The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-07-23
ON THE WING
Down in Florida Where Every Prospect Pleases"
By JAMES H. HARD

Leaving Jacksonville last night at 8:eo over the Florida East Coast railroad, I arrived at Miami at 20 this morning, after ride of 36e miles, and found my
 self at the southe:nmost railroad point on the mainland of the United States. The territory of Uncle Sam extends much
 farther south now. but if you want to
 visit it you will have to take a boat or
 swim, for here is where the chu-chu stops.
 Fortunately for those who do want to go still farther south, there is no lack of means. There are three lines of steam ships sailing from this port one direct to Nassau in the Bahama Islands, one direct to Havana, Cuba, and one to Ha- vana, via Key West, and the bunch of
 other keys lying along below. By the l way, do you know what a key" is, as | used in this connection? It means a small | island. The Spaniards call them "cays, ' and there are thousands of them off the
 south coast of Florida. varying from the | size of a washtub to several miles in ex-
 tent. Those which are old enough have l name. and the names are as various | as the islands are numerous Some of
 the names are Spanish, but most of then
 are American. One group in the gull | is called Ten Thousand Islands because 1 of their number.
 l To the student Of natural history the
 origin and growth of these islands Is in. | teresting The little coral insect and the I members of his union begin on the sandy l floor of the ocean or gulf to build theil
 homes, and they slowly but surely grow l upwards, cell on cell, until the highest | point of the structure is near the sur
 face of the water. Then wings and els 1 porticos and extensions are added, the work never ceasing. Soon gulf weed torr | from it's bed by the storms drifts ur
 against the coral and lodges. Then sand | washed up by the waves from the foor l of the ocean fills in the crevices; the
 drift of the ocean catches upon the mass
 more sand is washed up; the sea birds | find a resting place; seeds are dropped
 or washed in; vegetation springs up and
 a new island has been born. As time | goes on sand and shells continue to Dc
 thrown up by the waves, and the vege
 tation continues to grow until the cora, | strand becomes a wooded island.
 There is almost continuous chain of
 these islands from Miami to Key West and in the course of time the spaces be-
 tween them will be filled up and the is- l lands will become mainland and the
 tongue will be stuck still further into the gulf and ocean. So Florida was built
 as the years passed by, and will grow l
 l At Miami, the last built of the mainland l there Is only a light covering of sand
 and vegetable matter, and the coral rock had to be blasted out in many places ir I making the streets and in setting out the trees on the grounds of the Royal Palm
 one of MT. Flagler's hotels. dynamite had
 to be used to make the holes deep enough
 Some of the soldier boys who were quar-
 t.. cd at Miami during the unpleasant
 nf had S1Indry
 occasions to negotiate the rocky soil with | pick, and that is why some of them thought they had hard time.
 | Wherever room among the rocks can be | found for the plants, however, they flour
 sh luxuriantly. for the soil is full ot plant food, decomposed lime, phosphoric acid and humus. There are many truck farms near Miami, and since the latter
 part of December beans, tomatoes and
 cucumbers have been going forward il | quantities. sl l Think of tomatoes ripening in the open 1 air at Christmas time and from then on Many of the crops are worked by truck | CTS from Michigan and other northern
 states who come down here at the begin
 ming of cold weather and while theii | fields at home are covered with snow they
 cultivate the tomato, eggplant, cucumber | squash and bean under the southern sur | while famed by the7- breezes from thu l gulf and the Atlantic
 Enormous profits are sometimes made especially when in answer to prayer the | Lord sends a killing frost on lower Ala
 bama and Georgia and upper Florida | That makes prices go up and the faithful few who are below the frost line rear
 the reward of honest toll and piety. As
 much as SLIGO have been realized from | the product of one acre of tomatoes | This was sufficient to pay the express
 charges and commission men and leave | a little for the grower.