114 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



All of this family are very prolific, and bear in eighteen 

 months from the seed, and the jelly made from them is 

 superior to the far-famed " Guava jelly" of Havana, which 

 is really marmalade. Florida guava jelly is jelly in reality, 

 and is clear as crystal, haying the appearance of crab-apple 



jelly. 



And now we come to the Indian River Region, in de- 

 scribing which Ave virtually describe also the Tampa, Man- 

 atee, and other coastwise portions of South Florida. Let 

 us take the country immediately around the Indian and 

 Halifax rivers. 



Oranges, lemons, and limes, head the list of fruits, and 

 pineapples come next; then follow bananas, guavas, and 

 other tropical and semi-tropical fruits ; cotton and sugar- 

 cane are also largely grown. 



This is pre-eminently a fruit-raising section ; garden veg- 

 etables and several field crops are successfully raised, but 

 they are only auxiliaries ; there is more profit in fruit cul- 

 ture. 



The climate is delightful ; breezes from the neighboring 

 ocean temper the summer heat and, as a rule, drive away 

 the frosts of winter ; the water fronts are often high banks 

 with clear sandy beaches. Fish, oysters, turtle, waterfowl, 

 deer, and other game, are to be had in profusion ; mosqui- 

 toes are no more troublesome than in many places in the 

 North, in some localities they are almost unknown, while 

 in others they are "almost unendurable" during the sum- 

 mer season. 



A very few homesteads, beautifully located, are still open 

 to the settler ; but many of the fortunate first-comers are 

 dividing up their lands into lots for sale, both hammock 

 and pine lands. 



The country is very healthy, and full of great possibili- 

 ties for the future ; and now that the great iron horse has 



