Terms, Five Dollars a Year. J 

 Ten Cents a Copy. J 



NEW YORK, THURSDAY. DECEMBER 9, 1875. 



j Volume 5, Number 18. 



1 17 Chatham St. (City H all 8qr.) 



TALLY-HO! 



THE fox enjoyed a solemn grin 

 When all but him had fled; 

 The lanterns of the whippers-in 

 Shone 'round his little bed. 



How beautiful and bright he came; 



He scorned to be decoyed; 

 Gaunt was his frame, his tail aflame 



Like Watson's asteroid. 



"0 keeper, may I now light out?" 



Whispered the fox serene; 

 "You may;" and leading all the rout 



A yellow flash was seen. 



One bold, bloodthirsty huntsman took 



An awful two-rail fence; 

 Another plunged into a brook 



And has'nt been heard of "sence." 



Another slew a Maltese cat; 



Another banged his nose; 

 Another, hunting for his bat, 



Broke down a line of clothes. 



And one sagacious huntsman stood 



Four hours beneath a limb 

 Of a big tree in Lodi Wood 



He thought the beast had clim. 



And then arose a pleading sound, 



"0 Reynard, where are you?" 

 Ask of the hounds that far around 



Send up their "TJllaloo!" 



For, ah, the dogs have lost the fox, 



And riders lost the dogs, 

 While horses, minus riders, browse 



Down in Passaic bogs. 



To see the wounded all brought in, 



The stragglers and the pack, 

 Calm Reynard waits with cheerful grin, 



Out back of Hackensack.— Daily Graphic. 



jFor Forest and Stream. 



i 



tittdfy ^hridn. 



MIDDLE FLORIDA is one of the finest countries in 

 the world. All along her sea coast are beautiful^ 

 bays and inlets; through the country are fine rivers, beau- 

 tiful lakes, and pearly brooks. She has grand and wonder- 

 ful springs, whose medicinal virtues are known in all 

 lands. She has magnificent forests of pine, cypress, and 

 hard wood timber, ornamented with the beautiful magno- 

 lia and other flowering trees and shrubs. She has vales as 

 delicious as Arcadia, and fields as fair as those of Enna— 



" Where Proserpina gathering flowers, 

 Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy dis 

 Was carried off." 



Her lakes, rivers, bays, and inlets are full of excellent 

 fish, Her sea coasts have an abundance ot oysters, fish, 

 ^rtle, and sponges. Her forests abound in a great variety 

 tf game. Her gardens yield the finest vegetables, and have 

 the most beautiful flowers in bloom all the year. Her 

 orchards bear the most delicious fruits and berries, and 

 her vineyards the finest grapes that make the best of wine. 

 It is here the man with delicate constitution can escape 

 from the cold, frost, ice, and snow and enjoy "sunny skies 

 and soft and balmy breezes." It is here the poor consump- 

 tive finds relief that medicine cannot give. " Tis here the 

 balm of nature's breath," borne on the soft breezes of the 

 wulf of Mexico, charged with the healing resinous exha- 

 lations of the pine forests, finds its way into the most re- 

 mote tissue of the diseased lung, and by its mysterious 

 >pwer doing what no drug or medicine has yet done in re- 

 viving the blood and bringing to the pallid cheek the bloom 

 of health. 



Bound awes, Topogbaphy, Etc.— Middle Florida is 

 bounded on the north by Georgia; on the east by the Su- 

 wannee River; on the south by the Gulf of Mexico, and 

 °* th e west by the Apalachicola River. It is from 120 to 

 140 miles in length, and from 70 to 80 miles in width. The 

 andsback from the Gulf of Mexico are rolling or undu- 

 *&ng, with fine chocolate soil, supported and sustained by 

 a ^gaiflcent clay subsoil, rendering them -not-oirfrTery 

 JKwuotiYebut extremely durable, Tl» ©euntry contains 



a great variety of excellent hardwood timber, interspersed 

 with pine. Much of the timber is very valuable for manu- 

 facturing purposes. The country along the coast of the 

 Gulf of Mexico is level, with light sandy soil, covered 

 with yellow and pitch pine timber and grass. It is inter- 

 spersed with rich tracts or bodies of hammock lands. It 

 is a good stock country, and when cleared up and put in 

 good cultivation it produces fair crops. Peaches, grapes, 

 sugar cane, and vegetables of all kinds grow very finely, 

 and many think that it is equal, if not superior, to the 

 stiffer soils for them. The soil is based upon limestone, 

 commonly called rotten limestone, which, besides carbon- 

 ate of lime, contains also salts of iron and sulphur. All 

 through this region are found beds of genuine marl. 



Peculiabity. — A peculiar feature in Middle Florida is 

 the great number of lakelets of clear pure water scattered 

 all over the country, varying in size from half an acre to 

 an acre or more in extent . They, as a general thing, are 

 very deep, have no outlet, and contain an abundance of 

 excellent fish . They seem to have been placed here for a 

 wise purpose — to supply the wants of every family at their 

 own doors, without hire or reward, with a splendid article 

 of food. 



Another striking feature is the number of creeks, streams 

 and even considerable rivers, rising out of the earth, after 

 coursing a short distance, and frequently many miles, sud- 

 denly disappearing in the earth and are lost to all further 

 knowledge, while others are known to reappear and flow 

 regularly to the Gulf of Mexico. Near Tallahassee there 

 are several "sinks" into which small streams flow and dis- 

 appear. These sinks vary in size, and many of them are 

 of great depth. Quite a number have neither any inlet 

 nor outlet, so far as anything visible is concerned, being no 

 doubt fed by subterranean streams, and subject, in some 

 instances, to sympathetic action with the tides of the Gulf 

 of Mexico. Fourteen miles south of Tallahassee is the 

 far-famed Wakulla Spring, "Ponce De Leon's Fountain of 

 Youth," whose waters are so transparent that when a per- 

 son is sailing over its surface in a boat he feels impressed 

 as he gazes below that his frail bark is suspended in the 

 air, the water having such an exact resemblance to the sky 

 above. A silver five-cent piece on the bottom seems as 

 plain as if in your hand. "The spring will," it is said, 

 "fathom near one hundred feet by five hundred across its 

 surface." It is situated in a dense forest of shrubs and 

 trees, and in looking over it the color resembles the deep 

 blue sky, except near the border, where it has a slight tinge 

 of green from the reflection of the surrounding verdure, 

 which hangs over it in drooping branches and waving fes- 

 toons. "The beauty of the fountain, the luxuriance of 

 the foliage around it, render this one of the most charming 

 spots" that Florida affords, or that can be found anywhere. 

 The spring is nothing more nor less than a mighty river 

 gushing out of the bowels of the earth, large enough to 

 float vessels drawing six feet of water into the Gulf. 



Medicinal Spbings. — Nature seems to have destined 

 Middle Florida to be a resort for invalids to recruit their 

 health and repair broken constitutions. Scattered here and 

 there all over the country are chalybeate and sulphur 

 springs, whose medicinal waters, prepared in the deep lab- 

 oratories of nature, give strength to the blood and color to 

 the cheeks of the poor frail invalid. But little or no effort 

 has ever been made to bring these springs into notice, or to 

 let their wonderful curative powers be known abroad. No 

 suitable buildings have been erected at any of them for 

 bathing or for the aecommodation of invalids. Persons 

 have frequently come miles and camped by some of them 

 during the Summer season to bathe and drink the waters, 

 and in this manner wonderful cures have been performed. 



The Climate.— Middle Florida has the finest Winter 

 climate in the world, and the steady heat of Summer is not 

 so prostrating as the short but frequent bursts of Summer 

 heat in the Northern States. The thermometer rarely goes 

 below 40° Fahrenheit in Winter, and in Summer it seldom 

 indicates a greater heat than 90° in the shade. The heat is 

 tempered by the almost constant sea breezes from the Gulf 

 of Mexico. The nights are almost always pleasant. The 

 \ so-called rainy season is in Summer, usually commencing 



in May and ending in September. It commences by daily 

 showers for one or two weeks or more, and then a week or 

 two of dry weather, and then the rainy season will come 

 on again. This rainy season is by no means one continuous 

 rain fof days without letting up. The rain comes in show- 

 ers of from a half to one hour or more in continuance, and 

 between the hours of 12 M. and 4 P. M. These showers 

 come up quickly, it rains hard, is soon over, and then is 

 sunshine. They are seldom attended with thunder and 

 lightning. They cool the atmosphere and make the air 

 pure and refreshing. They come up with such regularity 

 that they need not interrupt business, labor, or pleasure 

 only during their continuance, for timely preparation to 

 avoid them can be made if desired. Fogs are seldom seen, 

 and a damp, cloudy, drizzly, rainy day is of rare occur- 

 rence. Winter is the driest season, and Spring the next. 



Health.— From careful observation and diligent inquiry 

 we are led to believe that in no portion of the Union are 

 there as few diseases as there are in Middle Florida. The 

 ratio of mortality is unusually low, and a remarkable ex- 

 emption exists from all epidemic and contagious diseases. 

 In Summer, bilious remittent fevers, usually of a mild type, 

 show themselves, and intermittents in the Fall. The chills 

 and fever prevail to some extent where persons expose them- 

 selves too much in the night air and in inclement weather. 



Fob Invalids,— Middle Florida is superior to every other 

 section of the Union for invalids. Its temperature is never 

 too high nor too low to restrain the invalid from taking all 

 the out-door exercise he is equal to. The country is less 

 exposed to the frequently prevalent northern and north- 

 eastern storms, and fierce, penetrating blasts, and having 

 good roads for driving or walking, renders it the most de- 

 sirable place for the invalid and the visitor to spend their 

 Winters, or for the immigrant to settle in. 



Fob the Spobtsman. — In all the counties along the Gulf 

 of Mexico, and in nearly all the heavily timbered lands in 

 the others, are to be found all kinds of game, such as bear, 

 deer, wild turkeys, panthers, catamounts, wild cats, etc. 

 Deer and turkey are abundant. In all the lakes, rivers, 

 and creeks are an abundance of the finest fish, such as 

 trout, perch, jack or hake, catfish, blackflsli, bream, etc. 

 On the coast there is the finest of oysters, clams, turtle, 

 and every variety of salt water fish. During the Winter 

 all the lakes, ponds, bays, inlets, rivers, etc. , hav;e an abun- 

 dance of every variety of water fowl. Sportsmen should 

 visit Middle Florida by all means and take a hunt and a fish 

 down on the coast. 



Pboducts. — All the grains, fruits, and vegetables that 

 are raised in the temperate zone can be 3ultivated with 

 more or less success in Middle Florida. Cotton has here- 

 tofore been king, and the people seemed to care but little 

 about raising any other kind of crops. Under the new 

 system of labor planters are beginning to study more the 

 nature of the soil and its productions, and are fast finding 

 out that they can raise a greater variety here at a profit than 

 in any other section of the Union. Sugar came is one of 

 the most remunerative crops that can be raised. It has less 

 things to contend with than almost any other field crop. It 

 is seldom injured by insects, dry weather, or frost. It takes 

 about the same labor to cultivate as it does a crop of corn. 

 The manufacturing is the most expensive. The mill, boil- 

 ers, furnace, etc. , cost about $400. To manufacture ten 

 acres of cane would require the work of six men for forty 

 days, one pair of mules, horses, or oxen at the mill, and 

 another pair to haul the cane from the field. The profit of; 

 ten acres planted in eane, from actual experiment, omitting 

 capital required for boilers, mill, troughs for crystalizing* _ 

 houses for draining, teams, etc., is as follows: — 



Dr— 10 days 1 work of team to hreak up land at $1.50 per day., $15 00. 



24,000 seed canes at $10 per M 240 00 



15 days' work planting, at 75 cents per da 1125. 



10 days' work with hoe.. ........ 7 50 



15 days' work with cultivator and plow ,., , 23 50 



" 6 men 40 days, equal to 240 days work, manufacturing, etc., 



at 75 cents per day , ■ ..... i<go 00 



2 pair of oxen 40 days, at $3 per day 120 00- 



Barrels, etc ... ..,.„..,...., :............. 60- 50 



Total... .... ....... $656 75 



Cr— By 3,700 pounds sugar per acre, or 37,000 pounds, at 7 cents 



per pound „ , , ..,,......„,. $2,5R0. 00 



Showing a net profit of ........................ $1,93B 25 



