AND AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 69 



The peculiar characteristics of the coraline foundation upon which the peninsula of 

 Florida has, hy a gradual and cumulative process, been raised to its present level 

 above the waters of the ocean ; the configuration of its surface and that other marked 

 geographical feature as indicated by the enormous extent of her coast line, exceeding 

 1,100 miles on the Gulf and Atlantic, indented by numerous large bays and estuaries; 

 the uniform width of the lower portion of the peninsula and comparative short dis- 

 tance separating the waters of the Gulf and Atlantic; taken in connection with the 

 successive slight ridges or table lands, generally parallel with the coast line, compre- 

 hending within their borders long reaches of savanna, prairie, and marsh, and increas- 

 ing in altitude as we proceed towards the interior or water-shed of the Kissiinmee 

 River, whose flows empties into that grand island reservoir, Lake Okeechobee we 

 have before us the necessary data upon which to develop the plan for the solution of 

 the problem of successfully draining and reclaiming this vast territory of notably rich 

 lands. 



An analysis of the soil taken from the saw-grass marsh on the border 

 of Lake Okeechobee, by the distinguished Dr. Rogers, professor of chern 

 istry in University of Pennsylvania, gives the following results : 



Organic matter (vegetable mold) 55. 00 



Silica 21.80 



Carbonate of lime 21. 50 



Iron, a trace 0. 00 



Water, not volatilized at 212 1.70 



100. 00 



As the operations now in progress promise to add an immense area, 

 comprehending no less than 18,000 square miles of the very richest and 

 most productive lands to the agricultural resources of the country, all 

 matters connected with this vast enterprise contain information of the 

 greatest importance. 



Col. Inghain Cory ell, general superintendent of the Atlantic and Gulf 

 Coast Canal and Okeechobee Land Company, furnishes the following 

 information relative to the plans and points of operation for the pro- 

 posed drainage of Okeechobee : 



W- have been at work for the past two months, under the supervision and direc- 

 tion of Capt. F. A. Hendry, in cutting a channel from the headwaters of the Caloosa- 

 hatchee to Lake Hickpochee, and have succeeded in opening one 20 feet wide, and 

 now having a depth of 3 feet. His report is that it is daily deepening, and so soon as 

 the waters lower in Okeechobee, what is now a marsh overflow will be concentrated 

 from Hickpochee in the channel as now made. It will cut very fast, and thereby en- 

 able the dredge-boat, nearly finished, at Cedar Key, on its arrival on the Caloosa- 

 hatchee, to be forced up and over the IG-foot elevation into Hickpochee. When there 

 we are 3 miles from Okeechobee, with only 2 feet elevation to overcome to get into 

 that lake, which is entirely practicable. By taking the dredge by a circuitous route, 

 throwing our excavation in our rear as we proceed, we dam up our passage en route, 

 as far as soft mud and vegetable growth will obstruct the passage of water. 



It is not our intention to open a flood on the valley of the Caloosahatchee, and we 

 will use every means to prevent it. Our objective point of operations will be on the 

 southeast end of Lake Okeechobee, where our first cuttings will commence. We are 

 now building a second dredge on Lake Tohopokaliga, which is the head of the Kis- 

 simmee River, in Orange County, at the iiewty laid-out city of Kissimmee, and a 

 short cut of 2 miles at the southwest corner of that lake into Reedy Creek will afford 



