WHAT FLORIDA OFFERS. 21 



possibilities of our infant State no one now living dares 

 fix their limit, for the simple reason (by way of illustra- 

 tion) that no one dare say that Edison, the great elec- 

 trician, can proceed no further than his last wonderful 

 invention, that of telegraphing to and from a railroad 

 tram gomg at full speed. Year by year, month by month, 

 as the tide of immigration and travel flows across the bor- 

 der m a steadily augmenting stream, some new resource 

 some new indication of Florida's future greatness is discov- 

 ered ii.ven her most despised productions develop into 

 iresh resources of wealth and channels of industry. Wit- 

 ness, in passing, the much condemned scrub or saw pal- 

 metto, found here, there, every where. Its fiber proves 

 to be very valuable for manufacturing brushes and brooms 

 and various other things, while its sturdy roots are found 

 to be richer in tannin than the much-vaunted oak, and 

 hence invaluable in tanning leather. Ground fine or 

 burned, it is also a valuable fertilizer. The long gray 

 moss which drapes the, hammock trees is coming into exten- 

 sive use for mattresses and upholstery; and so we might go 

 on swelling our list indefinitely. Tobacco factories are 

 already in operation at several points, ice factories are nu- 

 merous, the manufacture of textile fibers has commenced, 

 fruit and vegetable canneries are springing into being, cot- 

 ton mills coming to the fore, cattle ranches are close at 

 hand. 



^ But it is not the purpose of this present work to enter 

 m detail into the various methods that Florida ofl^ers of 

 winning home and competence to- the industrious and 

 mtelhgent toilers of the world. Enough that we have 

 indicated the roads that lie open to the -Home Life in 

 Florida" and its possibilities. As to the means that shall 

 support that home, it is for the settler to choose according 

 to his means or inclination. Our sole object is to show 



