AND AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 35 



Eiver, and has an area of over 1,300 square miles. The general charac- 

 teristics of Sumter are the same as Orange, Polk, Hernando, and Marion 

 Counties, by which it is surrounded. The Ocklawaha Eiver connects 

 the waters of Lakes Griffin, Harris, and Eustis. in the northeastern por- 

 tion of the county, with the Saint John's; and Lake Pansofka, on the 

 west, connects with the Gulf through the Withlacoochie. A chain of 

 lakes in the southeastern portion of the county connects with Lake 

 Harris through the Pilaklikaha Creek. On the east of these lakes a 

 high rolling pine woods country extends for miles; on the west are fine 

 hammock lands and grass lands for stock. The lands in the northern 

 and western portion of the count5 r also are exceptionally good, and 

 orange-growing is the prevailing interest. The acres planted in orange 

 groves are numbered by the hundreds, and the bearing trees by the 

 tens of thousands. Xo county in the State is better adapted to fruit- 

 growing, while stock-raising and the agricultural staples of the South 

 afford a sure reliance for the profitable investment of labor and capital. 

 Leesburg, located at the head of Lake Griffin and between that and 

 Lake Harris, is the county seat. The Ocklawaha Eiver is navigable for 

 small steamers, and a railway extends from Lake Eustis to Astor, on the 

 Saint John's Eiver. 



The Tropical Eailway connects with Fernandina, and the Florida 

 Southern with Gainesville and Palat ka. Both are in process of construc- 

 tion south, with the view of completion to Tampa Bay and Charlotte 

 Harbor. 



VOLUSIA COUNTY, 



Bounded north by Saint John's County and the Atlantic Ocean, east 

 by the Atlantic, south by Brevard and Orange, and west by Orange 

 County, from which it is separated by the Saint John's Eiver. It con- 

 tains about 1,800 square miles. The Saint John's Eiver runs the entire 

 length of its western border, and the Halifax and Hillsborough Eivers, 

 or lagoons, traverse the entire eastern boundary, with only a narrow 

 .strip of laud, formed by the winds and waves of the ocean, extending 

 between them and the ocean. It is one of the most progressive and 

 thriving counties in the State. The lands along the west bank of the 

 Halifax and Hillsborough Eivers, four or five miles wide, are the richest 

 hammocks, and were cultivated in sugar cane at a very early period by 

 the English and Spaniards, the remains of whose extensive works still 

 exist. It is said that four hogsheads of sugar per acre have been and 

 can be still produced on these lands. West of this is a belt of prairie, 

 interspersed with pine and cabbage palmetto, extending the entire 

 length of the county, and affording magnificent grazing for stock. Next, 

 further west, extending from the northern end of the county south about 

 30 miles, and varying in width from 2 to 6 or 7 miles, is a high rolling 

 pine country, considered by many the best for orange culture, on which 

 are hundreds of beautiful young groves; from this southward is a high 

 rolling pine scrub, until the Saint John's is reached with its varying 



