Thomas's Massachusetts spy, or, Worcester gazette. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1811-1821, 1821-04-25
MISCELLANY.
Geography and Soil of Florida.
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from Dar5y,s Memoir on Florida. I


This country, as coded to the United
States, by the. recent ratified treaty
with Spain, has the Atlantick ocean and
the Bahama channei to the east; FIori-
da or Cuba channel south; the Gulf
of Mexico, west and southwest Per-
dido bay and river, west !; and Alabama
and Georgia to the north.
Miles.
Florida has an exteriour limit on the At
lantick ocean, between the mouthof st.
Mary's river and Cape Sable, $50
Upon the Gulfof Mexico between Cape
Sable and the inlet of Perdido, 600
Interiour limits-with Alabama, up the
Perdido, and to the 31st deg. N. latitude, 10
Along Alabama and N. latitude 81 deg.
to the right bank of Chatahooche river, 40
Thence with Georgia, down Chatahoo-
che to the junction Of that stream and
Flint river, DO
Thence to the source of St. MaEy'sriv-
er. 40
Down the St. Mary's to the mouth, 80
Having an outline of 1890
.Area $4,000 square mikes, equal to "a, 944,
600 acres. on this superfcies, there lies south
Of N. latitude 50 deg. $1,000 square miles,
1856, 900 acres and north of N. latitude
80 deg. Il, 100 square miles, 9,408,OOO acres.
Extreme south, N. latitude % deg. nearly
Extreme north, N. latitude 81 deg; and pos
sessing range of Sc degrees of latitude.
The soil Of Florida is Invisible into
three grand varieties !: pine barrens,
savannahs, and marshes. Other varie-
ties have been given by some authors,
but are mere shades of admixture, or
points and lines of contact between the
three foregoing. Pine forest-land here,
as elsewhere, is remarkable for its ster-
ility in the production of the domesti-
Gated species Of plants, though produc-
five in an indefinite variety of indigo
nous vegetables. The soil of the pine
woods of Florida IS, perhaps, as sandy as
in any other part of the United States.
A ridge of dry, and, in a great part, of
unwooded hills, or hilfocks, destitute of
water, extends from Eokefanoke Swamp
to an unknown distance southwark, west
of St. Johns and Nassau rivers. This
ridge, no doubt, sinks into the common
level Of the country before reaching
the cape, or, perhaps, even the lati-
tnde of 81 deg.
Savannah, or prairie land, in Florida,
is, in strlctness, mere varieties of swamp.
The former is, indeed, part of the lat
ter, with elevation sufficient TO admit
culture without artificial drainage. The
prairie grounds of Florida, being COM
posed of so great part of animal exu-
vie, are generally productive, but are
confined in extent.
Swamps, or marshes, next. to pine
woods cover the largest portion of Flor
ida. A small share Of these flat re-
gions may be reclaimed, but the far
greater part being morasses, are beyond
the ordinary powers of human meliora-
tion. On some points Of consideration,
the Florida swamps may be considered
valuable; they are, in many places,
covered with excellent timber, and
where of proper tenacity, would afford
good grazing for cattle
Another variety Of soil occurs in Flor
ida, called hammock land Thisspecies
forms, in most instances, an interval be-
tween the pine tracts and the marshes,
or savannahs, and, indeed, in no respect
differs from the latter, except in being
covered with wood. The hammock
land, not only of Florida, but of all the
southern section of the United States
yields, next to river alluvion, the bes
arabic soil. In Alabama, Georgia, ant
Mississippi, the hammock lands form
much the largest part Of the cultivated