The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-06-24
B. MURRAY & co.

from the car windows. Ihe railroad
hands were going down the road tx
change the gauge.
Arredondo was the first station we
passed. 1t is the home of Mr.. Zach
Taylor, formerly Of Anderson. Mr.
Taylor is at present engaged in the saw
mill business. I met with one of his
sons at Gainesville, on his way home
from Charleston, S. G., where be had
been going to school. He was dressed in
military uniform, and had the fine ap'
pearance of cadet.
Archer station is fine shipping point
for vegetables. There were 800 crates OF
vegetables shipped from there one day
last week.
Bronson is the county seat of Levy
County. Stopping here at the hotel, ]
6nd that the proprietor is ex-senator
VIM. j. Jones, formerly Of Marion coun'
ty, S. @. Mr.. Jones has served eight
years in the Florida Legislature-four
years in the House and four years in the
Senate. Levy County has s40 square
miles, 1900 voters, 10 miles of gulf land
and large body of hammock land.
Between the Wacasassa and the SuNan.
nee Rivers the pine land is generally un.
dulating, and is interspersed with live
oaks, bay, magnolia and sweet gum trees.
Low pine lands are intersperssd with
creeks and cypress ponds. Separate the
high pine land from the gulf and ham
mock lands, the soil is underlaid with
clay and soft sandstone. In some parts
of the County can be found limerick,
which, when burned, makes a good fer.
tilizer. The principal crops are vegeta-
bles, oranges, sea island cotton, corn,
sugar cane, oats, rice, peas, pinders, Irish
and sweet potatoes. Jute, cassara and
arrow root are frequently found growing
here. I had seen no oranges on the trees
until came to Bronson. They are very
lew and scattering, not more than one
tree in one hundred Except in hammock
lands) having any oranges on them.
This is the effect Of the severe winter.
Levy County has many miles OF line
grazing lands. Thousands of cattle feed
upon them, bat they are not yet tat
enough for market. Bronson has about
500 inhabitants. I find from the Clerks
office LIS crop mortgages recorded for
supplies this year.
The government lands are nearly all
taken up for homesteads in this County
Good farming lands can be- bought for
from two and one.half to FIVE dollars per
acre. This latitude is about 100 miles
south of that of Jacksonville, 122 miles
south of Fernandina on the Atlantic,
and 33 miles north of Cedar Keys on the
Gulf of Mexico. / find many health
seekers here. The climate here, and on
the hills east and north of here, is said
to be the best in the State for the miti-
CATION of pulmonary diseases, the atmos-
phere being remarkably dry and the
temperature equable. A great many
people that live here now, and look
healthy and strong, tell me that their
physicians had given them up to die in
the cold northern climates. Reader, if
you will excuse me, I weighed 227
pounds when I came to Florida, and l
still weigh about the same.
Woolf Springs are a veritable freak OF
nature. At the top of the hill, rs to 100
feet higher than any other hill in the
range, fine. springs Of clear, cool water
break out. The water is strongly i'm
pregnated with iron, magnesia and other
minerals. These springs, if improved,
would be q popular resort, and people
would congregate here to spend:--their
summers instead of going to the guilt
coast. The medicinal properties of the
water from these springs are claimed to
be an antidote for rheumatism and COM
mon diseases of the kidneys. These
springs are only two and a half miles
from Bronson. This is also a good re-
sort for sportsmen. Deer, turkey, quail,
&C., are here in abundance. The famous
gulf hammock is only a few miles dis
tant. In this hammock is found a
variety Of wild animals, including the
bear, while the numerous streams run
ming through it abound with the finest OF
fish. The disciples of Isaac Walton can
find here veritable fish paradise.
The hammock lands are heavily tim
bered with magnolia, hickory, ash, oak
of various kinds, sweet gum, maple and
red cedar. The soil is dark yellow
loan, underlaid with limerick and mari.
There is land in this hammock that has
produced one bale of sea island cotton
per acre. The same lands have produced
eighteen barrels of sugar per acre.
Cedar Keys is port of entry and the
largest town in Levy County. 1t is
located at the terminus of the F. R. &
N. r.. R., and has good harbor. 1t is
situated on Way Key, four miles from
the mainland, and about equi.distant
from the Suwanuee River on the north
and the Withlacooche River on the
south. 1t is rapidly growing town Of
about 1000 inhabitants. It is point oi
communication Ola the gulf steamers tc
New Orleans, Tampa, Manatee, Key
West and Havana, Cuba. There are
numerous mercantile houses here, and
two of them do Wholesale jobbing bus
iness; several good hotels, schools
churches, etc. E. A. Champlain, Esq.
formerly of Charleston, S. O., and g. A
Rodgers, Esq, are the proprietors OF ar
ice factory there. Having exhausted
their fresh water supply, they are now
boring an artesian we'll, from which they
will supply their factory. The Eagle