The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-02-28
..,.sand 9ispatfh.
MONDAY $500. FEBRUARY %, 1870.
For the Dispatch.

dc not say II Sou hhoM INV, lok any WY
can keep hotel in Florida. The travellers
will come, and they have to stay some
where until warm weather begins in che
North. Th9y complain Of the fare and the
lodging, but they have to pay. Nowhere
is traveller so much at the landlords
mercy as in Florida. / advised several
Confcdcrates to go into this business. The
war was over, it is true, but they eouio
thus charge the Yankees in one way II they
could not in another. :,
A wear ago there were twenty thousand
invaiids in Florida; this year there are
more: next year there will he still more ;
the cry is, still they come. Now, there are
only hotel accommodations for eight or Ten
thousand persons, and you are charged -
or e. n day. think that while some land
lords have consciences, most Of them never
cxnect to so to Heaven, and act accord
ingly. >,
lars worth you can imagine their profits.
lie. any man who wishes to make money
pick out.a sui hur spring warm for bath
jpg purpcscs) and put up row of log-cab-
ms. II near railroad or river, he must
make fortune.
There arc some fine hotels. yet most Of
them are of an inferior grade. There is
room for many more, end great room Tor
improvement in ell of them. 1t is undoubt-
edly the most profitable business in Florida.
Any man OF ordinary industry can make
money in this country. The fault OF the
country is TINT it is 20 easy to make sup
rorr~hat men will not toll. Land ia cheap
[ mean wild land-the climate is warm and
moist, ard with these advantages even poor
soil can be made to produce we'll.
will cnumerate some OF the products
Of the coil.
,.. ECGAR-CANE.
This will require a very rich soil and
great labor, yet it pays we'll. 1t is an cx-
pensivc crop. To clear and drain land pro-
ncrlv requires very heavy outlay; then
YOUR labor must be under complete control
for the whole year, or your crop is worse
than failure. Then you must have mills,
boilers. sugar-houses, &c. The cane is as
easily cultivated as corn indeed it is easier,
for the second crop springs up from the
roots, and you need only replant once in
three or four years. The crop is very valu-
able: some rich spots have yielded four
horsheads TO the acre, although this is -a-e.
Florida has this advantage over Leulsi-
ana. that YOU have no frost, and instead OF
cutting cane in October, you let it ripen
fully and cut III December.
With proper apparatus three products
are made from the cane-frst, sugar !;
second. molasses and third, rum. If the
pineapple or orange be also cultivated, they
can be used in distllling rum to give it the
very finest favor.
RICE AND TOBACCO.
l.
with proper labor, fine crops of rice !; but
it is very difficult to obtain laborers Tor 80
tyilsolne and unhealthy an occupation.
Here, as in sugar-making, Chinese labor
will have to be employed.
The Cuban tobacco, the best for cigar
making. suits the soil and climate, and can
be easily AMI probably cultivated.
COTTON AND OTHER FIBRES.
East of the Suwanee river oil the cotton
10 the Sea Island Or long staple; west Of it
tie short staple is grown. Both kinds pay
Vel. and are easily cultivated. saw one
field Of sand of twelve acres, and was told
that two bows and mule had raised ON it
crop worth $l,200.
There is large kind of aloe called sisal
hemp. which grows luxuriantly. The leaves
ere from eight to ten feet long, from which
:, very sirolg fibre is made-equal to the
strongest hemp. It's culture is nothing,
vet the preparation Of the fibre from the
leaf is Troublesome. The juice of the
plant, however, 10 said to make the famous
Mexican drink, rulque; and thus two crops
might be made from the same plant.
The raisin will grow well, and proves u
very profitable crop.
The burr grass, from which the Indians
make their ropes, is found an abundant
and troublesome weed. 1t could be made
useful if cultivated. The wild scrub pal
,nctto has recently been gathered, export
,.l 20 England, and used probably in
making coarse fibre. As it is an intole-
ral!c nuisance, in evcrybody's way, one
m;rht thus make q profit in clearing land
fer IL better crop.
The reeds, of which the swamps are
filed. are now found useful in making a
pulp for the coarser kinds of paper. But
one Of the most profitable things is found
in the long gray Spanish moss, with which
tue forests are covered. 1t is gathered,
buried for time in the sand, the gray skin
ruts off, and the result is Il black, horse
hair-likc fibre, OF which mattresses, pill
lows. mats. &C., are made. AS it has been
lately discovered that by properly steam
ing the moss it can be more quickly pre-
pared great impetus has been given t.
the trade, 1t is now largely exported t.
Europc. The moss can be had for the ga
thcring, and gathering it prevents the ire,
from being injured, for it ls true parasite
and destroys the forests on which it lives
The lumber business is large and profit
able. Pine forests, with all their pro
duc;s-pitch, tar, turpentine, and lum
Borrower immense tracts of country. The
live oak is abundant and valuable. Fari
ous other kinds Of wood are to be found il
plenty. The cypress is abundant, and il
but to many uses. / have seen Il man,
with merely an axe, an auger, and the cy-
press tree, build his house and surround his
land with tight fence. The tree can be
SPLIT off in narrow slabs Of great length,
and inHexible enough to bear bending and
twisting. The roof is made of clap-boards,
pinned on with wooden nails; the sides by
inserting rods in auger-holes in the up
rights, and using those long, thin slabs like
willow twigs in basket work. The fence
will be made in the same way. 1t is very
durable.
The cypress is used for making buckets,
barrels, etc. 1t is said to be the best wood for
Btaves-holding oil, for instance, better than
any other barrel wood. One valuable
quality it has-in that it resists the inroad
Of the worm, owing to some resinous sub
stance which it contains.
CATTLE. 49,.
These animals grow wild: as they feed
themselves, the only trouble is to catch
them. Many arc only valued for their
hides and tsllow. 4 very important bust