Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1902-04-11
PINE APPLES AND ORANGES
How They Are Raised and Where They
Abound-A Picturesque viIIage-Ob-
ruatIans NV the Xav Etc. Etc.

| Gner South TO MAUI. Tie ueep "htO'
terminal of the East Coast railway, a
new and busy town that has sprung in
to existance since the advent OF the
railroad There are here miles OF
beautiful shell streets, one OF Mr.
Feagler's fine hotels the Royal Palm
with handsome grounds and all over
looking the clear waters OF beautiful
Biscayne Bay. From this port, boat
is taken for Key West, Havana and
| Nassau; the latter a most interesting
and popular resort for tourists.
Every incoming and outgoing steam
er here is we'll loaded with passengers,
and the immense heaps of their bag
| gage on the piers are curloSlty-Cne
same may be said of the trains, all are
full. South Florida in winter is all on
| the go; the tourists actually Outnum
boring the native population OF the
| State. And they are restless, rowing
crowd, from place to place. rarely at
one point more than few days, SO that
IN travelling the peninsular, one often
meets the same company several times.
| The ever shifting crowds are as the
| moving of vast panorama;-a good
natured multitude, that mlngle freely
| Friendships of an hour, are served as
| quickly. There is no ceremony and
| no iptroductions. a man or woman
| goes on his or her social proclivity, and
| it is amazing to see how quickly hun
dreds of people become acquainted.
| they are out for good time and have
it and pay for it too, for there is moth
| ing cheap in Florida save the air and
that pro badly would be at a price if it
could be cornered. l was much anus
ed once at the conversation of a group
of New Englanders, who were lndig
nantly discussing some enormous
prices they had just been compelled to
pay. They called it "Southern Hospi-
tality-nit." But our n orthern friends
were miStaken-FlOridar resorts are not
in the hands of Southern people. A
northern man owns the railroad and
charges them 4 cents per mile, north
ern capital runs the hotels and charges
them $4.00 per day and up, Northern
men own the steam boat lines and run
the curio stores. So its their own peO-
pie, who gouge them andno the abused
5Outherner. Its case of "black gum
against thunder and they ought not
to kick. Prices It's true are away up
and the scale is rigidly maintained.
If 20 cent article is priced to You at
so cents you either pay the so or let it
alone; tender Of 40 cents will not
tempt the seller. The charges are
based on 4 months season and they
frankly tell you that they must make
tl cir jack i'll this time or lose the game
ley do" the people who come to
go Florida and whatever they do.
do, they are sure to do them good
MIliionalres come here i'll force and
prices are arranged Just his size. p" The
only trouble found was the lack OF
discrimination; they did not seem to
know the difference between mill
llonaire and an heir to nothing. On
the other hand the southerner is found
amid the orange groves, on the pine apple
plantations, the vegetable farms. ETC.,
and when our Northern tourist finds
him he is made welcome to the place,
invited to take a pine apple, fill his
pockets with ripe oranges from the
trees, help himself to all kinds of tropi-
cal fruit, and clips for him as many
orange blossoms as he needs to ship,
home to his friends. That ls the way
I found it and my experience is that
of thousands.
At Jensen to the north of Palm
Beach A miles we came into the pine
apple district. AS far as the eye can
reach on either side of the railroad
and for twenty miles there is an almost
unbroken stretch of pine apple fields,
spreading out over prairie like level,
with here and there handsome, well
kept farm houses, that remind a. Vlr-
GINA Valley man Of his own fertile
fields and handsome homesteads. The
pine apple farmer l find is thrifty. in
fact for the most part wealthy, and
his we'll kept place shows it. There
are no fences, for there is no stock,
and one farm is separated from anoth
er by an imaginary line, sometimes by
shallow irrigating ditch, for the State
is essentially a fruit and vegetable
growing country. AS yet the pine ap
pie industry is in it's infancy, but has
nevertheless assumed large proper
tions. Experiments in the culture of
this fruit under cover is in progress
and I understand is proving success.
This covering is kind of close lattice
work sustained above the ground some
feet or more and is designed to con-
| fine the earth's heat, and to keep ont
the frosts. The plan is ingenious and
at first sight the appearance OF field
is quite mystifying. About sun set
our party landed at Rockledge, pic
turesque village on the cliff banks of
Indian River, the sweetest scented
town | have ever visited. There were
orange groves in it and all around it
and orange trees in bloom lined
the sidewalks. For several miles
before we reached the place and
for several miles after we had
| passed it we travelled through an
atmosphere of orange blossom that
| filled the cars with its delicate, delight
full oder. The hotel where we stopped
| 1.-THE Plaza) with its broad high veran-
da was in the very midst of grove,
wherein the guests roamed at will,
plucking both oranges and orange bios
SONS from the same tree-and by the
way that is feature distinctivelY the
orange trees, that while in the fullness
of its ripe fruit, it is yet covered with
new bloom; very pretty sight. Rock
ledge is village of hotels, and COM
munity of orange shippers. The hotels
are scattered along the river on the
steep rock banks of which fine drive
way is located, overshadowed by twin
rows of live oaks hOary with stream
ling moss. There is nothing more
weirdly picturesque than these lone
avenues OF mammoth live oaks draped
in great streamers of gray moss, con
trasting beautifully with their bright
green foliage. The orange groves are