Immediately in the rear of Palmetto is a prairie of several miles in extent. North-east of the town, about one mile distant in the hammock, Mr. Hendricks, of Palmetto, has a promising six-years-old orange grove, grown from seeds planted with his own hands. Mr. Hendricks cultivates vegetables between the rows of his orange trees, and last year he realized several hundred dollars by shipping his early tomatoes, cucumbers and snap-beans to New York and other Northern markets. To Mr. Hendricks belongs the credit of starting the early vegetable boom in the Manatee region. Mr. David Zehner, from Louisiana, has recently purchased a strip of scrub hammock, east of the town, where he intends to make the cultivation of grapes and strawberries a specialty. He has already received several thousand cuttings and plants of the choicest varieties. A few miles further eastward, you reach the plantation of Major W. I. Turner, the god-father of Braidentown, who has forty acres in tomatoes, cucumbers, squashes and beans. He has already commenced shipping his vegetables to the Northern markets. Half a mile east of Major Turner's is the extensive plantation of Major George Patten. General Hiram W. Leffingwell, ex-United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Missouri, has recently purchased 200 acres of this land, and is negotiating for more. Two of the general's sons, with their families and an unmarried nephew, are now encamped on the land, and are busily engaged in erecting dwelling-houses and the necessary out-buildings. The general and his wife will arrive later in the season. In addition to the cultivation of the various fruits of the citrus family, the general will devote his attention to general farm crops and the growing of early vegetables for the Northern and Western markets. Another St. Louis gentleman, Mr. C. G. B. Drummond, Assistant U. S. District Attorney, has purchased 120 acres of land on the Rogers' hammock near Oak Hill, on which he will set out an orange grove this summer. Mr. H. O. Cannon, a California Argonaut, and late resident of New Albany, Ind., after having spent several winters prospecting Florida, has, like a sensible man, concluded to pitch his tent on the Patten plantation. With this view, he has purchased twenty acres of land, which he has commenced grubbing and fencing, preparatory to planting an orange and lemon grove. Mr. C. H. Walworth, of Milwaukee, has purchased twenty acres of land adjoining Mr. Cannon, which he will have cleared, grubbed and planted in orange and lemon trees this year.