124 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



of the grand old oaks should be left standing to flourish as 

 of old, before civilization had dreamed of intruding upon 

 their time-honored domains ; the growing orange trees will 

 need the protecting shelter of their wide-spreading arms as 

 a shield from high Avinds, the too great mid-day heat, and 

 from possible frosts. Very few realize the importance of 

 this subject ; we shall have more to say about it hereafter, 

 in its proper place. 



Two or three years ago pine lands could be bought in set- 

 tled localities at from five to ten dollars an acre ; now, they 

 are held at twenty to one hundred in the same places and 

 for the same lands. 



There is an important point that should be borne in mind 

 by every settler coming to this State, and that is, how he 

 is to get his fruits and other crops to market, and where he 

 is to buy the provisions necessary for his family. 



These are questions that can not be too carefully consid- 

 ered, for of what use would the best lands and heaviest 

 crops be to their owner, if he were compelled to let fruit 

 and vegetables rot on the ground because there was no way 

 of transporting them to a profitable market ? 



Or where would be the comfort of a home if every pound 

 of cofiee, tea, sugar, and the host of other things indis- 

 joensable to the well-being of a civilized family, were only 

 to be had by hauling them by horse power over rough 

 sandy lands for many weary miles ? 



And so, if good lands, inaccessible to transportation lines, 

 either in the present or in the near future, should be offered 

 to an incoming stranger at five dollars an acre, we would 

 say to him : ' ' Refuse the offer, rather buy less land at 

 quadruple the price, where the markets for your produce 

 may be easily reached, where the necessities of life are at 

 hand, and where you can obtain farming tools and fertiliz- 

 ers without ruinous freightage." 



