An Era Of Evolution
December 1, 2007 
In the mid-1800s, word of a gold strike in California made its way back East and set off one of the biggest population migrations in history. “Go West, young man� was the clarion call to people in the East, who loaded up their wagons and crossed the country with dreams of pockets full of gold.
Fast forward to the early 1900s when word was making its way to other populated areas that Florida also was a place of riches. Not gold this time, but sunshine, good land for farming, and a great year-round climate.
The Truth About Florida
During the westward migration, stories and books were published that stretched the truth about what California had to offer, but these exaggerations of gold laying on the ground for easy picking fueled the movement and got some people rich.
When interest in Florida began to pick up, there were those who would happily sell unsuspecting northerners swampland that was billed as fine ground for farming and raising families. People looking to move to Florida needed the truth about the state. While Florida Grower was an agricultural journal, it also enjoyed a national readership by those who were interested in what the Sunshine State had to offer. For a period, it carried this tag line — “The Truth About Florida.�
Russell Kay worked with Florida Grower in various capacities from 1914 to 1925. While working in the circulation department, he noted the up-tick in circulation from out-of-staters, who were prospective home seekers and investors. To develop this further, Florida Grower advertised in northern metropolitan newspapers and magazines with the header — “The Truth About Florida.� The ads worked, and as the population of the Sunshine State grew, so did the magazine’s circulation.
Former editor Marvin Walker, who held the post from 1925 to 1935, recalled how this phenomenon brought his family to Florida. In the 1958 50th anniversary issue of Florida Grower he wrote: “It was in 1910 that my father, a Chicago railroad man, saw his first Florida Grower. He saw one of the advertisements that read, ‘If you have 10 acres of grapefruit, you’ll have a plenty for the rest of your life.’ So he decided his young son should become a citrus grower. To make sure of it, he planted a grove near Lutz, north of Tampa.�
Walker never became a citrus grower himself, but his father’s move to the state is a testament to the draw the magazine created for Florida in the early days.
The Stroller
“You can’t edit a successful farm publication from an office easy chair.�
That was the often-quoted wisdom of Edgar A. Wright, who took the editor’s seat in 1910. Wright spent a good bit of time in the field visiting communities and then sharing with readers the attributes of the town and what the surrounding land was suited for planting.
The colorful editorials Wright wrote painted a portrait of a state in its formative years. It was remarkable that he was able to make the trips around the state and get back in time to pen his columns before the presses ran each week. Former editor Russell Kay said of transportation around 1914: “There were very few automobiles and very few paved roads. Sand trails through the woods served in most cases. Connecting Tampa and Plant City was a 9-foot brick road. A trip to Miami from Tampa was a courageous undertaking, for you had to travel sand trails most of the way.�
Organization And Promotion
Florida Grower’s original name was Florida Fruit And Produce News; a name which it carried from 1908 to 1911. In those early days, the publication covered many of the same production issues facing citrus growers of today, but it also strongly advocated growers organize a cooperative marketing effort rather than the “cut-throat� competition that ruled the day.
The Florida Citrus Exchange (today known as Sealed Sweet) held its first meeting in February 1909 and formerly organized in July the same year. In April 1910, the manager of the exchange, recognizing the influence of the publication, purchased Florida Fruit And Produce News. The Exchange would run full-page ads encouraging citrus growers to unite and warning of the evils of inferior fruit.
In 1911, the publication became Florida Grower, carrying for a time the tagline — “The Official Organ of the Florida Citrus Exchange.� In those years, the publication’s editors were given free range to cover the topics and crops of their choosing, but were encouraged to provide favorable coverage to the exchange.
In 1925, the exchange sold Florida Grower to Charles Mullen and Jerome Waterman. Weekly publications continued until March 1927, when the magazine went monthly.
Dark Days Of Depression
One of the reasons Florida Grower went monthly in 1927 was because advertising was drying up in advance of the stock market crash in 1929 and the growing grip of the Great Depression. Walker recalled: “Real estate advertising disappeared, and in its struggle to survive, the magazine became a monthly. Those were difficult days for everyone in Florida.�
The Depression cut average incomes by 40%, but many felt lucky to even have jobs in the height of the struggle. The Gross National Product was virtually cut in half under the weight of the Depression. The magazine was there and covered it all.
Rancher Added
The country survived the Depression and so did Florida Grower magazine, as it rallied the troops and got behind the effort to win World War II (see page 10). After the war, Florida bore witness to an unprecedented boom as people flooded the state (see page 26).
Years earlier, Florida Grower editor Edgar Wright butted heads with the cattle industry during the 1910s. Back then, cattle roamed free range across the countryside. The powerful cattle barons of the time beat back any attempts to enact laws to put cattle behind fences. Newcomers to the state would even put up fences to keep cattle out.
The cattle tick also came along during this timeframe. The state campaign to eradicate the pest got little support from some of the state’s cattle producers. There were stories of cattle dipping vats used in the eradication effort being dynamited by angry ranchers.
Wright threw the full weight of Florida Grower behind the effort to eradicate the cattle tick and to fence cattle properly. In doing so, he made some enemies, but in the long run, the industry benefited after these changes were adopted.
Returning To Our Roots
In the 90th anniversary issue in December 1997, editor Frank Garner proclaimed the magazine was returning to its roots, dropping Rancher from its title and again embracing the Florida Grower namesake.
Over the years, the magazine had covered just about every form of agriculture and livestock in Florida. When current owner Meister Media Worldwide purchased the magazine in 1995, the decision was made to focus coverage on two primary areas where the magazine had built great expertise — citrus and vegetable production.
The return of the Florida Grower title strengthened the long-standing dedicated focus on serving the state’s citrus and vegetable growers. As the calendar page turns over 100 years, the publication will continue its commitment to serving Florida’s growers by providing the latest news and information vital to their success.
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