1883 



GLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



317 



fruits have a national reputation. For three sum- 

 mers the present writer has shipped these delicious 

 pine-apples to Providence, R. I., and the result is, 

 the more they have the more they want. 



But Indian River is not a river at all, but an arm 

 of the sea; a rather long arm, to be sure, but an arm 

 nevertheless. One correspondent asked if it emptied 

 into the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. 

 Much of the time it does not empty anywhere, for 

 the evaporation from its surface more than ex- 

 hausts the inflow from the land, and the excess of 

 evaporation has to be counterbalanced by an inflow 

 from the Atlantic through its two inlets — Indian- 

 River Inlet and .Jupiter Inlet. On most maps, Jupi- 

 ter is marked "closed," but it is open now, and has 

 been for the last five years. In round numbers, 

 Indian River is 140 miles long. One hundred miles 

 fi'om its northern extremity is Indian-River Inlet; 

 and 40 miles further south, and near its southern 

 extremity, is Jupiter Inlet, in latitude 3C° 50'. 

 Twelve miles below Jupiter is Lake-Worth Inlet, 

 which is the entrance to Lake "Worth. But Lake 

 Worth is not connected with Indian River. Near 

 the inlets the river rises and falls with the ebb and 

 How of the tide; but this tidal influence is not felt at 

 all in its northern half, where the water moves 

 only in obedience to the wind. Oysters of the finest 

 quality abound in the tidal regions, and the finest 

 fish throughout its whole length. Nearly the whole 

 of Indian River is in Brevard County, only a small 

 part being in Dade. A little north of the 28th paral- 

 lel the river widens and divides into the East and 

 West Channels. In this widening, Merritfs Island is 

 located; and on this is our "Island Home." Of the 

 two channels, the east one is called Banana River, 

 and the west one Indian River. The island is about 

 35 miles long and " wide at its widest place. At this 

 point, Indian River west of us is IJi miles wide, and 

 Banana River on the east is about IM miles wide. 

 Through its entire length, Indian River is nearly 

 parallel to the ocean beach, and separated from the 

 ocean by a strip of land whose general width is from 

 ig to l'/2 miles wide; but at Cape Canaveral it widens 

 out to five miles. The trend of the coast in this 

 vicinity is N. N. W., and S. S. E. ; and off the cape 

 the Gulf Stream is about 15 miles distant, while at 

 Jupiter it is only about a mile from the coast. There 

 are two small steamers on our river, with the expec- 

 tation that we shall have a larger one. Sail boats 

 are abundant, and we often see the white wings of 

 ten or more at a single view. The river is our high- 

 way, the sail boat our carriage, and the winds our 

 roadsters. 



In the multitude of inquiries about Florida that I 

 have received, there is both great diversity and 

 great uniformity. The diversity has appeared in a 

 multitudinous list of subjects. I have answered as 

 many as 40 questions in a single letter. But nearly 

 all inquire about 



HEALTH, 



the soil, and the price of land. This is as it should 

 be. Health is of the first importance in the selec- 

 tion of a home. Many a man — or, rather, brute — 

 should have the brand of " murderer " upon his fore- 

 head for taking his family into a sickly region be- 

 cause he thought he could make more money there 

 than elsewhere. And yet many reach the same end 

 through carelessness that others have done through 

 greed of gain. As I understand them, the facts of 

 the case can be stated in a single sentence. Florida, 

 in point of health, will compare favorably with any 



other State in the Union; and this eastern coast, 

 from St. Augustine to Biscayne Bay, will compare 

 favorably with the most healthful places in the 

 world. St. Augustine, for more than 100 years, has 

 had such a reputation. Before coming here I had 

 lived in ten diffei-ent States, and have now spent 

 seven summers and eight winters here, so that, with 

 a fair stock of common sense, I ought to be able to 

 speak understandingly. 



Like other States, Florida has localities where 

 sickness at times more or less prevails; but this 

 coast region is remarkably exempt from every 

 thing of the kind. This is also largely true of the 

 Atlantic coast as far north as the trade-winds ex- 

 tend. Within a short time three physicians have 

 been here looking for places for summer homes. 

 They all said that this Indian-River country is un- 

 questionably the most healthful part of Florida. 

 Two of them have places near DeLand, in Volusia 

 Co.; the other one has a valuable grove near Ocala, 

 in Marion County. 



There are several climatic conditions upon which 

 this healthfulness depends. 1. Pure air. Much of 

 the year we have easterly winds. These have no 

 malaria in their breath. They come pure from the 

 ocean, with no malarial region intervening. As 

 these winds pass over the State toward the west 

 coast, especially during the hot months, each suc- 

 ceeding mile contributes its quota of noxious va- 

 pors; but there are local modifying influences that 

 make the central and western parts of the State 

 comparatively heathful also. The principal of these 

 is, our rainy season is during the hot months. The 

 rain comes in brief showers, with bright clear 

 weather between. Newly fallen water is not ma- 

 larious. These frequent showers purify the air, and 

 raise the water in lakes and streams, thus covering 

 the muddy margins with newly fallen water, and 

 thereby reducing the malarial emanations to their 

 minimum. And this is the secret of the extreme 

 healthfulness of Florida as compared with many 

 sub-tropical regions. 



3. An even temperature is another healthful ele- 

 ment in our climatic conditions. Our usual ther- 

 mal range is from 40° to 90°; our extreme range 

 from '10 to 95. The extreme range of Riverside, in 

 Southern California, is from 23 to 110°, and that of 

 Sacramento, Cal., from 20 to 112°. It may be object- 

 ed, that our climate is monotonous. I answer, such 

 monotony is both enjoyable and healthful. I know 

 what diversity is, as I have endured all the grada- 

 tions of cold, from freezing to 79° below, and the 

 gradations of heat, from freezing to 141?° above, 

 making a total range of 234 degrees. Our even tem- 

 perature results from two causes. 1. Remoteness 

 from snow-covered mountain-peaks. 3. Nearness to 

 large bodies of water of a high winter and low sum- 

 mer temperature. The Gulf Stream, just at our 

 elbow on the east, is a great thermal equalizer. 

 There is but a slight variation between its summer 

 and winter temperature; hence the wind from the 

 ocean is but a little warmer in the summer than in 

 winter. East and N. E. winds have always had a 

 bad reputation; but in South Florida they are well- 

 behaved and respectable; even our N. E. storms are 

 never cold, for they come down the Gulf Stream a 

 thousand miles or more. 



Some writers tell us of an inshore polar current 

 passing down the coast between the Gulf Stream 

 and the land; but all such statements are entirely 

 false; no such current exists south of Cape Cod. 



