Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-03-27

EAST gLoRi1l.

~" ASAA xOStS ADS t09 AOAOWAu8 AZ
relation to East Florida, whsre he has been
spending the winter.
"For three hundred years has Florida
been open to settlement, and st. Angus
tine is the Oldest city in the United States
oy more than fifty years. How does it
happen that East Florida is still for the
most part wlldernessp Il certainly is not
The fault Of the climate, which Il far more
temperate than that Of the region imme-
tiately north of it. The ocean winds from
the Gulf Of Mexico on tile west, and the
Atlantic on the east, mitigate the summer
heats and prevent the winter frosts. It Is
claimed, and probably with truth, that the
diseases which arise from malaria are of .
milder character than in the lower parts Of
Georgia and South Carolina. The rsason
OF the slow increase Of population must
be the meagreness Of soil in the greater
part of the peninsular. remember that
a writer in the Evening Post some time
since spoke of the soil of East Florida rs
the despair of the cultivator." The ex-
preston is strong one, and perhaps, as
applied to the whole region, is not quite
deserved. There are some noble orange
groves along the st. John and in st. Au-
gustine, which flourish and yield large re-
turns of profit. The mud is dug from the
neighboring marshes and mingled with the
sand which forms the greater part Of the
soil, and the ground becomes fertile. The
oranges of Florida are among the finest
produced anywhere. The keeper Of An
apple-stand at Jacksonville, on the st.
John, as we stopped on coming up the
river, asked me if / had ever tasted the
Indian River oranges. l Thought he said
India-rubber, and answered him accord
inglv. Indian River" said he, land you
will find it the finest fruit that grows" /
tried his Indian River oranges brought
from New Smyrna, many leagues south
of this, and could not but own that his
praise was not ill-deserved, so rich and
agreebly tempered to the palate was the
juice. and so delicately tender the little
cells in which the juice was contained.
How far it is practicable to carry this
method of obtaining muck from the
marshes to make the immense tracts Of
sand productive have not the means of
Judging. There is an Orange Growers
Association here, who say in their pros
pectus that the best soil for the orange
tree is that of the marshes when proper
ly drained.' But the draining of the
seems to me very doubtful un-
dertaking on account of their very slight
elevation above the surface of the rivers.
Could not the marshes in Florida he treat
ed in the manner of the Chinampas in
Mexico? There the wet ground is
trenched with broad and deep bitches like
canals, and the earth heaped in narrow
parallelograms high above the water and
here all manner OF vegetables and fruits
are cultivated all the year round. In the
dry season these narrow platforms are
watered from the broad bitches that sur
round them. ....s.r
But there are some indications Of growth
N East Florida. Thirty years ago, when
visited it, Jacksonville. on the st. John,
was known only by its single orange
grove just planted. 1t is now thriving
own of four thousand Inhabitants or more
and two hotels, at this season full of
guests. have Just returned from St. Au-
gustne, where thirty years since passed
nearly three weeks. 1t was then almost
bare Of trees, the orange groves by which
it had been overshadowed having shortly
before been killed by a severe frost. 1t
has lost something of its ancient aspect;
a few new houses have been built, among
which are two hotels, but its orange
groves have been renewed and they are
now in full bloom, sweetening the air for
a great distance around them, and the
nocking birds are singing among their
branches. At present the place is suffer-
ng a northern invasion. All the hotels
IRE crowded with guests, and every spare
'oom in town which can be had for money
s occupied by persons sent from the ho-
els, and still the tram road over which
he vehicles are drawn by mules, ON
wooden rails, brings every day its fresh
Dad of visitors Whatever may be the
fortune of the rest Of East Florida, this
place is likely to flourish on account of
he purity of the air and the bengnity Of
he climate, and to become the great wa
tering place of the United States. In a
few years it win probably part with nearly
all that is left reminding the visitor Of its
Spanish origin-its narrow streets, its high
garden walls OF she'll rock and its over
hanging balconies-all but its fine old
fort of St. Mark-and look like any other
American town in the Southern States.
saving its orange groves and the date
palms, which, planted within thirty years,
are now beginning to peer over the roofs
of the houses. 1t will then be the resort
OF invalids who need not only a mild eli
mate but the open air, and of oilers who
come to bask in the sunshine of this softer
climate and these serener skies. For the
sunshine here has been almost perpetual
since we entered Florida, and although
the climate here sympathizes in some de-
gree with that of the Northern States and
the great snow storms OF that region chill
the air even in these ATTITUDES. yet they
only make one the better for brisk walk,
and are a relief from the feeling OF ener-
vation which attends one of the warm days
here.
One of the sights most worth seeing
acre is the place of the late Mr.. Bucking-
,am Smith. That gentleman directed it
" his will to be sold and the proceeds to
,e applied TO the support of a hospital for
,oor and aged colored people. His exec
ltor. DR.. Bronson, resident OF this place
nd one of its most public spirited citizens,
las already begun the building. The
lace is one of the finest things to be seen
n East Florida. A lane between over
langing orange trees. now shining with
heir golden fruit, forming fragrant COW
red way, leads to the mansion, which is
,vershadowed by gigantic mulberry trees.
III arOupd the mansion aro roua af nr.