Mobile register and journal., 1845-11-27


 portion, then, as ~e said before, they i'll Ire highly priaed and he'd fily op to iheir intras,c value.
 The Rev West Gazette descril es some what more mnuleis tue agricultural and fafal advantages or Ihis lovely country. lts remalks. though of sumo. what general character and doubtless equally ap- plcsble 10 the whole of Southern Florida have par licular reference ile counIry between Indmn Ri. yer aud tho llultIns Gound on Key Biscayne Bay, a strip of land about four and bali miles wiJo, with ihe Atlantic ore sde and He Everglades on the other The climate is similar To that on the tnf side. though perhaps. subject to keener blasts irom the north and nurth.east. Lulnber, the GaE cue says, is abundant particularly the pine, cypress and lise oak, ynd we can add from oiher sources of information that he red cedar and other valuable trees are common. 'Ihe new settler here has but few wants and these are easily supplied. The pine tree and palmetto leaves furnish him with d comfor- table dwelling, and let him but bring wnh him in dustrous habits, confidence in himself. an axe, a gun, and few i'h hooks. and'-in the language of the Gaxette--'in the soary hammocks of Fordn he will be independent. wlh all the elements of hap piness around him Game is abundant, and all he streams from Lake Worth to the Miami are unsur- passed for the quantity and quality of heIr fish; and at no distant day lhe fisheries the coast wl fur nj important branch of industry
 again quote from the Gazette:
 The best land for the culture of sugar cane, corn and island cotton, is found on the banks of lle streams, and on the coast, though small ham
 nocks are occasionally met with in the barrens- strip ol wet marsh lind, the left side of New River, and similar one on iis north arm, have been considered well adapted 10 the cultivation of rice This too, is he CuuntI (Fofida arrow r0di reg lon, called h> ihe Indians, rom this Gicum. stinae, Coonlihache. IL grows in Inc greatest abundance in the pine burrens hroughout ihe year, may be manufactured at all seasons, and the mnre
 see ol il the Ifore do we esteem it's value o the new settlers The two species of grape most com- mon in Southern States, also found here i; and have every reason 10 believe that Ihe soil aud climate admirably adapted the grape gen. erallv at | Here we might fairly stop; for surely, with healthy genial climate, geAer0us soil, well wooded,
 with t'oonli four fish and game that may be had for the taking, we have sustained our boast about | the country; and sufficient reas0ns are offered to
 ihe immigrant 10 turn his steps n South Florida-
 Bul he great indnce,aent, the culture of the Tropi- | cal Fruits, and the Campeachy Hemp, IS vel To be cpasidered We alieadN know by actual experience | lha tlte lemon, orange, planan and bananna grow
 there m perfection; and these considered to be | lar tests of n tropical c!Imaie.
 As the lem,n IS extensively imported into the Q. States, and an increasing demand for 1t will ever
 exist, will contne uurse,cs m our calcu ions
 tp lhis alone. In this climate the tree produces it's
 first fruit from the seed in iroR eighteen to twenty four monihs and at he age of four years will bear about tour hundred lemons. On one acre of grnund
 eight hundred trees might properly be panted whose
 produce therefore, the age of four yeurs, would l he ,,inn ybir
 ces. on the ground would be worth nine hundred dollars. But suppose uisiead of beng wollh one
 dollar they were only worth len cents per box, still
 the acre would yield profit of ninety dollars, more
 than ile nett produce of the best eot'cn lands al
 present prices IL must be borne in mind, that ihis
 cultivation is attended with but luIe labor or ex-
 pense; ihai the monlent the lnEer is cleaIed ioUi
 the land, the trees may be se out, without rem0y ing | Il single stump using plough.
 | The Sisal Hemp Is lhe next thing Ina Ecaims our | attention The ur gnal plants here m | 1853, by Doctor Peifne, and were planted by Mr | Dubose, al the ilunius Ground, Key Biscayne Bay | and though they have been abandoned for years in
 the wilderness and burned down with SUIT 1unding | woods ouce or twice. they have surmounted every
 iieulty, and produced suckers enough to supply a
 large plantetn. In this climate the plants rath-
 CT the lower leaves, mature in about two years. when | they readily converted into hemp by very sim | pie process.
 | Each plant produces average TWO hundred and lilly leaves. which yield abuut seventy-eght pounds of hemp, or about five ounces to the eai.- Two thousand otlhe plants may be cultivated on an acre, the produce of which would be, according to
 calculations, seveni weight tons-worl pres
 ent prices, s7800. ii. instead of commanding one
 hundred dollars the hemp sell for but five dollars per ton-sii the profit from the land would exceed thai derived from any other article of cultivation Each
 plant throws of from three thousand suckers, and but little lakor is required attending them in preparing lhehemp The present price of the ari- Gle m the United States is one hundred doars per ton, and il pays duty of twenty-five dollars per ton
 However earnest the Gazette may insist upon his ''mater offact" views-which in ihe main we do not question, corresponding they do with all our previous nlormation--yet must at the same time doubt his figures in regard to the Sisa hemp. friend o ours, who some years ago had hIs attention drawn 10 this subject, picked up good deal of u- formation in regard to the Ssal hemp plant, its bab its, culture, produce, preparing for market, &c.- The field of his inquiries, however, lay in Yucatan
 There the plant is indigenous, the produce of which both in the manufactured and in the raw state, it is well known, constitutes the principal articles of export from that country Very little system is observed there in the cultivation; indeed, but ono instance is known of an attempt being made 10 form any thing like regular plantation. That made some years ago b, the "Henequln Plant Go. of Yucatan," short account of which was given by Dr.. Perrne his return to the U. States from his eonsulship at Campeachy. They commenced with about 35,000 plants, but it is not known what space they occupied, or whether they were planted out at uniform distances. It was merely stated that the expenses of the plantation at the end of three years were 4,54, and that the produce of the third year was a little 5000. The yield in this case, Florida. In Yucatan the labor of gathering the leaves and cleaning the hemp is performed hy the Indians. The operation is slow, tedious and wase- fu, which in the absence ofaIl machinery, is simply effected by laying leaf by leaf on a rest. similar to that of leather currier. aHd scraping of the pulp with an non or wooden instrument. In this rude way, of course, great loss is sustained. The an nual yield there notwithstanding, is about lib. to he plant and is generally worth sa cents per ID. An acre then in that country with 1900 plants, would yied S60. In the N. York market the ST sal hemp is worth about 100 per Ion. From these data then, we think we can make nearer approxl- nation to the true profits of this culture than the Gazette has done. We will concede to the Ga- zette's calculation of 200o plants the acre. though think 1t rather large. Win the aid of machinery, which m tlls country can be easily applied. the craze annual yield of plant woul we ihink, be about 2ibs. Thus we have 4000bs. to the acre, l.