94 FLORIDA: ITS CLIMATE, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, 



sudden and severe, ice being frequently formed near the mouth, of the 

 river, immediately followed by very hot weather. The annual farm pro- 

 ductions are valued at ; about .$50,000, consisting principally of cattle, milk,, 

 butter, swine, poultry, rice, cotton, potatoes, and molasses. The means 

 of transportation in this county are ample, both by rail and by water, 

 the rates here, as elsewhere in this State, averaging about five cents per 

 mile by rail, and three cents per mile by steamer. Jacksonville, with 

 its numerous hotels, furnishes a good market for garden farmers. Land 

 in the city commands very high prices, building lots being frequently 

 sold at the rate of several thousands of dollars per acre. Skilled farm- 

 ers, with the aid of fertilizers, can do well in some parts of this county, 



CLAY COUNTY. 



With an area of 425 square miles, Clay County has about 4,000 acres 

 of laud under cultivation, and raises farm productions to the value of 

 about $64,000 yearly, including some cotton and sugar. There are 

 several fine lakes in this county, containing many excellent food-fish ; 

 but lands must be selected here with great care to avoid malarious 

 districts, and it should not be recommended for raising fruit of the Citrus 

 family, though many trees are being set out near Green Cove Springs, 

 the county seat, which may succeed in sheltered places protected by 

 heavily-timbered pine lauds. There is considerable yellow-pine timber 

 in this region, with some rich hammock lands, well adapted to the pro- 

 duction of the ordinary farm crops. No railroad is found in the county, 

 and it has but a small population, with no large towns. There are several 

 hotels at the county seat, but those afflicted with pulmonary or bron- 

 chial difficulties should go farther back among the pines, away from the 

 chilling, damp night air of the Saint John's. 



SAINT JOHN'S COUNTY. 



This county contains 970 square miles, and has but about 3,000 acres 

 under cultivation, owing to the fact that it is mostly a " flat pine-woods 

 and palmetto-scrub country,' 7 with but little rich hammock laud. Its 

 location, however, between the Saint John's Kiver and the Atlantic 

 renders it more exempt from frost and better adapted to fruit culture 

 than more interior counties in the same latitude. Colonel Hart's famous 

 orange groves are located in this county, opposite Palatka, and demon- 

 strate the fact that with skillful cultivation and the aid of fertilizers 

 excellent oranges can be raised here. The farm productions amount to 

 over $90,000 per annum, including considerable rice, sugar, cotton, po- 

 tatoes, and corn. Here skilled labor, backed by energy and sufficient 

 ready money to tide the settler over for a few years, will in due time reap its' 

 reward ; but the impecunious and the ignorant will find no bonanza in 

 Florida. This county has but one railroad, that connecting Saint Au- 

 gustine with the Saint John's at Tocoi, fourteen miles in length, over 

 which the fare is $2. 



