on hardy frost-proof native stock of the citrus trifoliata. During the first five years of the trees' growth, when expert attention and care are needed and when practically all risks are encountered, the orchards remain under our care, we taking all the risks upon ourselves. After that period the risk is lessened fully 95 per cent and only until then are we willing to turn the five-acre orchards over to each purchaser with a guarantee of five years' growth and the health of the trees. i Page thirty-one The Mobile Plan Of course, the Mobile Farm Land Company may still be relied upon at the end of the five years to care for the orchard and market the crops on a percentage basis, if the purchaser wishes them to do so, as it will still be occupied in the immediate vicinity with its own orchards and farming industries. As we have stated previously, the selection of all trees and the methods of cultivation will be under the supervision of a reliable pecan expert, and the Mobile Farm Land Company will have under his direction horticultural experts in both the raising of pecans and Satsuma oranges, and marketing them. But more important than this — we have ar- ranged with Mr. E. K. Dyar, lately superintend- ent of ex- Vice-President Fairbanks' large Illinois farms, to take charge of these orchards, and he will constantly supervise our vast farm and orchard enterprises and greatly assist in the building up of an ideal farming and orchard community as a suburb to the city of Mobile. Mr. Dyar is a man of wide agricultural experi- ence, of progressive ideas, technical knowledge and enthusiasm for this work, and taking all in all, no better man could be found in the length and breadth of this land to take charge of such an undertaking. HP *"* 5- * HI i fc .* fc | * P^- -**■. if ■■■,S^,i.;-; : '' ■-'■'%,/ £• **A'£.? ' ~» ■* - «* -,,'''* 1 w** $WM% ? The Mobile Plan Page thirty-four The Suburban Location of Our Property. It is hard to realize that the opening of the Panama Canal which will revolutionize the ship- ping routes of the world, is only three or four years distant. A glance at the bird's-eye view in this book- let will show at once that Mobile is destined to be the chief port for Panama business, especially for the enormous coal traffic which is to grow out of that enterprise. The cheapest tidewater coal in the world will be found at this port, through the expenditure of $15,000,000 by the United States Government to make available to navigation the great Ala- bama coal fields. Private capital to an equal extent is developing dock and other facilities to meet the demands incident to the opening of the Panama Canal. The orchards of this company will be adjacent to the Mobile Farm Land town site of Dawes, near to the City of Mobile, already a city of 75,000 people, counting its legitimate residence area, and affording every facility for commerce, professional and other business, education and amusement. Within reach of these properties are the finest fishing grounds of the south; the famous oyster Page thirty-five The Mobile Plan beds of the Mississippi Sound and every outing feature which can appeal to the sportsman. The county of Mobile has now in hand a spe- cial fund of $500,000 to be expended in extending its magnificent hard roads which have made this section famous. The chief of these highways will pass directly through the company's lands, connecting the pub- lic highways of Mississippi with those of Mo- bile. This improvement will furnish to our prop- erties a system of automobile highways of ines- timable value from every point of view. The orchards will be so laid out as to front a 60-ft. Boulevard which will be amply shaded at the sides by the trees within each grove. Near the orchard preserve will pass our farm land branch of the Mobile and Ohio Rail- way, connecting with the Government Street Car line in the City. Over this branch will be oper- ated suburban motor service for both express and passengers, while regular freight service over the M. & O. will also be afforded. Soil and Climate. — Other Living Advantages to be Enjoyed. An analysis of the soil of our orchard reserve shows it to be what is known as the Orangeburg Sandy Loam, underlaid with a porous clay sub- Page thirty-seven The Mobile Plan soil. According- to government experts, this is the most ideal soil for pecan and citrus culture, and for all manner of staple crops, such as cab- bage, potatoes, oats, corn, melons, figs, peaches, small fruits and garden truck. The rainfall averages about 56 inches the year, distributed so evenly that this section has no dry season. Temperature seldom gets below freezing and rarely rises above 90. Our experience and that of hundreds of settlers from the far north, is that this temperature, modified as it always is by the strong gulf breezes, is not anything like as trying as temperature 10 degrees lower in the north, while the mild air from the Gulf Streams assures winter conditions most ideal. Unlike all the coast lands where elevation and drainage are not satisfactory this land is free from insect pests. A plentiful soft water supply is found at a uni- form depth of about 40 feet, and analysis shows this water to rival in purity the famous Wauke- sha and Poland Springs waters. This region has been lately the subject of the strongest commendation for its possibilities in poultry raising. Scores of poultry farms have been moved to this section, where an all year around green feeding season assures ideal condi- The Mobile Plan p aKe thmy-eieht tions, not only for raising and fattening, but for egg production. The proximity of these lands to the great city of Mobile and to its famous Spring Hill College — only 7 miles 'away — should be carefully consid- ered by every purchaser with family responsi- bilities. The health of this plateau is a matter of medical record for a hundred years, attested by this college, which has never lost a student from malarial diseases. Not only will these groves be extremely valu- able on account of their income, but within five years the advance of the city suburbs to the west over this high plateau will enhance their value tenfold. The Mobile Farm Land Company can be re- lied upon to undertake any other improvement of the purchaser's orchard which he may desire. It will build him any sort of a home, and undertake to have it cared for in the absence of the owner. When it can be said of a section that it will produce with less labor and greater certainty all the necessities of life and most of its luxuries, that its conditions for health, comfort and pleas- ure are unexcelled, and that its desirableness for residence purposes is accentuated by the prox- imity of a great and growing city, what more can the investor require when he has as an assurance Page thirty-nine The Mobile Plan for the safety of his investment the absolute trust- worthiness of an association of the leading citi- zens of that city who are to undertake to plant, develop and care for his investment, and who es- teem the investor's visits or sojourn at his or- chard one of the chief advantages to Mobile, growing out of the orange and pecan grove under- taking. Cost and Contract. The company will develop any tract or tracts of land purchased, plant as described herein with three-year-old Pecan and one-year-old Satsuma orange trees, and for a period of five years from the date of purchase pay all taxes, keep up all necessary improvements, replacing all trees that may die or be destroyed, fertilize, cultivate and give proper care to all such purchased tracts in every particular. All this will be done at the company's expense, and under the direct supervision of its horticul- turists. It can readily be seen this is a service that no man unless himself an expert and con- stantly on the ground will give to his own prop- erty. Further it is needless to say this is a serv- ice no man could afford to pay for if the whole cost fell upon his individual property, excepting of course, his holdings were very large. The company maintains at all times a highly perfect- The Mobile Plan Paee to ny ed and competent organization for the develop- ment of its own property, and for this reason it can develop orchards for others in connection therewith at a cost far below that for which an individual could ever do it, or have it done. A revenue producing estate, the first two crops for which will more than reimburse him in full for all the money invested, will be passed into the hands of the purchaser at the end of the five year period. Payments may be ananged so as to extend over a three year period if desired. The company enters into a contract with the purchaser which is liberal and equitable, cover- ing as it does a period of five years. It espe- cially provides for two serious contingencies which are of deep concern to every purchaser — financial embarrassment and death. The com- pany agrees with the purchaser in case of death to carry out its part of the contract in every de- tail. If so desired by the heirs all further pay- ments are waived until after the five year period, proceeds from the crops of the 6th and 7th year will be applied on deferred payments until stais- fied, any balance will then be paid to the heirs. In any event the property will be deeded over to the heirs or assigns at the end of the seventh year. The company further agrees if at any time \ In Mobile The Mobile Plan Page forty-two after two years the purchaser finds himself finan- cially unable to carry out his part of the con- tract, to return to him at a stipulated rate all moneys which he has paid on his contract. The company agrees that the purchaser may live upon the property during the five year pe- riod of development if he desires, but must in no way interfere with the cultivation of the trees. The company further agrees that after the five year period should the purchaser not desire to maintain a continuous residence on the prop- erty, to act as his resident agent for either a percentage of the crops or a cash consideration, caring for the property in a first class manner, cultivating, harvesting and marketing the crops, and in every way looking after his interests. None of this property will be sold to people who would in any sense of the word be considered un- desirable. This is a feature that is important and is made a part of every purchaser's contract. Pagt forty-thret The Mobile Plan CONCLUSION. This short sketch has been confined to a branch of horticulture — Pecans and Satsuma oranges — essentially a gentleman's occupation. After the first five years the labor is light. There is no mad rush of work in this industry at any season of the year. The harvest season is never hurried on account of weather or market conditions. The pecans when ripe fall off the tree to be gathered at leisure and can be mar- keted when convenient. It is not necessary to gather the Satsuma orange when ripened. It can be allowed to hang on the trees for months, to be picked and shipped at the convenience of the owner. There is always a market for both the pecans and oranges, and the freight rates are always low. There is little expense attached in the shipment of these crops, as no refrigeration is necessary for either. Pecans can be shovelled into a box car like grain and the oranges can be crated and shipped in a very inexpensive man- ner. It must be appreciated that this is an im- mense saving over ordinary fruit. If you will investigate our proposition carefully, we are very sure you will become the owner of a five or ten acre tract, and that you will recommend the in- vestment to your friends, whom you will desire for future neighbors. The Mobile Plan Page forty-four TEMPERATURE AND RAINFALL AT MOBILE. The following figures are taken from reports made by the United States Government: Average Temperature for Past 15 Years. January 51.0 February 53.6 March 61.4 April 66.9 May 74.4 June 79.8 July 80.8 August 80.5 September 77.4 October 68.1 November 59.5 December .53.3 Annual average 67.2 Average Rainfall for Past 15 Years. January 4.51 inches February 5.77 inches March 5.29 inches April 3.40 inches May 3.68 inches June 3.00 inches July 6.10 inches August 6.36 inches September 2.02 inches October 3.09 inches November 4.74 inches December 4.74 inches Annual average 56.59 inches The Mobile Plan Page forty . five YOU ARE INTERESTED IN The commercial possibilities. The suburban location. The healthfulness of climate and water. The bungalow we build for you. The home for retirement. The boating, sailing and outing features. The Mobile Bay with its fish and oysters. The insurance feature of our contract. The absolute guarantee against loss. The responsibility and reliability of the com- pany. MOBILE FARM LAND CO., 514-516 Commercial National Bank Bldg., Chicago. rea 2» » 94 '