4 FLORIDA : ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, 



nect with navigable streams, and all can be easily connected by short 

 canals or railroads with each other and the great arteries of water lead- 

 ing to the sea and Gulf. The interior lakes of Florida, large and small, 

 is one of its remarkable features. The largest of these is Lake Okee- 

 chobee, situated in the middle of the table-lands of the peninsula, and 

 contains an area of 1,000 square miles, without visible outlet to the sea. 



The soil in the greater portion of the State is sandy, except in thu 

 hill lands and hammocks, where large portions of clay and alluvium are 

 found. The sand is notthe sharp, siliceous sand of the ocean, or resem- 

 bling the sandy lands of other States; this soil has more or less of loam 

 and a large percentage of lime and organic remains, giving it much fer- 

 tility. The country is well watered, not only by its larger and smaller 

 rivers and lakes, but by innumerable creeks and springs. Springs of 

 great volume are found in every portion of the State, some'of such mag- 

 nitude that they form navigable rivers from their source ; of such are 

 the Blue Springs, in Jackson County, in the west; AVakulla Springs, in 

 Wakulla County; Blue Springs, in Hernando County, in the middle; 

 Silver Springs, in Marion County, in the east; the very large Blue 

 Spring on the Saint John's, in Volusia County ; the Green Cove Springs, 

 in Clay County, on the shore of the Saint John's; also Clay Spring, in 

 Orange County. Some of these are medicinal white sulphur, iron, c. 

 Good water, so universally desired, is found easily at a depth of from 

 eight to fifty feet, according to locality, generally from twelve to twenty 

 feet, but, through the country, the many lakes, and springs, and branches 

 afford ample supply for house and farm purposes. If cistern water is 

 preferred, the average rainfall, being fro in forty-eight to fifty-four inches 

 annually, insures a supply. The distribution of rivers, creeks, lakes, 

 and springs is not only large, but remarkably uniform throughout the 

 State. Pine lands (pitch and yellow pine) forui the basis of Florida. 

 These lauds are usually divided into three classes, denoting first, second,, 

 and third rate pine lands. 



That which is denominated "first-rate pine land" in Florida ha& 

 nothing similar to it in any of the other States. Its surface is covered 

 for several inches deep with a dark vegetable mold, beneath which, to 

 the depth of several feet, is a chocolate-colored sandy loam, mixed for 

 the most part with limestone pebbles, and resting upon a substratum of 

 marl, clay, or limestone rock. The fertility and durability of this descrip- 

 tion of land may be estimated from the well-known fact that it has in 

 several districts yielded during fourteen years of successive cultivation? 

 without the aid of manure, four hundred pounds of Sea Island cotton 

 to the acre. These lands are still as productive as ever ; so that the 

 limit of their durability is yet unknown. The " second-rate pine " lands, 

 which form the largest proportion of Florida, are all productive. These 

 lands afford fine natural pasturage ; they are heavily timbered with the 

 best species of pitch and yellow pine. They are for the most part high, 

 rolling, healthy, and well watered. They are generally based upon 



