144 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



FeI?. 15. 



that there is a host of little rivers, or sort of 

 side issues, perhaps you initrht call them, that 

 branch off from the St. Johns, and they turn 

 and twist in every direction. The water in 

 these little rivers is like that mentioned in 

 Georgia. It has a brilliant dark color, from 

 the roots of the tropical vegetation probably; 

 and when the water is still it reflects the lux- 

 uriant growth upon its banks like a polished 

 steel mirror. When we first came down to the 

 8t. Johns River I was agreeably surprised to 

 find my old friend, the water-hyacinth, all 

 along the banks, and lining the edges of the 

 stream and its tributaries for miles and miles. 

 Some places they grow out into the river for 

 several rods. Here is a fact for our experiment 

 stations. Friend Brown tells us that, six years 

 ago. there wasn't a water- hyacinth on the 

 whole river; but some one threw in a plant. 

 Now there are acres and acres of it, and great 

 clumps looking like little islands are constant- 

 ly floating down. When we landed for dinner I 

 discovered these plants sailing np stream — or, 

 at least, so it seemed to me. I asked for an ex- 

 planation, and was told the water of this river 

 runs both irays — up stream when the tide is 

 coming in, and down stream when it is going 

 out. The women-folks of our party pitched 

 into me because I remarked, " Friends, I have 

 often heard of contrary women; but I have 

 never before seen a river that changed its 

 course, and went directly contrary in just one 

 short twenty-four hours." The raftsmen, 

 whom we found along the river, take advan- 

 tage of this queer phenomenon for transporting 

 their logs. They let their rafts loose when the 

 current is in the direction they wish to go. 



Somebody said there wasn't any good drink- 

 ing-water in Florida ; but after drinking sever- 

 al times the water I dipped from the side of the 

 boat from the St. Johns River and tributaries, 

 I call it excellent — in fact, as nice as rain water 

 caught from the clouds, in a clean tin pan. 



The dark color, which I mentioned before, 

 Mr. Brown says is caused by tannic acid from 

 the roots of various trees along the shore: but 

 this in no way affects the taste, so far as I can 

 discover. The St. Johns River in some places 

 is more than five miles wide, and I should be 

 quite happy indeed if I could always have as 

 good water as this to drink when I am thirsty. 



A FISH-STOKV. 



Of course, our picnic party fished on the way. 

 Well. I am not going to tell just how many fish 

 we caught; but friend Brown says there is a 

 place on the Indian River where, if you go out 

 in a boat and carry along some lights, the fish 

 will jump into the boat in order to get to the 

 light; and if you don't put out the lights when 

 the boat is full they will actually jump in until 

 the boat sinks. We have not been to that place 

 yet; but as Mr. Brown is a very good man, we 

 feel quite sure it must be true. Friend Black- 

 mer was wicked enough to say that it seemed 

 to him it was considerable of a " fish-story." I 

 did see a fish with my own eyes that I thought 

 must be an alligator, and a big one (a yard 

 long or more, I mean) ; but the rest of the party 

 assured me that it was a black bass, my favor- 

 ite dish. 



When we arrived at Daytona I thought very 

 likely my wheel might be the only one in town; 

 but as we prepared to get off the train I was 

 agreeably surprised. Wheels for both ladies 

 and gentlemen were everywhere, and I soon 

 found out the secret of it— the beautiful shell 

 roads and cement streets and sidewalks, be- 

 sides the splendid wheeling either up or down 

 along the beach. Many of our older readers 

 are more or less acquainted with Dr. Jesse 

 Oren, who lives in Laporte City, la., in sum- 

 mer, and Daytona in the winter. Dr. Oren met 



us at the train, and Constance and his daughter 

 were soon old friends, to all appearanc.-J. Be- 

 fore we reached their beautiful home we were 

 both quite captivated by the beauty of this 

 place. Most of the inhabitants are well-to-do 

 people from the North. The consequence is, 

 the dwellings are all fine ones. The people are 

 intelligent, and up to a high state of civiliza- 

 tion. The beautiful roads are made from 

 crushed oyster-shells, and these are obtained 

 along the beach and near the river, heaped up 

 in great mounds in many places, evidently left 

 by a former race of people who piled up the 

 shells after having used the contents for food. 

 Among the shells are found fragments of pot- 

 tery, which from their similarity have marked 

 these places as the work of the mound-builders, 

 found so generally over the United Slates. 



Another way of paving the streets is from a 

 kind of cement or marl, spoken of heretofore. 

 This cement is found in various places, a mile 

 or two out of town, occupying a foot or two 

 just below the surface of the forests. The 

 forest-trees are removed, the black woods dirt 

 carted to town for gardens and lawns, and then 

 the marl is taken out in huge blocks, pulveriz- 

 ed, mixed with water and sand, then pounded 

 down for pavements. 



Here for the first time we see forests literally 

 made up of palms and palmettoes. The sight 

 of these beautiful straight trunks or smooth 

 stems running away up fifty or sixty feet with- 

 out a branch or limb, and then ending with a 

 tuft on top. again and again makes me feel 

 strangely, some way, as if I were in fairyland. 

 Just imagine a dense forest made up of nothing 

 but these trees, ranging from a palmetto just 

 coming out of the ground, all the way up to a 

 full-sized tree. 



If you are out in the woods, and get hungry, 

 and are so fortunate as to have an ax, you can 

 chop out a good chunk of cabbage from any 

 cabbage-palmetto at any season of the year, 

 and you may eat your cabbage cooked or raw. 

 The doctor says you would hardly know it 

 from common cabbage, but you will have a lot 

 of work to get it out. These beautiful trees are 

 left all through the streets, dooryards, gardens, 

 and backyards all over Daytona. The main 

 street is 100 feet wide, left this width to pre- 

 serve the beautiful native forests of palmettoes 

 and live-oaks, draped with the moss I have de- 

 scribed. 



The adjoining pictures give you a glimpse of 

 what we see about this beautiful place, the 

 one showing the blossoms in the head of a cab- 

 bage palmetto; and great quantities of beauti- 

 ful honey are gathered every year from this 

 source. Dr. Oren has been spending his winters 

 here for the last ten years. He is now engaged 

 in putting np some beautiful cottages for rent 

 to bee-keepers or others who may wish to stay 

 over winter here. A pretty little cottage that 

 he says was built at ^ cost of .■?.">(»() has so much 

 captivated my fancy that he has promised to 

 have a picture of it taken to l)e given to the 

 readers of Gleanings, at an early date. Such 

 a cottage rents for $'M a season, the season to 

 be a whole year or any part of the year, only 

 you must pay the ^90 if you have it during the 

 season that Northerners usually come here. 

 Bee-keepers will certainly do well to take in 

 Daytona, and they shouldn't fail to call on Dr. 

 Oren. for he can post them in regard to almost 

 every thing they want to know. We find here 

 these same artesian wells that are such a 

 providence to all of Florida. By putting down 

 a pipe only about 80 ft., enough water pours 

 out for family use; and by going down still 

 farther a much larger volume of water is ob- 

 tained. Dr. Oren has just one such well for a 

 group of cottages, and it furnishes something 



