The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1892-12-28
Correspondence of THE RECORD
A WINTER IN TIE SUNNY SOUTH.
CUR PARK, AReo ?. O..

bright and early, and all seeming to be in
jolly good spirits, and ready for anything
that might come along The first thing
we did at about half past five, was TO go
out doors and take a view of our sur
roundings. We saw first of all, of course,
the house, which is a very substantial
and cozy looking one aud situated right
10 the midst of an orange grove and sur
rounded by pretty lawns and thrifty look
ing gardens. The trees, everywhere, here,
look beautiful, so heavily laden with their
richly favored fruit, and just ready to be
pick ed and eaten as matter of course
Just here let me say, that it was here that
made my first attempt to eat fresh
picked guava, but failed miserably then.
AS heard friend once remark, "It's
like eating strawberry inside of an
orange, large as pear" only the seeds
are like small shot. The taste for this
abu ndant fruit is like that for tobacco
1t must be acquired, but as is seldom the
case with tobacco, its acquisition is never
regretted. 1t is fruit but little known
in the North, but here in the South it is
much priced. 1t is much easier raised
than the orange or lemon, requiring no
attention, except planting and cultivating
the ground around it. 1t will begin to
bear the second year from cuttings and is
a great bearer, producing more fruit than
the orange or peach. Aud it is very val
liable. The jelly is celebrated for its re-
markable richness, &C., and there Is
great demand for this fruit. Every one
makes such an account of guavas. Grape
fruit, like the guava, the taste has to be
acquired. The taste of this fruit is SINH
lar TO that of an orange. except that 1t has
a somewhat bitter tang to it, not very
pleasant. We are now in the orange
groves, under the shade of these grand
old orange trees, and in silence-sweet ST.
lence-one steady draught of nectar pure
and wholesome, aud with now and then
an exclamation Of delight from some men,
Der of our party, who has found an extra
good orange or other fruit, we stand there
enjoying the cool, refreshing and invigor-
ating air, and eating our first picked or
ange in the Sunny South. Lack of ca
pacity alone, compelled us, one by one,
to regretfully close this luscious feast.
There arc also other fruits here, such as
the lemon and lime. This latter fruit is
used sometimes instead of lemons. The
inice is more agreeably acid, hence they
make an excellent drink. A glass of
slime ade" is sure to be remembered with
pleasure. This is very dainty and de-
lcious fruit. 1t is much smaller than the
lemon. but otherwise closely resembling
it. II grows very rapidly. The pome-
granates are of two kinds-the sweet
and the sour. The bushes are large,
graceful in foliage aud beautiful In pend-
ent crimson flowers and fruits. Asan or
namental tree 1t is one of the best. The
fleshy covering of the seed is beautiful
pink, and has a pleasant, sub-acid taste,
in flavor not unlike the red currant. -
The rind is bitter, and is often used medi.
cinally also for domestic coloriug and
ink. The cilron fruit closely resembles
an orange, except that 1t is larger and
more yellow 10 color Picked from the
tree it is not pleasant fruit 10 eat. Little
attention has been paid to this fruit in
Florida, except for variety and ornament,
and II is unusual TO see more than one or
two trees In large garden of several
acres, though it is grown here with the
greatest ease and perfection, frequently
producing fruit weighing ten and twelve
pounds. 1t yields fruit very quickly and
produces abundantly. Figs-this delici-
GUS fruit grows with remarkable vigor
and thrift, requiring little care or expense.
II is similar to the ounce tree OF the
North in appearance. The pine apple
king OF tropical fruits, requires little OF no
care, nor very rich soil, nor fertilizing.
II grows to a height of three or four feet.
The owner OF pine apple patch can have
fruit every day Of the year. Banana
this fruit is planted like corn, and attains
vast size and immense leaves. After the
fruit ripens, these large leaves fall off, and
the top dies down. Down here they think
that no fruit Is more healthy and nutritious
than the ripe bananas, and few more es-
teemed. They are sometimes cooked
while green, and prove to be very palata-
BILE. They grow to a height of ten feet,
sometimes. The olive-tbis fruit and the
oil made from II are valuable as food, and
is in demand for commercial purposes.
Persimmons are a luscious fruit and very
agreeable to the taste. Some varieties are
immense 10 size, and seedless, altogether
a most valuable and excellent fruit. In
fact nearly all kinds of fruits and garden
vegetables abound here, and such beauti-
full flowers everywhere, in great abund-
ance. A walk over these grounds is quite
pleasant and is one Of the ''proper things
for the traveller to do. After awhile we
heard the welcome sound Of the breakfast
bell, and although we felt little like eating,
after our feast of oranges and other fruits,
we with some regret, left the orange trees
and hastily returned to the house, where
we were served with an excellentiy pre-
pared br, akfast, consisting almost wholly
of various kinds of garden fruits aud veg.
etables, cooked in divers ways, 10 show
us northerners what they really could
supply. For awhile, after breakfast. we
seated ourselves on the front veranda,
where we could smell the delicious per.
fumes and see the fruits and flowers,
and breathe this soft balmy air and lazily
enjoy all the Injuries and delights OF
southern life. Well, Leesburg is regular
"garden of Eden" perfect paradise In