Florida: Past and present: together with notes from Sunland, on the Manatee River, Gulf Coast of South Florida: its climate, soil, and productions — John Shaqi
Florida: Past and present: together with notes from Sunland, on the Manatee River, Gulf Coast of South Florida: its climate, soil, and productionsUpham, Samuel C. (Samuel Curtis)
History
Florida: Past and present: together with notes from Sunland, on the Manatee River, Gulf Coast of South Florida: its climate, soil, and productions
Upham, Samuel C. (Samuel Curtis)
Florida -- Description and travel; Florida -- History; Manatee County (Fla.)
The Manatee region is the natural home of the sugar-cane. Here it
tassels, and consequently fully matures. Florida is the only State of
the Union in which the cane tassels. When the Cofield and Davis, now
Patten plantation, was in full operation, the average product was two
hogsheads of sugar to the acre. The cane here ratoons from six to eight
years.
20th. "What is the cost of clearing land?"
That depends on the quality of the land. The average pine land can be
cleared and grubbed at from $10 to $20 per acre. Hammock land will cost
double that price.
21st. "Can lumber be had on the Manatee, and if so, at what price?"
Heart-pine lumber, suitable for fencing or building purposes, can be had
here at $15 per M. Light wood posts can be purchased at $10 per hundred.
22d. "What is the price of labor in your vicinity?"
Colored laborers can be hired at from $15 to $20 per month, with board
or rations. The price is $1 per day when the laborer boards himself.
23d. "Are fish, oysters and game plentiful?"
Our rivers and bayous are literally alive with mullet--the mackerel of
the South. Sea-trout (black bass), jack-fish, sheepshead, red-fish,
angel-fish, drum and pompino can also be had in abundance in the water
around Palm Key, at the mouth of the bay. Oysters and clams of a
superior quality can be had in Terraceia and Sarasoto Bays. Deer,
squirrels, quail and wild turkeys abound in the adjoining hammocks.
24th. "Can you refer me to any person in your vicinity whose health has
been benefited by the climate?"
Yes; several. Rev. Edmund Lee, of Manatee, arrived here forty-five years
ago, a confirmed invalid; in fact, nearly gone with pulmonary
consumption. On his first arrival he was so weak that it required
considerable effort to pull a mullet off a grid-iron. The healthfulness
of the climate, together with out-door exercise and a clear conscience,
have enabled him to fight the flesh and the devil successfully to the
present time. He is at this time a well-preserved patriarch of
seventy-two years; has outlived two wives, and bids fair to remain many
years longer on this side of Jordan.
Mr. John M. Helm, residing some three miles south-east of Braidentown,
arrived from Windsor, Ind., about four years since. He also was nearly
gone with consumption. One lung was hepatized, and on the other a
tubercle formed, and discharged after his arrival here. Physicians at
the West pronounced his case hopeless--beyond the reach of medicine--and
recommended the climate of Florida as a last resort. He is now a well
man, and can hoe more orange trees in a day, and hoe them better, than
any man I know in Florida.
Two years ago I arrived here, clad in porous-plasters, suffering with
chronic rheumatism. Two months later I was as frisky as a lamb in spring
time. I am convinced that my old complaint has left me never to return,
so long as I remain here. I could record other cases, but the above must
suffice for the present.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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