Mexico Missouri message., 1912-02-22
IN THE EVERGLADES.
A Mexico Man Tells About His
Visit in The South.

| N""'"hN AL hlllc n.y. To see
that section of the country. The
first stop was at Plant City. Here
many fine oranges grow and some
small garden truck, but the soil is
very sandy. Then TO Summer
vile, a nice little village, sur
rounded with orange and grape
fruit groves, but too wet and
sandy for garden truck.
Summerfeld, the next stop. but
too much sand and water for
either fruit or vegetables. From
Summerfeld we took a short line
to Leesburg. Here is where a
cousin of Gen. Robt. f. Lee settled
and the city takes its name from
him. One of my nephews married
a daughter of this Mr.. Lee. There
are several nice lakes around
Leesburg and good fishing and
hunting abound the year round.
This is also the home of some
of the finest orange groves and
gardens | saw on my trip. The
next stop of any importance was
Orlando. The soil here is as at
Leesburg, very rich, and is quite
a favorite of winter tourists. But
the east coast of Florida seems to
be the favorite section of the state
for the tourists. The living there
is much higher but the class who
go there have little regard ror
money, so long as personal en-
joyment is gained. From Orlando
we double back to the main line
of the seaboard at Silver Spring
Here, again, we found too n1uc..
water and sand, although a beau
tiful spot. From here we go to
Gainesville where we found much
better soil, and located toward the
northern portion of the State.
Here, also, we found many fine
orange groves and also garden
truck of all kinds. IN this sec
ton five acres is often called
farm, but these farms" do not
raise wheat, oats, corn, barley,
clover or timothy, or any of our
domestic fruits, but tropical fruits
in abundance.
This state is very spotted, and
| would advise all my friends not
to buy of land sharks in that
country, but before buying, all
should come and see the land, as
there are many reputable rea,
estate dealers here, that are will
ing and anxious to show their
lands. The real estate dealers
here claim that the northern land
sharks do Florida a great injus-
tice by their misrepresentation.
As l was passing through the
country some days ago ! came
across an old white man, a native
of the country, who was fully
eighty years of age, who had
never seen snow. l asked him
what he did in this sandy country
to make living, and he replied,
"Wall, in summer we skin ALI
gators for a living and in winter
we skin the Yankee tourists.
To make a success of raising
vegetables and fruit in Florida, it
is necessary to fertilize the land,
and in many instances the cost of
doing this is 800 per acre.
We are now homeward bound
for Jacksonville, where at the
union depot we saw hundreds OF
tourists arriving on every south
bound train. Some headed for the |
east coast and some as far south
as Havana, Cuba. About the |
last Of March these same winter |
tourists will be seen again at the |
Jacksonville depot, headed for
their northern homes, as thick as
blackbirds.
Jacksonville is destined to be a !
great city, as it is the gateway for
all the south. There have been
several Mexico people in jackson
vile this winter, some going fur
ther south. Among these are the
Nelson's, the Widow Stewart,
Mayor Graham and family, Mr..
W. W. Fry and Col. Clay, Mrs.
Brown and daughter and Mrs.
and others, a majority of.
them going further south. Two |
of my nieces and ! took spin ont |
IN tba pa,y 0stricb Farm, and Too |