The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1882-03-16
For THE HERALD.
Florida.
SUMMIT, FLA, March q. 1882.


AIEssRs. EDIToRs Will you allow
me space, in your esteemed weekly,
to speak a few words to my many
young friends in dear old Newberry,
concerning the many advantages Of.
fered by the land of the cassava.
pineapple, orange and guava.
The annual tourist bound for these
lovely and delightful shores is heard
to give vent to many exclamations az
he catches the first balmy breeze as it is
waited Ger the gigantic primeval
forest and if there is any poetry in
the soul of man. this lovely scenery
and delightful climate is sure to call
it forth ; it is really amusing to listen
to the spontaneous outoursts OF praise
FROM those who have never before
been out of the mud, rain and ice of
the more northern states.
Early this morning while basking
in the effulgcnt rays of the sun.
friend from New York said "lt is i,u-
possible to describe this climate, and
even if you told the half of its at.
tractiveness, our friends will not be
lieve them"
will nevertheless give you sam
pie of one week, after reminding you
that if 1 should use all the adjectives
in the English language, even then [
would utterly fail to give an appre-
ciable description.
Last Tuesday was fair day in
every sense of the word !; Wednesday
was lovely; Thursday was most graf
flying; Friday was efulgent; Satur-
day was exquisite; Sunday was beau
tiful; and to day is simply glorious.
The orange trees are full of mocking
birds caroling their sweet lays as they
are only heard to do.
"ln lands of palm and southern pine,
In lands Of palm. Of orange blossom,
or olive, aloe, and maize and viue."
I have been assured time aud again
by residents from all over the Union
that the summer climate is even more
fascinating than the winter, and the
Gulf breezes commencing at sunset
as they are waited across the peD!usu'
lar afford cool nights and refresh
ing sleep to the cheerful populace.
We have many curiosities down
here ; a few of which l will mention.
Our COWS are anphibian. The most
that l have seen were feeding in
water from one to Eve feet deep.
| Another is that there are slaves in
Florida. 4 short while ago an [n.
dian Chief brought his negro slave to
| Orlando to sell, and on being Informed
that negroes were free he said his
we're not. and carried him back to the
Everglades.
This is the sportsmau's paradise.
Two friends and myself went out fish.
ing few days ago and in couple of
hours we caught six trout that weighed
over sixty pounds, besides as many
more of a smaller size. We also saw
FIVE deer, but as We we're not hunting,
we did not get any.
| Messro. Editors, I will DOW give
you a few facts in regard to the veg
etables, fruits &c., of this section.
Facts are stubborn things and figures
cannot lie, so I will give you some of
ny authors.
During the 18th 10th and 18th Of
February attended the Sumter Coun.
ty Fair, held at Leesburg. While there
I saw the finest display of oranges,
taugerines, maudarines, piueapples,
guavas, ripe figs, strawberries, cassa-
va, cabbage, lettuce, peas, beans, rad
ishes, squasLes. tomatoes-and-well
just everything else that is good to
eat. One of the managers seeing that
| was interested in their fine display
banded me a postal card just re.
ceived from his commission merchant
IL read as follows:
! Peas SIS to s6 per crate cucum-
bers SIS to 81 per crate egg plants
So to $3.50 per dozen tomatoes,
l7c per quart. Now with such fig
ures before tue market gardeners, who
will not ss7 there are fortunes In it,
yes, millions.
We have ripe mulberries in our
yard, corn six inches high in our
fields, cotton 4 inches high, orange and
lemon trees in bloom, and young
peento, or fat, peaches on our trees
that will bring US $50 to $50 per
busbel next month Who then can
have the audacity to say that without
the orange Florida is failure? ? Even
the beautiful little alligator is quite
source of revenue. His 6ne ivory
teeth are highly priced by the jewelers.,
his hide by the tanners and the fash
iouable Yankee ladies go into costa
sizes if they can only buy sweet little
one for pet.
| If the present grove prices OF
oranges arc maintained, as l believe
they will be, there is nothing to pre-
vent the establishment in Florida of a
race of rich men, who will rank with
the farm princes of the old South. In'
| deed I believe now there are more
rich men in Florida according tc pop
ulasion than any other Southern State.
| Men have increased in wealth so fast
here that they scarcely know what to
do with their surplus money. A poor
man starts grove, and in few years
he sells it for $4,000 or $4,000 OF
$4,000 dollars and be is utterly at a
| loss to know how to invest it. The
Editor of the Florida AgrlcuItur1st
| c,,o mo tho fnllovino foureS. Col.