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pine lands and fifteen bushels onhommocks. Sugar-cane does well, but is raised 
for home consumption only.” 
5. Wheat is not grown as a crop in Florida, though a correspondent writes 
from Levy county that he thinks it would do well on their hommock lands, and 
our Manatee reporter says he has sown a package sent from this department, 
and it now looks as well as he has ever seen wheat in Maryland or elsewhere. 
6. There are a variety of natural grasses growing throughout the State, and 
as a general rule cattle are pastured on the wild lands and without expense, 
frequently the whole yearround. Among the grasses named by our correspond- 
ents are Bermuda grass, crab grass, crow-foot, joint grass, carpet grass, wire 
grass, &c. Our Levy county correspondent writes: ‘“ ‘The grasses are all wild ; 
stock runs out all the year in the woods. They are gathered in the spring, and 
penned every night until about August, when they are again turned out to run 
during the fall and winter. While kept up they are branded, and the cows are 
milked, though they are generally small and give but little milk, from one to 
three quarts per day. The calves during the summer are kept from the cows, 
except morning and night ; during the fall and winter they run together.” 
7. The capabilities of Florida for raising tropical and semi-tropical fruits are 
well known, and must soon attract the attention of fruit-growers. In Jackson 
county grape culture is becoming prominent, the Scuppernong variety being 
most popular, as it succeeds finely and is free from disease ; the soil and tempera- 
ture of the county is said to be adapted to the production of grapes, which grow 
naturally and in abundance. Our Liberty correspondent says: ‘‘ We have a 
small orange orchard of twenty-five trees, which yields at the rate of $25 per 
tree. The trees cost but $1 each annually for pruning and keeping clear of 
insects.” In Baker county oranges and peaches, vegetables, &c., do well and 
pay largely. Our correspondent writes: “Send us some of your gardeners 
who understand the business. Last year a gardener planted fifteen acres in 
tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, &c., which were ready for market eight weeks in 
advance of northern vegetables. He shipped to New York, and his net gain 
was $22,000. I think he is from Maine. An orange and peach orchard of 
about one hundred trees yields to the owner $1,200 annually. We need enter- 
prising men to improve our lands.” Large orange groves are being planted ia 
Levy county, and northern men are settling along the coast, planting fruit 
groves and improving the islands, where peaches, oranges, lemons, pine-apples, 
bananas, grapes, grape-fruit, &c., may be raised in abundance. Tropical fruits 
do well in Alachua county, especially the more hardy ones, figs, pomegranates, 
&c., while in Manatee, further south, the capacity for such fruits is unsurpassed, 
and only requires communication with northern markets to develop capabilities 
in this regard, and to attract industry and enterprise from other States. 
ALABAMA. 
1. The county reports show an average decrease in the price of farm lands 
of about sixty per cent.; no county reporting an increase. The decline is not 
uniform throughout the State, beg affected in many cases by local causes, 
and varying according to the size of the tracts or farms offered for sale. Coosa 
county exhibits a decrease of at least fifty per cent. in large plantations, while 
small and well-improved farms sell at about the same price as in 1860. The 
maximum decrease reported is in the counties of Conecuh and Montgomery, 
where it reaches ninety per cent. A decline of fifty per cent. is observable in 
Macon county. Our correspondent writes as follows: “In 1860 the lands of 
Macon ranged in value from three to fifty dollars per acre. As the county is 
penetrated by two leading lines of railway, connecting on the east with Colum- 
bus, Georgia, and on the west with Montgomery, Alabama, access to market is 
ready and reliable. ‘The county is in general remarkable for the salubrity ot 
its atmosphere, and in many parts for the fertility of its soil, Towards the 
