Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1877-11-06
LETTER FROM FLORIDA.


ida, has been handed US, from which we take
the following extracts:
ALTAMoNTE, ORANGE Co., Fla,
September 10, 1877.
Dear. Sir lit has been over two years
since line has passed between us, TINS is
certainly long enough, so 1 have concluded
to write YOU, let you know what am doing,
and to inquire into your well being and happi-
ness. From the heading, and thus far, you
will infer am not dead yet
suppose AN acclmated by this time, L have
been here long enough. But one needs to
become somewhat occlimated, the climate is
vastly different from that in Va. You saw
from the papers how cold it was in Florida
last winter, freezing orange trees to the
ground, running the growing crop in part, in
some places all of it. and doing damage of
various kinds. Well, it was severe, it injured
US great deal, we had out large crop of
vegetables which were swept away, injured
our orange trees, killed down our figs, guavas,
lemons aud bananas. It has been q splendid
growing season since then, and plants arc
larger now with US than before the freeze;
some trees are still badly hurt, have not yet
recovered After the cold of last winter we
have had hot summer hotter than any |
have spent here. The weather is getting cool
ly hot country, because it is SO far South yet,
as Maury teaches, climate is dependent upon
other considerations than latitude merely
The only objection to our summers is their
length, from the FIRST of May to tho first of
| September, four months, and the extra month
| makes q vast difference. The thermometer
| does not rise higher here than with you
| Our nights are almost invariably cool, and in
midsummer a little logger than yours the
cause is found ia rainy season, which
| lasts from the 10th of juno about, to the
| 10Th of September, generally. 1t often rains
daily, bright dashipg showers, cooling off the
atmosphere, making plants grow like magic.
or course l need not dilate on our winter
climate, of course that is understood to DO
superior to any in the United States. You
would be surprised at the rapidity with which
this country has settled up, people from every
where we have representatives from nearly
every State in the Union, some good, some
bad, but generally we have a very good and
respectable class of settlers, and still they
come We are looking for a large influx of
settlers this winter Many people leave here
in the summer and spend it in the NORTH
That is good plan if one has the means
Nov in saying North from Florida we do not
| mean merely north of Mason and Dixon, but
| all that is north of Florida. 1t is the great
idea with many to have q winter home here
| and summer residence North, aud let me
| tell you, one ought to be happy if he can have
| that I like Florida just as we'll as ever,
better believe. 1t is great country, des-
tined to he much greater one. Don't cons
| pare it with Virginia or Maryland, it does
not bear it there is nothing to compare, it is
absolutely dissimlar. In South Florida, on
tho peninsula, VIC raise no wheat. Oats,
corn, rye, rice, cane,-both sorghum and
sugar-eottou, potatoes, -irish and sweet
cassava, arrow.rcot, millet, etc. On good
hammock, or cow-pcnned land, We raise
good corn and oats as you do. On common
! pine land about ten bushels of corn, and fair
| oats, per acre. Rice should make from 80 to
| 40 bushels on good land. We raise the up
land rice, which does not need to be flooded.
| Cane, Of course, on good land, is a splendid
crop, yielding a heavy return; we grow the
| sugar cane Florida syrup is, | think, better
than any other, though not rating high in
market Cassava is ono of cur best root
crops, is between the irish and sweet potato,
Yields the largest root crop Of any thing |
ever saw we are now running four groves.
Sanford's Papa's, AIpheus', and my own, all
arc doing fairly. We will largely increase
each of them this winter, will moro than
double mine. We expect to have few
lemons, berries, and oranges in two years
Most of our trees are seedlings OF our own
raising, consequently small yet. We are bud
ding oar trees very largely with the finest
varieties of oranges and others OF the citrus
family. Orange growing is slow, but 1t IS
sure thing, when it does come; you rave some
thing worth striving for, worth all the labor
and pains you have bestowed upon it, yield
ing an annual income of FROM 500 to $1,000
per acre, and all that is necessary to be done
in grove Of a thousand trees can be done by
three men, at u cost of SiO0 year. We
have considerable grove of bananas, which
have as yet done but little. We have good
vineyard Of scuppcrnong and other grapes,
which will begin to pay us soon. We have
large quantity of guava trees, and fig bushes,
whic! if we can protect this winter will yield
US large quantity of fruit next year, when
they will be three years old. So you see We
are not tied down to tho orange alone, indeed
| many think grapes and small fruit will pay as
we'll as the orange, though not as suto q crop.
We are perfectly certain of success, only it
requires time, labor, and patience.
We have some splendid times hunting hero
| deer, bear, turkcys-nevcr hunt anything
smaller. Since 4th of July we have been
out eleven times, game as follows: 4th, ono
splendid buck second time, fine Cobblcr
3rd, fine buck -!th time, fine buck; 9Th,
a magnificent buck, saddle weighing Go lbs;
9th a failure 9TH, a fawn Sth. doe 9th,
doe 10th, failure 1lth, fine buck
Nearly every time we 60 out now We get some-
thing. Fishing is equally good.
At tho recent meeting of the Grand
Encampment of West Virginia, l. o. o. f.,
the following officers were elected to serve
tho ensuing year: Grand Chief Patriarch,