196 HOME LIFE IN FLORIDA. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



HOME SUPPLIES. 



We have now discussed the provisional question from 

 the purchaser's point of view ; but there yet remain other 

 points of outlook to examine, not less important than the 

 first, and to many of even more vital significance. Those 

 who have means to purchase are in a measure independ- 

 ent ; but the number is not small, of those who come to 

 seek a home in Florida, who need to husband every dollar 

 for necessary work, and to look at home as far as possible 

 for food supplies. 



There are many ways by which a thrifty, energetic set- 

 tler can help to fill the larder without the expenditure of 

 a single dollar, save, perhaps, as "invested capital," such 

 as shot-guns, traps, and fishing-tackle, which draw a high 

 rate of interest in the shape of game and fish. Besides 

 these resources, there are the cows, chickens, vegetable 

 garden, and fruits, both wild and cultivated. 



Let us look into the game division of our subject first, 

 and see what can be found for bullet, hook, and noose to 

 capture for the family table, " without money and without 

 price." Probably there is no country in the world where 

 fish, flesh, and fowl, in the wild state, are more plentiful 

 than they are in Florida all the year round. 



All the year round, we repeat, and with emphasis, for 

 it is no small item with the settler who wishes to depend 

 in a great measure on the fruits of his gun and rod for 

 his family provisions, that there is no time of the year 

 when he is cut off" from these important supplies. True, 

 there are some seasons of the year when game is more 

 abundant than at others ; but there is never a time when 



