FARMERS' REGISTER— FLORIDA. 



island cotton ( Gossypium JBarbadense?} which is 

 a native of some of tlie West India Islands. The 

 two tbrmer are short staples, the last is the long 

 staple cotton. The modes of cultivating and 

 ginning the latter difiers from that of the two 

 former, which is so well known iu all the southern 

 states. 



'The sea-island cotton, being a plant of larger 

 grounli, requires more space than the two other 

 fcpecies. On good soils it is not unusuid to see it 

 ten feet high. It is usual to make the beds or 

 ridges larger, and to hoe it more cai-efully them the 

 otlier sorts; but it may be doubted Avhether there 

 is any essential difierence in the plants, m this re- 

 spect. It requires a longer season to mature its 

 fmit than the others. The difierence is probably 

 about four weeks. 



The short staple cottons are prepared for market 

 with saio-ghis, which do their work with great de- 

 spatch. On the contrar}', it is necessaiy to pre- 

 pare the sea-island cotton mth roller-gins, m or- 

 der to avoid breaking the staple, and thus destroy- 

 ing that length of fibre which gives it its superiority 

 over thejDther sorts of cotton. Of the roller-gins, 

 there are several sorts, difiermg in the mode of 

 construction, as the foot-gin, the horse-gin, &c., 

 but all of which are slow in operation when com- 

 pared with the saw-gin. Again, the product of 

 this cotton, to the acre, is not so great as the other. 

 But to compensate for these disadvantages, the 

 price of it, when prepared for market, is usually 

 about double the price of sliort stajile cotton. On 

 some of the sea-islands of South Carolina, a va- 

 riety of the long staple cotton is produced (by a 

 few planters) which is much finer than that which is 

 ordinarily cultivated, and v/hich commands about 

 double the price of the latter, and quadruple the 

 price of siiort staple cotton. The Icnowledge of 

 it was for a long time a secret, confined to a lew; 

 but the seeds are now freely sold in the Charles- 

 ton market, at from two to five dollars a bushel. 

 At times Avhen the prices of cottons have been 

 high, this fine variety has commanded a dollar per 

 pound, and the discoverer of it was offered, by a 

 neighboi'ing planter, ,^50,000 for the secret! 



As yet, however, the Mexican cotton is that 

 which is most commonly cultivated in JNIiddle 

 Florida, but the soil and clmiate having been 

 proved to be well adapted to the production of 

 sea-island cotton, it is ])robable that, as the plan- 

 tations are opened, and the pressure of out-door 

 labor during winter becomes less, the proportion 

 of this cotton Avill be increased. 



The average product of this species of cotton 

 may be stated at about six hundred pounds to the 

 acre, though it is not unusual to obtain as mucli 

 as eight hundred pounds. Its yield from the seed, 

 is as one to three, while that of short staple cotton 

 is a little more than one to four. During the past 

 season, some planters of Mexican cotton have ob- 

 tained seven, eight, and even nine bags to the 

 hand, but the average is probably not more than 

 four or five. 



Cotton in this climate begins to bloom during 

 the first week in June, and the picking may be 

 commenced early in August. Sea-island cotton 

 should be planted between the 10th of March and 

 the 1st of April. Short stayjle cotton may be 

 planted at any time from the 10th of March to the 

 middle of May. The sea-island cotton is used 

 for the finest cotton fabrics, and the finest sewing 



cotton, and it is said to be used ui France lor adul- 

 terating their silks. 



Spanish tobacco l$fxs been cultivated in Florida, 

 and found to do well. Segars have been made of 

 it Avliich have all the perfume of good Havana 

 segars. It^is said to be a profitable crop. 



The olive tree ( Olea JEuropcea^ has been tried, 

 and found not to succeed. Col. John Gamble im- 

 ported a nuiid>er of trees from Mai'seilles, and 

 planted them on his estate. He inionns me that 

 they have perished to the roots by frost, every win- 

 ter since he planted them. And yet in the garden 

 of my friend Dr. Wray, of Augusta, (Geo.) I have 

 seen a young olive tree, which for several years, 

 has borne the winters in the open air. Of the 

 European olive, hov\-ever, there are several va- 

 rieties, and that wliich I saw in the garden of Dr, 

 W, is not the one which is commonly cultivated, 

 as it requires a nuich longer period to corae to ma- 

 turity. Like the orange tree, the olive would pro- 

 bably do Avell on the sea-coast and islands. I 

 learn that the olWe has been reared at Augus- 

 tine, Avhere oranges ai'e also produced m abun- 

 dance. 



Indian com does Avell, and the crop is easily 

 made. It may be planted the first week in March, 

 and the cultivation completed early in June. 

 When the spring is favorable, it may be planted 

 in Februaiy, and the cultivation completed in 

 aiay. 



Oats and rye do well, and ought to be exten- 

 sively introduced to alternate with cotton and corn. 



V/heat has been but little tried, and I am una- 

 ble to say with Avhat success. 



In the soU of Florida there is great diversity. 

 The reader, perhaps, has not to be told that a 

 large portion of the countiy is occupied by pine 

 barrens, as they are called. Even in these, there 

 is great diversity, some being quite productive, 

 wliile others are extremely barren. In the former, 

 the pines (pinus palustris, the long leaf, pitch 

 pme) grow large and tall, and are associated with 

 the Black Jack, ( Quercus nigra) in the latter they 

 ai'e stunted in groAvth, and are associated Avith the 

 "baiTens' scrub oak," (^Quercus Catesbcei) which, 

 in common language, is often confounded with 

 the "Blackjack." 



The richest uplands are the Hammocks or Hum- 

 mocks, a "vvord which probably has its root in the 

 Latin humidus, moist, or kmneo to be wet, indi- 

 cating in this instance, not a wet or swampy soil, 

 but its contiguity to some body of water, either a 

 creek, river, or lake.* Intermediate between these 

 are the oaky lands, which have a stitTer soil than 

 the othei-s, and by many are thought to excel the 

 hammocks in the production of cotton. The fre- 

 quency and suddenness with which these soils 

 change fi-om one to another, surprises every ob- 

 server, and baffles every theory to account for it. 

 Frequently after passing a dreary tract of pine- 

 barrens, or barren «and-hills, you come, suddenly, 

 on the borders of a hummock, which greets you 

 like an oasis in a desert, contrasting with the for- 

 mer fertility of its soil, and the beauty of its nu- 

 merous evergreens. t 



* Or perhaps in allusion to the humidity of its atmos- 

 phere, as the brandies of the trees and their dense'fo- 

 liage detain the evaporation, and keep up a deg;ree of 

 moisture very favorable to the 2;rowth of parasitics, as 

 the Long Moss, Mistletoe, Epidendrum, &c. 



t Pre-eminent among these stands the stately Mag- 



