The daily gazette., 1881-04-04
FIRST EDITION.
CHE OLD SOUTH"
WHAT MIR JAY GOULD SAW AND
LEARNED IN HIS TRIP TO FLOR.
IDA AND BACK.

lAst nlSnt ny Worlu reporter, 10 whom
he gave a cursory account of his trip.
When he spoke Of the South as a whole,
| Mr.. Gould said: "On this trip 1 saw
what may be called the old South as
distinguished from the Southwest, which
| visited recently. went and returned
through Virginia aud the Carolinas,
keeping pretty close to the seaboard;thAt
| Is, took the most direct route TO Florida,
| and though did not return by exactly
the same route, | did no. leave the sea
board State at all. There are several
obvious reasons why the old South
should not be, compare lively speaking,
| as progressive as the Southwest. In the
iIst place, 1t is more thiekly settled; the
opportunities for immigrants are not so
great as they are In vast and new
reg On-for example, like Texas, the cost
Of keeping up the fertility oflong- worked
lands Is much greater than that of re-
claiming virgin soil. Railroad travellers,
TOO, pass necessarily through n great ex
tent of territory which is low, marshy
and unattractive and the road facilities
are not 30 good as they are In the South
west. But II you lake into consideration
| the long established ideas and old habits
| OF the people, their forward movement is
| obv'o and remarkable. The old South
seems to me to be actually turning It's
face towards the rising sum- not In any
political sense, but in its new and visi-
BILE appreciation Of industry, economy
aud enterprise. That perfect order relgns
is clear fro n the way in which Eastern
capital is going in there. 1 find the
whole country dotted with industries,
backed by capital from the East"
"You say that the railroad facilities
are not as good as in the Southwest"
asked the reporter.
Mr.. Gould replied: "No, they cer-
tainly are not. The railroad facilities
for reaching Florida are not as COED as
they should be. They will be materi-
ally improved, however, by q line
which will be completed in about two
weeks, and which will be of great
value, especially to inyalids, as it will
save about ten hours from New York
to Jacksonville. The railroad speak
of runs from Savannah to Jackson
vile. At this point you enter the re-
gion of the orange plantations. For
800 miles south from Jacksonville,
along the st. Johns river, and still
1 AOAt VII anu Naot bliO DOuuNAI
dotted over with orange groves Of
from twenty to twenty Ave acres in
extent. 1t takes about Eve years for
an orange grove TO mature 80 as to
produce fruit Tor the market, but new
erthelSss new groves are constantly
planted, and are looked ID as a sure
source of revenue. When an orange
grove begins to bear fruit it apparent
ly never wears out. l heard of one
tree which bears annually from six to
eight thousand oranges, but that is
above the average"
"What is the cost of All orange
grover"
"As l said," replied Mr.. Gould,
they vary in extent from twenty to
twenty five acres and are worth from
$50, 900 to 500. 900. But they yield
handsome percentage. Fur instance,
Mr.. Hart, who lives just above me
here, owns a grove of about % acres,
aud he informs me that it yields him
net income offrom s15, 900 to $40, 900
year"
ISIS this interest growingp"
Decidedly so, and l think that
within the next Ave years Florida
ought to be able to supply the entire
demand of the Eastern United States
for oranges. believe that the sweet
orange is not native of Florida, but
has to be grated upon thetree which
bears the sour orange. On one tree
you sometimes soc oranges, lemons
and lines growing together. OF course
the several fruits have been grated;
but II is interesting aud peculiar to
Northsrner to see these fruits growing
to q happy family on one tree. 1t sug-
gests horticultural paradise"
"Is orange growing the chief indus
try of Florida ?"
ton and live oak and the like, you must
not forget the alligator" said Mr..
Gould, smiling and eveidently think
ing of his alleged ALLIGATOR ia M"
"But is the alligator a sufficiently
valuable animal to make his culliva-
tion renumerative ?"
"No his hide is the valuable portion
of him, and even that is worth com.
paratively little, though l believe they
make it into boots in England"
"But does Florida cultivate these
reptiles'"
"That is not necessary. The alli-
gator cultivates himself and produces
quickly and numerously. The whole
swamp and river country is filed with
them"
"And are they dangerous"
"Well," said Mr.. Gould, 'tt is as
we'll not to get in the way of their tails.
think hey strike their victims CHI eff
ly with their tails. Nevertheless, the
eleven inch jaws of some of them are
not attractive. My son killed one
which resembled a whale on four legs.
Our party killed over thirty of them.
whether killed any or not myself is a
difficult question for me to answer. l
saw some live ones Just before fired,
aud some dead ones just afterwards
but as several riAes went off at the
same time, l cannot assume that it was
my gun that killed an alligator. But
alligator-shooting was not what inter-
ested me in the South the blossoms,
the wedding blossoms of the North,
you know, were on the trees, and vel
the ripe, golden fruit was there too
The oranges ripeu in the fall, but they
can be left on the trees for six months
without injury"
In speaking further of the South Mr.
Gould said 81 was more pleased with
{ Savannah than with any place visited
: : 1t is beautiful place and will be I
4 a