222 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



Turning to smaller plants than trees, some of the vines and 

 shrubs yield berries (muscadines, blackberries, huckleberries, etc.), 

 and some may be used for decorative purposes (mistletoe, holly, 

 wild smilax, etc. ) . Honey comes mostly from native shrubs and 

 small trees, such as saw palmetto, gallberry, and black mangrove. 

 In 1909, according to the U. S. census, the central Florida counties 

 produced 217,757 pounds of honey and 2913 pounds of beeswax, 

 together valued at $17,185. The corresponding figures for 1913- 

 14, according to the State agricultural department, were 183, 305 

 pounds of honey and 726 pounds of wax. with a value of $19,822. 

 The greatest honey-producing section in our area is the east coast 

 strip, as stated in the description of that region. The industry 

 is one that calls for very little common labor, and it would seem to 

 be capable of great extension. 



The Spanish moss is used in a small way for mattress making, 

 mostly around Ocala and Leesburg, and it could be used a great 

 deal more if there was enough cheap labor to be had. (The in- 

 dustry is much more extensively developed in Louisiana, which has 

 no more moss than Florida, but many more illiterate unskilled 

 laborers. ) Nothing is known as to how much moss per acre can 

 be produced annually under the most favorable conditions, but the 

 total quantity in our hammocks and swamps is enormous, and seem- 

 ingly inexhaustible. 



The proposed use of saw-grass for paper-making has been men- 

 tioned on a preceding page, and a paper mill is said to be about to 

 begin operations at Leesburg. The deer-tongue (Trilisa odo- 

 ratissima was formerly used largely for flavoring tobacco. An 

 old agricultural report states that 39 bales of it were shipped 

 from Silver Springs in the fall of 1871 : and some has been 

 shipped from Volusia County within the last twenty years. 



The grasses and other herbs of the pine lands and prairies afford 

 pasturage practically all the year round for large herds of cattle 

 and a few horses, sheep and goats, and grazing is still one of the 

 big industries, particularly in the southeastern flatwoods, as in- 

 dicated in the description of that region, and as will be further dis- 

 cussed under the head of agriculture. Many hogs of the "razor- 

 back" variety get most of their living from roots and acorns and 

 other seeds in the woods. 



