Remarks upon East Florida. 57 



but only partially injured the orange. There were trees standing 

 in 1835, more than a century old. 



This calamitous event, besides destroying one of the principal 

 sources of revenue of St. Augustine, divested the place of its 

 chief ornament. Each lot became, as it were, denuded of its 

 drapery, which had been thrown over every building, high and 

 low, giving them all a borrowed beauty. A person who was ab- 

 sent at the time of the frost, in revisiting the place, could scarcely 

 recognize the most familiar scenes, their aspect was so entirely 

 changed. It takes about seven years to renew the orange tree 

 to a bearing state. 



Cotton and sugar grow well in Florida, but silk will probably 

 be the staple of the country after a few years. The mulberry 

 tree, multicaulis, &c., grow there with a vigor and luxuriance 

 that have no parallel in the United States. More than eight 

 months in the year afford a fullness of food for the worms. 



The soil of Florida wears a forbidding aspect. Sandy barrens 

 form the principal part of the surface. Hammock land, that 

 which bears the oak, maple, and other " hard woods," and which 

 are the richer and more productive parts, constitutes but a small 

 proportion. But the sands of Florida are but in part siliceous. 

 They are probably for the most part comminuted shells or lime- 

 stone. Hence they have a degree of fertility which often sur- 

 prises those who undertake their cultivation. The surface, 

 however, is so level, that it is liable to the extremes of drought 

 and inundation. In riding from the St. John's to St.~ Augustine, 

 a distance of eighteen miles, the road will be found, after a mod- 

 erate rain, one half or two thirds under water, which is carried 

 off more by evaporation than by subsidence ; and this is a sample 

 of the country in general. 



The yellow pine, Pinus palustris, is a conspicuous tree in Flor- 

 ida, both on account of its lofty symmetry, and its adaptation to 

 many useful purposes. It affords tar and turpentine in inexhaust- 

 ible abundance, and is an equally inexhaustible material for lum- 

 ber. Whether it be the only growth the soil can yield, or merely 

 a pre-occupant, as in many other parts of the country, giving 

 place, when removed, to a species of hard wood, is, perhaps, not 

 yet ascertained. It is probable, however, that when this tree 

 shall be cut down, and fires, scorching the whole face of the 

 country, shall cease, the growth of the forest lands will assume 



Vol. XXXV.— No. 1. 8 



