EVERGLADES, a great saw-grass morass fringed by broad cypress swamps and savanna, and intermingled with pine-land, salt meadows and the mangrove thickets of the coast, which occupies the greater portion of southern Florida, U.S.A. The Everglades extend from the southern and south-western sides of Lake Okeechobee, one of the most prominent features of the region, with a width of nearly 5o m. and an area of 5,00o square miles. Some of the tallest and finest cypress in Florida grow along the eastern and most of the northern shores of the lake. The relief of the higher drier parts is slight indeed and the actual boundary between saw-grass morass, and cypress swamp, prairie, pine-land or coastal swamp is indefinite and devious. A rise of 2 ft. in water level may change hundreds of square miles into swamp and shallow lake. East of Lake Okeechobee the Ever glades merge gradually but irregularly with the Allapattah flats, a region largely submerged by the end of each rainy season. Farther south prairies and cypress swamps border the Everglades. Westward the Everglades from Whitewater bay to Lostmans river extend to the fringing coasting mangrove thickets. The copious rainfall and slight relief of southern Florida give origin to the Everglades.
The Everglades are now being drained, part of the expense being borne by the United States, part by Florida, and part by private land companies. A huge canal has been cut to the sea, to which laterals are being run. By the initial project 1,500,000 ac. were drained, and by other series of subsequent plans 2,500,000 ac. more would be reclaimed. The work is done at tremendous cost. Some of the land reclaimed has been occupied by settlers, and many kinds of sub-tropical fruits and vegetables are being grown. The soil, except along the shores of the lake and smaller pools where the lime from the shells of the water life has been mixed with the peat, is acid, and generally deficient in plant food.
See S. Sanford, "Topography and Geology of Southern Florida" in the Florida Geological Survey Second Annual Report (1909) ; and D. A. Willey, "Reclaiming the Everglades of Florida" in Scientific American, vol. cxv., No. 12 (1916). (W. E. E.)