586 
December, 1917 
forest and stream 
F LORIDA, during recent years, has 
been far more progressive than ever 
before in its interesting history. 
This has been made possible through the 
happy turn of a number of unexpected 
events. The Great War has sent thou¬ 
sands of tourists to Florida. The restless 
tide of humanity whose privilege it is to 
Cypress” and the “Okoaloacoochee Slough. 
These tracts have never been habitable— 
never known the plow. The Seminole In¬ 
dian, on his last sad trail to complete ex¬ 
tinction, has lived there and hunted there 
and trapped the idle days away. But 
Florida has been handicapped by lack of 
really fertile farming soil. Plenty of 
covered with water, there was no induce¬ 
ment to the farmer and homesteader. 
And then came the drainage scheme. By 
drawing off the water from not only the 
covered area but the great inland lakes, 
this splendid land would be left high and 
dry for intensive cultivation. Government 
analysts Were frank to say that Florida 
could raise almost 
John King 
sand—yes—but workable land—very little! 
Even the most cursory investigation of 
the swamp country was sufficient to show 
that THIS soil was composed of a sort 
of “Magic Earth.” Seed propagated in a 
flash! The fresh, brilliantly green garden 
truck sprang up over night! For cen¬ 
turies, trees had fallen and wood decayed 
and leaves rotted and vines gone back to 
earth, and this natural composite had 
spread over the limestone and sand foun¬ 
dation. These alluvial deposits, on their 
coraline base, run from 2 to 20 feet. 
But as these lands, with the exception of 
the tough little hummocks and an occasional 
island of almost primitive character, were 
anything on THAT 
soil! It was merely 
a question of time, 
patience, money 
qnd abiding perse¬ 
verance. 
The building of 
the canals is a mat¬ 
ter of National in¬ 
terest and impor¬ 
tance. Great prog¬ 
ress has been made 
and much money 
spent. Already, a 
skein of waterways 
is threading dow r n 
from the ghostly 
depths of old Okee¬ 
chobee — St. Lucie 
William Catlow Canal, West Palm 
Beach Canal—Hills¬ 
borough, North 
New River, Miami 
and others, now be¬ 
ing cut from the limestone heart of Florida^ 
The experiment is a success.- Much land 
is being reclaimed and is even under culti¬ 
vation. But there is a giant’s job ahead 
still. Florida stands at the threshold of 
her new lease of life. She must “carry 
on” with the coraline waterways, making 
them ever deeper and wider, until Big 
Cypress and the Everglades are one glori¬ 
ous mass of cultivation—groves, farms, 
truck gardens, pineapple plantations! 
T HE State of Florida voluntarily turned 
over to Dade County certain lands in 
the Everglades, it being understood 
that the public sale, of this property would 
bring in -handsome funds to be applied to 
the extension of the Snapper Creek Drain¬ 
age Canal which would open the country. 
The Snapper Creek operation is a link in 
the chain of drainage canals. It is one of 
a number of comparatively small water¬ 
ways which are rapidly draining this sec¬ 
tion. To the northward lies the Tamiami 
Trail Canal. The Snapper Creek cut is 
headed for the two tracts of gift land and 
is intended to turn them into high-priced 
farming acreage. But when Mr. King 
started on his memorable expedition, the 
Snapper Creek division was in its early 
John King, Jr. 
be forever vaca¬ 
tioning, now runs 
down the sunny 
East Coast, into 
Jacksonville, St. 
Augustine, Day¬ 
tona, Palm Beach, 
Miami and the in¬ 
numerable fair 
cities of the sunny 
citrus fruit State. 
This golden 
stream has brought 
prosperity. It has 
assisted in State 
propaganda. More 
and more people 
are. being awakened 
to the natural ad¬ 
vantages of Flor¬ 
ida. But the Gov¬ 
ernment has inter¬ 
ested itself in the 
State and the peo¬ 
ple. Immense 
drainage schemes are already well ad¬ 
vanced. Land is being reclaimed—vast 
acreages of it—and fine land, fertile land, 
land of milk and honey. 
Yesterday Florida was content to raise 
citrus fruit and not very much of anything 
else. The vagaries of the weather did se¬ 
rious damage, especially in the northern 
sections. O'nly a season ago, tremendous 
groves and vital areas were absolutely 
ruined by unprecedented climatic condi¬ 
tions. Frost is the Floridian’s bogie. He 
sits up in bed at the dead of night when he 
suspects it. There is something at once 
pathetic and prophetic in the long lines of 
sombre black “fire pots” one may see be¬ 
neath the orange and grape fruit trees. 
In the gray dawn, they smoulder and vomit 
volumes of black smoke and flare up, like 
ghostly watch-torches, as far as the eye 
can reach, a weird and impressive sight. 
As the seasons come and go, it is popu¬ 
larly agreed that the climate in the north¬ 
ern part of the State is growing more 
severe-—not enough to strip it of its full 
tropic charm, but quite enough to make 
orange growing a gamble. 
Southern Florida is monopolized at its 
extremity by the Everglades and an impos¬ 
ing watery, swampy area known as “Big 
