ORANGE COUNTY. 167

 sickness i due first to pure water, and secondly to the pre-
 vai in winds wh ic carry away l010 poisons, and at
 thei samhetime modify te tem operate to An -r at an e -
 tenr, uring oth snmner ond winter inh A record
 ept by a careful observer, for the past year, shows that
 the highest point recorded by the mercury last summer was
 97 ; the lowest the present winter 34-a less variation of
 temperature in a whole year than is frequently experienced
 in higher latitudes in twenty-four hours. The residents of
 Orange County are free from those sudden climatic changes
 which are so sevee a tax upon the vital energies of residents
 of the Northern States. Colds are therefore rare and never
 severe, and catarrh among old residents is rarely found.
 Orange County lies on the west side of the St. John's
 River, that stream forming the eastern boundary of the coun-
 ty. It contains about sixty-one Congressional townships.
 Its northern extremity touches Lake George ; its south-
 ern reaches and includes Lake Tahopekaliga. Lying upon
 both the eastern and western borders are chains of large
 lakes; the largest, Lake Apopka, upon the west, covering
 an area of fifty-six square miles. The interior is thickly
 dotted with lakes of smaller size, ranging from an acre to a
 thousand acres in extent. The water in these lakes is pure
 and soft. The bottoms and shores are sandy and hard. In
 all of them fish abound, and the angler can find plenty of
 sport. Upon the high pine-lands surrounding these little
 lakes, beautiful building-sites can be found, where a home
 can be made and embellished with all the shrubs and flowers
 that can be grown in a semi-tropical region. It is here that
 semi-tropical fruits flourish and reach a degree of develop-
 ment not surpassed in any part of the world. Oranges,
 lemons, limes, citrons, guavas, figs, bananas, and pineapples
 reach perfection here, and their culture, for either profit or
 personal gratification, is attended with the most satisfactory
 results. Strawberries and grapes also do well. The
 former fruit begins ripening in January and continues until
 May. With the full development of the resources of the
 county, the. culture of this fruit will receive attention. It
 ripens at a season of the year when there is little danger of
 loss in transportation, and when people in the larger cities
 in the North would be willing to pay exorbitant prices for
 the fresh fruit. .
y S