The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1905-12-02

| ~ limited, L VIII Jake TWO cOlllIlce-
those of Lee, from the extreme south,
and Polk, halfway down the peninsula
and also between gulf and ocean.
The Lee County Commissioner was
Philip Isaacs, editor of the Fort Myers
Press. He has the distinction of pub
fishing the only paper in his county,
and the exhibit he managed to get to-
gether was Il splendid tribute to his
energy. He had space of about 40Xl0O
feet, well filed, rallied about with bam-
boos fifty feet or more in length, as
evidence of the tropical character of
the Calosahatchie valley; there was
cocoanut tree twenty feet high, show
ing the fruit from the blossom up to
the ripening nut; there were other trop-
ical fruits, such as papaya or pawpaws,
bananas, mangOs, sapadillOs, avocado
or alligator pears, shown upon the trees
or in groups attractively displayed upon
tables, benches and in groups.
Pyramidal in form, the grapefruit
section made center so golden in here
as well to bear out the claim of the
county that the pomelo is, par excel
lence, the pride of the county. All the
citrus fruits, of course, the orange
lemon, lime, citron, kumquats, were
there. 1t seemed to me that these last
were small in size, as, indeed, were all
that ] noticed in the display of other
counties. In pineapplcs, both those
grown in the open air and those under
shed, were shown; the diff erence in
flavor of the shielded varieties was
clearly marked.
Farm products were fairly well rep.
resented, such as sugar cane, sweet po-
tatoes, rice, peanuts, pumpkins, etc.
while the vegetable kingdom was not
far behind, proving that fall and winter
truck can be raised in abundance at u
time OF the year when vegetables com
mand the highest price in the markets
OF the North; and, now that an all-rail
route by the Atlantic Coast Line is in
operation along the river border, full
carloads of tomatoes, eggplant and
beans could quickly reach New York
by way of rail to Savannah and ocean
steamship.
Judging from what l saw, conclude
that the jumping OFF, county of Flor
IDA is good one to Jump into" for,
though there are large areas of swampy
land, there are also large areas of ex.
tremely fertile soil.
Polk County, great in area, for it
has over a million and quarter acres
of land surface, not to mention its thou.
sand or more sparkling and pure lakes,
was, of course, also great in the display
of grains, vegetables and citrus fruits.
"A full list of exhibits was promised
me, but at this writing has not reached
me. This, however, does not matter ~
it would be merely duplicating that of
Lee, Osceoa, Hillsboro and Manatee
Counties in citrus fruits and farm prod
ucts.
| noticed that the velvet bean held a
prominent place. 1t is only recently
that much attention has been given to
this field crop, but farmers are begin
ming to realize that it is source of
revenue not to be despised
The citrus fruit shown gave proof
that Polk, while bordering on the frost
line, was not materially affected by the
freeze OF February last; in quantity,
quality, variety, it proved itself fairly
safe as a county suited to the orange
and the pomelo. It's lake area, no
doubt, has had something to do in
browning success along this line, but
the people of DeSoto, on it's southern
border, will, fancy, dispute the claim
for it lately made by one of its citizens,
that it embraces nearly all of what
is known as the Lake Region of Flor.
ida" 1t is true they are almost mum.
bcrless; but these lovely lakes extend
for seventy miles or more south of the
south line of Polk and go down to the
Okeechobec country.
was told that the appropriation
;ladp bV tho Comfy Commissioners tn