130 Motices of the Floridas, ^c. 



are a small breed, but strong and active — the catde of the 

 interior are of a good size and form. It is expected that 

 a pastoral life will be adopted by many and found prof^ 

 itable. 



The dry hammocks of Florida contain a variety of trees. 

 I noticed magnolia grandiflora, ash, hickory, black and 

 sweet gum, red and white maple, hackberry, iron wood, 

 umbrella tree, European holly, live oak, chestnut oak, red 

 and black oak, Spanish oak, post oak, gray oak, overcup 

 oak, and scarlet oak, sassafras, and cabbage tree. On 

 the dry sand hills, pine, scrub oak, black jack oak. 

 Open groves of large black oak, hickory, and yellow pine, 

 are located on hills of a good soil in various parts of the 

 rolling district of the interior j many are noticed south of 

 Alachua. 



In swamps are found cypress, red maple, swamp, white 

 and chestnut oak, white cedar, loblolly bay, red and white 

 bay, loblolly pine, water oak, and tallow-tree. 



Live oak of large size, in some instances thirty feet in 

 circumference, grows in most of the dry hammocks of the 

 interior, but of a quality inferior to that of the coast. It is 

 thinly scattered on the Ocklawaha and St. Johns, where 

 the best has been culled out. The live oak remaining on 

 the islands and Atlantic coast of Florida is small, and it is 

 the general impression in Florida that there is little of 

 this valuable timber on the western shore, but large groves 

 of it have recently been discovered by Commodore Porter 

 in the south-western part of the peninsula. 



From the hickory-nut and acorn, the Indians extract, by 

 boiling, a clear and sweet oil, much used for culinary pur- 

 poses. 



Considerable groves of the bitter sweet orange occur in 

 a wild state in Alachua, on the St. Johns, and the Atlantic 

 coast, extending on some parts of the shore twenty miles ; 

 they may be rendered valuable by ingrafting the sweet 

 orange. 



Among the shrubs of Florida are seen the running oak, 

 paraguatea, myrtle, reed cane, black-berry and whorde- 

 berry. The grape-vine grows luxuriantly in Florida: 

 some of the native varieties are excellent. Vineyards 

 might doubtless be established to advantage. A vine 

 called the china root, affords to the natives a substitute for 



