Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-04-07
A Maine Man In Florida.
BALMY AND PLEASANT WINTER
VISIT TO MR.. ATwooD's PLANTATION.
From a personal letter.

From personal letter.
ApopKA, FLA, March %, 1908.
When we left our home in Paris, on
the 5th of December last, the mercury
was ten below zero. We fingered along
through Massachusetts five or six days,
where we experienced New England
weather sufficient to satisfy us for the
entire winter, the mercury ranging from
zero to twenty below during our sojourn
there.
On the 18th of December we boarded
the steamer Arapahoe of the Clyde Line
at New York and turned our backs ON
the frozen North and our faces toward
the land of the magnolia and the palm.
On the 14th we steamed into The har-
Dor of Charleston, S. C. The sail into
the harbor past the ruins of the forts was
very interesting to me. 1t was here
that the first shot was fred against the
flag of our country, which stirred the
great heart of the North as it had not
been since our ancestors met the British
soldiers at Concord and Lexington. As
we passed the battered walls of old Fort
Sumter, which still remains about the
same as when the Confederate soldiers
pulled down their stars and bars, my
thoughts took backward flight. and in
a few brief moments I lived over again
those thrilling days of forty years ago.
All, none but those who lived through
those days can fully appreciate that
terrible struggle of the nation for life
and liberty.
We arrived at this place the 10th of
December, and now, March 22nd, are
making preparations for our homeward
Journey. How quickly the days have
gone by! We have enjoyed our stay here
very much. The weather has been fine
most of the time; only three nights dur
ing the winter when the mercury drop
ped below the freezing point, and then
only tender vegetables like beans and
tomatoes were injured. We have had
strawberries here since the first of Jan
uary, and are having cucumbers now of
nv own raising, which were planted
Christmas day. Of course we bad to
protect them some of the coolest nights.
Peach trees blossom here about the first
of February and cherry trees two weeks
later, and oranges the first OF March:
Oats are sown in January, and corn and
potatoes planted in February are now
six to eight inches high.
have had desire since coming here
this winter to visit the gulf coast, so on
the morning of the 10th of this month
boarded the train and reached Tampa at
6P. M. same day. The next morning
took steamer down the bay, past the
yankee" city of St. Petersburg, eight,
cen miles from Tampa, and arrived at
Braidentown about noon. The trip
down the bay was most delightful one.
The day was perfect, with just enough
of southwestern breeze to temper the
heat and make slight ripple on the pea
green waters of the bay.
Braidentown is new place of about
1900 inhabitants. 1t is near the mouth
of the Manitee River, was built up large
" by Northern people, and is a very
thriving looking place. After a stroll
about the city, started to call on a
former townsmap, Mr.. Kimbal c. At
wood, whom have never known except
by reputation. After walking third
of mile or so up along the river,
noticed house short distance in from
the street and surrounded by fine orange
trees in full bloom, which from the
description given me was satisfied was
the place of which was in search.
On nearing the house saw an every
day-looking man sitting on the veranda,
who, from his striking resemblance to
the genial editor of the Oxford Democrat,
felt quite sure was the person | was
looking for, and in answer to my inquiry
if Mr.. Atwood lived there, replied that
he did, and that he answered to that
name. introduced myself as being an
Oxford bear with the Buckfield claw
mark. u have heard it stated that the
Buckfield bears have longer and sharper
claws than those of any other part of the
country. Whether it is because of the
hard and rocky soil of that town, which
makes it necessary for them to scratch
SO hard to get living, or whether it is
that so many of them have succeeded in
scratching themselves into fame and
fortune, l have not learned.)
received cordial greeting from Mr..
Atwood and after chatting few minutes
we took a walk through his orange
grove. There were still many oranges
on the trees, and | did not wait for a
second invitation to help myself. After
getting outside" of four of them, be.
gan to reckon up and found that would
have to eat Twenty-Five more in order to
beat the champion of Hog Island, so
concluded to stop at that point.
Mr.. Atwood then proposed that we
take trip up the river some three miles
and look at his grove of grape fruit,
accordingly we boarded his naphtha
launch, accompanied by his son as
pilot-a stalwart fellow of ten years who
weighs 10 pounds, and who, by the way,
is crack shot with rifle, and can
handle boat equal to an old sailor of
Marblehead.
We soon arrived at the grove, and
what sight met my gaze! Twenty-Five
thousand trees in straight rows, each
one mile long, and which if set twenty
feet apart in one row would cover a
distance of ninety miles, or as far as
from Portland to Gorham, N. FL. Three
fourths of the trees are seven years old,
and are from twelve to fifteen feet in
height. The balance of the grove has
been set only four years, but many OF
the trees were in full bloom. Some of
the older trees were loaded with the big
yellow fruit, that would weigh over two
pounds each, and on the same trees saw
the new fruit no larger than peas. Mr..
Atwood's men were gathering and pack
ing when was there. He leaves a part
of his fruit on the trees until it becomes
scarce in the market, and it commands a
thigh price, from six to eight dollars per
box in New York.
Mr.. Atwood bought tract here of $50
acres in 1895. 1t was covered with a
heavy growth of live oak and palmettos.
People here said that he couldn't clear
it in five years, but he said that life was
too short to do business in that way, so
he put five hundred men to work and by
the next year had over $50 acres cut of,
the stumps dug out, and burned over
and set to trees. He has now grove OF
$50 acres, and will set the remaining 20
acres next season. He has a driveway
built on piles, running from his grove
on the banks of the river out to the mid
die of the stream. 1t is nearly a half
mile long and wide enough for two
double horse teams to travel side by side.
At the end of the wharf is a large store
house. where his fruit is packed and
loaded on to steamers.
Mr.. Atwood told me that he had al
ready expended quarter of a million
dollars on this property. He is getting
quite an income from it now, and he ex-
nacts that in yo mr. three wears his grove