The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1882-05-20
SUNNY SOUTH.
.yourneying Through Lazy Mans Land
FAREWELL, FLORIDA.

she is impressed with the thought that thei
readers have seen good deal Of the sky ant
have felt constant breeze ripping their pag
es. Her only apology tor the undue amour
of said articles Is that she was trying TO CIV
truthful picture OF Florida as she saw IL
and that from her standpoint the sky and ali
constituted the most strik ing and charming
features OF the state
She had read of Florida as fairyiano
whose oriental trees and plants, gorgeous
blossoms, brighthued birds and unique alliga
tors made it realm Of the lovely and gro
tesuue. It's happy citizens were removed IRON
the curse of earning their daily bread by the
sweat of their brows, for nature poured the
luscious fruits of that prOdlgal cline into
their fortunate laps all the year round. LIS all
was better tonic than all the patent medi
cines. lis orange groves promised IN the near
future to become regular Midas touch lou
men who held their title deeds.
She had read again that Florida was an
overrated, overpraised state, that her sandy
soil showed Its poverty in the sparse grass ana
requlred very costly inducements in the shape
of fertilizers to become productive; that the
great belts of pines were monotonous, and the
swampy hammocks malariOus; that the peo-
pie were lazy people, as all who dwelt under
such soft and perpetually smiling sky must
be, and that an orange grove counting such
small incidentals as time, labor and expense,
was anything but Midas touch
She laid these two widely different pictures
of the same thing away together, not dreaming
the time would ever come when she should be
permitted TO test their correctness to nature for
herself With the strange facility with which
q fancy sometimes changes itself into reality,
her hope of visiting IN person the land she
had SC often visited on paper became certain
~, and she was permitted to see with her own
eyes the original of the two paintings. She
found that the first artist had dipped his brush
too deeply into glowing colors, and the second
had unnecessarily and untruthfully darkened
his canvas with the somber tints.
The palmettos, liveoaks, cypress, oranges,
jessamlnes and oleanders of Florida though
gorgeous and novel, are not more lovely than
the oaks, naples, elms, sweetfaced vlolets,
dainty wildhowers and blue bells of our
northern woods. Nature showers her favors
with liberal hand on this favorite spot IN her
domains but she does not propose to lower
her dignity by descending to the position Of
maid of all work for the indolent pensloner on
her bounty. He who proposes to feast on
Strawberries in January must not expect a fal
gy to plant and give them the care which alone
paves the way for perfection. This is equally
true of all other fruits and vegetables. An
orange grove, though usually an excellent IN.
yestment, is not the lamp OF Aladdin, and no
amount Of rubbing will bring out of 1t the
palaces, diamonds and rubes OF that famous
prince.
Dying people need not expect that the sir
'ot Florida will work tor them special mira
" Gle, though 1t may drop soothing balm into
= theirIast moments
But the dark shadings of the second picture
was even more removed from the truth than
the glowing colors of the first. All soils need
the stim ulant of outside AID IN order to achieve
the best results. After very few years of use
even the rich and wonderfully black mould of
our own state receives substantial benefit from
dressing of manure. Why, then, should the
stigma OF poverty rest upon the sands of the
cracker state because they refuse to contribute
their very essential assistance to orange wealth
without liberal application of fcrtllizersg 1t
IS true that one pine forest IS very much like
another pine forest but as you walk through
one there Is something so grand about the
straight, lofty trunks, as they sweep regally
toward the blue, and so fascinating in the SOFT
mysterious notes of the winds unwritten song
among the green tree-tops that at once you feel
that monotony is the most inappropriate word
in the world. While an orange grove is not
HoUnsnza and consumes time, labor and money,
As do other desirable pursuits and business
callings, it is very improbable that the time
viii ever come when such grove, IN good
condition and with proper care, will not yield
q substantial cash foundation for all the com.
forts and the greater Der of the luxuries of
life. The taste for oranges and their consump.
'Sioh IA val iouS Iois 10 yeaily lHCIchslug, anu
the Florida orange leads the world IN its de.
iectable qualities. We were informed by Col
Covlngton, of the Fiorida Agriculturalist,
that while citizens OF the United States annu
ally bought and paid for G50,0O0,OOo oranges,
Florida supplied them with only 5O,0OOOOO.
SO Tong as the demands Of our own country
are so impertectly met by the supply Of home
fruit there is not the slightest danger OF over
production nor reason to dread a downward
market Mr.. George Norriss young grove of
% acres produced this year $4,000 oranges,
and in three years from this time he expects 1t
TO bear 100000 oranges. The day is very
remote when oranges can possibly drop below
one cent per orange on the tree, nor is ii like.
L. 1877 H.. L.. L. a.