Wichita daily eagle., 1885-10-10
IN THE EVERGLADES.
ROUGHlNG IT IN Tt9 SWaMPS OF
FLORIDA.
Trip to tho Ochichabee Country and
Some Facts About Reclaimed Land
Dredging the swamps AID
Building Canals.

| lCor Inter ocean,
Three Of US arranged for a trip down the
kissimmee valley into the Okechobee
| country. We secured the little end-wheel
steamer, Rosalie, one OF feet Of five or
six small craft that ply these inland waters
in obedience to passenger or freight demand.
may say that the passenger demand has
not amounted to much as yet. FOR the facili-.
ties are exceedingly limited, and the dredges
can only be passed. once a day. The trip
only possessed added attractions to our
little party Of two gentlemen and ono lady
because Of the small experience in .roughiny
| it' which it would involve
Tie boat was one used in conveying sup
plies to the dredges Of the Okechobee Land
company, and consequently had no cabins
There was a room below where six or eight
persons could eat comfortably, but the deck
above was quite open.
We started from this enterprising town
| and first made the trip across Lake Toho-
pakaliga with but one stop-a distance OF
fifteen miles The stop was made ct Pine
island, the handsome reclaimed property of
Capt. Rose. Capt Rose was the pioneer in
most Of the arduous labors connected with
the inception Of the vast drainage opera
tions undertaken by the Okechobee com
pany.
As we headed toward the foot OF the lake
and pushed of again, the captain pointed to
the east and said:
"fonder is the mouth Of the canal which
leads into Lake East Tohopekaliga, a sheet
Of water extending over an area Of twenty
one square miles, and only drained,
prior 70 the building Of the canal,
by sewage through intervening saw
grass. The canal is a little over
three miles long, and has a fall of over
six feet When the canal was completed
the current was so furiously rapid that {.
dam had to be built The lake was low
cred nearly seven feat. l am now tearing
away the dam, as the current has spent it
self, ia order that a steamer may be en-
ab'ed to ply daily between kissimmee City
ami NaTcoosee. the thriving English colony
on Lake East Tohopskaliga.
shall not worry the reader with statis-
tics. but find it impossible to proceed with
out giving the briefest possible resume Of
the work already done in the way Of drain
ing and redeeming the terra inco2nita be-
tween this city and Cape Sable
The company was chartered in 1881, and
has concession for reclaiming s, 900, 600
acres OF land in the southern half of the
peninsula, with the right and title to half Of
the land thus reclaimed. The first suryeys
were made in 1882 in the country west Of
Lake Hichpochee. with reference to a drain
age canal extending from Lake Okechobee
to the head waters OF the Caloosahatchie
river, extending through Lake Hichpocheo
and Lake Flirt- A dredge came up the
Caloosahatchie to Lake Flirt, and then cut
Its way through an immense growth Of low
grass on to Lake Okechobee, excavating
twenty-five miles Of canal that is six feet
deep by forty-four wide. The canal is now
being widened to 900 feet and deepened to
ten feet.
The canal has already lowered Lake
Okechobee three feet Considering that the
superficial area is something like 1000
square miles, this reduction is significant
one.
After charming ride Of nearly three
hours over Lake Tohopekaliga, we entered
the ietties that have been built from the
mouth of the canal at South Port out into
the lake.
South Port is simply the name applied to
the place, where a sugar farm, belonging to
the Okechobee company, is located There
are half dozen houses occupied by the
operatives and some Of the families of men
engaged in working on dredges few miles
down the valley but no postoffice. We
went ashore here and had a chance to see
what this redeemed land is capable of
doing Here We were, tripping along the
bank On ground which was covered in from
two to three feet Of water but two
years ago Was this Floridai There was
no sand visible. The ground appeared in.
stead to be a rich, black loam approached
the banks of the canal, and saw from tho
cut that this was not thin crust Of surface
muck, but a stratum at least eight feet
thick on the average. There was a small
sugar mill in operation, and shed near Ly
where the cane juice wasSbeing boiled down
into syrup, instead OF being made into
sugar, as the present state Of the market IA
vors the manufacture of syrup rather than
sugar.
Near by were patches Of cane from twelve
to fifteen feet in height, Of perfect stand,
and an average diameter of very nearly two
inches Evidently this cane should have
been cut weeks before, rs it was already
badly choked with an underground Of rat
toons. noticed that the cane was finely
tasslei like the cane grown in Cuba
when was this canal put through in.
quired of bystander who seemed 20 be in
authority. "Just about two years ago."
was the response. "A little over year ago
the work Of clearing the land was begun,
and a few weeks later the cane was planted.
For breaking the land a team Of two ordin-
arp mules was used; for cultvating, one
mule. The season was very unpropitious,
the spring being dry and the fall extremely
wet: but the yield is, as you see. enor-
NOUS"
"You didn't use any fertilizer upon such a
muckF
None at all From one twentieth Of an
acre here cut 800 stalks Of cane from
which We expressed 800 gallons Of juice, an
average Of one quart per stalk. Many stalks
would yield two quarts Of juice. Thirty-five
gallons OF syrup were made from the Juice.
This would be equivalent to raising 16. 900
stalks per acre, containing 4 900 gallons of
juice. and yielding 700 gallons OF syrup
This showing would have been - per cent.
better had we possessed first-class appa-
ratusr
as there much such reclaimed land as
thisi' l asked.
Thousands Of acres all the way from here
to Punta Rassa or course. there Is some
hopeless swamp scattered along also. but it
is fair to say that agriculturally this will be
the garden Of the state down here few
years hence
"How long is this canalr
@rhree miles and three-quarterA At this
end it is ten feet deep by seventy wide
Down yonder you can see dredge M at
work enlarging it Beyond the dredge the
depth is only six feet and the width thirty
six
After inspecting potato and other crops
that were similarly rank We boarded the
Rosalie and began the tripthrough the canal
t. Lake Cypress When We reached tho
dredge our whistle sounded, and in response
the stays by which the dredge maintained its
position on the east side were folded hacs so
as TO allow us to pass
Two Hours behind Time
New York Herald