AND AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 31 



HERNANDO COUNTY. 



Bounded north by Marion and Levy; east by Sumter, being separated 

 from these counties by the Withlacoochee River; south by Hillsborough 

 County; and west by the Gulf of Mexico. Its area, over 1,600 square 

 miles, fronts on the Gulf 60 miles, extending from the mouth of the 

 Withlacoochee south to Anclote River, embracing Crystal, Homosassa, 

 Cheseehowiska, Wekiwachie, Pithlochascotee, and Anclote Rivers,which 

 vessels of ordinary draft can enter. 



No county in the State has a more varied topography, or greater ad- 

 vantages for the successful prosecution of agricultural and horticultural 

 pursuits, or is so attractive for a residence. 



Lands high and rolling, like the red hills of Northern Georgia; high, 

 smooth tracts of pine lands ; extensive hammocks of the richest soil ; fre- 

 quent marl beds; limestone; large springs of the purest water; lakes and 

 rivers abounding in fish ; a long coast with frequent harbors ; the bays 

 and Gulf always afford fish, oysters, and sponge; a climate and soil 

 adapted to cultivation of cotton, cane, rice, tobacco, corn, oats, grass, 

 and vegetables, having peculiar advantages for growing the olive, the 

 different varieties of the citrus, the pine-apple, guava, banana, and all 

 the semi-tropical fruits. Transportation is year by year becoming more 

 rapid and cheap, and access to and from markets easier. Immigration, 

 enterprise, and industry will make it one of the most prosperous and 

 desirable portions of the South. The county seat is Brooksville. ' 



LEVY COUNTY. 



Bounded north by Alachua, east by Marion, south by Hernando and 

 the Gulf of Mexico, and west by the Gulf and La Fayette County, from 

 which the Suwannee River separates it. It has an area of over 1,000 

 square miles. The surface is generally level, being mostly flat pine wood 

 land. The Gulf hammock, a tract of land of great fertility, of some 

 100,000 acres, capable of producing sugar cane equal to Louisana bot- 

 toms, occupies the southern portion of the county. The Suwannee 

 River enters the Gulf on the western boundary, the Withlacoochee on 

 the southern, with the Wacasassa about midway between. The Atlan- 

 tic, Gulf and West India Transit Railroad runs from northeast to south- 

 west through the county, near its center, and intersects the Gulf at the 

 harbor of Cedar Keys, where vessels find entrance, and freight and pas- 

 sengers are transferred from the Gulf steamers to the railroad, thus 

 affording enlarged facilities for direct communication with the markets 

 of the North and the ports of the Gulf. The county possesses peculiar 

 advantages for the production of sugar cane and rice, besides the ordi- 

 nary products of long-staple cotton, vegetables, semi-tropical fruits ; and 

 stock-growing forms a sure reliance for revenue. The waters on the 

 coast abound in fish, oysters, and turtle, which are largely gathered for 

 export to the interior. 



