72 FLORIDA : ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, 



throughout the entire year the most equable and salubrious enjoyed by any State in 

 the Union. The soil is generally sandy, with an admixture of disintegrated coral and 

 s hell with alluvial and organic matter, capable of supporting successive crops with- 

 out the aid of manure. 



Large bodies of high and low hammock lauds of palmetto, oak, bay, hickory, &c., 

 extend along the shores, adjacent to which, on the west shore, are tracts of high 

 open pine lands, bordered by prairie, savanna, and marsh. Experience demonstrates 

 that the soil is'not affected by drought in the same degree as other lands, nor does it 

 suffer from too much rain, and, being exceedingly friable, requires no other prepara- 

 tion than grubbing and plowing to adapt it at once for the production of crops cov- 

 ering the widest scope, embracing tropical and semi-tropical fruits and fibrous plants 

 in great variety, and maturing to that degree of perfection developed at no other 

 point within the bounds of the United States. 



The topographical features of the country will permit of a general alignment for 

 the canal on the most direct route connecting the several rivers and navigable streams 

 above alluded to. The method of performing the major part of the excavation will 

 be by labor-saving appliances especially designed for this work, combining great 

 efficiency with ease of manipulation and economy in power. 



It will be impossible to form or convey an adequate idea of the importance and 

 extent of this enterprise, developing, as a consequence, a new and A r ast territory, 

 unlimited in resources, and of such material and varied agricultural wealth as can be 

 furnished by no other State in the Union ; opening to cultivation a tract of sugar 

 lands, the soil of which is identical to that of Cuba and Louisiana, of a productive 

 power apparently inexhaustible and uuequaled in area by any country on the globe. 

 The prominent natural requisites to. the growth and maturity of the sugar cane under 

 the most favorable conditions obtain here in a marked degree. 



In view of the natural advantages generally cited, experience and statistics guar- 

 antee that continued health may be anticipated with as much confidence as in any 

 other section of the country ; lands, cheap and readily accessible, easy of tillage, from 

 the fact that, owing to the friable character of the soil, cultivation is neither laborious 

 nor expensive ; the harvesting of crops covering the widest scope, embracing nearly 

 all of the grains, fruits, and vegetables of the Northern, Middle, and Southern States ; 

 besides tropical and semi-tropical fruits and fibrous plants in great variety, and ma- 

 turing to that degree of perfection developed at no other point within the bounds of 

 the United States, or indeed anywhere north of Central America it is fair to assume 

 that immediately subsequent to its completion the unoccupied lands bordering the 

 canal will be entered upon by those experienced in agriculture ; capitalists, mer- 

 chants, speculators, and all of the elements that enter into the thrift and prosperity 

 of a new country will settle among its borders, forming the nucleus of future thriv- 

 ing villages, communities, and cities, constituting the pioneers of that great and in- 

 evitable people destined to populate and harvest from the rich prairie, savanna, and 

 upland of the interior bountiful and staple crops, for the production of which nature 

 for past cycles has been preparing the soil by the enriching process of growth and 

 decay of a luxuriant vegetation. 



As the cultivation of sugar will probably be the largest and most im- 

 portant industry of this region, it may not be amiss to insert a valuable 

 article upon that subject from the pen of the well-known Dr. 0. J. Ken- 

 worthy, of Jackson ville, from whose writings copious extracts have been 

 previously taken : 



The list of Florida productions is a long one, embracing nearly all the cereals, fruits, 

 and vegetables of the Middle, Northern, and Southern States, as well as the fruits, 

 vegetables, and medicinal and fibrous plants of semi-tropical and tropical countries. 

 Since the settlement of the State the inhabitants have confined themselves to the cul- 



