The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-01-31
Qhe ]1top|ts Qol''"'"
LETTER FROM FLORIDA.
Port ORANGE, Nolusia county, !
January 18th, 1850.


DEAR WHIG:-Iet me remind my read
erS that there are parts of oar country where
snow is never seen. Many old people here
have never seen snow. There are parts OF
Florida where frost never makes its appear
ancc. In this Halifax River region, frost
sometimes visits three or four times in Il sea-
son. This year, in November, we had very
slight frost, which injured morning SO far as
[ could see. Not even the tendere>t vegeta-
ton was touched, our pine apples and ba-
nanaS showing no signs Of "cold fingers. :"
Most of the time the Thermometer ranges
bet ween 600 at night and SOC in the middle
of the day. To-day, al ! p. NJ, it is 7So
with bright sunshine and a pleasant breeze:
and while writing | feel comfortable with
out i coat or under clothing. In short, the
weather here is delightful now and has been
so. Since my last letter to tn" Wing there
has been bat little rain, and that little iii
gentle Showers--no storms OF wind or rain.
II our years experience here is Il sample or
average of other years, the wind storms here
are not near so severe as in Maryland: nor
are they as frequent, not more than one here
to ten in Maryland. The range Of thermome-
ter this season q cannot call it Win1er) has
BEEN higher than the last, SO far, and slight
~ drier-rhis being our dry season of the
wear in Florida. The orange trees are grow
ing, As are many other evergreen trees Two
or three of my liz trees are still growing, bnt
most of them have shed their leaves. The
decitluous trees are generally shedding their
leaves, or are already denuaed and bare.
Especially is this the case with the hicko-
rieS; they put out their leaves the last here
in the Spring, and are first To shed them in
Autumn. They mostly bear nuts much
larger than they do in Maryland, the pits
having somer hing Of the flavor of the New
Jersey she'll bark, - though the shells here
are thick,
MY FIRST stGHT or DEER.
| had my first and only sight Of deer in
Florida six or eli lit weeks since. They, two
of them, were about twenty yards from me
when first saw 1h III, and my gun WAS east
ly reclining against II tree Sin or eight feet
distant, and, before | could get it, rhr deer
;, emed to have been suddenly reminded OF
some urgent business in a direction oppo-
site to my immediate locality, and the speed
with which they started was worthy the
emulation of human kind when attending
to business. As | did not expect when |
came here to make my fortune 10y shipping
venisnn to ii Northern market, | bore my
disappointment rs phiiosnphirally as posi-
bic, and conSoled myself with tie reflection
that orange trees would grow il deer did
run away from Inc or keep ont of my sight.
Ii seems singular that | have Sren but these
two deer since my arrival in Florida, for |
seldom 90 out into the woods near us that |
do not see fresh tracks made by deer. There
are turkeys in about every hammock, |
think: yst have not been able to one.
! have, however. heen quite Successful i'll
hunting and baGE!hG squirrels. About three
months since | began stadyjng 10 on the
habits of squirrels, and since that time have
bagged within dozen or of two hundred.
| have baggrd Il dozen several times of an
afternoon. The most in an afternoon have
b.,es fifteen lnall my life previous 10 COM
ing here / lad iia5 fred Il gun over twenty
W thirty times TIA, or I.G Ia>t t4rty shots,
! killed my squirrel every time. a,a G.,i o,
the whole Two hundred have not missed bag
giug my squirrel more than six times, and
n.Gst Of them getting away by hiding in the
UuacGnr4si, .tter being knocked down. The
gun ! use is az o,d i!ei2iaN (lS3il army
mu>ket reStockfIi atiEr lie Sa,, tQy which
| paid three dollars. hope my renders Viii
pardon this bit of vanity In thus fnaiiEg
my hunting experiences, which could, 10
doubt, be put in deep shadow" by almost
any of your Elkton sportSmrn, but they
ought 70 remember have no brccch-loader
and 500 !FdGFg." or any other kind. In dis
missingtie SUBJECT 81 squirrel hunting here,
] will say that the squirrel 4le Ypry shy, and
a person going through any OF o'tl weeds
where thcy harbor. at an ordinary walk IL
company with any one or alone. would not
see squirrel in week, unless they looked
very sharp.
CULTIVATION OF ORANGE TREES.
| have now something over one hundred
G.ange trees, three OF four years Old, set in
whole number one hundred and fifty. In
addition, | have about the same number of
Seeding trees about eighteen months old,
two hundred and fifty a year old, and rs