"The most important groups of grain-producing sorghums are kafir and milo. The grain sorghums are of comparatively recent introduction. They are now extensively grown in the southern half of the Great Plains area -- Sorghum grain is feed for stock and food for man. It also may be used in making alcohol. the grain has about 90 percent of the feeding value of corn. It is a profitable feed, therefore, when the price is not more than 90 percent of the price of corn. Where the yield is 10 per cent more than the yield of corn, grain sorghums are as profitable crops to grow as corn. Sorghum grain is relished by all stock and poultry and if of good quality is readily eaten. For human food the meal can be used in every way that corn meal is used, and the grain may be popped like pop corn. The thrashed grain should be thoroughly dry and as clean as possible before it is stored in bins. Broken kernels and dirt pack so closely that they exclude the air and so increase the danger of spoiling. Bins for sorghum grain should be equipped with simple and easily made ventilators. The acreage of grain sorghum is increasing steadily. More of the grain should be used in the section where it is grown." -- p. 2

The town of Hastings owes its existence to Standard Oil Company cofounder Henry Flagler, who, by 1886, was building a hotel in St. Augustine. In 1890, Flagler invited his cousin Thomas Horace Hastings to establish a model farm to raise vegetables for the hotels he was building along the east coast of Florida. It soon became widely known that there was big money to be made in agriculture in Florida. The mild winters gave Hastings a significant advantage over other areas of the nation, and entrepreneurs from the north and west came to seek their fortunes. The story of Hastings is the story of a town that once was the center for pioneering the production of winter vegetables for cities and towns throughout the eastern United States. It is a story of a group of strong, industrious, and creative people who made a lasting impact on the history of Florida.