The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1885-08-20


fertile hill country, from which We ex-
tract as follows:
Tallahassee is the most beautiful place that l
have ever seen in this State. neighoor who
visited This city last spring, reported then that II
locked more like IA New England village than
any place she had ever seen in Florida. IL is
built on very high hill, Tor THIS country, the
capital grounds being two hundred aud sixty
ictt above the The city is surrounded by
wide, deep valley, beyond which the hills can
bc rising in every direction some covered
18th fine farms, green fields and beautiful or
IDS. others in a state of nature covered with
,Sc forests Ii is beautiful sight, Ou' having
been raised on the praries OF LaPorte, found
the climbing very tlreSome realized the truth
ot The odd proverb " Distance lends enchantment
To The view" though very beautiful To look up
ON they were no, pleasant TO travel over on
foot
The greatest ,lrawbac to life IN Tallahassee
Is the TACT that the depot Is In the valley haif
mile from the business part Of the city and fifty
or siNly feet below which makes the walk from
the depot To the capitol a constant aud rather
steep ascent all the way. The roads, however,
are AS smooth and solid rs nOor, and the clay
'y soil WAS much plcaSanter 10 Walk over, IN
dry weather, than the sands OF East Florida
Those who first laid ont the city had the good
sense Ia leave great many OF the native oaks
and now on all the streets my be seen some of
these old veterans grand specimens OF what ma
ture can do toward the adjournment OF CITY
when allowed lair chance. Besides these Ma
tivcS, th'.rc ar" hundreds of smaller oaks set by
the citint $ many OF them over thirty years ago
Among HE many curious aud beautiful plants
and trees surrounding the homes OF the people,
| saw one specimen Of III" genuine cork oak. 1t
was not specially ornamental, but the tree had
never received proper care and WAS also crowd
ed and ovcrshadowel by larger oaks.
In the western parto this State orange culture
is ul, lt, a ia n
severe rosts. There are many orange trees
scattered here and there, and occasionally, in
some ,vorablc location having water protection,
grove pays we'll. But from Live Oak west
| ward HE people seem to he all as crazy on the
| pear question as the citizens of East and South
| Florida are ON orange culture Every one is
setting ont orchards OF the LeCOnte pronounced
| lie Count,) pear The trees seem 10 thrive on
! their clay loan, and if they can find a market
| tor their crops ~ Il fair price ii will be Il very
! profitable industry. The trees are very strong
| rapid growers, but if ALLOW ed TO have their own
way unlrimmed they grow too upright and close
| ~ resemble lot OF Lombardy pOplars. A per
slstent and jndicious us of the pruning knife will
! give them any desired shape. Very few of
| these trees III Florida have beg n to bear yet. A
few OF the oldest have borne wonderful crops
which sold al fabulous prices, some trees have
| Melted their owners from fifteen to twenty dol
| lars each in one season when not over dozen
wears old Some enthusiastic planters claim
lhat in the lie Conlc pears they have a bonanza
which will prove to be more profitable than the
| orange crop.
Tie building of numerous large evaporators
Tor drying This pear promises To open an almost
unlimited market for The fruit. A bushe of the
pears " i'll yield from seven to eight pounds of
dried fruit of excellent quality. This product, at
fifteen cents per pound, yields one dollar or more
per bu>hcl. Allowing The owner ot The evaport-
tor oneh hall the proceeds :or his share they
u mi Sti 81 he
| bushcl. As they set about fifty trees per acre
and each tree Will yield an average OF eight to
ten bushels of iruii when ten years old the net
| returns at the above low price would be from
| 5000 10 $500 pei acre per year. AS the trees
are very healthy, very free from the attacks OF
insect enemies, they need but little fertilizer and
| Weld ahH"rd crops, the prospects even at fifty
cents per hu>hcl is very tllttcring.
One morning while IN Tallahassee, Capt. C.
r.. Dyke, tor fifty years editor and proprietor of
the FLOKGDIAN, but now retired, took me out
! int" HE country about a mile and Il hall to show
me his LcCnntc pear orchard containing twenty
eight acres. Par of them have been sci four
years and some Of these are bearing few scat
IcIing pears this year He has added to the
number each year until he has now about one
thousand four hundred trees. While We were
resting in The shade near his house, he told me
that here were not less than five thousand Lee
C"nlc pear trees within a radius not exceeding
the range Of II rlfic ball from where we soi
The climate OF Florida IS not suited to pro
duce The largest Weld of corn, the tendency Is to
run to stalks wi .houi a corresponding yield of
4r..;". saw nea" Tallahassee ~ fine looking
fields OF corn as | ever saw in LrPurte county
! They place The average of good crops at from
lorty To sixty bushels per and | was told
that on bottom lands one hundred bushels per
acre had been grown.
was also told, and have no doubt that ii is
true, that two crops OF corn can be grown on
The same land in one season. In other words,
corn planted in March will mature in time to be
galhcrcl, a part 0t the crop planted again would
usually rIpcn before frost. Their chief reliance
Tor fertilizer Is upon cotton seed, fifteen To
twenty bushels pei acre used costing from
seven To ten cents "a bu>hel
These are not the only profitable crops grown,
"A few are turning their attention to Irish pota-
toes, aud their success has been very encourage
ing The yield IS good, The quality excellent
ami the prices realized have been satisfactory,
occasionally going up 10 six and even nine dol
| lars per barrel in New York City
he DAIRY business Is only in its infancy, vet
six hundred pounds per week OF home made
butter have been marketed in Tallahassee
The follow ing item from the FLORIDIAN shows
The capabilities of that country for bee culture
" Mr. ". IL Allen who lives in the southern
portion ct Leon county, had thirty bee hives
Which ncticd him six hundred pounds of strained
honey. The honey taken from eighty stands
owned by his brother, Joseph Allen, netted one
| 'h'uNdhi t"' H"H'l'h anu SlNty POUNDS winch
sold at fifty cents per gallon, and the bees
SWarmtd from The same Melted over thirty dol
| luS'
Northern varieties of grapes do well on the
clay soils oi central Florida, and when their cul-
livalinn Is undertaken systematically by persons
who understand the business it must prove a
very profitable crop. Grapes are considered
| paving crop, at the north, il they sell for five
cents per pound They could be grown in Leon
and adjoining counties, cheaply rs at the north,
and would ripen at Time when they would
sell readily in any large city for from ten to
twenty five cents per pound
Fig trees are also remarkably thrifty and pro-
| 'luclvc and the time will surely come and not
very far off in the future, when Florida figs dried
in evaporators will be as popular as Florida or
anrcs and quite AS profitable
The hills are covered with large luscious wild
| blackberres III such profuson that they are said
! to be often Il drug in the market at fifty cents per
| bushel
| Tallahassee has Baptist, Methodist, Presby.
| terrain, Episcopaian and Catholic Churches
The State Capitol is a roomy, massive building
in very good condition considering it's age. now
over fifty years
| The Leon, one of the largest hotels in the city,
was burned last April, but is being rebuilt and is
expected to be in readiness for travellers before il
will be needed next winter. The Morgan House.
opposite the Capitol has accommodations tor
one hundred and fifty guests The dining room
is one OF the finest That | ever saw, the walters
are attentive and the bill of fare cannot but please
the most ftsdnus | am sure That those who
go home after visit to Florida and report that
th1Ur nj mai linn n