66G 



F A R M E US' U E G I S T E R . 



[No, 9 



it not for the obstacles interposed bv the govern- 

 inent of the United Slnic^^, in ronfiniu!/ a finLrlp 

 Mionopolizing port of entry to Key ^Vctst, sit this 

 very nionieiit ilie nursery niiirhi have 'leen fi'leii 

 hy n carina of livinij plants, imported direet li-om 

 the Baiiamas in piivate vei^seis; to Mataciiniiia. 

 Bat so ionix iis vessels for and Irom the B iliainas 

 arc ohli!j;cd to rloar and enter at Key Wesi, 80 

 miles to the westward of the nur.-ery, so lonix will 

 it, he impossible to iret even Irom that district, in 

 safety, a ear^o of livinir plants, at ihe only ajipro- 

 priate time earli year — the heginning of the rainy 

 season. 



Under tlie |I)ar!li ln-ad, ynii will porcMve tivit 

 JNlatacumha is wiihin 2-3 miles of Cape 8al>le.and in 

 the shoitesi ifircction due north not above 20 miles 

 from the main land. Behind this outside rancjo of' 

 islands the sea is very shallow to tiie main eoast, | 

 many pi tions of it being dry at low water, and 

 even in the deepest holes or channels not e.xeeed- 

 ing fifteen feet. The channels which rim in irreg- 

 ular gtdlies through this shallow sheet of water 

 will one day be the routes of small steamboats, 

 which will ply between tlie keys and main hnd. 

 'J'his shallow sea, being siieltered by 'he outer 

 islands, is perfectly safe lor the smallest boats; and 

 the Indians before the war generally resorted to 

 Indian Key in their small canoes. Hence, com- 

 lbrtal)le fla< bottomed boats can be constructed to 

 carry on a safe intercourse between theislanrls anti 

 the south shore of the peninsula; and Mr. Howe 

 has already a suitable one consirucited for this very 

 purpose, which is now in ihe employ of govern- 

 ment, under the coaimnn 1 of Col. Harney, The 

 result of the whole is:, that the [jreparatory nurs^^ry 

 is conveniently situated fir an intermediate depot 

 of plants for.nnd from, the permanent nnr.-^ery to lie 

 established on the main land. 



Very respectfully. 



Your ubedierii servant, 



H. PioFUiiAr:, 

 Supcriniendeiit <f T. P. C. 



P. S. Can any person raiionally oliject to the 

 following proposiiioiis ? 



1st, Shipwrecked persons and property should 

 have the legal as well as the moral r'ljrht to seek j 

 (lie nearest and most convenient spot for safety, 



2nd. Agricultural persons and plants should also 

 have the legal as well as the moral right to avail 

 themselves of every natural ficility lor populating 

 and cultivating every section cl' our country. 



3rd. That as a vast majority of the numerous 

 wrecks along the Flarida Reef occur at points 

 between Cape Sable and Cape Florida, that hence 

 ports of entry should be establislnHi ai least every 

 50 or 60 miles, for the accommodation of wrecked 

 persons and property alone. 



4th, That as the hisrhest considerations of na- 

 tional advantaore require the speedy introduction 

 and cultivation of tro|)ical plants in Southern Flo- 

 rida, the ports ot' entry should be made fi)r that 

 purpose alone. 



5ih. That at all events these combined conside- 

 rations require that coiiirress should immediately 

 establish two or more ports of entry at or near the 

 southern extremities of the penmsula, and thus 

 diminish the governmental obstacles hiiherto in- 

 terposed to the speedy salvage of wrecked per- 

 sons and properly, and to the speedy ()opulation 

 and cultivation of Tropical Florida. 



P. S, — By a transient conveyance from Key 

 West, your nund)ers for April and May were re- 

 ceived last eveidag, and were read iiv me every 

 hour of the whole sleepless night. Yourindelat- 

 igable industry, your entiiusiasiic zeal, your patri- 

 otic spirit, aiil your ii^arlcss language, all combine 

 to ensure success to any enterj)rise in which your 

 ((iellngs may be enlisted. Your work on calca- 

 reous manures, received in May last, has opened lo 

 me a new world oi" observation, and opinquiry. 

 The composition of that work alone must have re- 

 qniretl many years ol' laborious stud}'; and indeed 

 the subject of it is wortiiy of the dedication of the 

 entire hlii of an eriliiflitened aifriculiurist. But to 

 ap[)reciafe that volunu; completely, it must be tho- 

 roughly studied, and to that pleasant labor shall 

 hereafter be devoted many of my leisuie hours. If 

 possibit!, I would devote to it several hours ev(M'y 

 day, until I coidd (ijruish to you all the important 

 liicis relative to the orowth of fijants on this exclu- 

 sively calcareous reef I^ike the 'Bourgeois Gen- 

 tilhomvie'' of Moiiere, who oidy discovered in his 

 40ih year that Ik; had been sfieaking /prose all his 

 life, so the people of this reef never rejected that 

 they had been livinir in a tropical climate all 

 their days, until they read my writiriLrs; and I 

 myself Irankly cordess that I never duly reflected 

 on the peculiarity of these exclusively calcareous 

 Keys until I read your books. Yet, a priori, it 

 would seem as little stranire to expect that trees 

 sliould furnish in beds of exclusiv(>!v animal or ve- 

 iretable manures, as that they should fjrow on these 

 islands of exclusi\-eiy mineral manure. 



I am nioreover exceediniily rejoiced that next to 

 llrne yon appear lo appreciate tvrJer as manure, 

 and tiiat you are hence republishing every thing 

 showing the importance of water to vegetation — 

 and especially the practif-al utility of irrigation in 

 warm climates, where as Young s lys ot Spain, 

 ''the soil is th(» least olject, the sun and water do 

 the whole," and 'hat the elt'ect of water upon the 

 poorest land "infinitely exceeds that of the very 

 ricdiest manures that can be spread upon any 

 land." In your Farmer's Reirisler for November 

 1835, which you had the kindness to send me, 

 ther ; is no exaytjeration of "the superior advan- 

 tages in warm regions to be derived from flooding 

 lautls," contained in the translated article from page 

 484 to 490. When I -shall have seen all that you 

 may have publishi'd on this subject in your Regis- 

 ter, should I find that I still possess some facts in 

 stoie, worth republishing, Ihev sliall be at your dis- 

 posal. ■■ H. P. 



siTccrossivE: crops of cocoons in tropical 



FLOIlinA. 



To Ihe Editor of tlie F.nnners' Register. 



While at Princeton, New Jersey, during the last 

 week in July 183:^, Judge Vandyke of that neigh- 

 borh.ood presented me lour strips of paper, each 

 conlaininir the eizirs of a sinsile moth. The pa- 

 pers were labelled as liillows: No. 1, white cocoon 

 of two-crop worm. 2nd, sulphur colored cocoon, 

 or old Connecticut, 3rd, hybrid of male No. 1, and 

 female No. 2. 4ih, hybrid of female No. 1, and 

 male No. 2. These silk-worms' eggs I immedi- 

 alely despatched by mail to ihe postmaster at this 

 islet, but after my arrival here, on theSoih Decern- 



