26 O FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
Settlement extended into the eastern part of the county a few years 
later. 
Cattle and hogs could live on the open range without feeding 
and with little attention the entire year, and it was natural that 
stock raising should have first claimed the efforts of the settlers and 
should have continued to be for some years the most important in¬ 
dustry of the county. Small areas were cleared around the build¬ 
ings, and vegetables and corn in sufficient quantities for home use 
were produced. 
It was not until about 1855 that cotton became important. Large 
plantations throughout Bradford County were devoted mainly to 
this crop, and with its development the increasing demand for corn 
to feed farm stock and to supply home needs resulted in an exten¬ 
sion of the corn crop. Agricultural progress was retarded by the 
Civil War, and immigration, which had been steady up to this time, 
was stopped. After the Civil War the agricultural development of 
the county was slow, and only within comparatively recent years 
have the resources of the county begun to be developed along broad 
lines. There are but few farms in the county outside of the western 
section that have been under cultivation for a long period of years. 
Lumbering and turpentining became important about 1880. Both 
of these industries were developed at the expense of agriculture, 
although they were instrumental in clearing the land for future 
agricultural pursuits. At present lumbering and turpentining are 
the most important industries in the county. A great deal of the 
merchantable timber has been removed, and most of the remaining 
trees are “boxed” for turpentine. One large plant for the extraction 
of turpentine and other pine products from, logs and stumps is in 
operation at Lake Butler. The stumps and resinous logs are being 
removed from land in that section of the county without expense to 
the owner. 
About 1880 agriculture again came into importance in the 
county. Settlers came in from Georgia, the Carolinas, Mississippi, 
Kentucky, Virginia, and in some cases from as far north as Penn¬ 
sylvania. Oranges were being grown extensively at this time, and 
a few years later strawberry growing began. The strawberries were 
produced for early shipment to northern markets, and the fancy 
prices that were obtained encouraged the extension of this industry. 
The culture of strawberries soon became general, and this crop 
rivaled oranges for the place of first importance in the agriculture 
