The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-04-08

r.,ers 10 the Gulf Of Mexico 1t Punta Rasss, or
the month Of the Caloosahatchee. This outlet b
but little south Of Charlotte Harbor, that % dee
tined to be tbs leading ccast port Tor trade ana
Havana than Tampa, with better waters for
commerce The Peninsula Railroad. extending
from Plant CITY, ON the Tampa line, to Char
lotte Harbor. will be opened to-day with impos.
inx ceremonies, in which Governor Ferry and
other prominent men participate. and its com,
pletion opens the way for trade, travellers and
settlers to one of the richest sections Of the State
while the canals and Strengthened channels cut
between the overlooking lakes by the Dtssfon
enterprise, open direct and easy water naviga-
ton from the Gulf Ut the mouth Of the Caloosa-
hatchee through the very heart Of the extreme
southern part Of the State that Is inhabited or
inhabitable. South Of Lake Okeechobee and-the
Calooeahatchee are the two counties OF Monroe
and Dade, containing the great Cypress Swamp
and the Everglades, both of which extend to the
end Of the peninsula, and will probably never
have anything more than irregular inhabitants
at certain points on the coast
REcLAnISa EIGHT MILLION ACRES.
1t is no new idea that has been put into prac-
tical operation by the Disston company to ie-
claim the more than eight millions OF acres
which have long been known as the most pro-
ductive and intrinsically valuable lands OF the
State. Public attention was attracted to the
subject nearly forty years ago by General Jes-
sup and other officers who had given long pub
lie service in Indian wars and as Government
engineers. General Jessup reported in 1846 that
the drainage Of these lands was entirely practi-
cable and that when drained they would become
as valuable sugar plantations as any in the
world. Government engineers subsequently
proved what was then generally believed that
the gades are sufficiently elevated to be drained,
and the careful and completed surveys of the
Disston organization prove that there is a regu
lar toll IF noarv fv foot frou Kia<lmmpQ Civ
the head Of the enterprise. to the CalOosahatchee
that is the outlet for the lakes when connected
by canal between Lake Okeechobee and the
river. The great lake had no visible outlet un-
til opened by canal to carry its waters to the
river, and to that canal will be added another ON
the east side, tapping the lake near its northeast
corner and running eastward 10 the Atlantic
coast at the confluence OF the 81. Luce and the
Halpotyokee rivers. But while this body OF
land of almost incalculable value was well
known to the South, and especially to its sugar
planters, its reclamation was never seriously
thought of. The planters OF the South were too
comfortable and contented in their condition,
and too uncomfortable and discontinued with
the aggressive industry and enterprise Of the
North, to seek these lands before the war and
since the war the resources of the South, even
with the freshly Infused energy among the PEG
pie, have net been equal to the task OF repairing
the ravages OF war, and, of course, could not
consider an undertaking that required vast out
lay of money and patient waiting for results. 1t
was not until 1881 that the Atlantic and Cult Coast
Canal and Okeechobee Land Company was gran
ted special charter by the Florida Legislature,
with an authorized capital of ten millions. and
obtained concession from the State OF undispu-
ted lawful authority for the reclamation of lands
lying south of township twenty-four and east of
Peace creek, embracing over eight millions OF
acres. BY the concession made 10 the Disston
corporation every alternative section reclaimed
becomes the property of the company in fee sim.
pie, without lien of any kind. The direction of
the corporation is exclusively Philadelphian,
with the exception of Samuel b. Gray, of Cam
den, z. A. Hendry, of Florida The Philadel-
phians are Hamilton Disston. Charles a. Gross,
William B: Wright, T. Henry Asbury. Lewis
Kreamer and Robert w Gibson They accepted
work Of colossal proportions, but Mr.. Disston
who is the chief capitalist and manager of the
enterprise. wisely calculated the certain outcome
and be has already passed the point of doubt and
can clearly see the rapidly approaching consum
nation that must bring more than ample re-
ward. When it is remembered that the work
had to be begun in an unsettled portion of the
State; that boats and machinery had to be con-
structed and operated for several years with no
population but the operators of the company,
and that various experiments had to be made I'M
der the severest trials before the proper methods
could be mastered, the green verdure, fragrant
blossoms and busting little city Of Kissimmee,
that has risen from the waters of the OVERLOOKING
lake, must be q grateful spectacle to the men who
made the gigantic venture; but there is more
substantial satisfaction for them in the fact that
they have been entirely successful in their theory
and operations, and have already transferred to
them in fee. 1,155. 430 acres of land, being one
half of the amount actually reclaimed thus far
by their efforts
TIE VALUABLE LAND RECLAIMED
After five years of often embarrassing opera
tons by the Disston company, what was the
generally accepted theory as to the intrinsic and
early market value Of the reclaimed lands has
been conclusively demonstrated by the perfect
reclamation and by the luxuriant growth OF val |
liable crops. These lake border soils which are |
now, for the first time, accessible to cultivation,
are composed Of humus with small percen- |
tage Of sand aud disintegrated marine deposits, |
underlaid by stratum of shell marl-the whole |
resting upon q cOraline or limestone formation"
as 10 stated in the description given of them in |
brief by Engineer Kreamer, and whether cult
waited BY them or not they employ their wealth |
OF productive power in the most luxriant growth.
spent q day on the head lake and the canal |
connecting II with ite sister lake below, and in
speeding the cultivated fields, which, two years
ago, were sporting places for the magnificent
Dish which abound in these ever fresh waters
The tree that shades the farm house 90 the in
land side. al the foot of the first lake, was until
lately the object TO which the steamboat that
bore me over the broad lake was moored when
carrying men and material 10 that point for the
work, and the five hundred-acre farm of re-
claimed land on which Colonel Rose, assistant
superintendent of the company, has his home,
with its strawberries, which gathered in spite
Of the general destruction by the severe winter,
and Its acres OF blossoming vegetables and cab
bages, soon to be marketed, attest not only The
complete success OF the drainage enterprise but |
also the exceptional value of the soil rescued for
the husbandmsn. His farm, just wresied from
th0 tN<Nnfr <>fs L. H. kl
and improvement only commenced, would
sell Tor more per acre to-day than half the
best farms Of Chester county, for the simple rea-
from 40 acre every four months than four men
and a. many mules could grow in Pennsylvania
In year. Al the foot oil the lake, where cult.
walton has had only one full season to demon
strate the fertility of the sofl saw one cabbage
6eld, just about ready 70 be cut, whose product
will return to the owner over tweuty thousand
dollars, and then his land will be ready for an
other crop of whatever will pay best 10 season,
without the possibility Of needed fertilizers for
many years. Beside Il, where the steamboat
sailed without obstruction only two years ago,
NV the product Of the sugar field from which
was gathered the best cane exhibited In the New
Orleans Exposition and while the plant must
be renewed every two years In the best lsnds OF
Louisiana, the near approach 70 the climate and
Dol o. Cuba assures successive crops from year to
pear Tor probably adecade without rcplanting I
never appreciated until saW this soil and In
product, the truth and 6orce Or General Grants
letter on Florida publiohed IN the Hs1kk Ledov
several ycass ago. In which b. said that the