The Washington herald., 1911-12-16

For years the Everglades Of Florida
| have been the subject of speculation
and development, reports, discussion,
and endless effort. The land is a richly
| fertile one, but for many reasons drain
age of the swampy lowlands which form
! the greater part of the Eerglades has
presented many difficulties. Chief among
them is the overflow from Lake Okee-
chobee in the very heart of the Ever
glades, which has ever constituted a
| barrier in the path Of the developer and
colonist.
| In 1916 Florida was admitted to the
| Union. In the same year its legislature
urged the drainage of the Glades. In
| 1S4S the legislature asked Congress for
the lands-then in national ownership
''on condition tLat the state will drain
them In 1870 Congress granted the
Glades TO Florida, for the express pur-
eose of draining and reclaiming them
| In 1856 the War Department prepared a
map of the Everglades accompanied by
a brief but valuable report.
Prepared Official Report.
| In 1891 DR.. H. w Wiley prepared an
official report on the Muck Lands of
the Florida Peninsula" pointing out in
strong terms the enormous value these
| lands would have when drained. and in
dicating the ease of draining them. In
1903, Gov. W. S. Jennings sent a mess
age to the legislature, showing the i'm
mense value of these lands to the State
and nation, and urging their reclama-
| tion.
! Following him came Gov. Broward. He
actually launched the drainage work.
| Broward asked the nation for expert
aid, and ]. o. Wright. of the United
States Department of Agriculture. was
detailed to inspect the lands and report
/ in January, 1910, has just appeared in
Senate document No. SO. In this doCu-
ment may be found the other papers
above mentioned, and many others OF
vital interest. The present governor of
Florida, A. w. GiIChrist. was supposed
to be lukewarm. or hostile to the Ever
glades project. He visited the lands, and
since has aided magnlfcently in pushing
their reclamation.
Committees Inspect Work.
Three legislative committees of the
State have visited this reclamation work.
and each has returned with an excellent
report commencing the work and the
land. The reclamation consists in the
cutting Of canals TO connect Lake Okee-
chObee with the Gulf on the west and
the Atlantic on the east. The reason is
this:
The lake has no natural outlet In the
wet season it Overfiows, and its waters
pour out over the land. The canals will
so lower the level of the lake that the
excess waters will he retained until they
can be carried off gradually by the
canals. These canals will afford trans
portation, drainage, and water for sub
irrigation. The connection with the gulf
has been established and boats run to
the lake. The canal which will connect
the lake with the Atlantic is expected to
be completed IN a few weeks.
The State is behind the job and is pay
ing the bill. The largest drainage firm in
the United States is cutting the canals
One of the foremost drainage engineers
in the country, Mai. J. o. Wright. who
rs a government expert. examined the
lands and made the famous report
Soil Fertility Feature.
No matter how favorably located any
farming land may be situated as regards
its accessibility to transportation and
market, if the quality of the soil is such
that it is unproductive or its products
can only be had by an abnormal expendi-
ture of money, time and labor, its other
good points count for nothing. The fer
tility of the soil is the first and most
important feature.
Dade County, the north half Of which
was recently organized as Palm Beach
County. of which the Everglades is the
greater portion. has gained for Florida
large share of her reputation and fame
for being the leading State in producing
the largest and most valuable crops to
the acre. With the semi-tropical climate
enjoyed in this section of the State it is
possible to raise with the greatest sue
cess those fruits confined to a great ex-
tent to the tropical climates of land to
the far South. The orange and grape
fruit are prolific in growth, ard a killing
frost has never been known in the Ever
EIades.
Has Grapefruit Monopoly.
The true value of the grapefruit is
just beginning to be understood. and
Florida has monopoly in the raising of
this delicious fruit. California cannot
raise the grapefruit on a COMMERCIAL
scale, and with the exception of a little
inferior fruit raised in other Southern
States, Florida in this particular is with
cut a competitor. The Florida orange
also has long been a favorite over the
California product on account of its SUI
perior flavor
These two fruits can be raised without
any loss of money or time for them to |
come into bearing. The Florida truck |
farmer sets out his vegetables and other |
green truck between the rows of bearing
trees, reaping a good profit every year
until his trees are bearing enough fruit
TO warrant his giving up the truck gar
dening.
Wax beans with Irish potatoes be- |
tween the rows, and followed by wax
beans again. the trio netted as high as
Loco per acre, in one year.
Tomatoes as high as $500 per acre.
Eggplant and peppers, in exceptional |
cases. as high as 5000 per acre, Z al |
though the average is about one-half |
this figure.
Irish potatoes, which are easily grown |
in this section of the country, will |
Weld from 800 to 400 hampers per acre, |
and sell at 81 % to 50 ner hanner Z |