Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1878-01-29
t-Nf For the SPECTATOR.
Florida in Winter.
ORANGE LAKE. FLA, Jan. a. 1878

| OnANdE LANE, + LA y MI. H 1915.
Eds. Spectator :-Fhis. is written frol
Marion county, Florida. If you will r
fer to the map, you will see that Mario
county is about midway between til
Atlantic ocean and Gulf; and ,perhaE
near the middle of the State froEl Mort
to South. Orange Lake is one of th
handsomest sheets OF water in the Stat
1t Is perhaps eight miles in length, an
from one TO four miles in width
Around this lake there is large bod
of land which is peculiarly adapted t
the cultivation of the orange. In th
hammocks or lowland, next to the Lake
there are thousands of wild OraDg
trees growing in the forests, many q
them heavily laden with fruit. Som
OF these wild Oranges are sour, the othe
bitter. The presence of so many tree
growing in the woods, shows that tn
fruit is indigenous to the soil, and give
encouragement to those wh6 desire t
engage In the cultivation of that de
1icious fruit. These wild trees are util
lied by orange growers They are bud
ded with sweet buds and transplantet
to the groves, or having been budded
are left standing where nature PLACED
them, and thus form what is here callel
a natural grove The number of acre.
of land in the orange belt around thu
Lake amounts to Thousands. s.f
That you may have an idea of the ex-
tent to which the cultivation of the or
ange ia carried here, will give you 8
few figures. You will remember thai
the business of orange in this section Is
In its infancy; the oldest grove on Or
ange Lake being not over eight or nine
years old.
There are now, perhaps, on the Lake,
one hundred thousand bearing trees
five hundred thousand budded trees
while the sweet seedlings and.wild trees
not budded would approximate mil
hon. i have not room in letter, to
particularize in regard to the cultiva
ton of oranges. A few facts, startling
as they may appear, propose to give,
and then pass on. The grove OF Jas
Harris, which I visited this morning,
has about sixty acres of bearing trees
Unless he should meet with misfOr-
tune, he will probably ship one million
oranges next year. Isaw tree the 9TH
er day, which bore four thousand Or
anges; and there are many trees in this
section which will yield from three to
four thousand oranges.
Perhaps your readers would be more
inter ested ia hearing something of this
State as an agricultural country. The
surface of the entire State is sand; some
portions of which has clay subsoil uu-
derlying it,
! believe this county contains as good
land as is to be found in Florida. The
most productive land is the hammock.
This land will produce from two to three
thousand pounds of sugar, OF twenty
five to forty bushels Of corn to the acre.
The beet best pine lands will yield from
five. to nine hundred pounds of cotton,
or twenty-five bushels Of corn or oats to
the acre. Sweet potatoes will grow lux
uriantly any where. These lands which
lie In the Wetumpta and Sugar Ham
mocks, can he bought for from $5 to $40
per acre. In some cases portions of it
ere cleared. Timber is so ahppdapt. shat
the cost Of fencing is merely nominal.
The hammock land is densel covered
with hickory, water oak, live oak, gum,
orange. red oak. red bay, palmetto, mag
nofia, ash. &c. The uplands have moth
ing but pine, OAK and hickory Cultiva.
ting land is exceedingly easy. One horse
or nlue'is sufficient to draw plow s3y
where in the State. WIZ"
The cliWate af Flerida is all that is de-:
sirahls. do not Know that 1 can de-
scribe it. This, you will remember is
the 4ifi of January. lam sitting in the
shade. withaut fire. and as comfortable as
" It we've May in Va. The sun shines
as bright and sweet as can be-. Day by
dav this section Is swept by the breeze,
either from the Atlantic or Gulf This
breeze r. lieves the Intensity of the heat
in Summer. The truth of the matter is,
the Winter in Florida terminates with
December, and can see and hear, and
feel all around me that "Spring is COM
lng," Ofcourse, in'such a cGuutyy, CON-
snmptioa, bronchitis, asthma, catarrh,
dfphtheria, and all diseases of the throat
and lungs are unknown. You never
hear any cough here. unless it is some
invalid from the cooler regions of the
North, who has come here to regain
bis health.
HilioEs fYeFs nreyaIl 10 ssme eXteut /;
and cases of chills and fsvers frequently
occur. These, however, are not onnsids
cred serious, unless they assume the ty-
phoid form Florida abounds In lakes,
prairies, covered with water, ponds
lagoons, sloughs, and swamps. AS a
matter of course, those who live near
these points will be subject to bilious at.
tacks. There are, however, plenty oi
high points on which people may live
wit out exposing themselves to SICK
There Is probably not one-fourth oi
the land in this county cleared; and o.
the cleared land perhaps not one third
is cultivated. The reason for this is ca
silly given. Of the cleared land, tbs
most of it was in large sugar and cotton
plantations. The emancipation Of tn;
slaves left The planters with large
quantity Of land and no labor to cult
vate 1t. Under the homestead law
steads, and large per cent. of the labol
was thus expended in fixing up the new
homes. Extensive planting, of course,
could not be profitable. so the large
planters have land for sale; and as th'
State offers its lands to settlers at 81 2;
an aofe, the pNics OF good cleared land il
very low. There is no doubt but tina
the lands have spoken Of are very pro
ductive, and the industrious, energetl'
tOiler Is sure of an ample return for hi
labor. There is no cold. freezing wealth
er here to interfere with work. Wher
| GuC SSdSou dTTlVeS fOr certain WOFk u
be done, the farmer has nothing to d.
but pull off his coat and 20 at it. AS be
fore remarked, the seasons here are il
advance of ours In Virginia you will
not be surprised then. when I tell 70,
that saw large field of oats, yester
day: which was up and growing beau
tifnlly.
Everything grows large in Florida
Her pines and hickories, and other tree
are simply mammoths. I saw hicko
ry few days since, which measure
sixteen feet and a half in circumference
and running up to about sixty feet with
out limb of any size. Watermelons
pumpkins, turnips, and onions, all gro,
to enormous ssizes. Last. but not ieas,
her animals and insects are huge.
have seen alligators, perhaps, siz
teen feet long, rattlesnakes ten inche
in circumference. Even the musauitoe
and gallinippers are giants. There is
species of mosquitoes so large that thei
throat is covered with red bugs. Jus
think of an insect ''cozening' arouu
you at eventide, of such huge propol
tions that he can carry parcel of bug
round his neck. And in this conneC
tiOn I NAV no uo1l cow fhot opo croc