1883 



GLEAKIKGS IK BE:E CULTURE. 



m 



A NEW HOME IN FL.ORIDA. 



BY OUR OLD FRIEND DAMKOHLER. 



MY present place Is on Estero Creek, about 18 

 miles south of Fort Myers, and the same dls- 

 tance by water from Punta Rassa. I am sit- 

 uated on a beautiful navigable creek about from 30 

 to 100 feet wide, 12 feet deep when tidewater is in. 

 The tide rises here only two feet. This is a healthier 

 location, and not subject to overflow; free from ma- 

 laria (the only sickness in this land), and very good 

 land for oranges and fruit-trees. The land Is most- 

 ly covered by the cabbage and saw palmetto; and 

 on river or creek, by mangrove, cottonwood, and a 

 dense shrub alongside the creek, shows the richest 

 land. Live - oak, willow, persimmon, muscatine 

 grape; in fact, every bush and shrub produces here, 

 honey and flowers. Further back we have pine 

 woods, mostly pitch pine, and cypress swamps. But 

 don't think by the name of swamp we mean a nasty, 

 unhealthful place full of miasma or malaria. I tell 

 you, there is in the open streets of Medina at le.ist 

 ten times more malaria and sickness, and impuri- 

 ties in the atmosphere, than in the everglades or 

 swamps of South Florida. Send your consumptives 

 to these swamps, and in the course of two years 

 they are young men again, full of new energy, and 

 new blood and power. My selection was quick, and 

 I think a good one too. I named my apiary the 

 " Garden of Eden Apiary," on account of the many 

 cabbage-palmetto trees which stand on the same, 

 and as soon as I have more time I shall go down the 

 coast and fetch and plant the royal palm on my 

 land. I took from ray old place 100 basswood, catal- 

 pa, tulip, and sourwood trees, and the fine pussy 

 willows, and all thrive now well in the Florida sand, 

 bringing forth buds and nice foliage. I believe in 

 planting bee pasturage, even in Florida, too. The 

 ground here is covered, besides the shrubs, with 

 saw-palmetto, pennyroyal, buckberry, and flowers, 

 which I do not know, of all description?, and at all 

 seasons; 100 of the very choicest mulberries, for 

 silk-producing, which I bi'ought along, stand now in 

 the beauty of their new dress. 



VANILLA AS A HONEY-PLANT. 



A Dr. Hansen, whom I had the honor to become 

 acquainted with, and who took your address in or- 

 der to become a subscriber to Gleanings, disclosed 

 to me his secret in studying the propagation of the 

 vanilla plant, and how to make it bearing fruit. 

 This encouraged me to raise this plant, as it will 

 grow here well, and is a fine honey-plant. 



My 37 stands of bees which I brought here, some 

 in weak condition, are doing well now, and breeding 

 up well. They bring in honey of a very superior 

 flavor and smell ; but 1 did not know from what 

 plant this delicious nectar came. But the bees 

 started down river toward Estero Bay, which by bee- 

 line may be 252 miles distant. I never yet saw a bee 

 on a flower or shrub around here, except for water, 

 and when I gave them spoiled comb with honey, far 

 away from the apiary, to lick up. Last Tuesday I 

 concluded to go by boat to Punta Rassa, 16 miles 

 distant; but tide, wind, and waves often compel us 

 to be 3 or 4 days on this trip before we come home. 

 As my enterprise here Is hailed by all the few citi- 

 zens, and they have a desire to help me on to suc- 

 cess, they show a great sympathy for every thing. 

 I told them of the beautiful honey which came in 

 slowly; I asked about the different sorts of man- 

 grove, of which there are more than 10,090 acres 



about blooming, and there are many diiferent varie- 

 ties. One gentleman took me by the hand, a little 

 way from the house, to a great shrub. As we neared 

 the shrub, a beautiful aroma filled the surrounding 

 air, just as my honey smelled and tasted. Oh what 

 a wonderful shrub! for its gi-eat round leaves, I 

 did not perceive its flower, but a stem about 6 inches 

 long, covered thick with white flowers, etc. I was 

 delighted in the highest degree over such perfume, 

 so powerful, so very delightful. There must my 

 honey come from, and no other plant. I was sure 

 of it, and know it is so. This shrub is called here 

 the sea-grape, and acres of the same stand on the 

 sea-shore, near salt water. It is very easy to trans- 

 plant, and spreads itself rapidlj' and very wide, but 

 doesn't reach up the creek to my place; but by next 

 year I hope I shall have planted both shores of my 

 creek with it, as the tide water reaches up here. 

 And so I plant cocoanut-trees, and have 250 nuts or- 

 dered from Panama. The bloom of these beautiful 

 shrubs is in May here; and so is the saw-palmetto. 

 What a beautiful perfume even this great blossom 

 had, so powerful! 



No Northern man has any idea of the expression, 

 "garden of Eden," and not without a reason; but 

 the garden must be cultivated. It is in a wild 

 grandeur, beautiful through and through. I broke 

 a few blossoms of the sea-grape and took to the ho- 

 tel, and told them my story, and all exclaimed, " Oh ! 

 that smells already like sweet honey." 



But now comes a big drawback; and this is, that 

 the "cow-boys" burn up the whole woods and 

 country, to keep vegetation down, to kill snakes, 

 insects, etc., and to start the grass. This destroys 

 the fountains of the precious honey. But now, my 

 dear sir, you must not think hard or low of these 

 men by the name of cow-boys; for they are gentle- 

 men of clear water, some worth from one-fourth to 

 one-half a million of dollars; but they are men used 

 to exposure; men of learning, who found, by camp- 

 ing in the swamps, their health, and cure for broken- 

 down constitutions. They are merchants of New 

 York, and officers of the V. S. army, who, after the 

 Florida War, chose South Florida for their home; 

 and now these gentlemen, and others of influence, 

 promise me not to burn any more for some miles in 

 my neighborhood, and their word is as good as gold. 

 We have no court, no lawyer, no thief, no bad man 

 in this county. If the North had many thousand of 

 these men it would bo better for them ! I am the 

 only settler in this district. My neighbors are alli- 

 gators, snakes, mosquitos, and sand-flies. The alli- 

 gators pay me every day a visit when I go to the 

 creek, but keep at a respectful distance. The snakes 

 are quite plentiful, but not hurtful, and keep out of 

 my way. The rattlesnake and moccasin I have not 

 seen yet, and the other snakes are innocent and use- 

 ful, because they exterminate the poisonous snakes. 

 I killed to-day a yellow snake, and was afterward 

 sorry I had 'done so. When I examined her mouth 

 she had no fangs nor poison. Three to four big 

 blacksnakes play among my planted trees before 

 the bee-hives, and my children go barefooted, and 

 water the trees. I do not intend to kill them; they 

 are of great benefit to us. They are 5 to 6 ft. long. 



Now, in short, the whole vegetation seems to me 

 to breathe and produce peace, sweetness, and honey, 

 except the pitch pine and cypress, and may be both 

 of them are useful for the bees. When I drove nails 

 into a pitch pine, before my tent, a thick sap sprang 

 out and ran down the tree. "Ohihoneyl honeyl" 



