The Holt County sentinel., 1893-04-14
Pine Woods. Gulf Coast. Mobile

There is region along the gulf coast
| within the influence OF the winds OF the
gulf. extending from southeastern Mis-
sissippi. through south Alabama and
west Florida, perhaps distance OF two
hundred miles east and west, and some
thirty or forty miles north which really
! surpasses the far famed southern Cali
| fornia in almost every respect as "a pleas
ant home for northern people. II has an
oceanic cline and is therefore never ex
! cessively warm wherever the breeses
OF six weeks is such IA We OF Missouri
would call a mean, backward spring. It
| is pine woods reeionelevated above the
Gulf level some two to three hundred
feet AMI these pine wood hills run right
down INTO the very Gulf. The ground is
sandy and SO porous that plowing may
i,e done vet or dry. There is absolute
! ~ no malaria and never in all time has
| any chill or malarial disorder ever been
| known To develope there. All forms OF
asthma are suddenly relieved on com
! ing into these pine woods. There are
. about fifty families from northern Michi-
gan and Iowa residing not far from
Spring Hill, Ala, and Americus, Miss.,
4 in these hills. all farming more or less
and they tecare that the climate is
equally healthy, summer and winter. and
that there is no better region for small
: farming in the world under Intelligent
systems Of agriculture. Everything is
raised easily, but especially figs. pecans,
oranges, lemons, etc, are adapted to this
region. and ten acres set out in pecans,
figs. oranges, English walnuts. etc, will,
in "A very few year., bring in great in
come. while for poultry, dairy and the
like, there is no region equal to it. Eggs
are never less than - cts, butter 40 cts,
and the home demand is practically un-
limited. owing TO the demands Of ships
1t Mobile and Pensacola a demand
from now on increasing enormously.
Bermuda grass and native clover that
grow up and spread over the whole re-
gion, afford the best Of pasturage at all
times and are really, under the old sys
teni oi farming by use Of cotton seed
fertilizer, suisance to the farmers as
weeds are here. II will readily be seen
that under the more intelligent systems
of greer manuring and rotation, these
two. withCthe COW pea. are cheap substi-
tutes for fertilizer. Such Is the unani-
nous verdict Of the Michigan and other
farmers there. Land in this region, save
for few fancy places along the electric
railway that runs seven miles west of
Mobile, is very cheap IN truth. almost
to be had for the taking How this re-
cion came to he overlooked in the orange
raisir. craze of south Cal:forn,a and
Florida is inconceivable, for It has ad
vanfages over both these regions II many
respects. Rain is abundant aud the earth h |
affords boun,iful supplies Of the purest
water in the world. Tho well and spring
water is used by the Mobile druggists,
pure aud simple as il flpws; without dis
tilIatian. Chickens live on the seeds !
from the pine and other trees the year
round. The y@llnw pine, live oak, water
oak, China. juniper, persimmon and in !
rumerab!e other giant forest trees flour |
ish. as nature has planted 'he seed. The
lumber trade 81 Pensacola and Mobile il |
very great. This region can not lay in
this unnccUpied state long. Any man
can. by going into horticulture, vegeta
bic. dairy. poultry, stock hog. etc. make
n fine income. The canning OF figs alone
bids fair to grow INTO one Of the great
industries equal To that Of corn and to- !
maioes. The product q: all the fig can
neries on the coast is taken by Pullman
Tor his palace dining cars The fig trea
is so ton:h. hardy and enormously and
s:ecdiiy productive that il is a wonder
in vegetation. The wise man who looks
ahead will devo.a q few acres To the soft
shell pecan and in twenty years will
need no other income THIN the product
from even one hundred trees. He need
never fear of the business being over
done either. These nuts grow from two |,
10 three inches long around Mobile and
10 these pine woods: said to be the larg
est in the world. Ia ten years. the tree
bears quite a number 81 nuts which sell
at rery high prlca. Take it for all in
all there is no region on this continent |
more favorable for those who desire to
avoid the cold winters of the north |
These remarks apply only TO the high
pine woods along the Coast within the
limits Of the Gulf winds. The writer
could not conscientiously recommend
any low maiarious region of the south or
west IA home. nor proximity to SAT-
water for consUmptives. G. |.
MISSOURI gave Cleveland II electoral
votes, and Nassach usetts did not give