Evening star., 1896-03-28

sSGSSSS-S ~ streets, with clay
GHGS&Tc roadways and grano-
lithic SIDEWALKS on the business streets. It
is as clean as new pin, has water and
gas works, and telephone system is be-
ing put in now. Within the city limits are
fourteen lakes, nearly all Of which are sur
rounded by the residences Of citizens and
Of northerners, who spend the winters
here. On the banks of Lake Lucerne,
around which is splendid drive, G.. B..
Green of Washington has a beautiful place.
Lake Eole, few rods away, has a bicycle
track around it nearly mile in length.
There Is an excellently equipped club. the
Lucerne, for the men, and the Rosalind
Club. for the ladies. The Orlando Polo
Club has some Of the best riders and train
ed ponies in the country, and the society
people turn out en- masse at the games,
which are played each Tuesday. Around
Lake Eole are golf links, where this new
quently exhibited. There is an imposing
court house, hospital, a Catholic, Epis-
copalian. Methodist, Baptist, Presby terian
and Congregational church, a convent and
attractive stores. The county is out Of
debt. The only poor farm for the support
OF the INDECENT in Florida is in Orlando.
And twenty years ago the village of Or
lando was III a dense forest.
There We're 100000 boxes of oranges ship
ped from Orlando the season of 1888 and
1894 Not an orange was sent out this
season. but the city does not appear to
show any of the evil effects of this loss.
It's municipal regulations are as modern as
those. of Washington, and the erection of
frame building within the fire limits is
prohibited.
Merely Specimen of Others.
I have enumerated these details about
Orlando in order to show what the people
of Florida, who dwell in communities, are
doing for their comfort and pleasure, for
rearly all the other new towns in the state
are maraging their affairs the same way
The climate here is superb for health and
the land needs but little attention to make
1t fertile. Chief Justice Bingham Is en-
jcying the benefits of the first and hun
dreds of others are seeking the benefits of
the last. There are many English settlers
of the better class of Britons, and YOU hear
their distinctive enunciation of the Ian
Suage everywhere. There are also a number
of New ENGLAND people hereabout, largely
from New hampshire. The mixture makes
a shreWd, energetic, far-seeing and enter
prising community
Among other things to which the soil in
this vicinity is wonderfully well adapted
are pineapples. Few people in Washing ton
know what a Florida pineapple really is
Compared to the fruit grown elsewhere
but no comparison is possible The Florida
pineapple has merely the faintest SEM
blance of the core that Is hempen-like in
other varieties. Its flavor is indescribabIy
delicious, and it melts in its own iuice a.
most when cut
The freeze of last year killed the pines
ooWn to the roots, but like the orange
trees, they are growing up finely, and saw
many man pants with tiny fruit yesterday that
will be ripe and luscious in June I.atar
they Will be plentiful
ihe Largest Pinery In the World.
At 0r1a nd 10 l.,
piace where pineapples are raised is called
III 'he "orio. SIX acres are already under
cover and set with growing pines. Thirty
Two acres more are to be covered. The
cover Of pinery is composed of narrow
planks set small distance apart, and SUD-
ported by poles and stringers seven or eight
Ieet ABOVE the plants. 1t looks like a sue
cession OF squares Of bed Stats. The sun
ana the shade reach the plants equally, and
that is what they need
The culture Of this fruit is fnterest,n,
Ihe green tops or crowns that we see on
the pineappleS In market merely need to
be broken off and stuck in the sandy soil
to take root and become a thriving plant.
When the fruit approaches maturity IT
sends out quantity of shoots like punches
or tiny daggers, both from it's base and top.
The latter are called slips, and the former
croWnlets The plants themselves send up
similar shoots, which are called suckers
There are anywhere from ten to thirty of
all these growths to each matured pineap-
ple and every one Of them is worth within
a few cents of the apple ITSELF because
they are used as sets, and from each a
lusty plant grows when it Is planted. IT
takes plant from year to eighteen
months to mature, and ten to twelve thou
sand grow in an acre. AS a Florida pine
apple commands, when it Is grown, from
40 cents to 81, according to it's SIZE and the
'sets" bring from 25 to 50 cents each, 1t is
easy to see the enormous profit that fol-
lows it's successful culture The cost of
maintaining a pinery is considerable as a
large amount of fertilizer must be used,
but Mr.. Harry L. Beeman who is regarded
rs the most successful grower Of pineap-
pies in Florida, and who is considered an
authority on their culture, told me today
that stable manure produced better results
than any other form of fertilizer when ap-
tobacco dust Is the chief ingredient also
makes the plants healthy and prevents
ravages of insects.
Everywhere in the residence portion Of
Orlando one walks beneath the thick foli-
age of the water oaks and umbreila-like
china berry trees. The water oak is a par
ticularly beautiful tree, and I am told it is
hardy enough to stand the weather in
higher attitudes. The branches grow more
closely together than those of the live oak
and begin to spread ten or twelve feet from
the ground, and the small leaves are as
green as green can we'll be-. The china
berries are just now full of purple bloom
that Is lilac like in color and emits a per-
fu:ne similar to the lilac in Strength, but
softer and more delicious. Altogether the
city is a most attractive one, and we'll de-
serves the confidence it's people enthusiast
tically express regarding its future.