The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1905-08-18
PRODUCTIVE
ST. LUCIE!
Development and Possibilities Of
North Part of County.
COULD SUPPORT MANY
Interesting Descriptive Article OF the Re-
sources Of the Upper Part of
St. LuCie County.

Although more thinly settled thar
the regions around Fort Pierce or Jen
sen, the northern portions Of st. Luci'
county are fully as well qualified tt
support a population, consisting as the,
do of some of the finest orange, pine
apple and vegetable lands on the coast
Beginning at the northern boundary
the Sebastian river, the land Is Of thu
high, sandy character, thickly covered
with pine, hickory and scrub under
growth, which is recognized as the
standard for pineapple culture, and a,
the same time Is we'll adapted for citrus
fruits. Here, at Roseland, are some
very valuable orange groves, those
owned by l.. C. Moore and Col. Ruffnel
being worthy of mention.
Three miles south of Roseland is Sc.
bastian. The land is of the same char
acter and many oranges are grown
here. Some of the more important
groves are those owned by K. G. Har.
dee, Jas. A. Groves and Paul Kroegel,
Mr.. Kroegels place Is situated partly
on an immense shell mound and EN-.
braces some rich vegetable land. In.
dian river at this point forms Sebas.
tian bay, which is several miles wide.
Important fishing interests are centered
here.
Wabasso is situated some six miles
south of Sebastian. 1t is one of the
pleasantest locations on the river and
Is remarkable for the intelligent and
progressive class of people who have
always been attracted here. E. A.
Holt is one of the few hereabouts who
have taken up seriously the culture of
pines. Two years ago Mr.. Holt planted
two acres of pines between rows Of
orange trees. The past season he
shipped from the patch 1876 boxes of
fruit. This field was planted as an ex-
pertinent; Mr. Hollis time being main
ly occupied with prosperous fish bust
ness, and its success is very gratifying,
as the object was to demonstrate the
fitness of the soil and to attract the at
tention of would be planters to this fav-
ored locality. The plants are as fine as
any others of equal age in the county.
Part of the country here is flat pine
land, rich and well adapted for oranges.
Promising groves on this soil are those
owned by f. f. Smith and j. h. Leath-
erman. Mrs. A. NJ. King has num-
Der of fine trees, from which has been
shipped great deal of fruit.
1t is doubtful if any grove on the
coast makes finer showing than that
owned by Frank Forster, situated on
the east side of the river. Mr.. Forster
has some twenty or thirty acres of bear
ing trees on rich hammock land, all in
the pink of condition, and each season
he ships many hundred boxes of fruit
which is Of extra fine quality.
The rich soil and the protection from
cold afforded by the river makes this a
good locality for gardening. There are
a number engaged in growing vegeta-
bles for the northern market, and it is
not an uncommon occurrence to clear
from $500 to $1,000 during the season
on string beans alone.
Extending several miles down the
river is the famous Narrows region.
For many years most OF the green
beans shipped north in the dead Of win
ter have been grown here. Prices re-
ceived occasionally range as high as $40
and even SIS per crate.
At Toledo w. H. Wigfeld has large
bearing grove and one of the best pay
ing citrus nurseries on the coast. E.
V. Walker has 600 young trees on rich
hammock land, from which he will ship
fruit this season.
At Clifford the colored people have
thrifty orange groves, pineapple plan
tations and vegetable farms. They are
intelligent and Industrious and are max
ing their farms pay.
VerO and Oslo are situated less than
20 miles north of Fort Pierce. The
soil at these places is of varied charac-
ter and is all fertile. The low lands
are underlaid with clay and mari SUBJ
soils and are suited for the culture of
all classes of fruits and vegetables
This is made more evident by the lux
lriant natural growths. The late H.
I. Clifford was one of the pioneers Of
,hese parts, and accumulated a large
md valuable estate. Persimmons, cit
us and other fruits were grown by
,im in large quantities, and his example
las stimulated numbers Of others to
similar effort.
Though the pineapple industry may
,e said to be as yet in its infancy in
his section, the fact is not due to a
ack of suitable soil. Messrs. A. o.
ielseth, E. Helseth and o. 0. Helseth,
# Oslo, have very promising fields,
rom which they will next season make
arge shipments.