A Horticulturist in Florida. 265 



poor. In the main, however, Florida pine-land may be set down as mod- 

 erately fertile, producing, with a little manure, fair crops of corn, cotton, 

 and sweet-potatoes. It is generally sandy, and, to one not acquainted with 

 our soils, has a very unprepossessing appearance. It has generally a sparse 

 growth of long-leaved pine {Finus palustris) \ and the ground is covered 

 with a heavy crop of the wild grasses of the country, affording excellent 

 and never-failing pasturage ; this grass never being killed by winter's frost, 

 nor seared by summer's drought. 



Our swamps are alluvial, and of recent formation. They are exceedingly 

 rich, and afford very valuable land, intrinsically the most valuable in the 

 State \ but, being heavily timbered and wet, the expense of clearing and 

 draining them is considerable, and they are, therefore, in little demand. 

 When properly cleared, drained, and broken up, the productiveness of such 

 land in a climate like that of Florida is truly astonishing \ four hogsheads 

 of sugar, in one instance at least, having been made from the cane grown 

 on a single acre. 



The hummocks of Florida are szd generis. They consist of high and 

 somewhat undulating tracts of land, covered naturally with a heavy growth 

 of evergreen oaks, red bay, magnolia, hickory, and cabbage-palm, in many 

 parts interspersed with wild orange-groves. The soil is of a superior qual- 

 ity, — a rich, sandy loam, with a large admixture of fine vegetable mould, 

 resting upon a subsoil of limestone, marl, or clay. It is sometimes two 

 feet in depth, and its fertility is excelled only by that of the black mud of 

 the swamps. Flummock-land is at present in greater demand than any 

 other sort, and, for general purposes, is undoubtedly the most desirable 

 land in the State. On many hummocks are found traces of ancient settle- 

 ment. 



The remarkable adaptability of our climate, as well as the almost unlim- 

 ited capacities of our soils, is attested by our flora. 



Here, where I now write, the orange and the peach grow side by side 

 with equal luxuriance and with equally abundant fruitage. So the olive 

 and the apple, the fig and the pear, the pomegranate and the plum, the 

 guava and the strawberr}^, flourish in the same garden, each, in its season, 

 gracing our tables with its fruit. In a single enclosure may be seen the 

 Indian corn, beans, pease, Irish potatoes, beets, cabbages, and turnips of 



VOL. IV. 34 



