340 PRACTICAL ARBORICULTURE 



THE EVERGLADES OF FLORIDA FOR FORESTS. 



Dating from the Seminole Indian war of 1812-16, and the acquisition of 

 Florida in 1820, the entire southern portion of Florida has been looked upon by 

 the American people as an impenetrable swamp, unfit for human habitation ami 

 valueless for any purpose of man. 



Various exploring expeditions have, with great difficulty, penetrated portions 

 of the Everglades, and some extensive drainage operations have been undertaken. 

 notably the Diston canal from Lake Okeechobee westward, and the East Coast 

 canal near Fort Pierce, and much has thus been learned of these extensive 

 marshes. Sufficient for us to know that they are capable of being drained : that 

 they are free from malaria and healthful : that the soil is remarkably fertile, 

 suited for the culture of sugar cane. rice, corn, hay, early garden vegetables, pine- 

 apples, citrus fruits and numerous forest trees. 



COMPARISON WITH THE WEST. 



Half a century ago the plains country west of Missouri, aggregating a million 

 square miles, was considered as the great American Desert, part of this being 

 platted by geographers as such, and described by travelers as a region unfit for 

 cultivation. Yet within this vast expanse of supposed desert have been created 

 ten magnificent states and three territories, the homes of millions of happy 

 citizens. And before another fifty years shall have passed, the everglades and 

 surrounding swampy lands will .have become the garden spot of the south, and 

 have a population far greater than the entire state of Florida now contains. 



With the rapidly increasing population of the United States, the available 

 lands having passed out of control of the Nation, there must of necessity arise 

 a greatly increased demand for lands suitable for cultivation, and especially such 

 intensive culture as this grade of soil will admit of, and when after drainage it 

 shall attain proper conditions, it will become the home of a multitude of people. 



EXTENT. 



The everglades extend from Lake Okeechobee southward, practically to the 

 south end of the Floridian peninsula, one hundred and twenty miles. A 

 distinction is made by separating the great swamps partially surrounding the 

 everglades proper, especially the Mangrove swamp on the south, and the big 

 Cypress swamp on the west, extending to the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the large 

 areas on the east, which have been surveyed and platted, yet all these require 



