The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1881-10-26
DeIand volusa County, Florida Wednesday, October 49, 1884,

thereby, whilst the soils would lose
year by year of their productive
power, and turn to waste land. A
change OF mind has, slough, been
wrought in the course OF these two
years past; for many negroes, mostly
adolescent ones, have been drawn off
to the plantations of louisiana, and
the railroad works on the Texas lines,
and of late also on that of West Flor.
ida, that planters became greatly
agitated at their or their neighbo-s'
loss of hands to bring in the crop;
and with many one the idea struck
root that an extension of the caIam>
ity might be more than balanced and
ought to be counteracted by way of
aiding a white immigration. But no
common action has yet been initla-
ted.
Thus as regards progress In popu-
ton, settling up of new lands, intro.
ducing OF new cultures, and railroad
enterprise, the Peninsula has largely
outstripped the entire West. We
notice here but a few and entirely
sporadic improvements, so the laying
out OF about fifty TO sixty acres in
grape during the past seven or eight
years, in the last two tae setting out
several acres in sand pears, and some
small beginnings in truck-tarming,
whereas prospected hopes Of orange
culture received a merclIess shock by
last winter. that's all Middle Flor-
ida can boast of, and West Florida,
\ without railroad, is Of course still
more behind. The exorbitant rates
of freightage on the J. p. 81 M. line
are putting a most torbidding stress
! on understanding gn5eother produce
I The only remedy for all these short
comings and apparent lethargy, lies
in immigration; we are as yet less in
want OF the laboring poor class than
of settlers who can buy lands and go
on by themselves, so as to unburden
the big land owners of their downs
weighing surplus Of lands. and thus
put working capital in their hands.
l have been doing the best In my lin
tied individual power, unsupported
as it is, to contribute my share to
this result; if their general Incidence
and unaided encouragement does rot
I deserve it, so much the more | am
convinced that their lands need and
deserve it, and undaunted I pursue
my object.
This brings me to a briet descrip-
ton of the formation and soils OF
M5dd1e EIorida, and in particular Of
this county Of Jefferson.
Middle Florida took its name no
doubt during the British possession
OF the north portion OF Florida, when
all the Peninsula was yet actually the
undisputed Lunting grounds of the
indians; the then existing north sec.
tions received the names of East,
Middle and West Florida. To re-
tute general mistake in northern
minds of taking Middle Florida for
the central part Of the Peninsula,
have to repeat here that Middle Flor.
ida is bounded in between the rivers
Suwannee and Appalachicola, which
any map will show. Its latitudinal
extension comes to near 100 miles,
whilst its longitunal varies from forty
to eighty miles; the area thus en-
braced may be roughly estimated at
about 1000 square miles: to compare
it with some European countries, il
comes nearly up to one.fourth part oi
Ireland or Scotland, or to one>half Of
Switzerland, or to the kingdom ol
Wurtemburg. I'VE have4to discern
two sections widely different in theil
features, the southern and northern
The southern stretching all along the
coast of the Appalacha Bay in ;
breadth of about twenty miles, is fla
low lands, covered with piney ant
low hammock forest, all as yet gov
ernment and State lands, but few
sporadic settlements with unlimited
cattle range may be found on its out
skirts. The many big, navigabl
rivers, some of them taking thei
source on the very skirts of the fiat