\ 
 
FLORIDA AND TEXAS. 
 
 A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 Comparing the Soil, Climate, and Productions of these States, 
 
 SETTING FORTH MANY ADVANTAGES THAT 
 
 EAST AND SOUTH FLORIDA 
 
 0JPZ«X2Z1. •PG» TslVuTXCrlEt,Jk,T(rTm. 
 
 OCALA, FLORIDA : 
 
 PRINTED AT TFIK "EAST FLORIDA BANNER" OFFICE, 
 
 BYT F.SMITH. 
 
 186G. 
 
 'mm 
 

 A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 Coiiipai'iiig the Soil, Climate, and Productions of these States 
 
 SETTING FORTH MANY ADVANTAGES THAT 
 
 EAST AND SOUTH FLORIDA 
 
 OI'DF'EJU.lS TO ES3MIC3r:E^.A.lW17S. 
 
 OCALA; FLORIDA : 
 
 rPJNTED AT THE "EAST FLORIDA BANNER" OBTICE, 
 BY T, F. SMITFT. 
 
 ]806. 
 

 SIR : — This pamphlet is sent that you and your neighbors may see 
 the advantages of the soil, climate, and productions of East and South 
 Florida. If there is any family in your neighbohood who design seek- 
 ing a new home, please hand it over to them for perusal. 
 

 NO. 1. 
 
 Gainesville, Fla., Ap'l 1, 'GO. 
 
 As a great deal of delusion pre- 
 vails, both North and South, re- 
 spectino; the relative advantages 
 ■which Florida and Texas present 
 to the emigrant, and as a long resi- 
 dence in each of these States has 
 enabled me to derive correct infor- 
 mation on this subject, I propose 
 communicating through your wide- 
 ly circulated journal, in a series of 
 brief articles, such facts as I think 
 may be useful to those who desire 
 to emigrate to either of those coun- 
 tries. 
 
 As ihQ first consideration with 
 every emigrant should be the char- 
 acter of the climate in which he in- 
 tends to make a permanent resi- 
 dence, I shall commence by dis- 
 cussing first, the climate of Florida 
 anvl that of Texas. 
 
 The climate of Florida and es- 
 pecki^^ly that of the Peninsular, 
 taking it the whole year around, is 
 much more agreeable than any other 
 in the United States ; and indeed it 
 would be difficult to find a climate 
 in any part of the world so agreea- 
 ble as this. The winters are de- 
 lightful, five days out of six being 
 bright and cloudless, and of the 
 most agreeable temperature. In 
 the Southern portion of thg Penin- 
 sular frost is never felt, and even 
 far North as the Suwannee River 
 there are generally but two or three 
 nights in a whole winter that ice as 
 thick as a half dollar is found. — ■ 
 Carver in discussing the winters of 
 the Peninsular, remarks : '-^o mild 
 are winters in East Florida that 
 the most delicate vegetables and 
 plants of the Carrabec Islands ex- 
 
 perience there not the least injury 
 from that season ; the orangee tree, 
 the bananna, the plantain, the 
 guava, the pineapple, (fee, grow 
 luxurantly. Fogs are scarcely 
 known there, and no country can be 
 more salubrious." 
 
 The winter in Florida resembles 
 very much that season which in 
 the middle States is termed the 
 "Indian Summer," except that in 
 Florida the sky is perfectly clear, 
 and the atmosphere more dry and 
 elastic. Rain but rarely falls dur- 
 ing the winter months in Florida ; 
 three, four, and not unfrequently 
 five weeks, of bright, clear and 
 cloudless days occur continuously. 
 This is one of the greatest charms 
 of the winter climate in Florida ; 
 and in this respect it forms a strik- 
 ing contrast with almost every 
 State in the Union, and especially 
 with Texas, California and Oregon. 
 
 ContraPjj to what might be ex- 
 pected, the Eummer weather in 
 East Florido is much more agreea- 
 ble, and its heat less oppressive 
 (thoug its duration is much lon- 
 ger,) than that which is experienc- 
 ed in the Northern and Middle 
 States. This is attributable in a 
 great measure, to its peninsular 
 position, which causes it to be 
 fanned on the East by the Atlantic 
 breezes, and on the West by those 
 of the Gulf of Mexico, both of which 
 can be distinctly felt in the centre 
 of the State. Besides this, the 
 North-east trade winds play over 
 the whole Peninsula, The summer 
 nights are invariably cool — and 
 the even hottest days are seldom 
 oppressive in the shade. This is 
 more than any State North of Flor- 
 
ida can bonst, and is probaLlj owing 
 to her peninsular character. Para- ' 
 (lexical as it may seem, the ther- 
 mometer ranges touch higher (lur- 
 ing the summer months in New 
 York, Boston and Montreal, than 
 in St. Augustine, Tampa, or Key 
 West. In the former cities, the 
 thermometer frequently ranges as 
 high as 100 and 105 in the shade 
 and that too, ^vithout any breeze to 
 relieve it, whereas, it but rarely 
 reaches as high as 90 at any of the 
 latter places. I am credibly in- 
 formed that a register kept at Key 
 West (the extreme South of Florida) 
 for foueteen years, exhibited but 
 three instances, during the whole 
 period, in which the mercury rose 
 as high as 94 in the shade. But, 
 did it rise even to 104, such is the 
 constant prevalence of refreshing 
 sea-breezes, that less inconvenience 
 would be experienced from it than 
 Viheci it was 85 in th^humid and 
 stagnant atmospheres of other cli- 
 mates. 
 
 General Lawson Surgeon- General 
 of the Army, in his official report 
 on the climate, diseases. &c., of 
 Flori 'a, remarks : "The climate of 
 I'lorida is remarkably equable and 
 agreeable, being subject to fewer 
 atmospheric variations, and its ther- 
 mometer ranges much less than any 
 other part of the United States 
 except a portion of the coast of Cal- 
 ifornia. For example, the Winter 
 at Fort Snelling, Minnesota Terri- 
 tory is 48 degrees colder than at 
 Fort Brooke, Florida ; but the 
 dimmer at Fort Brooke is only 
 about 8 degrees warmer. The 
 mean annual tcrajjcrature of Au- 
 gusta, Geori?ia, is'ncarlv 8 dca;rcc3. 
 
 and that of Fort Gibson. iVrkanf^as, 
 upwards of 10 degrees lower than 
 at Tampa ; yet in both these places, 
 the mean Summer Temperature is 
 higher than at Fort Brooke, Tampa 
 Bay. In the Summer season the 
 mercury rises higher in every pare 
 of the United States, and even in 
 Canada, than it does along the coast 
 of Florida. This is shown by me- 
 terological statistics in this Bu- 
 reau. 
 
 The Summer in Florida may be 
 said to be seven months long; oo 
 that the duration of xyarra weather 
 is nearly twice as long as in the 
 Middle States. The weather dur- 
 ing the whole of these seven months 
 is however, generally of a very 
 pleasant temperature, the nights 
 being uniformly cool and sultry 
 days of very rare occurrence. In- 
 deed so agreeable are the suran.brs 
 in East Florida, there is little 
 choice between them and th«? win- 
 ters ; and many of the oldest in- 
 habitants say that they prefer the 
 former. 
 
 The seasons in Florida are prob- 
 ably as favorable as in any other 
 State in the Union. There occur 
 there, as in every other State, oc- 
 casional droughts of two long du- 
 ration, and there is sometimes a, 
 superabundance of rain ; but, as a 
 general rule the seasons are rei^a- 
 lar and well adapted to all the val- 
 uable staples of that country. — 
 Frequent showers occur the during 
 the months of March, April, May 
 and June, and about the first of 
 Jul}' Ivhat is termed •'the rainy 
 season" commences and continue 
 till about the middle of September. 
 Althougli it rains about every day 
 
(luihig this season it scarccl3' rains 
 nil day. These rains fiill in very 
 heavy showers, accompaniecl by 
 thunder and lightning, and seldom 
 last longer than four hours each 
 day. They gonerallyj commence at 
 1 o'clock, P. M., and are entirely 
 over by 5 o'clock , P. M., leaving 
 for the 'remaining "twenty hours of 
 the day a cloudless sky and a de- 
 lightfully cool atmosphere.* One 
 of the great virtues of the Florida 
 climate is, that nearly all the rains 
 falls diiring the productive season 
 of the year; and that during the 
 winter months, when rains are but 
 little required they seldom fall. — 
 The reverse of this occurs in Texas, 
 California, Oregon, and in nearly 
 all the Mexican States. 
 
 As respects health, the climate 
 of Florida stands pre-eminent. — 
 That the peninsular climate of 
 Florida is much more salubrious 
 than that of any other Stato in the 
 Union, is clearly established by the 
 medical statistics of the army, as 
 well as by the last census returns, 
 in froof of this the most conclusive 
 evidence can be presented ; but it 
 Avill be sufficient here to quote a 
 few remarks from the official Report 
 of the Surgeon-General on this sub- 
 ject. General Lawson states. — 
 "Indeed, the statistics in this Bu- 
 reau demonstrate the fact that the 
 diseases which result from malaria 
 are a much milder type in the Pe- 
 ninsula of Florida than in any other 
 State in the Union. These records 
 show that the ratio of deaths to the 
 number of cases of remittent fever 
 has been much less among the 
 
 *L'lic Jiveruge here is too liiirli. Wc are 
 assured the}- do not average more than 
 oiiu hoiirpL>r diiy. — V.-\ BA-^Nicu. 
 
 troops serving in any otiiicr portion 
 of the United States In the Mid- 
 dle Division of the United i States 
 the proportion is one death to thir- 
 ty-six cases of remittent faver ; has 
 in the Northern Division, one to 
 fifty-two; in the Southern Division, 
 one to fifty-four ; in Texas, one to 
 seventj-eight ; in California, one to 
 one hundred and twenty-two ; in 
 New Mexico, one to one hundred 
 and forty eight ; while in Flordu it 
 is but one to two hundred and 
 eighty-seven. 
 
 "The general heathfulness of 
 many parts of Florida, particularly 
 on its coast, is proverbial. The 
 average annual mortality of the 
 whole Peninsula, from returns in 
 this office, is found to bo 2.06 per 
 cent., Avhile the other portions of 
 the United States (previous to the 
 war with Mexico) it is 3 05 per 
 cent. 
 
 In short, it may be asserted, 
 without fear of refutation, that 
 J lorida posseses a much more 
 agreeable and salubrious climate 
 than any other State or Territory 
 in thp Union, and that her sea- 
 sons are more favorable to the pro- 
 duction of Cotton and Sugar than 
 any Southern State. 
 
 IIow does the climate of Texas 
 compare with that of Florida 7 
 Extensive as Texas is, there is no 
 portion of that vast State, between 
 the Sabine and Rio Grande, that 
 possesses a climate at all compara- 
 table to that of Florida. The ex- 
 tremes of temperature are much 
 greater in every portion j;^f Texas 
 than in any portion of Florida. As 
 far North as the Sabii\a the lacrcu- 
 ry fi-cqucntly i^rses as high as ICi-i 
 
G 
 
 in the sha<lc ; and as far South as 
 Aransas Bay it frequently falls bo 
 low as to freeze salt water and kill 
 the fish ! This latter phenomenon 
 I witnessed rayself in the winter of 
 1845-C, at Corpus Christi, when 
 the whole margin of Aransas Bay 
 was fringed with thick ice. 
 
 But it is not merely as respects 
 the extremes of temperature that 
 the climate of Texas is so much 
 Jess dersirable than that of Florida. 
 Texas is, by the regular and fre- 
 quent prevalence of "Northers," 
 afflicted with a climatic curse which 
 is entirely unknown in Florida. — 
 These "Northers" which may be 
 regarded as a Texas "institution," 
 are tremendous. North-west gales 
 which suddenly spring up, and 
 sweep with unbroken fury over 
 vast praires of the West, then over 
 Texas, and finally exhausc them- 
 selves in the Gulf of Mexico. They 
 last on the average about eixteen 
 hours, and recur on the average 
 twice a week. They prevail at all 
 seasons of the year, so that they 
 are an everlasting afiliction. In 
 winter they are felt as cold gales, 
 which not unfrequently cause the 
 mercury to fall forty degrees in 
 half an hour. In summer they are 
 strong blustering, dry, hot winds, 
 which "parch and destroy," after 
 the fashion of a "sirocco." In 
 short, these "Northers," as I said 
 before, are the curse of Texas ; for 
 were it not for these, she would not- 
 withstanding the great and sudden 
 extremes of temperature, have an 
 agreeable climate during the sum- 
 mer season, when, for about six 
 months in succession, there falls no 
 rain, and in the (Inys arc bright anil 
 
 cloudless. 
 
 As respects health the climate of 
 Texas, though far inferior to that 
 of Florida, is probably on the Avhole 
 much better thi3n the climate of 
 several of the other Southern 
 States. The malaria diseases are 
 not generally of so grave a type as 
 those which prevail in Arkansas, 
 Mississippi and Louisiana. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to say, 
 that a climate which is character- 
 ized, and afflicted by such frequent 
 "Northers," cannot be favorable to 
 invalids, who labor under chest 
 affections ; a class of diseases to 
 the cure of which the mild, balraly, 
 equable climate of Florida, aided 
 by the aroma of her pine forests, is 
 so well adapted. 
 
 As regards the season, there is 
 probably no State in the Union in 
 which they are so unfavorable to 
 agriculture, and when crops are so 
 precarious as in Texas, and espec- 
 ially in the Western portion of it. 
 The rains fall uniformly, during 
 the winter season, when rains are 
 but little required ; and during the 
 productive season of the year there 
 generally prevails an uninterrupted 
 drought of many months. The 
 lands being generally very fertile, 
 whenever the "seasons happens to 
 hit" an enormous crop can be made. 
 But, so generally do the seasons 
 miss, that one good crop out of four 
 is about the average result. Ilenco 
 although we sometimes hear of very 
 large crops being made in Texas, 
 these are only exceptions to the 
 rule of their fiiilure, and it is noto- 
 rious that stock raising is much 
 more profitable than planting in 
 nearly every portion of Texas. — 
 
Indeed the Mexicans were from 
 long experience, so well convinced 
 of the unreliable character of the 
 seasons in Texas that they resorted 
 to irrigation as the only means of 
 obviating the evil. 
 
 If the" statements which I have 
 here made be correct — and I chal- 
 lenge their refutation — it must be 
 admitted that Florida presents to 
 the emigrant three cardinal advan- 
 tages over Texas, viz : A much 
 more salubrious and a much more 
 agreeable climate, and seasons 
 much more favorable to agriculture. 
 
 In my next I shall discuss some 
 other matters relating to those two 
 States, which I trust will prove 
 useful to those who intend to emi- 
 grate from their ft-esent homes, 
 VERDAD. 
 
 NO. II. 
 
 Gainesville, Fla., Ap'l 6, '60 
 Having, in my former letter, ad- 
 duced facts to prove that the cli- 
 mate of Florida is much more salu- 
 brious and agreeable than that of 
 Te^as, and the reasons in the for- 
 mer are much more favorable to ag- 
 riculturure than in the latter coun- 
 try. I shall next proceed to dis- 
 cuss the soils and productions of 
 those two States respectively. 
 
 There is in every State and Ter- 
 ritory in the Union, a very large 
 proportion of barren and poor lands; 
 but that the ratio of these lands dif- 
 fer greatly in different States, 
 Florida has a due proportion of 
 poor lands ; but, compared with 
 other States, the ratio of her barren 
 and woiihless lands is very small. 
 "With the exception of the Ever- 
 glades, (which though at present 
 
 unavailable, arc capable of being 
 reclaimed at a moderate expense,) 
 and her irreclaimable swamp lands, 
 there is scarcely an acre in the 
 whole State of Florida that is entire- 
 ly worthless, or which cannot be 
 made under her tropical climate, 
 tributary to some agricultural pro- 
 duction. Lands which in a more 
 Northern climate would be utterly 
 worthless, will, in Florida, owing to 
 her tropical character, yield valua- 
 ble productions. For example, the 
 poorest pine barren lands of Florida, 
 will produce "without manure, a lux- 
 uriant crop of Sisal Hemp, which 
 yields more profit to the acre than 
 the richest land will when cultiva- 
 ted in sugar, cotton or tobacco. So 
 it is with numerous other valuable 
 tropical products that are adapted 
 to the lands, that in more Northern 
 cliniates, would yield nothing to 
 agriculture. Besides this, there 
 are in Florida no mountain wastes 
 — no barren praires — and there are 
 but few acres in the whole State 
 not under cultivation, that are not 
 covered with valuable timber. 
 
 I shall here give a brief sketch 
 of the different, descriptions of the 
 lands in Florida. 
 
 Pine lands (pitch and yellow pine) 
 form the basis of Florida. These 
 lands are usually divided, into three 
 classes, denoting first, second and 
 third rate pinejlands. 
 
 That which is denominated "first 
 rate pine land" in Florida has noth- 
 ing analogous to it in any of the 
 other States. Its surface is covered, 
 for several inches deep, with a dark 
 vegetable mould, beneath which, to 
 the deph of several feet, is a choco- 
 late colored sandy loam, mixed Trith 
 
the raos-t part, >Yith limestone peb- 
 bles, and resting on a substratum 
 of marl, clay or limestone rock. The 
 fertility and durability of this de- 
 scription of land may be estimated 
 from the well-known fact that it 
 has, on the Upper Suwannee and 
 in several other districts, yielded, 
 during fourteen years of successive 
 cultivation, without the aid of 
 manure, four hundred pounds of 
 Sea Island Cotton to the acre. — 
 These lands are still as productive 
 as eter, 80 that the limit of their 
 durability is still unknown.* 
 
 The "second rate pine" land, 
 which form the largest proportion of 
 Florida, are all productive, and can, 
 by a proper system of cultivation, 
 be rendered much more valuable 
 than the best lands in Texas. These 
 lands afford fine natural pasturage, 
 they are heavily timbered with the 
 best species of pitch and yellow 
 pine ; they are, for the most part, 
 high, rolling, healthy and well-wa- 
 tered. They are (generally based 
 upon marl, clay or limestone. They 
 will produce for several years with- 
 out the aid ofmanure, and when cow- 
 penned, they will yield two thou- 
 sand pounds of the best quality 
 sugar to the acre, or about three 
 hundred pounds of Sea Island, Cot- 
 ton. They will besides, when 
 properly cultivated, produce the 
 finest Cuba tobacco, oranges, lemons, 
 limes, and various other tropical 
 productions, which must in many 
 instances, render them more valua- 
 ble than the best bottom lands in 
 more Northern States. 
 
 *They produce on an average about 
 l\v() hundred pounds of lint cotton per 
 aoro? — Bannciv 
 
 Even the lands of the "third 
 rate,' or most inferior class, are by 
 no means worthless under the cli- 
 mate of Florida. This class of 
 lands may be divided into two 
 orders ; the one comprising high 
 rolling sandy districts, which are 
 sparsely cuvered with a stunted 
 growth of "blackjack" and pine ; 
 the other embracing low, flat, 
 swampy regions, which are fre- 
 quently studded with "bay-galls," 
 and are occasionally inundated, but 
 which are covered with luxuriant 
 vegetation, and very generally 
 with valuable timber. The former 
 of those, it is now ascertained 
 owing to their calcareous soil, well 
 adapted to the growth of the Sisal 
 Hemp, which is ^valuable tropical 
 production. This plant (the Agave 
 Sisiliana) and the Agave MexiCana 
 Hemp, also known as the Maguay, 
 the Pulke Plant, the Century Plant, 
 &c., have both been introduced 
 into Florida, and they both grow 
 in great perfection on the poorest 
 lauds of the country. As these 
 plants derive their chief support 
 from the atmosphere, they will, like 
 the common air plant, preserve 
 their vitality for many months 
 when left out of the ground. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary too add ; 
 that the second order of the third 
 rate pine lands, as here described, 
 is far from worthless. These lands 
 afford a most excellent range for 
 cattle, besides being valuable for 
 their timber and the naval stores 
 which they will produce. 
 
 There is one general feature in 
 the topography of Florida, which 
 no other country in the United 
 States possesses, an<l whicK afford 
 
a great security to tlic iicaltli of its 
 inhabitants. It is this, that the 
 pine lands which form the basis of 
 the country, and -which arc almost 
 universally healthy, are nearly 
 everywhere studded at intervals of 
 a few miles, with hammock lamls 
 of the richest quality. These ham- 
 mocks arc not, as is generally sup- 
 posed, low wet lands, they never 
 require either ditching or draining. 
 They vary in extent from twenty 
 acres to forty thousand acres, and 
 will probably average about 500 
 acres each. Hence the inhabitants 
 have it everywhere in their power 
 to select residences in the pine 
 lands, at such convenient distances 
 from the hammocks as will enable 
 them to cultivate the latter witjiout 
 endangering their health, if it 
 should so happen tjiat any of the 
 hammocks proved to be less healthy 
 than the pine woods. 
 
 Experience in Florida has satis- 
 faotorily shown that residences only 
 half a mile distant from cultivated 
 hammocks are entirely exempt 
 from malaria diseases, and that the 
 negroes who cultivate those ham- 
 mocks, and retire at night to pine 
 land residences, maintain perfect 
 health. Indeed it is found that 
 residences in the hammocks them- 
 selves are generally perfectly 
 healthy after they have been a few 
 years cleared. Newly cleared lands 
 are sometimes attended with the 
 development of more or less malaria. 
 In Florida the diseases which re- 
 sult from those clearings are, as I 
 stated in my former letter, general- 
 ly of the mildest type (simple inter- 
 mittent fevcnt ;) while in nearly all 
 the Southern States they are most 
 irequcntlj of a severe grade of 
 
 billious fever. 
 
 The topographical feature If&rG 
 noted, namely, a genteel intersper- 
 sion of rich hammocks, surrounded 
 by high dry rolling, healthy pine 
 woods, is an advantage which no 
 other State in the Union enjoys ; 
 and Florida forms in this respect, 
 a striking contrast with Louisiana, 
 Mississippi and Texas, whose Su- 
 gar and Cotton lands are generally 
 surrounded by vast alluvial regions, 
 subject to frequent innndations, so 
 that it is impossible to obtain with- 
 in many miles of them a healthy 
 residence. 
 
 It would seem paradoxical that 
 the malaria diseases of East Flori- 
 da (abunding as it does in rich ham- 
 mock lands, and exposed to a tropi- 
 cal sun,) should generally be of a 
 much milder form than those which 
 prevail in more Northern latitudes. 
 That such, however, is the fiict, 
 there can be do doubt ; for this fact 
 is proved by an aggregate of evi- 
 dence (extending over more than 
 twenty years,) which it is impossi* 
 ble to resist. It is suggested, in 
 explanation of this fact, that the 
 luxuriant vegetation, which in 
 the Southern and Middle States, 
 passess through all the stages of 
 decomposition, is, in East Florida, 
 generally dried up before it reaches 
 the putrefactive stages of fermenta- 
 tion, and that consequently the 
 quantity of malaria generated is 
 much less than in climates more 
 favorable to decomposition. This 
 view is strengthened by facts that 
 the soil of Florida is almost every- 
 where of so porous and absorbent 
 a character that moisture is Beldom 
 long retained on its surHice ; that 
 its atmosphere is in constant mo- 
 
10 
 
 tion, and that there is more clear 1 
 sunshine than in the more Northern 
 States. It is further suggested 
 that the uniform prevalence of sea 
 breezes, and the constant motion 
 of the atmosphere in the Peninsula, 
 tend so much to diffuse and attenu- 
 ate "whatsoever poision is genera- 
 ted, that it will genrallj produce 
 but the mildest forms of malaria 
 disease, such as intermittent fever. 
 
 The lands which in Florida, are 
 par excellence, denominated "rich 
 landj"are first, the "swamp lands;" 
 second, the "low hammock lands ;" 
 third, the "high hammocks," and 
 fourth, the "first-rate pine, oak and 
 hickory lands." 
 
 The swamp lands are, onquestion- 
 ab]j, the most durably rich lands 
 in the country. They are the most 
 recently formed lands, and are still 
 annually receiving additions to their 
 surface. They are intrinsically the 
 most valuable lands in Florida, be- 
 ing as fertile in the beginning as 
 the hammocks, and more durable. 
 They are evidently, alluvial and of 
 recent formation. They occupy 
 natural depressions of basins, which 
 have been gradually filled up by 
 deposits, of vegetable debris, &c., 
 washed in fi'om the adjacent and 
 higher lands. Ditching is indis- 
 pensiblo to all of them in their 
 preparation for successful cultiva- 
 tion. Properly prepared, however, 
 their inexhaustible fertility sustains 
 a succession of the most exhaustincr 
 crops with astonishing vi2;or. The 
 greatest yield of sugar ever realized 
 in Florida, was produced on this 
 description of land, viz : four hogs- 
 heads per acre. That this quanti- 
 ty Tvas produced on Dunmiilt's plan- 
 
 tation near New Smyrna, is a fact 
 well known to those conversant with 
 sugar planting in East Florida. — 
 Sugar cane is here instanced as a 
 measure of the fertility of soil, be- 
 cause it is one of the most exhaust- 
 ing crops known, and is generally 
 grown without rest or rotation. It 
 is not however, a fair criterion by 
 which to judge of the relative fertil- 
 ity of lands situated in different 
 climates, for we find on the richest 
 lands in Louisiana of sugar per 
 acre, is not more than one hogs- 
 head, or about half that of East 
 Florida. 
 
 This great disparity in the pro- 
 duct of those counties is accounted 
 for not by any inferiority in the 
 lands of Louisiana or Texas, but 
 by the fact tliat the early incur- 
 sions of frost in both these States 
 renders it necessary to cut the cane 
 in October which is long before it 
 has reached maturity, while in East 
 Florida it is permitted to stand, 
 without fear of frost, till December, 
 or till such time as it is fully ma- 
 tured. It is well known that it 
 "tassels" in East Florida, and it 
 never does so in either Louisiana 
 or Texas. When cane "tassels" it 
 is evidence of its having reached 
 full maturity. In consequence of 
 the heavy outlay of capital required 
 in the preparation of this descrip- 
 tion of land for cultivation, and 
 from the facility of obtaining ham- 
 mock land, which requires no ditch- 
 ing nor draining, swamp land has 
 been but little sought after by per- 
 sons engaged in planting in Flori- 
 da, and there is now at least a mil- 
 lion oF acres of the best dcscrijjtion 
 of this laud vacant in the couiitrv. 
 
11 
 
 and wliicli can be secured at less 
 than two dollars per acre. Yast 
 bodies of it lie convenient to navi- 
 gation and railways, and doubtless 
 will be sought after with avidity as 
 soon as the sugar planters of Lou- 
 isiana and Texas becomes apprized 
 of its character, and of the many 
 advantages which sugar planting in 
 Florida presents over any other 
 State in the Union. 
 
 Low Hcunmocks, which from the 
 fact of their participating of the 
 nature o^ hammocks and swamps, 
 are sometimes termed Swamrnock, 
 are not inferior to swamps lands in 
 fertility , but perhaps are not quite 
 us durable. They are nearly al- 
 ways level, or nearly so, and have 
 a soil of greater tenacity than that 
 of the high hamhiocks. Some 
 ditching is necessary ia many of 
 them. The soil in them is alwa3^s 
 deep. These lands are also ex- 
 tremely well^adapLed to the growth 
 of the cane, as has been well attes 
 ted by the many plantations which 
 were formerly in operation here on 
 this description of land. There is 
 not nearly so large a proportion of 
 low hammock as there is of swamp* 
 lands. 
 
 High Hammocks are the lands 
 in the greatest repute in Florida, 
 These differ from low hammocks in 
 occupying higher ground, and in 
 generally presenting an undulating 
 surface. They are formed of a fine 
 vegetable mould, mixed with a sandy 
 loam in many places two feet deep, 
 and resting, in most cases on a 
 substratum of clay, marl of lime- 
 stone. It will readily be under- 
 stood by any one at all acquainted 
 Viiih. agricalture, that auch a soil, 
 
 in such a climate as Florida, must 
 be extremely productive. This 
 soil scarcely ever suffers from too 
 much wet : nor does drought affect 
 it in the same degree as other lands. 
 High hammock lands produce with 
 but little labor of cultivation, all 
 the crops of the country in an emi- 
 nent degree. Such lands have no 
 tendency to break up in heavy 
 masses, nor are they infested with 
 pernicious weeds or grasses. Their 
 extraordinary fertility and produc- 
 tiveness may be estimated by the 
 fact in several well known instances, 
 in Marion county, (Clinch's Mc- 
 intosh's (fcc.) three hogsheads of 
 sugar have been made per acre on 
 this description <of land, after it 
 had been in cultivation six years in 
 successive crops of corn, without 
 the aid of manure. 
 
 To sura up its advantages, it re- 
 quires no other preparation than 
 clearing and plowing to fit it at 
 once for the greatest possible pro- 
 duction of any kind of crop adapted 
 to the climate. In unfavorable 
 seasons it is much more certain to 
 produce a good crop than any other 
 kind of land, from the fact that it 
 is less affected by exclusive dry or 
 wet weather. It can be cultivated 
 with much less labor than any other 
 lands, being remarkably mellow, 
 and its vicinity is generally high 
 and healthy. These reasons are 
 sufiicient to entitle it to the estima- 
 tion in which it is held over all 
 other lands. The only objection 
 that can be brought against it is 
 that, when subjected to the injudi- 
 cious and impoverishing mode of 
 culture pursued in the South, it 
 may not be quite as durable as the 
 
12 
 
 The first-rate pine, oak and lilck- 
 orj lands are found in pretty ex- 
 tensive bodies in many parts of 
 the Sate, particularly in Marion, 
 Alacliua and Hernando counties. 
 From the fact that those lands can 
 be cleared at "much less expense 
 than the swamp arid hammock 
 lands, they have heretofore been 
 preferred by the small pluntevs, 
 and have proved remarkably pro- 
 ductive. 
 
 There are, besides the lands al- 
 ready noticed, extensive tracts of 
 Savanna lands, which approximate 
 in character, texture of the soil, and 
 period and mode of formation, to the 
 swamp lands, diifering only in being 
 destitute of timber. Some of these 
 lands, are however, extremely poor. 
 
 I shall resume the subject of 
 lands in my next letter. 
 
 YERDAD. 
 
 NO. III. 
 
 Gainesvjlle, Fla., Ap'l 12, '00. 
 
 It will be seen, by reference to tho 
 brief and imperfect sketch of lands 
 given in my last letter, that Florida 
 possesses at least a due proportion of 
 soils of the most fertile and desirable 
 character, and moreover, that there is 
 probably no Southern State that con 
 tains so small a proportion ef unavaila- 
 ble lauds. 
 
 Probably the largest bodies of rich 
 hammock land in East Florida are to 
 be found in Levy, Alachua, Marion, 
 Hernando and Suraptcr counties. There 
 are in Levy county alone not less than 
 one hundred thousand acres of the 
 best de.scription of sugar lands ; and 
 there is but a small proportion in any 
 of the five counties here cited, that will 
 not prodliot; rcnnmerative crops of Sea 
 Island aud Short Stfij[i!c Cotton, \^ithouL 
 
 ihfc aid of inaruirfr. 
 
 But, whenever manure i» required, 
 the facilities of obtaining the materials 
 for it are, in every part of the Penia- 
 sula, exceedingly great. The marshes 
 along the sea-coast, aud the extensive 
 savaunas of the interior present thou- 
 sands of acres of the most luxuriant 
 gras.s, which only requires to be mown 
 and carted in, either to be used as ma- 
 nure, or to be converted into a compost. 
 Besides this, marl ot the richest kind 
 is to be found iu nearly every part of 
 the Peninsula. 
 
 As regards timber it can be asserted 
 with contidence, that there is no other 
 State iu the Union, over which valua- 
 ble timber is so extensively and «o tini- 
 formerly distributed as over the whole 
 State of Florida. With the exception 
 of the Everglades, there cannot be found 
 in any part of .this extensive State an 
 area of ten miles square that is not 
 covered with valuable timber. The 
 best species of yellow pine is every- 
 where at liand, and the hammocks, 
 with which the ^tate is so regularly 
 interspersed, abound in live oak, hick- 
 or}', sweet gum, red cedar, red bay, 
 v.'iid cherry, magnolia, mulberry, and 
 various other species of valuable tim- 
 ber, all of which grows to a very largo 
 'size, and may be found in the same 
 hammock. The most remarkable charac- 
 teristic of the Florida hammocks is the 
 great variety of its timber. It is not 
 uncommon to find all the difterent spe- 
 cies of timber above enumerated on a 
 single acre of hammock land. Ham- 
 mocks, according to my observatiou, 
 are no where to be found in the United 
 States, except in Florida ; and I doubt 
 very much if precisely the same descrip- 
 tion of land is to be found in any other 
 part of the world. 
 
 The first rate swamp and low ham- 
 mock lands are covered with cypress of 
 enormous size, and rod ccJar, 6\\af* 
 
1! 
 
 s,'uin and cabbai^'c trees,ut' hu'go growth, 
 also abound in Lheni. 
 
 The Florida Keys in the extreme 
 South of the Peniusula, produce raa- 
 liogony, lignum vitsc, rose-wood, ebony, 
 and various oiher species of valuable 
 hard woods. In short, there is no 
 other State in the Union that can com- 
 pare with Florida in the value, in the 
 variety, and the universal distribution 
 of its timber. 
 
 As respects water there are few 
 countries in any part of the'' world, 
 through which so ample a supply of 
 good and wholesome water is distribu- 
 ted as through the State of Florida. — 
 The very large number of rivers, creeks 
 and lakes which may be seen so regu- 
 larly distributed over the map of the 
 country, aftbrd of themselves sufficient 
 evidence that there can be no scarcity 
 of water ; and uo one. who has' traveled 
 much through that country will deny 
 that the quality of the water which is 
 found ia the lakes, rivers and creeks of 
 the country is generally good. 
 
 Having now made what I believe 
 to be a faithful sketch of the land, tim- 
 ber and water of Florida, I shall next 
 proceed to the the consideration of the 
 lands, timber and water of Texas. 
 
 The quantity of rich lands in Texas 
 is very great ; for the State ^ is a very 
 large one, and it possesses, probably, as 
 large a proportion of fertile lands as 
 any other State iu the Union. The 
 alluvial lands, on the water courses of 
 Texas are not surpassed in depth of 
 soil and in fertility by any lands on this 
 continent. Her extensive prairies and 
 her "muskite" lands are also, with but 
 few exceptions, extremely rich. With- 
 out entering into a detailed description 
 of those lands, it will be enough to 
 state that immigrants into Texas will 
 find but little difliculty in procuring 
 l^nds of the richest and most durable 
 quality, at very moderate prices. In- 
 
 deed, if the licli and cheaj.) land-, [rrc- 
 sent, preponderated over all other con- 
 siderations, with emigrants, Texas 
 would command a preference over 
 every other new State. But as abun- 
 dance of rich and dui'able lands can be 
 procured in Florida, and in other new 
 States, on such moderate terms as bring 
 them within the reach of nearly every 
 emigrant, tlie important question to be 
 determined is, whicli country ]>resents 
 to the emigrant, besides rich and cheap 
 lands, the greatest amount of other ad- 
 vantages 1 When fairly estimated by 
 this test, it will be clearly seen that the 
 inducements which the rich and cheay) 
 lands of Texas offer to the emigrant, 
 fall very far short of these which the 
 rich and cheap lands of Florida present. 
 
 I have already shown, that iu ])oint 
 of climate, which is a paramount con- 
 sideration, the advantages are altogether 
 on the side of Florida. The same is 
 true as regards timber and water ; ob- 
 jects which next to climate, are of the 
 most serious consideration to emigrants. 
 While the fact is indisputable that 
 Florida is the best timbered State in 
 the Union, it is equally certain that 
 Texas is one of the worst. Texas is a 
 prairie State, and with the exceptions 
 of some post-oaks, (a stunted and infe- 
 rior species of oak,) which covers some 
 districts in the Eastern portion of the 
 State, a few very limited pine districts, 
 some narrow strips of large timber ou 
 the banks of the rivers, and the small 
 bush like-trees which grow on the nius- 
 ' taine lands, there is nothing wdjich re- 
 i sembles timber in any portion of Texas 
 I between the Sabine and Rio Grande. 
 j This it must be admitted, foi'n:js a se- 
 I rious drawback to the rich and cheap 
 I lands of Texas, and adds greatly to 
 ' their price too, when every uin© [)iank 
 I has to be impoilcd from Florida and 
 , Alabama. 
 
 This frrdftt scav'.'itY i34" ti;i:bcr in Texas 
 
14 
 
 i* only orfualled by the ^^rcat scarcity j bines tlie ftssential rc-jui.sito^ of good 
 of watfr, GspaclHlly durino;' the stun- land, good water, good timber and 
 mcr months. Cattle in Texas often good liealth. In the prairie districts 
 
 perish for want of water, and not un- 
 tre([iientl y they are necessiated to travel 
 fifty miles before they can reach it 
 
 the lands are rich, but timber and water 
 are very scarce, if not entirely absent. 
 In the river bottoms the lands are 
 
 In the prairie lands of Texas, (which ! very rich, and the timber good and 
 form about nine-tenths of the State) i abundant, but overflows are" frequent 
 
 water can only be found by digging- 
 wells some seventy feet deep. 
 
 What a contrast Texas fbrms in this 
 respect viith Florida. Although the 
 State of Florida is about four hundred 
 miles long, and about one lumdred and 
 forty miles wide, there is no extent that 
 is so far as thirty miles distant from 
 steamboats or keel navigation. Be- 
 sides the ample supply of water which 
 the numerous rivers, creeks, and small 
 running streams attbrd, the State of 
 of Florida abounds in beautiful fresh 
 water lakes, in natural wells and never 
 failing springs. 
 
 Scarcity of timber and scarcity of 
 water form two very serious and in- 
 v<nrmountable objections to Texas, as 
 they render her rich lands, to a great 
 extent tinavailable. Indeed it is diffi- 
 cult to find anywhere in Texas, except 
 on the banks or in the vicinity of her 
 I'ivers, good land which combines the 
 indispensable requisites of timber ancft 
 water. And" when^ it is understood 
 that the rivers of Texas nearly every 
 year overflow their banks, frequently 
 to the extent of several miles, some es- 
 timate may be formed to the very 
 small propoi'tion even of these lauds that 
 can be profitably cultivated by the 
 planter. It h scarcely necessary to say 
 that these extensive overilows occasion 
 severe forms of malarial diseases to 
 prevail in the \iciiiity of those rivers, 
 so that notwithstanding the great 
 amount of rich lands which Texas 
 eontaius, it is a most ditficult matter to 
 ])rocure a plantation anywhere within 
 her ox tensive boundary, i^fhich com 
 
 and tlie health and nRvigatiou very 
 bad. 
 
 Here, again, the contrasts wliich 
 Florida and Texas ])reseuts are very 
 striking. The hammocks of Florida, 
 on the river banks as well cs elsewhere, 
 combine every essential requisite that 
 the jilanter can desire. The soil is 
 rich and durable, the timber is in great 
 variety, very large and far apart, so 
 that they are easily cleared, water is 
 always couvenientto them if not within 
 them ; they are nearly if not quite as 
 healthy as pine woods by which thev 
 are surrounded, and which otfer a choice 
 ' of residence. The rivers of Florida are, 
 with rare exceptions, all navigable, and 
 that too at at all seasons of the year, 
 and as they run but very short courses, 
 and are not aftected by melting snows, 
 they never overflow. 
 
 So it is with the rich pine lands, 
 with the "pine, oak and hickory" lands; 
 and, in short with every description of 
 good lands in Florida. They all com- 
 bine good timber, good water, good 
 health, and facile means of transporta- 
 tion to market, all of which requisites 
 are important, if not indispensible to 
 to the prosperity and comfort and hap- 
 piness of the immigrant, and all of 
 which are rarely, if ever found com- 
 bined in any portion of the State of 
 Texas. 
 
 So far, then, as my discussion of 
 Florida and Texas has extended, it is 
 apparent that the former State presents 
 to the emigrant tlie following advanta- 
 ges over the latter, viz : First, a much 
 more, salubrious climate. Second, a 
 
l;"i 
 
 more agrceaLU) eliiiKitc Tbii'il, iimcli 
 bettor seasons. Fourth, a luucli greater 
 nbnndance, a nuicli ixr^sater variety, and 
 a much more g-enefal distribution of 
 timber. And, fifth, a much more 
 abundant supply, and a more general 
 distribution oi' wholesome water. 
 
 r)Ut the important advantages al- 
 ready set forth are not the only ones 
 ■which the State of Floridfi presents to 
 the emigrant over Texas. I shall, in 
 my next communication, commence 
 the productions of these two States, 
 and in the discussion it will be seen 
 that Florida, in the valuable character 
 and great variety of her agricultural 
 productions, not only surpasses Texas, 
 but far excels every other State in tlie 
 Union. 
 
 ^'ERDAD. 
 
 NO IV. 
 
 Gainesville, Fia., Ap'l 18, 'GO. 
 
 It is not alone to the great superiori- 
 ty of her climate that the richness and 
 variety of her soils that Florida will 
 owe her future importance. Rich 
 lands and healthy climates are to be 
 found, to a certain extent, in every 
 State in the Union but no other por- 
 tion of jthe United Stntes except the 
 Peninsular of Florida, can boast of trop- 
 ical productions. In this respect, Flori 
 da enjoys a vast monopoly over lier 
 sister States, which must when fairly 
 developed, and superadded to her 
 great staples of sugar, cotton, tobacco, 
 &c., bestow on her a degree of werJth 
 and importance which it would be 
 di 111 cult to exaggerate. 
 
 The very high value of tropical over 
 other ])roductions may be estimated 
 by the fact the exports from the Island 
 of Cuba alone, during the year 1841, 
 amounted to but a small fraction less 
 ilian one-lialfor llio exports of all the 
 l.'iiited ^Irvles- f-ii- the ^amc vrar. Il 
 
 must be considcre*.!, too, that thc> 
 Island of (.'uba is only partially culti- 
 vated. That the Southern portion of 
 Florida is well adapted to the culture 
 of coffee, sugar, cocoa, indigo, and, in 
 short, of all tropical staples and fruits, 
 is, I believe, admitted by all who have 
 informed themselves on the subject. 
 
 Peter S. Chazotte, who had for spt- 
 enteen years been engaged in St. Do- 
 mingo and elsewhere, in the cultivatera 
 of coftee, cocoa, &c., petitioned Congress 
 in 1822, for peamission to purchase 
 about twenty -five tliousand acres of 
 land in East Florida, at the^Govern- 
 ment minimum price, with a view to 
 the cultivation of tropical plants. • As 
 Mr. Chazotte was a gentleman of 
 great intelligence and long practical 
 experience as a tropical planter, and 
 as he had spent some time in investi- 
 gating the capabilities of East Florida, 
 I shall here present a few extracts from 
 his statement to CongrCvSs respecting 
 the productions of that Peninsula. In 
 speaking of the production of Cofiee, 
 he remarks : 
 
 "In East Florida tht? land is neither 
 Loo dry or too wet, nor is the climate 
 too hot or too cold. This narrow neck 
 of land being washed by the sea on 
 the South, East and West possesses all 
 the advantages which an island enjoys. 
 The sea breezes modify tlie scorciiing 
 vertical rays of the sun, and waft awaj' 
 the approaching Xorlhern frost. Two 
 opposite' opinions have been expressed 
 and frequently repeated with respect 
 to this cou?itry. Some assert it to be 
 a dry, sand land, and others flat mud- 
 dy, unformed rising ground. These 
 assertions sre altogether unfounded, 
 as may be demonstrated by merely re- 
 curring to its topography. We see i\ 
 neck of land four hundred miles long, 
 and about one hundred and thirty 
 broad, from the (opposite beaclifs of 
 which liie laud ri-'es .^fr-nllr and'grMd- 
 
16 
 
 »;Jly towards ihe oentie, wTierfe are 
 lakes connected with each other from 
 South to North, n distance about one 
 hundred and tifty miles, without re- 
 ceiving any supply of water from any 
 large foreign river ; and about forty 
 small rivers, whose sources are at from 
 tliirty to forty miles distant from both 
 shores, and whose waters empty them- 
 selves into the opposite sea. Now it 
 is impossible for these great sinews of 
 nature to exist fn a fiat muddy ground, 
 which could at best produce reeds, and 
 not the stately trees which luxuriantly 
 grow ayd cover its surface. On the 
 other hand, if it be called a dry and 
 sandy desert, the very existence of 
 these lakes and numerous rivers belies 
 those assertions ; for rivers and lakes 
 arc never found to spring and exist in 
 as entirely sandy country ; and such 
 is the narrowness of this long neck of 
 land, that it must have a deep mould 
 and prolific bosom to produce, as it is 
 known to do, stately forests of the most 
 luxriaut mixture, which are constantly 
 in bloom, even'in January and Februa- 
 ry, and the most beautiful flowers, 
 ■n-liose floral appeal ancc made the dis- 
 coveries of it award to that country 
 the signficant and appropriate name of 
 Florida. 
 
 "In all cases the climate is not visi- 
 ted by black frost, tlie land either dry 
 or wet, will produce coftee, Cayenne, 
 lying under the fourth degree of lati 
 tude, Nortli of the Eijuator, where the 
 heat is intense, no mountains but at 
 five hundred miles off", a flat level and 
 drowned country, and where, as in 
 European Holland, the 'surrounding 
 «cas are striving to overwhelm the ris- 
 ing earth — even in this_^swampy coun- 
 try, diained by ditches as reservoirs for 
 the water, the coftee plant grows luxu- 
 liantly, even to the size of a palm tree. 
 
 "At Rio .laneiro, the present seat of 
 the King of Fojtu''alV American Krn- 
 
 pire, being under the t>ven(y-third dc 
 gree of latitude. South of the Equator, 
 and as far as the Province of Parana 
 or Assumption which reaches the 
 thirteenth degree of South latitude, 
 the coftee is found to grow. Why then 
 should we not cultivate it between the 
 twenty-fifty and twenty-seventh degrees 
 of North latitude, that is to say in East 
 Florida? Will it be said that under 
 the twenty-seventh degree of latitude, 
 to the south of the Equator, it is hotter 
 than under its opposite degree of 
 North of it. This will be contradicted 
 by those navigators and persons who 
 have visited the country. 
 
 "About 17()o, an English gentleman 
 of fortune went to establish himself 
 in East Florida. His labors were 
 croA^ned witli success, both in the cul- 
 ture of Coftee and sugarcanes. And 
 his establishments were already con- 
 siderable, when the American Revolu- 
 tion, in its eftects made Florida to pass 
 into the hands of Spain. The British 
 (Government, finding that this gentle- 
 man had so far succeeded, would not 
 allow him to remain^ there. They 
 carried him oft" with his slaves, and de- 
 stroyed everything that he had planted; 
 for which loss and damages the British 
 (Jovernraent awarded to him a consid- 
 erable sum. ]5esides this, travellers 
 who have visited the country assert 
 that they have seen coftee plants in 
 several places, not cultivated for profit 
 and revenue, but as a curiosity, the 
 intrinsic value of which seems to have 
 been unknown to those who planted 
 them." 
 
 Mr. William Stork, in his descrip- 
 tion of East Florida, gives the following 
 account of it : The"productions,of the 
 North and Southern latitudes grow 
 and blossom by the side of each other, 
 and there is scarcely climate in the 
 world that can vie with this in display- 
 ing such an a'_Teeablo and luxuiianL 
 
IT 
 
 mixture <>f Iroes, plants, shrubs and 
 llowers. The red and white pine and 
 the ever-green oak marry their boughs ; 
 with the chestnut and mahogony trees, 
 the walnut with the cherry, the maple 
 with the carapeach, and the haziletto 
 with the sassafras tree, which together, 
 covers a variegated and rich soil. The 
 wax-myrtle tree grows everywhere. — 
 Oranges are larger, more aromatic 
 and succulent than in Portugal. Plums 
 naturally grow fine, and of a quality 
 superior to those gathered in the or- 
 chards of Spain. The wild vine ser- 
 pentine on the ground or climb up to 
 the tops of the trees. Indigo and coch- 
 ineal were advantageously cultivated 
 there, and in the year 1*777 produced 
 a revenue of two hundred thousand 
 dollars. In fine, I shall add that this 
 country will produce all the tropical 
 fruits and staples by those belonging to 
 a Northern climate." 
 
 The practicability of cultivating 
 tropical productions successfully in 
 East Florida, is further attested by the 
 late Dr. Perrine, oiw former Consul at 
 Campeachy, who in a letter to the 
 Secretary of the Treasilry, makes the 
 following observations : 
 
 "I wish to show, not merely that the 
 cultivation of the tropical staples is 
 practicable in our Territory, but that it 
 is necessary for home consumption, is 
 positively profitable for the foreign 
 market, and is highly desirable in 
 other respects, to promote the peace 
 and happiness of the Union. 
 
 "The practicability of cultivating 
 tropical productions in general, I have 
 made manifest, with the fact that the 
 peculiar climate of tropics extends be- 
 yond the astronomical boundary several 
 degrees North, into our Peninsula ter- 
 ritory ; and that the best plants of the 
 tropics are actually flourishing in the 
 Southern portion of that Peninsula at 
 Cape Florida. I have not only shown 
 
 that below 28 degrees, Soirfhern Flori- 
 da, enjoys the dry warm winter, the 
 wet refreshing summer, the breeze by 
 day from the soa,^ and by night from 
 the land, and the trade winds from the 
 East, which are common to tropical 
 countries in general ; but I have proved 
 by its narrow level surface, Southeast- 
 wardly, by the hot ocean river running 
 Northwestwardly along its Eastern 
 shores, and by the greater .steadiness 
 of the westwardly wind in those lati- 
 tudes, that tropical Florida is even 
 superior to the elevated Islands of the 
 West Indies and to the broad Penin- 
 sula of Yucatan, in that uniformity of 
 temperature which is most favorable 
 for vegetable growths, animal health 
 and physical enjoyments. 
 
 "I have, however, not merely shown 
 that in this superior climate of the 
 tropics are already growing variou.s 
 common vegetables of the tropics, but 
 I have further announced the flousish- 
 iug condition of the tenderest and most 
 productive plants of the torrid zone — 
 the banana plant and the cx)coa palm 
 — which are universally pronounced to 
 be the greatest blessings of Providence 
 to man. And it may hence be consid- 
 ered experimentally demonstrated that 
 it is practicable to cultivate all the 
 tropical productions in the soil of the 
 Southern portion of the Peninsula of 
 East Florida. 
 
 It is quite unnessary to adduce furth- 
 er evidence of the tro2">ical character of 
 East Florida, as all who may be scept- 
 ical on this subject can be readily con- 
 vinced by a visit to the Southern! por- 
 tion of the Peninsula, where they can 
 see the coaco tree, the banana, the 
 plantain, the pine-apple, the orange, 
 the lemon, the lime, arrowroot, the 
 guava, &c., growing as luxuariantly 
 as they do in any of the West India 
 Islands. There is certainly no portion 
 of the United States — North, South, 
 
18 
 
 East or West — that compare with 
 East Fk)rida in the variety and value 
 of its agricultural productions. It pro- 
 duces well all the root and grain crops 
 of the Northern States, and all the 
 great staples of the Southern States, in 
 addition to the still more valuable pro- 
 ductions which belong exclusively to 
 tropical latitudes. 
 
 It is owing to the latter productions 
 that even the inferior lands, in that 
 Peninsula, can be rendered much more 
 valuable than the best lands in any 
 other portion of the United States. — 
 Oranges, lemons, pine-apples, cocoa- 
 nuts, and various other tropical fruits, 
 •will yield an average profit of at least 
 one thousand dollars per acre, per an- 
 num. Sisal Hemp, it is said by the 
 best informed, will pay two thousand 
 dollars to the acre. Indeed it would 
 l>e tedious, to discuss the great variety 
 of tropical fruits and staples, the culti- 
 vation of which would render the com- 
 mon "pine lands of East Florida far 
 more valuable than the best agricultu- 
 ral lands in any other portion of the 
 United States. 
 
 In my next communication I shall 
 discuss still farther the productions of 
 Florida. 
 
 VERDAD. 
 
 NO. V. 
 
 Gainesville, Fla. Ap'l 30, '60, 
 In my last communication I ad- 
 duced evidence to prove that all the trop- 
 ical pcoductioDSwhiQh grow in the West 
 India Islands can be successfully cul- 
 tivated in the Penineula of Florida, 
 and that Florida enjoys, in this wide 
 range of valuable productions, a vast 
 monopoly over her sister States. 
 
 Besides this monopoly of produc- 
 tions, there is another very important 
 staple — Sen Island and Long Staple 
 Cotton — which can be cultivated to a 
 greater extent and more profitably in 
 
 the Peninsula of Florida, than- in any 
 other Southern State, or indeed, than 
 in any other part of the world. It is 
 now established by extensive practical 
 proof that this valuable staple can be 
 produced in greater perfection, even 
 in the very centre of the Peninsula. 
 
 This fact, is, no doubt, attributablo 
 to the almost insulai- position of East 
 Florida. The importance v»hich tbo 
 production of this valuable staple must 
 give to Florida^ will be duly estimated 
 when it is considered that there are 
 many millions of acres in that State 
 that will yield it in luxuriant crops, 
 and that it can be cultivated there 
 without the fear of serious competi- 
 tion. 
 
 The small islands on the coast of 
 South Carolina and Georgia, to which 
 the production of this staple has been 
 so long confined, are now so nearly 
 worn out that the average product, 
 per acre, does not exceed one hundred 
 and twenty pounds (which ia less than 
 half of the average amount which the 
 good lands of the Peninsula will yield, 
 without manure,) and there is no 
 other portion of the United States, 
 with the exception of East Florida, 
 where this cotton can be produced as 
 a staple. 
 
 Numefeus attemps have been made 
 within the last fifteen years, to culti- 
 vate Sea Island Cotton on the coast 
 of Texas, but without success. Al- 
 though the Sea Island Cotton of a 
 good texture, can bo produced on 
 some of the Islands along the coast of 
 Texas, the very frequent occurrence of 
 violent gales, and other casualties, 
 have always prevented it, and always 
 will prevent it from becoming a staplo 
 of that State. 
 
 The great efforts which the French 
 Government made for many years to 
 produce this staple in Algeria, havo 
 all failed. Neither can it be produced 
 in Egypt nor India ; so it i.s more than 
 
19 
 
 probable that .there is. in no paii ot 
 the world, a country of so much ex- 
 teut so well adapted, both in climate 
 and soil, to the production of this sta- 
 ple as East Florida. 
 
 It is not more than fifteen years since 
 Florida may be said to have commenc- 
 ed the cultivation of Long Cotton, and 
 yet the the quantity annually produced 
 there already amounts to about one 
 third of the united crops of South Car- 
 olina and Georgia. It is true that 
 the average quality of Florida Cotton 
 is not rated so high as that of the Sea 
 Island ; but the difference in this re- 
 spect is chiefly, if not entirely, attribu- 
 table to the defective manner of pre- 
 paring the former for market. It is 
 a notorious fact that some of the Flori- 
 da Cotton has commanded the highest 
 market price of the Long Staple Cot- 
 tons, and itj therefore a fair inference 
 that it isjowing more to a deficiency of 
 skill, or of care in its preparaticn for 
 market, than to an inferiority of tex- 
 ture, that the Long Cottons of Florida 
 are rated lower than the Sea Islands. 
 When the Florida Planter finds that 
 he can make an average crop of three 
 hundred pounds of this Cotton to the 
 acre, he is not likely to bestow as 
 much care on its preparation for mar- 
 ket as the planter will on the Sea 
 Islands, where one hundred and twen- 
 ty pounds is a good average crop. It 
 is in the quantity, rather than in the 
 quality, that the Florida planter finds 
 his besit remuneration. 
 
 But even should it prove true that 
 the Long (Jotton of Florida is in tex- 
 ture somewhat inferior to that of the 
 Sea Islands, this fact will detract but 
 little from the vast wealth which this 
 valuable staple is going to bestow 
 upon Florida. There are many rail- 
 lions of acres in the Peninsula, that 
 w<ill yield from two to four hundred 
 pounds of this Cotton per acre, and 
 
 as the demand fur this species of Uot^ 
 ton is steadily on the increase, and 
 will, soon as sufficient |raachinery shall 
 have been adapted to its manufacture, 
 call for an immense supply, it is evi- 
 dent that if Florida possessed no other 
 staple than the Long Cotton, this val- 
 uable product would, of itself, make 
 her a very rich State. , 
 
 Should the time arrive, (and that 
 it will arrive at no distant day is 
 probable) that the production of at 
 least two million of bales of Long Cot- 
 ton will bo required to meet the an- 
 nual consumption of this staple 
 throughoub the world, it will be to 
 East Florida that the world must 
 look for the production of this large 
 supply — and even should a much larger 
 supply than this be required, the Long 
 Staple Cotton lands ot the Peninsula 
 will be sufficient to meet the demand. 
 
 The value of two millions of bales 
 of Long Staple Cotton, allowing 350 
 pounds to a bale, and 25 cents per 
 pound as the price, (this is a low av- 
 erage even for the inferior grades,) 
 would be one hundred and seventy-five 
 millions of dollars — an export about 
 equal to the present total annual ex- 
 ports of the United States. 
 
 This is an immense sum to set 
 down as the probable export resulting 
 from a single staple, and produced by 
 a single State. But if there be any 
 fallacy in calculation that fallacy will 
 not be found in the capacity of Florida 
 to produce the amount of Long Staple 
 Cotton above stated, Florida contains, 
 at least, four millions of acres of good 
 Long Staple Cotton lands ; and if we 
 allow two hundred pounds as the av- 
 erage product per acre, which is not 
 more then half what her best lauds 
 will produce, we shall have more than 
 two millions of bales ; and as there is, 
 as I have already stated, no country 
 at present known, that is likely to 
 
20 
 
 compete ^itli her in the extensive pro- 
 duct of this staple, it follows that if 
 there be any fallacy in the above cal- 
 culation it must be found in the large 
 estimate which I huve made of what 
 will probably be the future consump- 
 tion of Long Staple Cotton. It is of 
 course impossible to make a positive 
 estimate of this. I may have overra- 
 ted, and I may have underrated the 
 true amount. In stating the two mil- 
 lions of bales as the probable quantity, 
 I based this assumption on the follow- 
 ing facts : 
 
 The demand for American Short 
 Staple Cotton has increased within a 
 few year? from one million to four and 
 a half millions of bales, and the de- 
 mand is steadily increasing. Fifteen 
 years ago the Sea -Islands of South 
 Carolina and Georgia supplied the en- 
 tire demand ; but now we find that in 
 addition to this, the market for this 
 staple requires the whole of the Flori- 
 . da crop, which increases extensively 
 every year. 
 
 It is well known that the machinery 
 required for the manufacture of Long 
 Cotton is very different from that em- 
 ployed in the manufacture of Short 
 Cotton, and the capacity of the Sea 
 Islands for the production of Long 
 Cotton was necessarily very limited, 
 so was the construction of machinery 
 for its manufacture proportionately re- 
 stricted. But now that the manufac- 
 turers have assurance that there can 
 be un unlimited supply of this staple 
 produced in Florida, they have already 
 began to adapt machinery on an ex 
 tensive bcale, to suit its manufacture. 
 And as this Cotton is preferable to 
 the common Cotton in the manufac- 
 ture of all fine fabrics, and eipecially 
 in such as are composed in part of 
 silk, it is but reasonable to infer that 
 as soon as sufficient machinery eliall 
 Ikave been constructed, thai'e wil! bo a 
 
 great and steady increa.^e in the con* 
 sumption of this material. 
 
 These considerations when added 
 to the vast progress which the world 
 is stilled destined to make in material 
 wealth and luxury, the new and exten- 
 sive fields of commerce recently open- 
 ed in the East, and others yet to be 
 opened, lead me to believe that I am 
 not extra^gant in my estimate yphen 
 I assume that at no very distant day, 
 two millions of bales of the best spe- 
 cies of Cotton will be required to 
 meets the world's demands. But even 
 should I reduce my estimate one-half, 
 it would still leave Florida with a fu- 
 ture export of some eighty millions of 
 dollars annually (more than that of 
 the "Golden State" of California) de- 
 rived from but one of her numerous 
 staples. 
 
 Besides Long and Short Staple 
 Cottons, Sugar, Cuba Tobacco, Indigo, 
 Rice, Cochineal, Silk, Sisal Hempj 
 New Zealand Flax, Arrowroot, 
 Ovanges, Lemons, Limes, Pine Ap- 
 ples, Olives, Grapes, Guaves, and 
 j^ther fruits and staples too numerous 
 too detail, East Florida produces 
 Corn, Potatoes, Turnips, Cabbages, 
 and, in short, all the vegetables that 
 are known in the Northern States. 
 
 The climate of Florida does not 
 allow Corn to be planted so close as 
 in the Northern States, and there are 
 not therefore, so many bushels pro- 
 duced to the acre. The good lands in 
 the interior ordinarily produce from 
 thirty to forty bushels per acre, with- 
 out the aid of manure of any kind, 
 and it is doubtful whether the best 
 Corn lands in the State of New York 
 would produce more under similar cul- 
 ture. Much more might be accom- 
 plished by the people of Florida with 
 I the aid of manure, rotation of crops, 
 I and judicious culture, and it is to be 
 'hoped that tbey will resorts to iY ..^ 
 
21 
 
 their lands from deterioration. 
 
 With re£;ard to roots it requires 
 the whole of their Summer in the 
 Northern and Middle States to pro- 
 duce a single crop. In Florida, on 
 the contrary, a crop of Irish potatos 
 
 expedients to preserve the fertility of ; thing that grows upon vines, comes 
 ■ ■ ' ' ' ' ■ ■ ■ to great perfection in East Florida. 
 
 Everyone knows that in the North, 
 tenacious clayey soils bake or consoli- 
 date, from the drying effects of a Sum- 
 mer's sun, or the beating of heavy 
 Winter rains to such a degree as to 
 and a crop of sweet potatos or yams, j constitute the principal annual labor 
 can with great facility, be produced | of the cultivator to restore them to a 
 on the liume land within the year. If 
 Florida cannot rival the North in the 
 amount of the production of Irish po- 
 tatos in a single crop, she accomplishes I the State contain an intermixture of a 
 at least as much by producing two large proport'on of organic matter in 
 crops within the year on the same a state of decomposition, which with a 
 land — one crop being planted in Jan- due proportion of very fine sand, im- 
 uary and the other in July. But ad- i parts to them a porous character, not 
 mittiug that Florida is inferior to the very susceptible of induration or ag- 
 North in the production of Irish po- | glatination. Indeed, so easily is land 
 
 fine tilth again fur the reception of 
 seed. This never occurs in Florida, 
 principally the most clayey soils in 
 
 tatos, she has yet the sweet potato or 
 yam (a more valuable root.) which or 
 dinarily produces as much per acre as 
 the Irish potato yields in the North. 
 
 There is no climate in the world, 
 soils and climate better adapted to 
 the production of turnips and rutaba- 
 gas than those of Florida. It is com- 
 mon to see turnips of eight pounds 
 weight growing in what would appear 
 to be poor sandy soil, and I have my- 
 self seen turnips that weighed four- 
 teen pounds each, and heads of cab 
 bage which weighed twenty-eight 
 pounds each, produced in a sandy soil 
 near St. Augustine. East Florida 
 certainly surpasses the North in the 
 production of turnips and rutabagas, 
 both as to the amount per acre and 
 the quality of the roots. 
 
 With very little care and attention 
 East Florida enjoys every delicacy of 
 vegetable culture at all seasons of the 
 year. Beets, onions, egg-plants, car- 
 rots, lettuce, celery, cauli-tiowers, &c., 
 of superior size and quality, are pro- 
 duced with the most indidiffereat cul- 
 ture. Watermelons, canteloups, pump- 
 .kjus, cucumbers, and in short, every- 
 
 in Florida annually reduced to the 
 finest tilthj that it is not an unusual 
 thing for such as will produce three 
 hogsheads of sugar to the acre, to be 
 broken up by a single horse and plow, 
 to the depth of six inches or more. — 
 This is therefore, an important advan- 
 tage enjoyed by Florida land in its 
 preparation and culture over most of 
 the lands in Texas, and in nearly all 
 the other States — ajid it leads to the 
 inevicable conclusion that less labor is 
 requisite in Florida to produce similar 
 crops, than is indlspcnsibly necessary 
 in nearly every other State in the 
 Union ; for it will readily be perceiv- 
 ed that the same cause that saves la- 
 bor in the preparation of the soil, also 
 saves labor iu its culture. There is 
 no description of soil in Florida which 
 requires more than one ploughing to 
 prepare it fully for the reception of 
 any crop which it produces ; and but 
 few crops receive but one ploughiHg 
 in their culture. Many crops of Cora 
 iu Alachua county, from thirty to 
 forty bushels per acre, hav« becu 
 made with a single hoeing and tbiBMing, 
 and a single ploughing subso<jueutly. 
 
22 
 
 Sweet potatos art always maile with 
 a single ploughing and a few pickings 
 over, to free them from weeds, &c. — • 
 Tumipis, rutabagas, sugar-beets, &c., if 
 gown 08 they should be, in August 
 and September, require no subsequent 
 ctiltuue to produce as large crops of 
 citlier of them, as can be grown in 
 New York or Pennsylvania. Even 
 Sugar^ Cotton and Tobacco receive9 
 less labor in the preparation of the 
 aoil for their reception, and much 
 1«S6 after culture than is given to a 
 crop in New York. There can, in 
 short, be no doubt of the fact that 
 similar crops require much less labor 
 for their production in Florida, than 
 is generally demanded iii nearly every 
 other Shite in the Union. 
 
 The general topography of Florida 
 mdiy be characterized os that of a low 
 country ; so thatlthe surface, in most of 
 the level pine lands, is placed within 
 the reach of a constant supply of 
 moisture, derived from the sub-soil by 
 solar influence. Tiiis, together with 
 the heavy dews which generally pre- 
 vail, accounts for the luxuriant cover- 
 ing of grass and constant verdure 
 which the whole face of the country 
 pres€nts. even in the dry seasons. 
 
 A large proportion of a Northern 
 farm is necessarily appropriated to the 
 production of hay to sustain the stock 
 during the dreary winter of half a 
 years duration. This is entirely un- 
 necessary in East Florida, when pe- 
 rennial pastures, suiBcicut to feed any 
 number of cattle or horses, exist natu- 
 rally, or may be formed artilicially 
 witii but little labor, by making the 
 necessary enclosure ; and where the 
 winters are so mild that there is never 
 any necessity for housing stock. — • 
 St-ock rearing hns proved to be a very 
 profitable business in Florida. In- 
 deed, it would be strange if it had 
 jayt, when we consider tuat there is in 
 
 that State an nnlimlted extent of fine 
 natural pasturage the whole year 
 round, that cattle are never housed 
 there, and that herding them and ex- 
 porting theio to market are the only 
 expense attending them. 
 
 In most parts of Florida hogs thrive 
 well, and fatten without any other 
 support than that which they derive 
 from the abundant roots and mast of 
 the country. 
 
 There is certainly no portion of the 
 United btates where game and fish 
 are so abundant as in East Florida. 
 The fact that a large body of Indians 
 supported themselves well and re- 
 mained fat for the space of seven 
 years, while hunted themselves by a 
 large enemy, is some evidence in proof 
 of this assertion. It was common be- 
 fore the war, for a good hunter to kill 
 seven deer of a day and thousands of 
 these animals were slaughtered mere- 
 ly for their skins. The country 
 abounds in turkeys, partridges, geese, 
 ducks, curlews and various other spe- 
 cies of small gnme. 
 
 The coast of Florida, to the extent 
 of at least six hundred miles, abounds 
 in the finest fish. Pompino, sheeps- 
 head, grouper, red-fish, king-fish, Span- 
 ish mackerel, green turtle, mullet, etc , 
 are to be found tn exhaustible quanti- 
 ties at almost every point, both on 
 the Eastern and Western coast. Oys- 
 ters, which are not surpassed, equalled 
 in size and flavor by any in the world, 
 are to be found in almost every cove, 
 and the numerous lakes, rivers and 
 creeks of the interior teem with deli- 
 cious fresh-water fish, such as trout, 
 bass and soft shell turtle. 
 
 But these are objects of minor con- 
 sideration which serve to convey but 
 a feeble idea of the iniportance which 
 its geographical position, its climate 
 and ita soils, give in Florida. The 
 vast amount of rice and durable laud 
 
23 
 
 in the Poiunsula which is capable of 
 producing Sugar Cane, Sea Island 
 and Short Staple Cottons, Cuba To- 
 bacco and the nunaerous and very val- 
 uable tropical productions, (all objects 
 of human consumption, of the utnioat 
 importance, not only to the consumer 
 but to the whole country.) and its fine 
 adaptation of climate to these success- 
 ful productions, must form the basis of 
 a degree of prosperity far surpassing 
 that enjoyed bv any of the States. 
 YEKDAD. 
 
 NO. Vt. 
 
 Gainesville, Fla., May 7, '60. 
 
 There are numerous tropical protluc- 
 tions by the cultivation of any one of 
 which, a poor man of intelligence, en- 
 terprise and industry, can, in East 
 Florida, make himself independent in 
 a few yoarp. To fully discuss these 
 various productions would require a 
 very extended space, and I shall there- 
 fore confine myself to a few remarks on 
 the orange. 
 
 The great advantages to be derived 
 from the culture of the orange, the 
 lemon and the lime in East Florida, 
 is a subject little known or apprecia- 
 ted out of the State. It presents a 
 field for profitable enterprise unequalled 
 in the United States, There is no cul- 
 ture in the world by which the founda- 
 tion of an independent income can be 
 laid at the expense of so small an ont- 
 lay, as by that of the orange and lemon 
 in East Florida. 
 
 The method of establishing groves, 
 by transplanting the sour orange trees 
 from the hammocks where they abound 
 in the wild state, and which has been 
 so successfully practised for several 
 years, is'of great iuipoitance ; in the 
 first place, because it does away with 
 the difficulty and expense of procuring 
 sweet trees, and in the second place, 
 
 because tlie sour trees planted and bud- 
 do<.l, will bear sooner than sweet trees 
 from a nursery. 
 
 The sour trees may be dug up, CAro- 
 fuUy, in the hammock, at any time 
 from October till June. They should 
 bo topped about four feet from the 
 ground, and carefully planted and 
 watered. In about three month_§, 
 shoots, large enough to be budded, will' 
 grow out. The buds are taken from 
 sweet trees and carefully inserted into 
 the young ti-ees, just as peach tre<?8 
 are budded at the North. It is com- 
 mon for treea to bear the sweot orange, 
 in eighteen months from the budding. 
 If the sour trees be selected from thoi 
 hammock, of good size, (and they can 
 be found of all sizes) iti three yoors 
 they will be competent to bear a thou^ 
 sand oranges each, and will go on in- 
 creasing in size and production. Some 
 of the large old trees in St. Augustine 
 bore as many as eight thousand an- 
 nually. 
 
 This culture is well adapted to per- 
 sons of small capital, whose health re- 
 quire a residence in Florida. A suita- 
 ble piece of land is easily obtained on 
 which provisions can be raised, and an 
 extensive grove established at a very 
 moderate expense. But to farmers and 
 planters this culture presents also ad- 
 vantages over those of any other Sourii- 
 ern State ; for, without interfering at 
 all with their agricultural operations, 
 they can gradually, and without tho ^' 
 outlay of a dollar, plant an orange 
 grove that may ultimately yield a 
 larger income than all their other prc- 
 ductions. I have seen myself a small 
 grove, on the St. Johns River occupy- 
 ing less than an acre, the anniml in- 
 come from which was a thousand dol- 
 lars. One very great advantage in the 
 cultivation of oranges is, that the fruit 
 may bo preserved for several months 
 on the trees after it lias reached ma- 
 
24 
 
 turity and be all disposed of k-isuily, 
 without the Iosb of a single orange. 
 
 The great longevity of the orange 
 tree is another that invests it with a 
 more permanent character than com-. 
 mon fruit trees. It lives and flourishes 
 to a very advanced age. There are 
 orange trees now living' in the Oity of 
 ]{orae, that are known to be three hun- 
 dred years old ! 80 that an orange 
 when once established, will not only 
 last a man's life time, in progressive 
 improvement, but become a valuable 
 inheritance to his descendants for many 
 generations. 
 
 The oranges of Florida have been 
 always celebrated for their superior 
 quality. There are certain tropical 
 ptoductians, and the orange is one of 
 them, which comes to a greater perfec- 
 tion, a degree outside of the tropic 
 than within it. It is from this cause 
 that the oranges of Florida are much 
 more aromatic and succulent than 
 those of Cuba. 
 
 The orange tree in Florida, as well 
 as in Cuba, and many other countries, 
 has been for some eighteen years, seri- 
 ously aftected by an insect [Coccus 
 Hesperiduni) which, on its first incur- 
 sion destjroyed whole groves, and when 
 it did not kill the trees, it debiliated 
 them so much as to prevent them 
 from bearing fruit. Although this in- 
 sect is still present in many of the 
 orange groves of Florida, it seems of 
 late years to have become much less 
 mischievous in its effects. Whether 
 this fortunate change is to be attribu- 
 ted to a decay of power in the insect, 
 or to the means of resisting it which 
 have been generally adopted, I am una- 
 ble to decide. Certain it is, however, 
 that trees which grow in very rich 
 soil, or which are strongly manured, 
 are scarcely, if at all affected by it ; 
 and groves which were formerly rav* 
 'Ag<'([ by it to :i great extent, and vhich 
 
 had ceased to produce fruit now flou- 
 rish, and bear large crops. The infer- 
 ence is, that wh:n the tree is vigorous 
 it is capable of sustaining both the in- 
 sect and the fruit. 
 
 ITad it not been for this discourage- 
 ment which the ravages of this vegeta- 
 ble epidemic gave to the orange plan- 
 ters of Florida, and the fear of Indian 
 incursions in the Southern portion of 
 the Peninsula, there would be long h?- 
 fore this, a very extensive cultivation 
 of this fruit in East Florida, and espe- 
 cially in the Southern portion of it, 
 where the trees are entirely beyond the 
 reach of frost. Now that the insect is 
 no longer formidable, and the Southern 
 portion of the Peninsula is perfectly 
 secure against all future danger from 
 Indians, the orange •will doubtless be 
 cultivated on an extensive scale in 
 Florida, as there is no limit to the 
 number of new markets which the ex- 
 tensive construction of railroads has 
 opened within a few years to this and 
 to other tropical fruits, 
 
 Cuba oranges, which are generally 
 very inferior to those of Florida, usu- 
 ally sell, Avholesale, in CharKiston, 
 Savannah and other Atlantic seaports, 
 at the average price of fifteen dollars 
 a thousand, and sell by retail, at four 
 and five cents a piece. If Florida 
 oranges can be sold at only ten dollars 
 a thousand, (one-third less than the 
 price of inferior oranges,) a grove of 
 moderate dimensions, and one which 
 would require but about eight hands to 
 keep it in perfect order, will yield an 
 income far greater than a prosperous 
 sugar plantation, worked by one hun- 
 dred hands. Sugar planting even in 
 Florida, will not, on the average, yield 
 more than four hundred dollars to the 
 hand ; which for one hundred hands 
 would be forty thousand dollars. — 
 Let us now see what an orange grove 
 of four thousand trees will yield. The 
 
25 
 
 nver:ig<i iminhcr of ornnjjes prcKluced 
 bv a treo in full bearing is at least two 
 thouBunfl. which at least ten dollars a 
 thousand, is twentj' dollars a tree. At 
 twenty dollars r tree, the product of 
 four thousand trees would amount to 
 the sum of eiiifhty thousand dollars, 
 which is the amount produced by eight 
 hands, on about fifty acres of land, in 
 the culture of oranges and just double 
 the amount produced by one hundred 
 hands on four hundred acres of land 
 in that of sugar cane. 
 
 It requires no extraordinary enter- 
 prise, and but a moderate capital to 
 •t»tnbHsh an orange grove in Florida 
 that will contain at least four thousand 
 trees, and when the very large income 
 which such a grove would yield, and 
 ♦ he small amount of labor and little 
 rare required in its cultivation and 
 
 fectjon M) Moridn, nnd thntro-*^ )vk*«fM« 
 much more rigor niid much gretil«T 
 Inngevity than in the Mid<lle State*. — 
 The fruit ripens some two uionlh* 
 earlier than in New Jersey, and its ex- 
 port to New York, now that direct 
 steamboat navigation is about bein<f 
 established between Fernandina and 
 that city, will doubtless, become tt 
 profitable business, owing to the very 
 earl"y period at which the Northern 
 market can be supplied with them. 
 
 Norfolk, Charleston and Savannah 
 have, for some years, made the trans- 
 portation of early vegetables to th<» 
 New York market an extensive and 
 very profitable trade. It is Kcnr(NjIy 
 necessary to remark that Florida will 
 have a greater adv.^ntage over evory 
 other portion of the South in tliis 
 branch of business, as she will be abU 
 
 management are considered, it cannot to send to the Northern market gre<5H 
 be doubted that as soon as the extraor- peas and tomatoes in December and 
 
 dinary advantages of this culture be 
 come generally known, a multitude of 
 enterprising men will engage in it. 
 
 I shall hore close my remarks on the 
 rulture of the orange, having, I trust, 
 said enough on the subject to call at- 
 tion to the tempting field which offers 
 to enterprise, and indeed, to all who 
 desire to derive an ample income from 
 
 January, green corn and strawberri*'* 
 in March, and all other vegetables and 
 fruits, long before they can be suj)- 
 plied either by Charleston or Savan- 
 nah. 
 
 This is a business that requires bat 
 Ivttle capital, and one cannot fail to 
 yield, with ordinary skill and industry 
 a large profit. Lands of the best do- 
 
 i small capital ; and this with but little j scription for gardening purposes can 
 lai)or and care, and with delightful I Qow be procured at Tery modernt* 
 find healthy occupation. In tho cal- ' P"^-cs along the line of the "Florida, 
 <ulationR ] have here made, I certainly i 'Railroad," which has its Eastern termi- 
 liave exaggerated nothing; on the con- | vus at Fernandina. From Forunndinji 
 trary, I have very much underrated, j ^arly fruits and vegetiibles can Ixs 
 one-third, the wholesale price at which pr^nsported direct to New York in 
 Florida Oranges will be always sure to about fifty hours. Indeed, it is proba- 
 sell, and al.so the average number of ' hie that fortunes can be made by tho 
 this fruit which trees of a large size I culture of early vegetablon and frutts 
 will annually bear ; and yet it will be ' 'O Florida, more rapidly and with 
 :»pen, at the lowest calculation, that the greater certainty than by either Cottoji 
 vulture of oranges in Florida can [or Sugar planting, a.« this is a brwnch 
 with but small capital and btit little ^ of indus;ry which Florida can conduct 
 i:ibor, be jnade o business of extraordi-| without competion. 
 lary profit. ^" addition to the many staples al- 
 
 Tbe peach, also, grows to groat per- 1 ready enumerated. Florida wsstswjwses 
 
96 
 
 hi her JHexhauscible amount of flno 
 timber, a resource of vast value. There 
 ift no State in the Union that can equal 
 IHyrida in the possession of valuable 
 timber. Her forests of the best species 
 of pitch and yellow pine are of im- 
 mense extent, and .now tliat they are 
 becoming extensively , ■ traversed by 
 railways will soon, yield a large export 
 of lumber. Indeed the few mills in 
 operation in Jacksonville, ..Pensacela, 
 Cedar Keys, tfec, give already an an- 
 nual <^xpoit of more than two millions 
 of dollars, and this may be regarded as 
 l>ut the commencement of her lumber 
 trade. . 
 
 .Besides her pine lumber, there is a 
 considerable export already from Flori- 
 da of live oak, red cedar, and red bay ; 
 and as her hammocks abound in the 
 fiiiiest species of white oak for staves, 
 and her swamps in the best quality of 
 cypress for shingles, these, too, will 
 y.ield a valuable expect. 
 
 Florida will surpass every State in 
 the Union in the production of Naval 
 Stores. Pitch Pine forests of great 
 extent, and of the richest quality, 
 stretch along the banks of her numer- 
 ous navigable rivers, and are now be- 
 coming extensively intersected by rail- 
 ways. The turpentine planters of 
 North Carolina have already begun to 
 discover these rich places, and to aban- 
 don for them the worn out fields of 
 their former industry. The turpentine 
 ]ilantations of North and South Caro- 
 lina have very generally been bled 
 nearly to exhaustion, while the virgin 
 forests of Florida have as yet been 
 scarcely touched. The exhausted lauds 
 of North and South Carolina sell at 
 comparatively high prices and generally 
 less- accessible to market than the rich 
 unl)oxod lands of Florida, which .s«>ll at 
 very, low ratos. liesidcs these imi)0r- 
 tant advantages, the Florida trees have 
 a kuiich longer running season thaa- 
 
 those of North and South Qirolina.— ' 
 Kosin was sent to the Charleston mar- 
 ket early in February, this year, from 
 the Florida plantation, which is aboui 
 two months earlier than it is generally 
 produced in North and South Carolina. 
 
 Several extensive turpentine planta- 
 tions have already been established at 
 different points along the line of the 
 Florida Railroad by North Carolinians, 
 and doing a prosperous business. Theso 
 plantations, now that the State is bo- 
 coming extensively traversed by rail- 
 roads, will multiply fast, and yield in 
 a short time a very large export of 
 Naval Stores. 
 
 The fisheries of Florida are much 
 more extensive and valuable than those 
 of any other Southern State, and will 
 when properly developed and protected,; 
 form an important export. 
 
 Having now given a brief sketch of 
 the , immense undeveloped resources 
 which Florida possesses, in the great 
 extent to which she is capable of pro- 
 ducing them, I shall in my next lette? 
 discuss the productions of Texas. 
 
 YERDAD. 
 
 NO. vn. 
 
 Gainesvillk, 1 la., May 16, '60, 
 
 The Southern portion of Texjis, 
 and the Southern portion of Florida, 
 are embraced \vithin the same par- 
 allels of latitude, and yet the for- 
 mer State yields no tropical staples,' 
 (with the exception of a partial pro* 
 duction of sugar) while the latteifr 
 produces well all the fruits and sta;, 
 pies of the West India Islands. — 
 Even on the Rio Grande, (the most 
 Southern portion of Texas) oranges 
 cannot be produced, as a staple, 
 while, three degrees North of that, 
 in Florida, they grow in perfection. 
 The productions of Texas then, are 
 
27 
 
 ooniparatlvcly limited, and can be 
 comprised in n few words ; they are 
 neither more nor less than those of 
 Mississippi and Louisiana, and with 
 the exception of sugar precisely the 
 earae of Arkansas and Alabama. 
 It is unnecessary, therefore, to enter 
 into a detailed description of those 
 productions, as every body knows 
 what Arkansas and Alabama can 
 produce. 
 
 The Eastern and Northern por- 
 tions of Texas are the only parts of 
 the State that are well adapted to 
 apriculture. Even in those regions 
 the planter has many obstacles to 
 encounter ; but the lands being ex- 
 tremely rich, when the seasons prove 
 favorable, very large crops of Up- 
 land Cotton can be made ; and near 
 the sea coast. Sugar crops about 
 equal to those of Louisiana, that is 
 ubout one hogshead to the acre, 
 which is not more than half a crop. 
 Neither Corn nor Wheat can be pro- 
 dnced as profitably in any part of 
 Texas, as it can in several of the 
 Western and Middle States. 
 
 Western Texag, by which is gen- 
 erally understood:that extensive re- 
 gion (about one half of the State) 
 which lies between the Collorado 
 and the Rio Grande, is with* the ex- 
 cepition of a few Districts, limited to 
 the vicinities of Guadaloupe, the 
 Neuces, the San Antonio and a few 
 other small rivers, totally unsuited 
 to agriculture. A great portion of 
 it is barren desert and chapparel, 
 and even where the land is rich, 
 timber and water are generally 
 both absent. 
 
 Besides this, the seasons are such 
 as to render profitable planting im- 
 practicable. During the productive 
 
 season of the year, there generally 
 prevail a persistent drought of many 
 months, attended with blustering, 
 hot, parching winds, which stunt 
 even the timber. The long an(i 
 heavy winter rains cause the argUr 
 lacious of these prairies to form 
 deep mud, of so tenacious acharac: 
 ter as to render locomotion extreme^ 
 ly difficult for several months in the 
 year; and the regular .recurrenoe 
 of the summer drought bakes thoso 
 lands nearly as hard as brick, so tl^ajt 
 it is with great labor and expense 
 that they can be reduced to a. prop- 
 er tilth. A great portion';;of this 
 very extensive region, however, 
 afi'ords as fine stock range as any 
 in the world ; and it is in stockr 
 raising that the inhabitants of this 
 large portion of the State will have 
 their chief, if not their -on}y;;^'p^ 
 source. , (Hnt '. .ln!l 'f,f f 
 
 The resources of Texas, like those 
 of all our new States, have been, as 
 yet but venjxjpartially developed'-; 
 so that it is',>ilS this tiine, impossi-bie 
 to calculate wuth even an approxi-r 
 mation to accuracy, what the ex.tent 
 of her future exports will be. The 
 precious metals may yet be discov- 
 ered in her mountains, and mineral 
 exports of immense amount bo the 
 result. But, if we may form ^n 
 opinion from what is now ostensible, 
 the resources of Texas, extensive as 
 she; is. are vastly inferior to tho3G 
 of Florida. This assertion will 
 doubtless, appear paradoxical to 
 those who have heard so much about 
 Texas, and so little about Florida. 
 But when we consider the immense 
 extent of prairie deserts^ and moun- 
 tain wastes which Texas contains- 
 and then reflect on the small proj 
 
18 
 
 portion of unavailable lands in 
 Florida, wo hiive j^ood reason to in- 
 fer thut iho lutter State, notwith- 
 standing her inferior dimensions 
 poHsesscs a liirge, if not a much 
 larger amount of productive acres 
 »han the former. But even did she 
 not possess more than one fourth 
 tts many productive acres, so much 
 Hioro valuable are her staple!', that 
 the pecuniary amount of her future 
 exports must far exceed that of 
 T«xas. 
 
 The only products worthy of con- 
 liideration which Texas is ever like- 
 ly U) export, are Upland Cotton, 
 Sugar, Cattle and hides. Florida, 
 besides the staples which Texas can 
 produce, will export an iramens 
 »mount of Long Staple Cotton (prob- 
 nbly to the amount of one hundred 
 and seventy millions dollars annual 
 ly,) Cuba Tobacco, Oranges, Sisal 
 Hemp, and in short, all the most 
 valuable tropical staples and fruits. 
 She will moreover, pxjport timber. 
 lumber, and Naval ^'.ores of vast 
 amonnt ; and numerous minor ex- 
 ports, such as fish, turtle, early 
 vegetables and fruitS; &.C., which 
 ker fortunate 'geographical position 
 •nables her to produce, and trans- 
 ^rt to market with greater advan- 
 llig« than any other State. 
 
 In addition to the numerous ad- 
 rantnges already presented, which 
 yioriua enjoys over Texas, therejare 
 ethers still of greater importance 
 to the emigrant, to which I shall 
 nov briefly advert. These are, a 
 uaperior geographical position, su- 
 perior harbors, greater facilities of 
 of internal transportation and trav- 
 el, and greater security of life and 
 jttd^orW. I »hall diseuss each of 
 
 these fopics in the order here stivi 
 ted. 
 
 The Geographical ])oxifio7i of 
 Florida is not only superior to thnS 
 of Texas, buj far preferable to any 
 other in the Western Hemisphere. 
 It is only necessary to glance at 
 the map to see that it occupies the 
 most central position of all the 
 best markets in the world. It pre- 
 sents itself on the Gulf of Mexico by 
 numerous harbors, at all sea- 
 sons open to the commerce and trav- 
 el of the Mississippi Vallev, of Tex- 
 as, of Mexico, Ot the Pacific coast. 
 On the South and East it is in close 
 proximity to the markets of the 
 West Indies, and has convenient ac- 
 cess to those of our Atlantic States, 
 of Europe, and of South America. 
 It has more extensive sencoast ami 
 a greater numbers of good harbors 
 and navigable rivers than any other 
 State in the Union, so that the fa- 
 cilities of water transportation, both 
 external and internal, are not equall- 
 ed by any other State. Such is its 
 centrality that it lies within thirty 
 hours (by steamer) of New Orleans, 
 within twenty four hours of Savan- 
 nah and Charleston, and within 
 forty eight hours of Ne^ York. In 
 addition to all this, the position of 
 the Peninsula is such as to confer 
 on it a most delightful and salubri- 
 ous climate, for, although situated 
 near the tropic, it is so tempered 
 by the Northeast trade winds and 
 by the sea breezes of the Atlantic 
 and Gulf that a most agreeable 
 temperature is maintained through 
 the year. 
 
 The Geographical position of 
 Texas is in all respects very infe- 
 rioT to that of Florida. The State 
 
29 
 
 of Texas lies rcraoto from all the 
 best niHikets ; its sen coast is inucli 
 less extensive than tiiat of Florida ; 
 its harbors are much fewer and very 
 inferior, .and its inland navii^ation 
 not nearly so extensive. Besides 
 its whole. coast, as well as the State 
 itself, is regularly Bconrged by 
 "Northers." »So great is the advan- 
 tage which the geographical posi- 
 tion of Floritia possesses over that 
 of Texas, in pointof sea transporta- 
 tion, that a cargo of Cotton shipped 
 from Fern.indina will frequently 
 arrive in Liverpool, before one 
 phipped from Gnlvest(m,at the same 
 titne, and to the same port, will 
 Inive passed through the straits of 
 Florida, and under much higher in- 
 butances. 
 
 The facts that produce must al- 
 ways be transported to market from 
 Texas at much greater expense, and 
 with much gret ter delay than from 
 Florida, and that merchandise im- 
 ported from Europe, and from the 
 Atlantic States must for the same 
 reason cost much more in Texas 
 than in Florida, are worthy of seri- 
 ous coniideration ; as they detract 
 very much from the earnings both 
 of producer! and coneuraers in Tex- 
 as, and should, all other things be- 
 ing equal to determine the emi- 
 grant's choice in favor of Florida. 
 
 7'Ae Harbors of Florida are rery 
 numerous, and many of them very 
 good ones. She possesses twenty- 
 eix. Three of those harbors Pen- 
 eacola, Tampa Bay, and Fernandi- 
 iia, have from twenty to twenty- 
 three feet at hi^h water on their 
 bars* (Jharlotte Harbor has eighteen 
 feet, Gedsr Keys twelve feet, the " 
 St. John's Bar eleven feet, and most 
 
 of the others not less than seren 
 feet. Key West can bo entered ai 
 all times with more than thirty fe«t. 
 
 The Harbors of Texas are very 
 few, and very inferior. She pos- 
 sesses but six that deserves tho 
 name, ami the best of them is Gal- 
 veston, wliich has not more than 
 twelve feet at high water on its bar. 
 
 The great facilities which Florida 
 affords for the internal transporta- 
 tion of her produce is not the least 
 of her advuntages over Texas, — 
 There ia certainly no country in th<i 
 United States that can compare 
 with her in this respect. Tho 
 length of the Peninsula is about 
 four hundred miles, and its breadth 
 at the widest part is one hundred 
 and fifty so that its most remote 
 point cannot be more than seventy- 
 five from the sea. This narrow 
 neck is intersected, at an average 
 distance ot less than thirty miles 
 apart, by navigable rivers, which 
 have their sources near the centre, 
 and which empty themselves on the 
 West into the Gulf of Mexico, and 
 on the East into the Atlantic Ocean 
 and into the St. John's Uiver, 
 which runs for some two hundrecl 
 miles, paralel to the Eastern coasi, 
 and which is itself navigable for 
 sailing vessels, more than a hun- 
 dred miles, and for steamboats to 
 the extent of at least two hundred 
 and fifty miles. 
 
 Besides the numerous short*rir- 
 ers which take Easterly and West- 
 erly courses from the centre of the 
 Peninsula, there are others of con- 
 siderable magnitude, which traverse 
 it in a Northcrnly and Southernly 
 direction. Of these the St. John's, 
 already mentioned, is the most iui- 
 
so 
 
 Jwrtont. The St. John's la 5 rery 
 remarkHble river, and oue of won- 
 derful magnitude; when we consider 
 the very short course (not more 
 than two hundred and twenty miles 
 in a direct line) which it runs. It 
 runs from South to North, at an av- 
 erage distance of about twenty miles 
 from the coast forming in its course 
 a chain of Urge beautiful lakes ; 
 and its breadth, for at least one 
 hundred miles fi-om its mouth, av- 
 erage more than a mile. The wa- 
 ter on its bar is about eleven feet 
 deep, and the quantity of water in 
 its channel (which is quite deep) 
 scarcely varies a foot throughout 
 the year. This river of about two 
 hundred and twenty miles long, 
 (even in its windings it is not more 
 thnn about three hundred and twen- 
 ty miles in length,) contains a vol- 
 ume of water at least three times as 
 large ns that of the Rio Grande, 
 which runs a course of more than a 
 thousand miles ! The presumption 
 IB, that this vast body of fresh wa- 
 ter is chiefly derived from large 
 springs ; and this will explain the 
 remarkable uniformity of its vol- 
 ume throughout the year, and the 
 fact that it never overflows its banks. 
 I doubt if there be another river in 
 Bwy part of the world, of so short a 
 eoorse, whoso magnitude is so 
 great. 
 
 The Apalftchicola and the Su- 
 wannee, arc both large and import- 
 ant rivers. The former divides 
 West from Middle Florida, and the 
 latter Middle from East Florida. 
 Each of these rivers is navigable 
 for steamboats to the extent of at 
 least one hundred and sixty miles. 
 There are from fifteen to twenty 
 
 other rivers in Florida, all of whhsh 
 are navigable to a greater or less 
 extent 
 
 In addition to the numerous riv- 
 ers which julrait of steamboat navi 
 gation. Florida abounds in creeks, 
 by which the produce of the country 
 can be transported in keel boats. 
 Indeed, so regularly are the rivers 
 and creeks distributed through the 
 country, that it would be difficult if 
 not impossible, to find a point in the 
 whole State, so far as thirty miles 
 distant from either steamboat or 
 keel boat navigation. 
 
 The State is everywhere intersec 
 ted by fine roads, for which it is in a 
 great degree indebted to the exten- 
 sive and indefatigable labors of our 
 army, during a period of some twen- 
 ty years. The facility with which 
 good roads can be constructed in 
 Florida is very great, the country 
 is generally level, the soil is every- 
 where mixed with sufficient sand 
 to cause it to absorb the rain, and 
 rocks are but seldom met with. 
 There is certainly no new country 
 in the United States in which the 
 roads are so extensive and so go»J 
 as in Florida. 
 
 The very extensive inland navi- 
 gation and facilities of transporta- 
 tion with which nature has so richly 
 endowed the State of Florida, can 
 be greatly increased, at many points 
 by artificial means, and at a very 
 moderate expense. For example it 
 has been estimated, by a competent 
 Engineer, that the expense of exten- 
 ding inland navigation by means 
 of rivers and lagoons, from the St. 
 John's to cap(\ Florida, a distance 
 of about three hundred and fifty 
 miles, would not exceed one hundred 
 
81 
 
 dwusjtnd dollars. In orilcr to com- 
 plete over two hundred miles of this 
 navigation, it is only neccessary to 
 connect South Lafijoon with Indian 
 River by cutting; a communication 
 through the "Haulover," which is 
 not more than eight hundred yards 
 in extent. 
 
 The rapid progress which Florida 
 has made within the last five years, 
 in internal improvements has al- 
 ready been projected, and which 
 has been to a great extent construct- 
 ed, shall have been completed, Flor- 
 ida will posses facilities of internal 
 Iransportation and travel such as 
 but few even of the older States 
 enjoy. 
 
 Five years ago, there was 'not 
 more than twenty miles of railway 
 in the whole State of Florida. 
 About that time a system of rail 
 ways, to the extent of seven hun- 
 dred and thirty miles, was project- 
 ed and chartered ; and of those sev- 
 en hundred and thirty mills, there 
 arc at this time, not less than three 
 hundred and twenty miles comple- 
 ted, in operation, and doing well ! 
 A large portion of the remainder is 
 bnder contract and partially con- 
 structed, and it is confidently ex- 
 pected that, in less than four years, 
 the whole of that system will be 
 ttompleted. 
 
 The road connecting the Atlantic 
 xrith thetGulf of Mexico, (the "Flori- 
 da Railroad," which is one hundred 
 and fifty-four miles long,) which 
 runs from Fernandina to Cedar 
 Keys, and which forms the most im- 
 portant link of connection on this 
 continent, will he completed in less 
 than three "weeks from this time. 
 
 The road from Jaeksouvillc to 
 
 Lake City, mxty miles hi len;3;th, 
 was finished more than a month ago, 
 and its extension to Tallahassee, 
 about one hundred and two miles 
 further, will be completed by next 
 September. 
 
 The Penaacola and Montgomery 
 Rbad is making rapid progress, and 
 will probably be finished in less than 
 ayenr. 
 
 So much for tho natural and arti- 
 ficial means of transportation and 
 travel in Florida. 
 
 In discussing the Internal Im- 
 provements of Florida, I feel that I 
 only perform anjact of common ju«- 
 tice when I pay a passing tribute 
 to the faiher of these improvements. 
 To the Hon. D. L. Yulee, of the 
 United States Senate, is chiefly, if 
 not exclusively, due the merit of 
 having created the great railway 
 system which is now^ progressing so 
 rapidly towards completion in Flori- 
 da, and which|ha8 already advanced 
 so materially the prosperity of that 
 State. Had it not been for hi.? 
 genius, enterprise and unfaltering 
 perseverance in grapplingiwith ob' 
 stacles which few men would have 
 encountered, Florida would most 
 probably have been found five yearii 
 hence as she was five years ago, 
 with but twenty miles of railway 
 within her borders. Palmam qm 
 meruit ferat. ; .» 
 VERDAIX 
 ij;;,i.;- 1 iff* 
 
 NO. vm. "Jf;??^ "•"'fl 1 
 
 Gainesville, Fla., May, 25, '60. 
 
 The means of interna/ transpor- 
 tation and travel in Tejca^ con- 
 trast very unfavorably with thoso 
 of Florida. The rivers of Texas are 
 fur so extensive a country, compar- 
 
32 
 
 otively few, nnd their nnvigolion 
 extremely defective. The conse 
 quence is, that the distance from 
 nuj of the most populous settle- 
 ments in that Stnte to a port from 
 which produce can bo conveniently 
 whipped, are, pjenerally, from two 
 to three hundred miles. And *as 
 the roads are, during the winter 
 months, almost impassable, it is 
 evident that planters in Texas must 
 generally incur much greater diffi- 
 culty and expense in transporting 
 *heir produce to market than those 
 in Florida, where thirty miles is 
 the greatest distance from naviga- 
 tion, and where the roads are fine 
 lit all seasons of the year. This 
 evil will, doubtless, be in a great 
 <legree obviated in the course of 
 time by th> extensive construction 
 of railway in Texas. 
 
 Texas, like Florida, may be said 
 to have only commenced her inter- 
 luil improvements within the last 
 ^ix years. She has already pro- 
 jected a system of 2,267 miles in 
 extent of railroads, and had at the 
 close of 1857, 284 miles completed 
 .•»nd in operation. It would, how- 
 eter, require an immense expendi- 
 ture in railways, to render trans 
 portation and travel throughout 
 Texas as it was in Florida, even 
 before a mile of railway had been 
 constructed there. 
 
 The white population of Florida 
 xf\\\ compare well with that of any 
 other State, new or old, in obedi 
 ence to the laws, and in moral 
 character. It can be asserted with 
 truth, that there is no other new 
 State in the Union whose society, 
 in general, is so orderly intelligent, 
 luhivutcd aud refined, ua that of 
 
 Floridn. This we can ncconnf: for' 
 when wo trace it to its source — i 
 The first settlers of Middle Florida' 
 were generally enterprising, educn--' 
 ted gentlemen, who emigrated there 
 8om« forty years ago from Virginia, 
 and North and South Carolina, and 
 gave tone to the society of tlie new 
 Territory. The population which 
 has flowed into East Florida, with- 
 in the last fifteen years, has emi-' 
 grated chiefly from Carolina, Geors 
 gia an 1 Alabama, and the propor-' 
 tion of first-class planters which i{ 
 embraces, forms a Inrge and controll- 
 ing element in the society of thafc 
 section of the State, and a more 
 desirable element than this, it would 
 be hard to find in any country. 
 
 When it is remembered ihnt 
 Florida must remain forever exempt 
 from the ravages of Indians — that 
 her population is a law abiding and 
 as orderly as any other, and that 
 her climate is tlic most salubrious 
 in. the United States, I feel that 
 there is good reason to assert that 
 life and property is as at least as 
 secure in that State as it is in any 
 other in the Union. 
 
 Security of life arid property is, 
 probably, less in Texas than it is 
 in any other State in the Union.— ^ 
 The most warlike and formidable' 
 tribes of Indians on this continent, 
 constantly menace her borders, and 
 frequently make bloody forays into 
 the very centre of her settlements. 
 Texas is likely to be infested by 
 these terrible neighbors for half a 
 century to come, for it will take «t 
 least that time for them to become 
 extinct, and nothing short of their 
 extincti(.>n will evergire full sccuri-^ 
 ty to the Toxau frontier. 
 
S3 
 
 From vijvious reports it iipponrs 
 evident thut tliore iire but few por- 
 tions of Texas in which the settler 
 ean, at all tiuies, feci perfectly se- 
 eure from the danjer of Indians in- 
 cursions ; and this circumstance 
 must, of itself, render both life and 
 property much less secure in that 
 State than in Florida, where no 
 Micli danger can ever again exist. 
 
 1 liave in these letters ondenvor- 
 pil to give a faithful sketch both of 
 Florida and Texas, and I feel con- 
 vinced from extensive personal ob- 
 servations, and from information 
 ♦lerived from the most reliable sour- 
 ees, that every statement \vhich I 
 liivve made is substantially true. — 
 Bat humaiuan est errare, and if 
 any one will point out to me an in- 
 stance whereii\ I have erre<l, I shall 
 feel grateful for the correction, ami 
 shall cheerfully concede what is due 
 in truth. My solo aim in writing 
 these letters has been the promul- 
 gation of truth on a subject which 
 I conceive to be of much interest to 
 many of my fellow citizens, and one 
 on which 1 feel sure there prevails j 
 much delusion, and if their publi- 1 
 cation will contribute in any degree j 
 to dissipate the error and to estab- 1 
 lish truth, I shall feel that time oc- 
 cupied in writing them has not been i 
 misspent. j 
 
 If all the facts which I have pre-. ' 
 eented in these letters respecting { 
 Florida and Texas be true, the fol- ! 
 lowing summary of the advantages { 
 which the former possesses over the | 
 latter State must be conceded : ' | 
 
 I. That Florida possesses al 
 much more salubrious climate than ' 
 Texas. 
 
 2 A much more agreeable cli- \ 
 mate. I 
 
 ?.: jMucii better seasons. 
 
 4. A larger pronortiuTi of avniTa-. 
 ble lands. 
 
 5. A much greater ((iiantity, 
 and a much greater variety of gond 
 timber, ami a much more general 
 distribution of it. 
 
 G. A much greater qua^nttiy of 
 good water, and a much more gOR- 
 al distribution of it. 
 
 7. A much greater variety of 
 productions, and much more valo«- 
 ble staples. 
 
 8. A greater number of good 
 navigable rivers, and much better 
 roads. 
 
 9. Superior harbors, and a muck 
 greater number of tliem. 
 
 10. A much more favor»blo ge«- 
 gra[)hical position. 
 
 11. Greater facilities of internal 
 transportation and tra\el. 
 
 12. Greater security of life and 
 property. 
 
 Ilere, then, are no less than 
 twelve advantages, and several of 
 them of primary importance, AvhicK 
 Florida possesses over Texas. How 
 is it with Texas ? Does Texas pos- 
 sess any advantage over Florida^ 
 except that her rich lands can bo 
 purchased at lower prices. I havo 
 not been able to discover Avhat that 
 advantage is, nor have I ever met 
 any one, during fifteen years' in- 
 quiry on the subject, that coultl. 
 point it out to me. '.'j 
 
 It will naturally be asked how it 
 happens that a country which pre- 
 sents to the emigrant so many and 
 such ^extraordinary advantages as 
 are here assigned to F^lorida should 
 have attracted so much loss emi- 
 gration than Texas and other new 
 States, which have, comparatively, 
 GO few inducements to offer. 
 
84 
 
 -This question can be satisfactori- 
 ly answered. 
 
 Previously to the commencement 
 of hostilities, in 1835, East Florida 
 was almost a terra incognita to all 
 except the savage tribes* who inhab- 
 ited it. It is true that a few settle- 
 ments had been established on its 
 borders, and its interior had been 
 partially explored by a few daring 
 adventurers ; but it was not till 
 after it had been extensively tra- 
 versed by our armies, and it most 
 difficult recesses penetrated, that a 
 correct idea had been formed of its 
 general topography, and, of course, 
 out little was known of its re- 
 sources. 
 
 Indeed, up to a recent period, but 
 little was known of East Florida, 
 even by its nearest neighbors ; and 
 numerous were the misrepresenta- 
 tions which were extensively circu- 
 lated, verbally and through the 
 press, in relation to its health, ag- 
 ricultural resources, &c., by those 
 who had but a mere glimpse of the 
 country, and whose inexperience or 
 prejudice disqualified them from 
 forming correct opinions. 
 
 The fact that East Florida re- 
 mained from 1821. when it was ce- 
 ded to the United States, up to the 
 close of 1832, either the allotted 
 residence of Indian tribes, or the 
 theatre of Indian hostilities, will of 
 itself, sufficiently account for the 
 little knowledge that prevailed, 
 in the neighboi-ing States, of the 
 climate, soils, or productions. 
 
 This general ignorance of the 
 country was succeeded by a general 
 delusion, and this delusion was cre- 
 ated by the extensive circulation of 
 the superficial and erroneous views 
 and misrepresentations of men who 
 
 had merely marched over tlie V^ 
 ninsula — and whose circumstances 
 disqualified themjfrora forming prac- 
 tical and enlightened opinions re- 
 specting it. In short it was officers 
 of the Army, and not planters of 
 Cotton, Cane and Tobacco, who 
 gave to the world the first impres- 
 sions of East Florida. Thatthoseim- 
 pressions were unfiivorable was not 
 owing to any want of candor on 
 their part ; men who have never 
 seen an acre of the country under 
 cultivation, and who hare been al- 
 ways accustomed to estimate the 
 fertility and productiveness of soils 
 by the darkness of their color — 
 naturally regarded the sand and 
 marl mixed lands of the Peninsula 
 as worthless, and did not hesitate 
 to proclaim, without reserve, the 
 great sterility of the country. 
 
 So with regard to health. Long 
 before it was possible to test the 
 salubrity of the climate, dreadful 
 accounts were published about the 
 "pestilential swamps of Florida,"' 
 and it having been inferred from 
 the general topography of the coun- 
 try, that it ought to- be flickly, ita 
 insalubrity was determined upon 
 and proclaimed before there could 
 beany possible evidence of its truth. 
 The crude and prejudicial opinions 
 of inexperienced men who viewed 
 everything around them through 
 the medium of their own hardships 
 and privations, were published to 
 the world as truths, and so much 
 was the public mind thus abused, 
 and so difficult is it to effiice first 
 impressions, that to this day, these 
 delusions prevail extensively, even 
 among the inhabitants of neighbor- 
 ing States. 
 
 As an instance of the extrava-^ 
 
gant misrepresentations wliicli were ' 
 extensively propagated, by the first 
 explorers of the country, I shall 
 simply state the fact, that in the 
 early part of the Florida War, it was 
 a common expression among them 
 that "the whole Peninsula was not 
 worth the ?nedicine it would cost in 
 conquering it !" Meaning thus to 
 imply, in one pithy sentence both 
 the insalubrity and sterility of the 
 country. A stronger illustration 
 than this could not be given of the 
 general ignorance which then pre- 
 vailed, respecting a country which 
 •can now be proved stands on an 
 equality with the richest of the 
 Southern States, in fertility of 
 soil ; and far surpasses all of them 
 in salubrity of climate, in prospec- 
 tive value of productions and in the 
 facilities of transporting these pro- 
 ductions to market. 
 
 These misrepresentations form 
 one of the reasons why immigration 
 into Florida has been retarded.— 
 Others will be noticed in my next 
 letter. 
 
 VERDAD. 
 
 NO, IX. 
 
 Gainesville, Fla., June 2, 'GO. 
 
 In my last letter I stated that tlie 
 extravagant misrepresentations which 
 were so extensively proniuloatcd in 
 relation to Florida, shortly after the 
 commencement of the Semiuole war, 
 and which tended so much to delude 
 the public opinion ever since, was one 
 of the causes which retarded imiuigra- 
 lion into that State. Besides this, 
 four other potent causes concurred to 
 direct immigratoin from Florida. 
 
 First, the geographical position of 
 the State, which places it outside of 
 all the great Hues of travel, and which. 
 
 consequently, prevented an early kuowl- 
 edge of the country, and a prompt dis- 
 sipation of the injurious misrepresen- 
 tations relating to it. 
 
 Secondly, the residence within her 
 borders, till three years ago., of several 
 bands of warlike and ferocious sava- 
 ges. 
 
 Thirdly, the difficulty of obtaining 
 clear titles to land.s, owing to the facts 
 that the public domain had been but 
 partially surveyed, and that a large 
 portion of the country was covered 
 with Spanish grants, the boundaries of 
 whichjwere still undefined. 
 
 Fourthly, the annexation of Texas 
 and the acquisition of California, to 
 which countries so many thousands 
 were directed, without ever having 
 seen Florida, and I may almost add, 
 vrithout ever having heard of it. 
 
 These circumstances, of themselves, 
 afford a satisfactory answer to the 
 question, why immigration into Florida 
 has been much retarded ? 
 
 But when, in addition to these se- 
 rious obstacles.'the facts are considered 
 that it was only within the last eigh- 
 teen years that it was possible to settle 
 in East Florida without the mostjm- 
 minent risks of life, and that immigra- 
 tion into that State had to be derived 
 almost exclusively from ;;^the Slave 
 States, the wonder is, not that the 
 population of Florida has increased so 
 slowly, but that it has, under sucb'very 
 adverse circumstances, run up so rap- 
 idly from 54,470 in the year 1840, to 
 150,000 in I'SGO, 
 
 Florida under the most unfavoarble 
 circumstances, quadrupled her inhabi- 
 tants in twenty years ; and if it can be 
 made appear that none of the obstacles 
 above enumerated can ever again im- 
 pede her settlement, we shall have 
 good reason to infer that the next ten 
 years v/ill exhibit a very great acces- 
 sion to her population. 
 
8(5 
 
 Iwlmllnow cmkyivor to show that 
 fbe various causics whiob hav« hereto- 
 fiiro seriously im{ieiied thu setlleuieut 
 t»f Fhjridii have l«een so fur rciiioviid 
 as to ofter hereafter uo obstacle to iiu- 
 Htigration. 
 
 First. The experience of the many 
 tliousaiids of iiijiuigr;nitd who have 
 settled in Floridii within the lust fif- 
 t«en years htive been very generally 
 disseiuiiiated thronghuut tlie Southern 
 8tuteH, and cannot have failed to cor- 
 root, in a great degree if not entirely, 
 the vurioun errors and inisrepresenta- 
 iiona respecting the hoaltli, agricultu- 
 Wil resuurces, &o , of the country, 
 which had been promulgated so ex- 
 tensively for seveial years before it 
 was possible to refute tiieni by actual 
 experiment 
 
 The planters of Florida have, within 
 the hiiit fifteen years, rarely failed to 
 loake large and reiiuinerative crops, j 
 and are certainly, at this time, at least 
 &8 prosperous a» any other planters in 
 the Union 
 
 The health which the pbmtcrs of 
 Fltrida have enjoyed during this pe- ! 
 yiod, has been niuch better than it has j 
 been in any new agricultural State.- — j 
 Tho most trying period to the health i 
 ©f u new agricultural country is that ! 
 when extensive "clearings" are made, | 
 nnd Florida has passed through the j 
 crieis most triumphantly. In Warion, I 
 Alachua, and other counties iu East j 
 Florida, ytiry extensive clearings have | 
 been made and numerous plantations 
 opened, within the last few years, and ' 
 yet the health of tlio.se counties has ' 
 been remarkably good during this I 
 whole period, and much better than ! 
 in otluT States where no clearings ' 
 Isavo been made for many years. j 
 
 The planters of Fioiida can, with ' 
 but rare exceptions, reside wrth safety 
 on their plantations at all fceason.s ul' 
 the year ; and this, it in well known 
 
 oannot Ix^ done in most of t!je otl'ie-r 
 Southern States, where they generally 
 escape from theuj in May, and do not 
 venture to return to them till Novenj- 
 ber, or until after frost has occurred. 
 
 Although Florida has not been »o 
 fortunate as Texas, and most of the 
 other new States in having poets to 
 celebrate her character! nevertheless, 
 is already sufficiently known to shield 
 her in future from the effects of su^h 
 misrepresentations as formerly injured 
 her. 
 
 Second. Heretofore the geograph- 
 ical position of Florida placed her out- 
 side of uU the great lines of travel, 
 and so irreglar and defective wero 
 communication, that access to her whs 
 both difficult and expensive The 
 conseqence was that no travellers or 
 enimigrant.s ever saw the country, un- 
 less they went there under inconveni- 
 ence and expense for the special pur- 
 pose of doing so. And such, more- 
 over, was the reputation which her first 
 explorers had bestowed upon her, and 
 such was the dread of Indians, though 
 hundreds of miles distant, that it waa 
 only the very enterjirising and adven- 
 turous that were ever prompted to 
 cross her borders. This i.v another of 
 the obstacles which can never again 
 operate against the settlement of 
 Florida. 
 
 The completion of the ■•Florida 
 Railway," within a week from this 
 time, which connects the Atlantic at 
 Fernandina. with the Gulf of Mexico 
 at Cedar Keys, will open immediately 
 one of the most extensive lines of 
 travel on the continent. Tho main 
 part of tho travel between the Atlan- 
 tic Coast, and the Southern portion of 
 the Mississippi Valley, of Texaa, 
 Mexico, Cuba and California, cannot 
 fail to [lass over this route j so that 
 Florida instead of being i.solated, as 
 heretofore will Lcoonie the inevitable 
 
•entreof aliiM? of immense travel, which 
 will enable many thousands every year, 
 to visit her oi 'passant^ f>nd t'urm their 
 own opinion re^pecling her. 
 
 Third. The dread of Indians in 
 Florida, has probably contributed 
 more thim all other causes to prevent 
 itnuiigratiou into that State Up te 
 the close of 1842. there wus scarcely 
 any portion of the State secure from 
 their ravages. Aud although they 
 were, towards tho clo^a of the year, 
 reoioved to the Southern part of the 
 Peninsula, such was tho genernl terror 
 which their former atrocities had 
 spread throughout the Southern States, 
 that but few emigrnuts would venture 
 \ii settle within two huudred miles of 
 their new location. 
 
 They were confined to tho South 
 part of the Peninsula for about four- 
 teen years ; and, although they but 
 rarely, during that period, committed 
 any serious depredations, they, never- 
 theless, served as a bugbear the whole 
 time, 80 it was till about three years 
 ago, when they were removed beyond 
 %he Mississipi, aud they ceased to op- 
 erate as u great obstacle to the settle- 
 ment of the State. 
 
 Fourth. The difficulty in obtaining 
 clear titles to lauds has also been re- 
 moved. All the largo claims, such as 
 "The Forbes Grant" tho "Aro- 
 dindo Grant," &c., have been 
 abjudicated and are now in market. — 
 The whole State has been surveyed by 
 the Government, to within a few miles 
 cf the Everglades ; aud nearly all of 
 it hne been proclaimed, and oftered for 
 itale. Besides, lands in the wild state, 
 and in various degrees of improve- 
 ments, can be purchased at moderate 
 terms, from private individuals. 
 
 Fifth. Most of the delusisious which 
 diverted emigration from Florida to 
 Tttxas, California and the Pacific coast, 
 baT-itig beet) already dissipated, it is 
 
 not likely lliat tlic Jfctllcnient of Florfr 
 da will ever again be retarded by thi* 
 cause. The character of California, tut 
 that of Texas, is much butter under- 
 stood, as present that it ^Ha ten •yearn 
 ago. The charming illu.«iou which 
 distance so generally ''lends to the 
 view," rapidly disappear, as the loco- 
 motive appproaches ; and the verj 
 large number of emigrants who have 
 already "seo-u the elephant," in both 
 these countries, and the many unfor- 
 tunates whom increased facilities of 
 travel will enable to see him within 
 thf^ next year.s, will be quite sufli- 
 cicntj to disseminate such realities jm 
 will prevent an extensive recurrence of 
 this evil. 
 
 As respects California, it is not my 
 intention at present to discuss its char- 
 acter, hni, en j^assant^ I shall mention 
 one fact which of itself ought to ba 
 quite sufficient to deter agriculturists 
 from emigrating to that State. It is 
 this, that although remarkably large 
 crops of wheat, oats and barley, (but 
 no corn, cotton or sugar,) can be made 
 in that -State, those crops must be al 
 ways at the mercy of the most preca- 
 rious and unreliable markets. Thi» 
 results from the fact that California 
 has no regular foreign markets ; and 
 therefore, as soon as her home market, 
 which is necessarily limited, has been 
 supplied, the surplus produce becomes 
 almost valueless. I have myself, secQ 
 potatoes sell, one yctir, as high as ton 
 cents per pound, and the next year 
 one cent per ^ound was their current 
 price, and many thousands of bushels 
 were left to rot, there being no market 
 for them. 
 
 Such extreme fluctuation as this, 
 with the price of labor enormously 
 high, (from three to five dollars a day) 
 necessarily renders agriculture in Cal- 
 fornia a most unreliable and harardous 
 pursuit. 
 
88 
 
 ,The fiketoh which I have given of 
 Florida io these comiunnications will, 
 tio doubt, surprise lunny of those 
 whono ideas of that country have been 
 ehie£ly derived from uiisrepresenta- 
 tions which were so extensively spread. 
 ftt the coininenceraent ot the war, vphcn 
 the Peninsular had been but partially 
 viaited, and scarcely at all understood. 
 To generalize from insufficient data is 
 a commou error, and never was it 
 ■more forcibly illustrated than in the 
 ease of East Florida, whose whole 
 eharacter was so unreservedly de- 
 nounced by those who had but the first 
 glitnp»e of her features. It is not 
 surprising that men who had been 
 Bubjected to severe hardships and 
 privations, should have viewed through 
 %n unfavorable medium the country 
 which was the scene of their sufferings ; 
 and hence we find that it was from the 
 
 Eartial evils that were encouutered by 
 er first explorers that the general 
 character of East Florida was por- 
 trayed. 
 
 There are but few States or Terri- 
 tories in the Union which I have not 
 Tifited ; and after many extensive 
 comparisons and careful observations 
 and inquiries, extending over a pe- 
 riod of more than twenty years, I can 
 now assert w'.tb confidence, that I 
 know of no country, new nor old, that 
 presents to the emigrant so many ad- 
 vantages, and 80 few drawbacks, as 
 Florida. 
 
 It has always been a commou re- 
 mark that "Florida is lie best country 
 in the world for a poor man," and the 
 Irutb of this has never been denied, 
 even by those whose prejudices were 
 strongest against the country, and who 
 knew little or nothing of its resources. 
 Indeed, it is impossible for any one 
 who visits the settlements in Florida, 
 and witnesses the abundance, ease, 
 •omfoft, and oveu luxury, in which 
 
 the poorer classes of the inhabttanlj 
 can live, and not be forcibly struck 
 with the truth of this observation. 
 
 It is admitted by all the settlors in 
 that country that any man who will 
 work as many as three hours a day, 
 can provide himself and family with all 
 the necessaries and with many of tho 
 luxuries of life. There are but f«w 
 industrious men in that country so 
 poor as not to possess abundance of 
 corn, vegetables and fruits, which cost 
 them but little labor ; and plenty of 
 cattle, hogs and poultry, whtch multi- 
 ply without expense. They have, with 
 but little exei-tion more venison, tur- 
 keys and other game than their fami- 
 lies can consume, and there is scarce- 
 ly a neighborhood in the State in 
 which fine fish is not within conveniens 
 distance. They have besides, their 
 sugar patch" and "cotton patch," the 
 former of which supplies them abun- 
 dantly with sugar and molassoa 
 throughout the year, and the latter 
 with nearly all the clothing which they 
 require in so mild a climate. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark 
 that a country which all admit is so 
 good for the poor man, cannot be ba^ 
 for the rich man ; the soil which so 
 readily yields a good support to tho 
 one, will as readily yield a proportion- 
 ate profit to the other. There is cer- 
 tainly no country in the United States 
 in which the planter can turn his cap- 
 ital to sucli profitable account as hd 
 can, at this time in Florida ; nor is 
 there any country in the world wher,« 
 he can live more luxuriously. He h^s 
 here within in his reach, all the lux- 
 uries of the tropics, united to those of 
 more Northern latitudes, and both of 
 these he can enjoy iu a climate which 
 is itself a luxury 
 
 Although confident mysc]f . that 
 Florida possesses many important ad- 
 vantages as a planting country over 
 
w 
 
 anjr oth^r in the United States, I would 
 uovertheles.s, shrink from the respon- 
 eibility of advising any man to remove 
 there before he had visited the country 
 and satisfied him8elf,-by personal ob- 
 BerTfttion, nnd a thorough inquiry, on 
 the spot, that it was to his advantage 
 to make it his permanent residence. — 
 It would do well for all who are de- 
 sirous of emigrating to make a visit of 
 exploration to Florida, before they de 
 termine on settling in Texas. Califor- 
 uia, or any other country. This they 
 can now do with great facility, and at 
 but little cost ; and even should they 
 be afterwards induced to move further 
 on, the time and money spent on this 
 visit will not have been lost. They 
 will thon be enabled to form enlighten- 
 ed contrasts, and arrive at a sound 
 judgement in a matter which so deep- 
 ly concerns them. And should they 
 finally detorraine to fix their residence 
 in a more remote region, they will have 
 the satisfaction of feeling certain that 
 they have not been duped, by news- 
 paper misrepresentations, to leave be- 
 hind them a much better country than 
 that in which they have selected their 
 Dew homes. This is the last of mv 
 letters on Florida. V ERDAD. ' 
 
 OcAi.A, Floiuda, October 1866. 
 
 The foregoing articles would be incom- 
 f)lftte without the statement of some ad- 
 ditional facts, which the lapse of thne and 
 the effects of the hite war has made im- 
 portant to >^e mentioned. Readers from 
 all the States are particularly inyited to 
 tlieir consideration. 
 
 1st It should be remembered that the 
 author of the artick-s is not an intercst^'d 
 jjroperty owner, but was a Surgeon of U. 
 S. A., of extensive travel and observiition, 
 and well qualified to judge impartially and 
 correctly of the matters which he writes. 
 
 2nd. That the ravages of the late war 
 did not extend to tlie interior of the Penin- 
 Bular, and the country at its close was in 
 ffood condition to commence a fair trial of 
 Oie new ;^i5tcm. 
 
 8rd. That the romly di«po.'?UIoa of oj}> 
 people to give the frecdmen and new sys- 
 tem a fair trial, has resulted in a rich har* 
 vest and great profits irt agricultural pur- 
 suits. 
 
 4th. That the enlianccd value of tho 
 leading product, Sea Island Cotton, It 
 bearing three or four times its former price, 
 makes its cultivation the most profitable 
 pursuit ever before known to agriculture. 
 In illustration of this, take the authors 
 figures, and as a basis of calculation, allow 
 the present price, He estimates the ca- 
 pacity of the Penin.sula sufficient toproduco 
 2,000,000 bales. That is worth now abonl 
 S800 ,000,000 nearly twice as ranch »« 
 the exports of the United States. Cal- 
 culate f >r the profits of a siigle hand.— 
 A hand will make an averngo threujh 
 ten years two bales of Cotton, and 
 corn sufficient to subsist himself and mulct 
 At present prices tliat would be about 
 $800 per year. These figures have 
 been realized in practice this year. There 
 arc farmers here who have made ono 
 thousand dollars to the hand this year, 
 and provision to subsist the place npon. 
 The hands, at stated wages, could have 
 been procured at one hundred and flf^y 
 dollars and rations. 
 
 5th. That experience has shown that 
 Long Cotton is the most profitable crop, 
 and one to which the soil and climate is 
 well adapted. The great body of tho 
 planters are mainly engaged in its cultures 
 
 6th. That the people ore exceedingly 
 desirous to have emigration come into tho 
 country. There is great demand for capU 
 tal and labor. Capital to take up the land 
 and pay laborer?, and laborers to reduce 
 the land to cultivation. All kinds ofla^ 
 borers are in great demand 
 
 7th. That northern emigrants as well 
 as others are desired, all our people desir- 
 ing emigrants and capital from all parts of 
 the world. 
 
 8th. That the construction of Railroads 
 has greatly increased the conveniences of 
 the country. One road now runs across tho 
 Peninsular, another in process of consUOc- 
 tion through it, from North to South. 
 
 9. That Marion county is tho richest 
 county in the Peninsular, with steam-boat 
 navigation at all seasons of the year to it« 
 centre, and that Alachua, Levy and'Hcr-*- 
 nando. arc also very rich connties. 
 
 OCALA. 
 
40 
 
 FOR CHATilESTON, S. 
 
 €., via Jacksonville, Fernan 
 dina, St, Marys, Brunswick, 
 and Savannah, Ca., 
 THE STEAMER 
 
 -CAPT. T. J. LOCK WOOD, 
 COMMANDER. 
 
 ^■THIS fine Steamer having been placed 
 1 pernianentlj- on tlie line between Gliar- 
 leston and Palatka., touching at all the 
 landings on St, John's River, solicits a 
 »harc of public patronage. Being com- 
 manded by officers of experience, well and 
 ftivorably known, and having good accom- 
 modations for passengers and freight, every 
 guarantee of comfort and safety may be 
 Hclicd upon. 
 
 Loaves Charleston every Sunday at 7 a. 
 tn., Savannah Monday at 10 a. m , arriving 
 here Tuesday evening. 
 
 Pweturning will leave Palatka Tuesd;iy 
 wight, arriving at Savannah on Tuesday 
 ^id Charleston on Friday, making connec- 
 tions with the various lines of Railroads 
 and Steamships for the North and Wcst^ 
 H. L. HART. 
 Agent at Palatka, Fla. 
 
 ^ THE e7\8T FLORIDA BANNER 
 is iniblisliod every Wcflnesday at Ocala, 
 Vljk, at ¥3 a year, and is one of the 
 beet advertising niodiuius in llie State. 
 
 ■x 
 
 The n«w and elegant Steamer 
 
 1,000 ■37C3>3NrjS, 
 
 L. M. COXETTER., Master, 
 
 Will leave Charleston every Snturdaj 
 evening, 3 p. m,, for Fernniidinn, JnrkiH>n- 
 ville, and all intermediate landings ou th« 
 St. John's River. 
 
 BETURNING : 
 
 Will leave Palatka every Monday morning 
 
 at 7 o'clock. 
 
 Will leave Jacksonville every Tuc«diiy 
 Morning at 3 o'clock, arriving in Uhar- 
 IcBton same evening. 
 
 The Steamer "Dictntor," will resume her 
 trips to Savannah as soon as the quaran- 
 tine r estrictious are taken oft". 
 
 septia 18 — om 
 
 LINE -hacks' 
 
 FROM 
 
 Ocala to Gainesville 
 
 W'lLLleaveGAINES 
 VILLK EVERY ^^ 
 TUESDAY nud SAT, 
 UHE A Y \\\w\i the arrival of the train, 
 Aarrive at Ocala the same night. 
 Leaves Ocala every 'I'lICNSDAY and 
 SUyUAY morning. 
 
 J. U. DUOWK & CO. 
 Juk 18 8-lf 
 
 Lb,\;- 
 
«TKPHK\ C. liKBIiLlH.. 
 
 y.nw. SATlCKU. 
 
 DeBruhl & Badger, 
 
 .A.TTODFt3XrDE3-S'SAT LAW 
 
 OCA LA, FLORIDA. 
 
 Smallwood, Hodgkiss & Co,"^ 
 COTTON FACTORS 
 
 4. 
 
 S. IVI. G. GARY, 
 
 ATTO R N B Y A T L A W.^ 
 OCA LA. FLA. 
 
 J, J. FINLKY, 
 
 A T T O R N E Y A T L A W. 
 
 .LAKE CITY, FLA. 
 
 LAW NOTICE. 
 
 ATTORNEY AT LAW, 
 so: I err OR ix chancery. 
 
 G.MN'ESVIM.K, Ff.A. 
 
 E. M. Li'Eiio-ie, 
 
 ATTORNEY AT LAW, 
 J A GKSOy VILL E, FLORIDA. 
 
 Will praftieo in the l>;istt'i-ii Circuits. 
 
 87y. fTnley, 
 
 A T'J OR XE Y A T LA W, 
 BIIOOKSVILLE, FLORIDA, 
 
 WILL i)racl.iee in tiie Soutlu-rn aiuJ Eas- 
 t-ni .liiiiicial Circuits. 
 
 Ao. ]u BEAVER .STREET, 
 
 T. L. SMALLWOOD. 
 Formerly Smallwood, Earle & Co., anil J. 
 L. Snialhvouil & Co., N. Y. 
 Tiros. IIODftKrSS, Ga., 
 (iEO. \\. SCOTT. Ha., 
 I). JL POOLE, Ga., 
 J.ato llotlgkLss, Scott t Co.,- N. Y. 
 
 WE aro pi-opared, tlironch RESIDENT 
 A(fKNTS, to advance on and sell 
 COTTON in all SOURTIIEP.X PORTS, oi- 
 t<»i\vard from these port.'* to NEW YORK, 
 or LIVERPOOL DIRECT, as our friends 
 may ]>refer. 
 
 Our eonticetions in LIVERPOOL are 
 such as will Lriveour custoin'.>rs all the ad- 
 vantaijes <^>^ that market. 
 
 EAST FLORIDA BANNER, 
 
 IS PUBLISHED EYERY 
 
 V/adnesday Morning, 
 AT OCALA, FLA.. 
 
 BY T. F. SMITH, 
 STEPHEN C. DoBRUHL, 
 
 .♦SSOOI.aTK koitok. 
 
 |[RiViS--a DOLLARS A YEAR, IN ADVANCE. 
 
 iTtMiiiM for Aclvci'fi»>iiig: 
 
 On«' S(inare, (10 lines) tiist insertion SI 60 
 linch Mubseiiuont insertion, - - 1o 
 
 Plantation for Sale near 
 
 OCALA, FLA. 
 
 I PLANTATHLX fontaini:)^ Thivo Jlnn- 
 
 i» drcd and Kiiihty acrtrs of land wwvi 
 
 i or less, and .siliiatt'd fonr miles south-east 
 
 of Oca la, is ollercd for sale on ri-asonable 
 
 ' terms. 
 
 The ahovc place was fonnorly owned h.r 
 .lesse Ihinter, and lias ahont one Iniiidred 
 , .-iiid sixty acres clearefl and at present hm- 
 <ler cultivation. 
 
 For further particulars, applv to .^. S. 
 Lewis, Fleminjjton, or to S. .M. G. Oarr, 
 OcaM, Kast Fh.rida. 
 
 i TJMrnjfrwi"— """ " — »"-» 
 
 Valuable Land for Sale. 
 
 .<r)r\ AAA ACRES of excellent 
 
 'ZU,UOW Pineand Hammock 
 
 Lands, situated in Marion county, in tracts 
 of from tiiree to six hundred acre.s. 
 
 deBruhl a badger. 
 
 ¥ 
 
 thing in FloriJa, send your advertise- 
 nietit!* to the E.vst Fr-ORiDA Banner, 
 piibli.slied at Ooala, Marion c'ty, Fla.