GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 



20I 



Fig. 36. Large saw-grass marsh bordering Lake Harris, looking north 

 from about a mile east of Eldorado, Lake County. Pine land in distance is 

 over a mile away. Feb. 9, 1909. 



along rivers that fluctuate little, which in favorable situations may- 

 expand into marshes of considerable w^idth. Some of the plants 

 commonly associated with the saw-grass have been listed on the 

 lower half of page 270 in the Third Annual Report. Such marshes 

 are common in the lake region, and often cover several hundred 

 acres; and they may be important sources of peat when that sub- 

 stance becomes more popular than it is now. Plans are just now 

 being perfected for manufacturing paper from saw-grass in Lake 

 County, where there are some of the largest saw-grass marshes to 

 be found outside of the Everglades. For such an industry to be 

 permanent requires that the "grass" shall grow as fast as is cut, 

 which can be determined by multiplying the annual growth per acre 

 by the acreage available. With marsh vegetation that dies down to 

 the ground every year, like cat-tails, it is a very simple matter to 

 cut, dry and weigh a square yard or so of it at the end of the grow- 

 ing season, and convert the results to pounds or tons per acre.* 



*For a study of several types of marsh vegetation on Long Island made 

 in this way see Plant World 21 :38-46. (April) 1918. The most luxuriant veg- 

 etation found there was reed-grass, Phragmites communis, which yielded at the 

 rate of about 24 tons per acre when fresh and 12 tons when air-dry. Saw-grass 

 is said to yield from 12 to 20 tons per acre (fresh) at the first cutting. 



