GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 201



















 Fig. 36. Large saw-grass marsh bordering Lake Harris, looking north from about a mile east of Eldorado, Lake County. Pine land in distance is over a mile away. Feb. 9, 1909.

along rivers that fluctuate little, which in favorable situations may expand into marshes of considerable width. Some of the plants commonly associated with the .saw-grass have been listed on the lower half of page 270 in the'Third Annual Report. Such marshes, are common in the lake region, and often cover several hundred acres; and they may be important sources of peat when that substance becomes more popular than it is now. Plans are just now being perfected for manufacturing paper from saw-grass in Lake County, where there are some of the largest saw-grass marshes to be found outside of the Everglades. For- such an industry to be permanent requires that the "grass" shall grow as fast as is cut, which can be determined by multiplying the annual growth per acre by the acreage available. With marsh vegetation that dies down to the ground every year, like cat-tails, it is a very simple matter to cut, dry and weigh a square yard or so of it at the end of the growing season, and convert the results to pounds or tons per acre.*
 *For a study of several types of nmarsh vegetation on Long Island made in this way see Plant World 21 :38-46. (April) 1918. The most luxuriant vegetation found there was reed-grass, Phraginites communis, which yielded at the rate of about 24 tons per acre when fresh and 12 tons when air-dry. Saw-grass is said to yield from 12 to 20 tons per acre (fresh) at the first cutting.