Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper The Florida Agriculturist (Deland, Fla.) 1878-1911

View All Front Pages

About The Florida Agriculturist (Deland, Fla.) 1878-1911

For many years, the DeLand Florida Agriculturalist was the only agricultural publication in the state. Established in 1878, the newspaper appeared weekly through 1907, became a monthly in 1908, and continued through June 1911 when it ceased publication. Its first editor was Christopher O. Codrington, a native of Jamaica and an importer of ornamental and exotic plants. Many of Codrington’s specimens were used in the landscaping of new Florida tourist attractions. Some catalogers of U.S. newspapers regard the Florida Agriculturalist as a periodical rather than as a newspaper, because plant orders could be sent to the newspaper’s subscriptions office. George P. Rowell and Co.’s American Newspaper Directory suggests that the Florida Agriculturalist was established as early as 1874, but this early appearance may have been a forerunner of the newspaper and perhaps even a catalog for Codrington’s plant business. The Codrington family published other newspapers in DeLand, among them the DeLand News.

In the 1884 edition of Edwin Aldin and Co.’s American Newspaper Catalogue, the Florida Agriculturalist is described as a large eight-page newspaper; the cost of a one-year subscription was two dollars. The newspaper informed readers of “the capabilities of the State of Florida, its productions and resources,” and it was “full of the experiences of Old Settlers and an instructor for the new.” “You will learn,” the American Newspaper Catalogue continued, ”from it all about Orange Culture and other Semi-Tropical fruit, Market Gardening, etc., besides much general information of interest about all parts of the State.” Prior to passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a surprising number of Chinese immigrants made their way to Florida, and the Florida Agriculturalist strongly supported their role as farm laborers. The paper also reported on agriculture in general, shipping and railroad schedules, and other topics of interest to Florida’s farming communities.

By 1887, E.O. Painter had taken over as publisher and editor of the Florida Agriculturalist. Painter came to DeLand from New York at the age of sixteen, largely unschooled but an avid reader. He cleared land for his own orange grove and went to work for the Florida Agriculturalist as a journeyman printer. In 1885, Painter bought a half-interest in the newspaper and later acquired a whole interest, paid for by sale of an orange grove. Painter was so successful that the E.O. Painter Printing Company spun off from the Florida Agriculturalist and today remains one of Florida’s oldest and most successful printing firms. Painter continued as editor and owner of the Florida Agriculturalist until 1907, when he sold all of his rights and interests in the paper. Subsequently, the Florida Agriculturalist moved to Jacksonville, which because of its bustling port had supplanted DeLand as a major economic center.

Provided By: University of Florida

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Florida Agriculturist (Deland, Fla.) 1878-1911

Summary

  • For many years, the Florida Agriculturist [LCCN: sn96027724] was the only agricultural publication in Florida. It began publishing in 1878 and ceased publication in 1911. In the 1884 edition of Edwin Aldin & Bro.'s American Newspaper Catalogue [LCCN a18000248], the publication is described as a large eight-page newspaper, the cost of a one-year subscription was two dollars. The newspaper was said to inform readers of "the capabilities of the State of Florida, its productions and resources," and it was "full of the experiences of Old Settlers and an instructor for the new." "You will learn," the American Newspaper Catalogue continued, "from it all about orange culture and other semi-tropical fruit, market gardening, etc., besides much general information of interest about all parts of the state." Prior to passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, a surprising number of Chinese immigrants made their way to Florida, and their labor in state agriculture was strongly supported by the Florida Agriculturist (see the issues for 24 January 1874 and 9 March 1881). Growing agricultural businesses, shipping industries, railroad schedules and other topics of interest to Florida's agricultural communities is also reported. The address for subscriptions to the Florida Agriculturist was C. Codrington & Co., DeLand, Florida, the presumed publishing location. In 1878 and still at the turn of the 20th century, DeLand was a cross-roads of sorts for Florida. Located in Volusia County (FL) on the Atlantic Ocean, DeLand was, for a time, a terminal point and later a hub for railways reaching into southern Florida. With the expansion of railroad lines in Florida and the opening of the Port of Jacksonville in the later part of the first decade of the 20th century, DeLand would eventually be supplanted by Jacksonville (FL) as an economic hub of Florida. The Florida Agriculturist was a weekly from its start in 1878 through 1907. It became a monthly in 1908 continuing through June 1911 when it ceased publication. The editor was C. Codrington in 1878. Codrington, a native of Jamaica, was an importer of ornamental and exotic plants into Florida. Many Codrington plants were used in the landscaping of new Florida tourist attractions. Many catalogers of U.S. newspapers regard the Florida Agriculturist as a periodical rather than as a newspaper because plant orders could be sent to the newspaper's subscriptions office and others, because the newspaper functioned so well, and in all likelihood originally, as a catalog for the C. Codrington Company. One source (Geo. P. Rowell and Co.'s American Newspaper Directory [LCCN sn82007064]) suggests that the newspaper was established as early as 1874, but this may have been a forerunner of the newspaper, perhaps even a catalog for the C. Codrington Company. The Codrington family also published other newspapers in DeLand, among them the DeLand (FL) News [LCCN sn92062121]. E.O. Painter was publisher and editor in 1887. According to his obituary published in the Proceedings of the American Pomological Society, 33rd biennial session, Painter came to DeLand from New York with his parents at the age of sixteen, largely unschooled but an avid reader. He cleared land for his own orange grove and went to work for the Florida Agriculturist as a journeyman printer. In 1885, he bought a half-interest in the paper and later bought a whole interest paid for by the sale of an orange grove. Painter was so successful that the E.O. Painter Printing Company spun off from the Florida Agriculturist and, today (ca. 2008) remains as one of Florida's oldest and most successful printers. Painter continued as editor and owner of the Florida Agriculturist until 1907, when he sold all of his rights and interests in the paper, which was subsequently published in Jacksonville. The Port of Jacksonville had opened the previous year and the City of Jacksonville had begun to supplant DeLand as an economic center in Florida.--E. Kesse, University of Florida Digital Library Center.

Dates of Publication

  • 1878-1911

Created / Published

  • DeLand, Fla. : Kilkoff & Dean, 1878-1911.

Headings

  • -  Agriculture--Florida
  • -  De Land (Fla.)--Newspapers
  • -  Volusia County (Fla.)--Newspapers
  • -  Jacksonville (Fla.)--Newspapers
  • -  Duval County (Fla.)--Newspapers
  • -  Agriculture
  • -  Florida
  • -  Florida--De Land
  • -  Florida--Duval County
  • -  Florida--Jacksonville
  • -  Florida--Volusia County
  • -  United States--Florida--Duval--Jacksonville
  • -  United States--Florida--Volusia--De Land

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Monthly, 1908-June 1911
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (May 15, 1878)-v. 38, no. 6 (June 1911).
  • -  Publisher: E.O. Painter, <1887>.
  • -  Editor: C. Codrington, 1878-
  • -  "A journal devoted to state interests."
  • -  Published at Jacksonville and De Land, <1902>-1907; at Jacksonville, 1907-
  • -  Numbering is irregular.
  • -  Issues for 1911 also called "New series."
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format as apart of the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • volumes : illustrations

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn96027724

OCLC Number

  • 1376795

ISSN Number

  • 1940-7440

Preceding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Florida Agriculturist Deland, Fla. -1911. (Jacksonville, FL), Jan. 1 1878. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn96027724/.

APA citation style:

(1878, January 1) The Florida Agriculturist Deland, Fla. -1911. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn96027724/.

MLA citation style:

The Florida Agriculturist Deland, Fla. -1911. (Jacksonville, FL) 1 Jan. 1878. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn96027724/.