Indian Family in Canoes on Miami River 



afforded the 200,000 tourists who come 

 there every year. In the Landes a 

 man could buy a farm for a few francs, 

 but it required over two acres to sup- 

 port one sheep. In less than a century 

 the population sextupled, while that of 

 a large part of the rest of the country 

 either remained stationary or decreased. 

 The fecundity of the French in places 

 where there is plenty of room and 

 opportunity is proverbial, as in Canada ; 

 it is even so in the Landes, which, on 

 being reclaimed, was equivalent to a 

 new province or colony. 



All along the east coast of Florida 

 there are dunes of snow-white sand 

 covered with scrub pines and palmet- 

 toes. This fine, white, silicious sand, 

 although naturally sterile, is excellent 

 for the growth of pineapples in re- 

 gions where there is sufficient warmth. 

 Mile after mile of this sand along the 

 line of the railroad between the Ever- 

 glades and the sea is used in the culti- 

 vation of pineapples, which are fed a 

 balanced ration of fertilizer, just as 

 cows are fed a balanced ration of feed 

 for the production of high-grade milk. 



This great Everglades basin, extend- 



ing from Lake Okeechobee to Miami 

 and westward to the Gulf of Mexico, 

 contains 3,000,000 acres, more or less. 

 The whole cultivated area of the state 

 of Florida is estimated at only about a 

 million acres. The Everglades are 

 larger than Porto Rico or Jamaica and 

 as big as Rhode Island and Delaware 

 combined. This great area is mainly 

 confined by dunes of sand and ridges 

 of limestone rock. These ridges, like 

 fingers, project into the Everglades and 

 are usually covered with pine. Between 

 these ridges are small glades on the 

 edge of the main or "big glade." The 

 accepted definition of a glade is a nar- 

 row strip of grassy land between for- 

 ests. Glade refers to a grassy area.- 

 The big glade is all or "ever" glade. In 

 this way. no doubt, the term Everglade 

 originated. Here and there in the 

 Everglades are islands covered with 

 rich jungle or hammock hardwood 

 growth. ( )n these islands the Semi- 

 noles cleared small areas, where they 

 raise their crops. 



We visited the Everglades from Fort 

 Lauderdale. It was after a long pe- 

 riod of heavy rains, and the mosquitoes 



457 



