The physical features of the Everglades are beyond description, beauty and charm blending in a strange, sweet sense of mystery. In dry weather, when the water is low, it is possible to drive into the Glades, but the most beautiful and ideal approach is by water, all the rivers of the Glades finding their way to the sea, some by the rocicy channels worn by their own age-long floods, and some through miles of wandering curves, their shores lined with forests of man grove trees.
Loolcing into these forests, only the dark waters are to be seen. Ascending, the fresh water of the Glades overcomes the brackish tidal water, and the cocoa-plum takes the place of the mangrove. Still farther up the river, the cocoa-plum gives way to the cypress, and pond lilies abound, the whole panorama of shift ing green,— the lemon-like foliage of the cocoa pltun, the dark olive of the mangrove, and the lighter green of the cypress, enlivened by the sunlight,— malcing a scene of unique beauty.
In the perspective, when the water is low, the Glades, with its numerous islands and with the tall golden grass, gleaming in the sun shine, waving over a field of silver, ending with a slcy-line of blue, has a charm for the eye, unequaled, perhaps, by any other spot in the world, and gives to the sightseer or explorer that subtle impulse and uncontrollable desire to adventure into this never-ending plain of grass and water, never reaching the goal but always seelcing for something that lies just be yond -the horizon.
The climate of the Everglades is faultless, showing no extremes of heat or cold, nor is it subject to sudden change. There are two sea sons in the year, the rainy and dry, the latter including June and September, although light showers may be expected at arty season. and in the autumn the humidity is very high. Malaria is seldom heard of, the pure air giving the best assurance of health, and it is small wonder that the ancient explorers spent years here try ing to find the °Fountain of Youth.0 The title to the Everglades is vested in the trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund of Florida, under patents from the Department of the Interior of the United States, by virtue of an act of Congress of 1850, and they promoted efforts to drain the Glades and open it to actual settlers, the cost of reclamation being small compared to the great agricultural value.
A private company set about building a drainage canal from Lake Okeechobee to the New River in 1881, but owing to faulty plan ning the project failed. A definite plan was finally outlined by the State in 1906 and work was promptly begun. This plan provided for a series of main canals to be dredged f rom the coast to the lake, with the purpose in view of lowering the level of the lalce sufficiently to stop the overflow of its waters into the Everglades, and to lower the water level there by means of these same canals. At the present time five
canals of a total length of over 200 miles and of an average depth of 5 feet with a 60-foot width have been completed and have served to reclaim about 1,000,000 acres, although certain acres have not received sufficient protection against overflow during heavy raining season. The success of this work proved that a great part of the remainder —2,700,000 acres — could in time be reclaimed by the natural incline of the surface, from the flood source to the rivers entering the sea. A contract was let to a dredging company of Baltimore to excavate nine canals aggregating 425 miles. All of these waterways are now under construction, with widths ranging from 50 to 60 feet for the larger, and an average of 25 feet on three smaller ones. The depth of the main canals ranges from five to seven feet, while some average four feet.
The excavation is accomplished by huge dredges and ditching machines of the clamshell, dipper and suction types according to the nature of the formation in which they are employed. Float ing dynamite plants are employed for rock ex cavation, and are equipped with steam-driven shovel buckets for removing the rock blown out from the bottom of the cut. The work is proceeding at such a pace that soon about one-third of the entire area will be ready for the farmer and the settler. The Eerglades, where drained, are being occupied by settlers from all parts of the country. Every kind of fruit and vegetable raised in the temperate zone can be cultivated at a profit in Florida. Oranges, bananas, pineapples and other varieties may be added to the list. The farms under cul tivation in the reclaimed portion prove the truth of this. The new land is being sold in large tracts by the State authorities to be divided into truck and other farms, but the possibility of producing sugar is perhaps the most important. The total cost of the reclama tion project tinder the plan of 1906 has been about $4,500,000 or $1.12.5 per acre. For acts, reports and official papers relating to the recla mation scheme, and giving much valuable in formation concerning the region, consult