MARCH 15, 1914 



An exception to the rule of the city and 

 the garden driving- out the bees is the mam- 

 moth orange and grapefruit groves. It is 

 in these that the hand of man has developed 

 an important and increasing source of nec- 

 tar supply. These groves and the unculti- 

 vated areas of palmetto furnish a blend of 

 a beautiful light-colored fine-flavored hon- 

 ey. There is scarcely any thing better for 

 (able honey, north or south, than a palmetto 

 honey with the flavor and aroma of the 

 orange-blossom. The time will come when 

 there will be a distinct demand for it, just 

 as there is a demand for Florida oranges 

 and grapefruit. 



ORANGE HONEY. 



This is coming more and more to be a 

 staple article of commerce, not only in 

 small but in car lots. One who has not seen 

 the mammoth groves of citrus fruits in 

 California and Florida can not form any 

 conception of their vast areas, covering 

 square mile after square mile of territory. 

 While the groves in Florida are smaller 

 tliey are more numerous and more scattered 

 tlian in California. From the latter State 

 orange honey is being shipped east by the 

 many carloads, as the large honey-buyers 

 will testify. In Florida an orange honey is 

 more apt to have a blend of some otlier 

 source like palmetto; but it should not be 

 understood that no pure orange is produced 

 in Florida. The larger and more numerous 

 the groves, the purer will be the honey, 

 especially if the territory adjoining is 

 under cultivation, as is the case in many 

 sections of the State. 



FLORIDA LAND^ GOOD AND BAD. 



As a rule the character of the soil varies 

 so much that some areas will be productive 

 while that immediately next to it is too 

 poor to produce any thing but scrub pal- 

 metto. For instance, here will be a fine 

 piece of hammock land that will gi'ow any 

 thing from celery to oranges. Right next 

 to it will be an area of white sand with no 

 hardpan beneath. On the former, one can 

 get good returns from his investment. On 

 the latter, he can get no returns, and he will 

 be a sadder and a madder man — mad enough 

 to kick the real-estate agent who sold him, 

 clear into the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 where he can not " catch another sucker." 

 Some " sti'ike it rich;" but many poor suck- 

 ers are left stranded without a penny to get 

 back. 



Speaking about real-estate agents, there 

 are plenty of them all through Florida. In 

 some places they are literally thicker than 

 bees. It is actually true that the countrv' 

 could afford to have " more bees " and less 



of some of these sleek, oily-tongued chaps. 

 A tourist seeing the numerous signs of real- 

 estate agents in St. Petersburg very inno- 

 cently asked a Florida cracker how many 

 there were in the city. " As many as there 

 are inhabitants," was the instant response. 

 While this is a slightly exaggerated state- 

 ment, the craze to buy and sell land per- 

 meates a large part of the population. In 

 many instances the land has doubled and 

 tripled in value in the space of two or three 

 years. Such sudden wealth has developed 

 an unhealthy mania to " get rich quick " 

 that is more or less pronounced — a condi- 

 tion that is certain to bring disaster sooner 

 or later. 



We see precisely the same thing in Okla- 

 homa, in California, in New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, and Oregon. There are honest real- 

 estate men in Florida as everywhere else. 

 There are men there who are proud of the 

 business they have done for their clients. 



THE FOUNTAIN OF ETERNAL YOUTH. 



There are numerous chances to buy good 

 land at right prices, and there are thou- 

 sands who have found home and health in 

 the State. It is literally true that many 

 Math failing health, or who could not stand 

 the Northern winters, have found a new 

 lease of life in Florida. Not a small part 

 of the population were forced to come south 

 or die. One man in the last stages of 

 Bright 's disease came to Manatee as a last 

 resort. He was directed to eat plentifully 

 of grapefruit, drink from the Manatee 

 spring, and live outdoors. He is to-day a 

 well and rugged man, the manager and 

 owner of a large truck-farm. He certainly 

 looks as if he had found " the fountain of 

 eternal youth " that the Spaniard of old 

 sought and did not find. While we don't 

 believe much in the curative value of spring 

 waters in Florida or anywhere else, we do 

 believe that the Florida outdoor air has 

 performed miracles in restoring health. To 

 see and talk Avith those that have been cured 

 is to believe. 



WILL THE BOOM IN FLORIDA LAST? 



Many believe that there is bound to be a 

 slump in the present exaggerated value of 

 lands in the State; that such boom times 

 can't last ; that there will come a time when 

 the " get-rich-quick " mania will exhaust 

 itself; that in the mean time thousands who 

 have " invested " will lose their hard earn- 

 ings. While this is bound to be so in some 

 places, and to some extent in all places in 

 the State, it is to be hoped that it will not 

 be true generally. As long as there are 

 thousands and thousands of sick and over- 

 worked people in the North needing a rest 

 and a warm climate during midwinter, there 



