“ We have about twenty varieties and thousands upon thousands of bearing trees. The fruit delicious to a cultivated taste fresh from the tree, while every housewife in the land, and every lover of sweets, can descant with eloquence upon the marmalades and jellies made of this desirable fruit. The tree is hardy with us, and will take care of and propagate itself, and is on terms of great cordiality - 9 - with our rocky plantations. ”

“ On the one hand, passing up the east coast to the Atlantic, and on the west into the Gulf of Mexico. This it is that produces that wonderful equability of climate, that puzzles a northern man to understand, why it should be so much cooler in summer than at the north. The base of all southern Florida is limestone, not tertiary, but modern and coralline. This it is that prevents all miasma, and this decomposed limestone with its admixture of vegetable mold, makes the best soil in the United States for the introduction of tropical plants. ”

“ The larger capital one has, the sooner of course, he can place himself in a pleasant home and lay the foundation for future competence. Intelligent and well directed industry in the cultivation of any one of the staples mentioned, viz: sugar cane, sea island cotton, tobacco, and coontie, will yield quicker returns than tropical fruits. The banana, pine-apple, and fig, can be relied on to commence bearing in from eighteen months to two years from setting out, so that thereafter there will be an assured income from those delicious fruits alone. ”

“ Ours is the natural country of the lime, lemon and citron; children of a common stock. We have several varieties of the lime. The trees are of rapid growth, constant bearers, very prolific, subject to no disease, and very tenacious of life. The fruit is large, “How large?” as a Sicily lemon. I consider the lime as profitable as the orange, and more so, with us. It should be cultivated for citric acid, of which it yields more than any other fruit. The time will come when our part of Florida will supply citric acid to the world. A peck of limes will yield a gallon of juice ”

“ They are brought in large quantities to Key West from Cuba every year, and readily sell at from forty to seventy-five cents per dozen. They grow well with us. The fruit is large, and love of it is acquired; but once truly relished, bread is at a discount. Ours is the banana’s own country, and shortly this delicious and valuable fruit will receive a large share of our attention. The pine-apple belongs to us; nothing grows better. It is peculiarly adapted to our rock soil, and will thrive and bear fruit if a hole is made in the soft rock for its accommodation. ”

“ L. D. STICKNEY, says in his pamphlet on Florida, “It is a great mistake to suppose that sugar cannot be made to advantage without the investment of large capital. The cane produced on less than ten acres of ground, is usually ground in a wooden mill, which does not cost more than $100 (generally the work of the farmer himself) , while the juice is boiled in the common utensils of the kitchen, or at best, as the New England farmer manufactures his maple sugar. The yield is usually greater, in proportion to the stock worked, than where the machinery has cost ten or fifteen thousand dollars! ”

“ For those who would like a home in a more genial clime, where they can, by patient industry, within from two to six years, lay the sure foundation for a permanent income, where the expenses of living are not more than about one-fourth as great as in the north, these pages will surely be of interest and will repay them for the time consumed in their perusal. The peninsula of Florida extends abruptly from the main land of the continent, in a direction a little east of south. ”

“ The strongest breeze is tempered with a warm and genial spirit. It is impossible to conceive of a more perfect climate, taking it all in all. Of course we have plenty of sunshine, and hot sunshine too; but with the sunshine comes the breeze, and not a day in the whole year need be lost on account of the heat. * * * * * * If the soil is thin, for the most part it is very rich and yields abundantly. ”

“ Industry pays quite as well there as in any part of the globe.” R. M. BACHE, of Philadelphia, author of “The Young Wrecker of the Florida Reef,” writes: “The climate of Biscayne Bay, like that of all the Reef, is wonderfully equable and pleasant, insular in its character, rarely oppressively hot in the shade, and during most of the year leaving nothing to be desired regarding enjoyability, the only trying weather being an occasional “norther.” Fish as well as turtle, are abundant, and game of various kinds on the land. The impressions I have about the soil, is that it is very fertile ”

“ The tomato gets to be a stout bush, with hard, woody stalk, and bears continually. Biscayne Bay abounds with a great variety of fish, and is also the favorite haunt of the green turtle; it here finds an - 6 - abundance of the peculiar seaweed it prefers and on which it thrives and fattens, and the water swarms with them. Key West offers a market for all that can be caught, and turtle catching, in this section, is a most lucrative employment. Sponges are very abundant, and a large trade is now carried on in Key West in this article. ”

“ The face of the country is exceedingly rocky, rocky beyond anything that you will imagine, but the climate is pleasant and healthy, and the mosquitoes not at all troublesome during the winter months. The Miami and the country adjacent upon the bay is similar in all respects to the Perrine claim, probably not quite so rocky, but my favorite place upon the bay is the ADDISON place upon the Perrine grant. ”

“ As an inducement to settlers, we will, to each of the first thirty-five families (who will in October or November of this year, locate themselves upon our land with a view to permanent settlement) , donate twenty acres of land free of charge, save the condition of erecting a dwelling place thereon, and agreeing to cultivate at least one useful tropical plant. For others who desire to engage largely in the cultivation of the staples named, and who wish to purchase larger tracts of land for that purpose, we will give information as to terms, etc., on application to us. ”

“ Citric acid is a commodity always, everywhere, and increasingly in demand. The lime belt is narrow and limited. Ours is the most productive in the world. The limes are larger than those of any other country and the percentage of acid is perceptibly greater. Fortunes await in this department of industry alone, and the outlay of money to get a start is insignificant compared to the planting of an orange grove. ”

“ As I before mentioned, lumber is from thirty to fifty dollars per thousand at Key West, and you could manufacture and sell all you did not want for your settlers to the settlers between you and the Miami as well as on the Keys. Timber (pitch pine, no sap) is abundant, and right at hand. Attachments could also be fixed for running coontie, sugar, and grist mills. A great drawback to settlers will be the inconvenience of procuring lumber. When the war in Cuba is closed a great demand will spring up for cross ties ”

“ Every other peninsula in the world owes its existence to a central mountain chain, which affords a stubborn resistance to the waves. Florida has no such elevations, and mainly a loose, low, sandy soil. ”

“ The soil is well adapted for the cultivation of sea island cotton, which is here perennial, and can be picked at almost all seasons of the year. Along the bay tobacco, equal to the best grown in Cuba, can be cultivated” (yielding from five to seven cuttings each year) , “while every variety of tropical fruit can be grown successfully. ”

“ Our soft rock is admirably adapted for building purposes. It is easily worked but soon hardens when exposed to the sun and air, and then coheres like public plunder! When burned it is first-rate for lime and mortar, and also as a fertilizer.” Mr. HICKS in answer to the question, whether he would advise emigration, said, “yes; but I would advertise to all, that it is no country for a lazy man without means. A man with money to keep him in necessaries for a couple of years could get a paying start and so go on to fortune. ”

“ Cane is cultivated with more ease than corn, not requiring so much hoeing. From midsummer to the time of harvesting, the hands may be employed in other business; and even at the time of taking off the crop, no great increase of hands is required, as in Louisiana or Texas, where frost prevails. One hand can cultivate six acres with the hoe, or ten to twelve with the aid of a horse and plough. At the same time he can raise other crops sufficient to subsist himself and family. Twelve hundred pounds of sugar to the acre, is an average yield, though four thousand pounds have been produced. ”

“ The refuse or “mash” is fed to stock: horses, hogs, poultry, all thrive well upon it. By boiling the skimmings, a substance as hard as bread is produced, which keeps well, and fattens hogs for market as readily and as well as corn.” A small saw mill is also suggested on the point of economy, if nothing else, that you might have your own lumber sawed on the spot, for your cottages, besides the necessary boards for paling, wharf, etc., thereby saving the risk and freight in shipments either from Jacksonville, Key West or New York. ”

“ One objective point is to induce, if possible, a goodly number of families of culture and refinement, who - 17 - are desirous of seeking new homes to join us in forming a settlement upon our grant. We do not wish any to go who expect that there will be no discomforts to encounter, or that they can at once step into the enjoyments of all the comforts of a luxurious home without working for them. ”

“ There is a beautiful sand beach in front of this section upon the bay, and it extends South for a mile, probably a mile and a half.” Labor is scarce, it would be best to take it along, the same of house servants. There is timber enough for all building purposes, if there were saw-mills. The country is remarkably healthy, and the climate in winter and spring cannot be excelled, it is pleasant even in summer. ”

“ The President of United States is desirous of causing to be introduced into the United States, all such trees and plants from other countries, not heretofore known in the United States, as may give promise under proper cultivation, of flourishing and becoming useful, as well as superior varieties of such as are already cultivated here. ”

“ They are to attract the attention of the large number of people who for many years have been struggling in the various avenues of business, in our cities and large towns, men whose earnings, even if large in the aggregate, have been each year swallowed up by the increased cost of living in these later days. ”

“ Two men can raise more stuff, off from ten acres of land here, than four times the number can from a hundred acres in the North. With irrigation in the winter season, there is no end to the growth of everything. ”

“ Grapes also thrive most luxuriously. In the Everglades upon the islands grow large, luscious, tender grapes, which, by cultivation, would become an important article of commerce. It is believed that all of the varieties of our hot-house grapes can be cultivated in this latitude with great success. ”

“ At Addisons’ you can wade out half a mile before you get overhead, over a bottom of clean, white, smooth polished rock, and certainly no more delightful bathing can be found winter or summer. There is nothing in the masses of - 15 - rotted seaweed, grass, etc., that line the shores of this entire region, and Indian River, to create malaria. ”

“ It is never visited by frost, and the heat in midsummer is much less oppressive than at New York or places further north, being tempered - 5 - by the influence of the Gulf Stream, which flows within a few miles of the coast. The water is pure and good. ”

“ This it is, also, that causes the difference in fertility of this soil, as compared with the siliceous sand of the more northern part of the State. Biscayne Bay is located on the south-eastern coast of Florida, between the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth degrees of north latitude, below the frost line, and is included within the limits of Dade county. The following facts are quoted from the “Florida Settler and Immigrants’ Guide,” prepared by Dennis Eagan, Commissioner of Lands and Immigration: “The climate of Dade county is exceedingly agreeable and conducive to health. ”