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land was never farmed except for some tomatoes, Mr. Kromhout <br />informed the Board that he originally came here from the <br />Netherlands, and there are two places in the world where the land <br />is exactly the same and that is in part of the south of the <br />Netherlands and the Allapattah Flats. These flats run from <br />Melbourne to about Jupiter in a stretch of land two to five miles <br />wide about 14 miles away from the ocean; this is roughly between <br />1-95 and CR 512 and includes his property and the subject <br />property. These flats contain some of the very best agricultural <br />lands. Mr. Kromhout advised that his family can maintain a brood <br />cow and calf on one acre and have been harvesting citrus 500 <br />boxes to the acre. This is top land, but it, of course, requires <br />proper management and you must have dikes and pumps so you have <br />your flood irrigation and drainage in control. Mr. Kromhout <br />noted that the land east of his is the same land; it is good <br />land, but it must have dikes and drainage. Mr. Kromhout <br />emphasized that he never had any trouble with the freezes because <br />he was able to flood his grove completely. The subject property, <br />however, has absolutely no drainage way out. He did not believe <br />the Cains are very familiar with the kind of land they have where <br />the layer of clay does not let a drop of water through, and you,. <br />therefore, must pump the water out to get rid of it unless you <br />have a place to store it. Mr. Kromhout noted that some people <br />consider 10% of the land a sufficient storage area, but he <br />considers 50% the absolute minimum. He continued to emphasize <br />that this is very good citrus land, but the drainage is the <br />problem. He felt, as a farmer, that if the Cains do not want to <br />put farming there, it is an attack on his "green belt" status, <br />and he also was concerned about having people next door who will <br />trespass on his property, shoot the deer, fish, etc. He noted <br />that they already are having trouble because of the St. Johns <br />Water District being closed to hunting. <br />Mr. Kromhout then spoke at length of his trip to China and <br />the problems caused there by overpopulation and the.ir difficulty <br />49 <br />DEC 4 198 r <br />Bi70K 62 FSE W! <br />