1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



707 



on Sunday; and, although the management plead- 

 ed with him over the telephone, he remained ob- 

 durate. At 4 o'clock the events for the day were 

 definitely called off. 



Please notice that word "obdurate." One 

 can not help wondering what sort of bring- 

 ing-up some of the newspaper reiiorters 

 have had. Instead of the word "obdurate " 

 I would suggest the sentiment implied in 

 an old hymn: 



Oh ! who is there among us, the true and the tried, 

 Who'll stand by his colors — who's on the Lord's 

 side? 



A sabbath v.ell spent brings a week of content. 

 And strength for the work of the morrow: 



But a sabbath profaned, whatever is gained, 

 Is a sure forerunner of sorrow. 



THE 



EVERGLADES OF SOUTHERN FLOR- 

 IDA. 



Dear Mr. Root:— Your editorial on Florida Indi- 

 cates that you are in search of Information about 

 the draining of the Everglades. Tlie State former- 

 ly owned all of the great swamp, but sold a large 

 part of it to land companies on an agreement to 

 drain it— the idea being that the work of develop- 

 ment done by these companies would make what 

 the State kept more valuable than the whole had 

 been. Under this agreement four dredges set to 

 work, one In the Caloosahatchee Hiver, one in the 

 Miami River, and two at Ft. Lauderdale. A large 

 amount of work was done with them. For in- 

 stance, the machine that went up the river (the 

 Caloosahatchee) cut a canal from Ft. Thompson 

 through Lake Flirt Into Lake Okefchobee, sixty feet 

 wide and and ten feet deep. This is large enough 

 for the largest boats using this river. A few 

 months ago, in order to hasten things the State ad- 

 vertised for bids for the cutting of 183 miles of main 

 canals and over 300 miles of laterals. The Southern 

 Dredging Co., of Baltimore, were the successful bid- 

 ders. They took over the four State dredges, and 

 are sending three more into the lake. One of them 

 has just passed up the stream, and this has stimu- 

 lated me to write. It is a huge suction machine 

 that has been at work in the harbor at Galveston. 

 Its long voyage across the Gulf of Mexico and up 

 this river is nearing a successful end, and It will 

 soon be at work in the south canal. Another, a 

 dipper dredge, is about a week oehind it, and will 

 ere long be cutting its way from the lake to the 

 ocean. When these machines get through there 

 will be four or more navigable canals as outlets to 

 the Everglades, and we can then cross the lower 

 end of the peninsula by boat, and ship our truck 

 and fruit to New York by an all-water route. Now 

 the East Coast, though only a few miles distant, 

 can be reached only Dy a long railroad journey to 

 Sanford, 250 miles north, and then south via the 

 Flagler lines. 



One of your subscribers wrote the other day from 

 Oklahoma, saying that he bought land near Ft. 

 Lauderdale, and asked the character and (luality. 

 If he had sent a stamp for a reply I could only have 

 said that this particular tract is unknown to me, 

 being on the other side of an impenetrable swamp. 

 His purchase may be in the Atlantic or It may be 

 poor sand on the beach, though the probability is 

 that. It is part of the Everglades, and therefore good 

 soil. No man should buy unless he has seen the 

 land and is sure he is getting what he has seen. 



The soil of the Everglades, like all swamp land, is 

 very fine. If that were all that needed considera- 

 tion, its purchasers would be very fortunate. But 

 (and It is a big but) in this caise it will take several 

 years to get these big ditches or canals to working, 

 and then only a beginning will have been made. 

 Thousands of lesser drains must go in, and the ex- 

 pense of these will fall on the land-owner. They 

 will be a first-class Investment for him, but they 

 will take time. It will be several years before any 

 thing like the larger part of the Glades will be dry 

 and ready for cultivation. 



There are two pests in that region, or, rather, 

 there is one pest that preys on two different classes 

 and makes the value of these lands problematical. 



The word insects covers the whole thing. They 

 make life miserable for man and beast, and they 

 eat up the crops. To the first class belong mosqui- 

 toes, gnats, and horseflies. The merciful man who 

 cares for his beast is perhaps distressed more by the 

 la.st one than the two first; but it is hard to say 

 which Is the greater trial. To this add the other 

 class that some years devour every green thing, 

 and you can see why I am in doubt as to the desira- 

 bility of owning these exceedingly rich lands. 



Many people have gone to see the lands, and have 

 come away perfectly enthused over their richness. 

 The reports I have had from them are very glow- 

 ing; but does the prospective btiyer always see all 

 there is In the proposition before him? Land 

 agents are not, many of them, rascals. They are 

 sometimes honestly mistaken, and their enthusi- 

 asm is more to blame than their cupidity. Let's 

 give them the same charity we would extend to all 

 men. But that is no reason why a man should buy 

 in a new country without careful study of the facts 

 in the case. 



It seems to me I have not written just what I 

 wanted to; therefore I'll restate a few things. The 

 State is pushing the drainage of the Everglades. 

 It will take a long time, no matter how vigorously 

 the work is pushed, to complete it. The land Is 

 wonderfully fertile. It will grow big crops of sugar- 

 cane and truck. Many buyers will be disappointed 

 because they do not understand the soil, the cli- 

 mate, and the conditions, and give up before they 

 have learned how to get a living out of their farm.s. 

 Others will have insufficient capital, and be com- 

 pelled to quit. Most of these lands are being bought 

 by people who will never get to them. They will 

 fail to carry out their plans. All these tracts will 

 soon be on the market, and the price will drop. 

 The man who buys as a speculation will have to 

 hold for vears before iie will get an advanced price. 

 The insect pest will be unendurable to many would- 

 be settlers. On the other hand, there will be a time 

 when that whole section will be a great garden, 

 yielding like the much-fabled valley of the Nile. 



May I, as I close, call attention to the error of 

 your friend who informed you that the government 

 land in this State was all away back and inaccessi- 

 ble? That is true as a general proposition, but, 

 like all general propositions, it breaks down when 

 applied to particular cases. The homesteads near 

 Denaud are close to the river, and transportation 

 is good. That is why I came here. My KiO acres is 

 a mile from town, and a good river on which ply 

 several daily lines of boats. Should any of your 

 readers question this, let them come and see for 

 themselves. I like the land, the climate, the fruits, 

 and the prospect. 



Denaud, Fla., Oct. 3. Frank M. Baldwin. 



Many thanks, friend B., for your frank 

 and honest statement; and I hope those of 

 our readers who are thinking of investing 

 in land in Florida without going to see it 

 will read your article several times over. 

 Now, although you do not say so, I want to 

 suggest that the mosquitoes will probably 

 disappear to a considerable extent as civili- 

 zation comes in — at least if the people avail 

 themselves of the modern methods of head- 

 ing them off. There is a United States bul- 

 letin, if not two or three of them, on this 

 very subject; and most other insect pests 

 maybe considered "preventable diseases" 

 if they are promptly taken in hand and 

 followed up. 



"the TRUTH" ABOUT BRADENTOWN AND MANATEE 

 CO., FLA. 



Dear Mr. Root:— I have been very busy for some 

 time; and when the last copy of Gleanings came I 

 did not get hold of It as usual, so only to-day I 

 found Mr. E. M. Graves' article about Florida. It 

 has so many errors that I can not resist saying a 

 few words In reply. Mr. Graves came to Florida at 

 about the age of 70; and if any man expects to go to 

 a new country at that age and start life over again 

 and make money the first year, he is expecting too 

 much. 



He says that a man has " slim chances for mak- 

 ing money here." From 1884 to 1898 I lived In the 

 West, and came to Florida at that time. I am 



