CHAPTER IX. 



' * THE FROST LINE* ' AND ' ' THE ORANGE BELT. 



fLFCH has been said and written in certain por- 

 tions of Florida concerning " the frost line" 

 and " the orange belt." I regret to put into this 

 treatise a single line that savors of controversy. But 

 justice and truth demand that certain statements be 

 corrected, and the public informed as to the facts. 

 There are so many good places in Florida that 

 many men who have places imagine theirs to be 

 best. Now it is very fortunate that there are so 

 many good places, but it is very unfortunate that 

 one section should be praised by its inhabitants to 

 the detriment of another equally good. No good 

 has come to the State at large, and I doubt if any 

 will come, in the long run, to the special community 

 that pursues such an unjust course. The climate 

 of Florida is so excellent, her soil so varied, her at- 

 tractions so great, that multitudes will continue to 

 come, as they are now coming, from the Northern 

 and Western States, and from Europe, till all our 

 goodly land is filled with a thrifty and contented 

 population. Do not let any of her citizens say 

 anything that would injure the adopted mother of 

 us all. 



