Editing Everglades (section)

===Growth of urban areas===
[[File:Canal in the Everglades Drainage District 1915.jpg|thumb|A canal lock in the Everglades Drainage District around 1915]]

With the construction of canals, newly reclaimed Everglades land was promoted throughout the United States. Land developers sold 20,000&nbsp;lots in a few months in 1912. Advertisements promised within eight weeks of arrival, a farmer could be making a living, although for many it took at least two months to clear the land. Some tried burning off the sawgrass or other vegetation, only to learn that the peat continued to burn. Animals and tractors used for plowing got mired in the muck and were useless. When the muck dried, it turned to a fine black powder and created dust storms.<ref>McCally, pp.&nbsp;124–126.</ref> Although initially crops sprouted quickly and lushly, they just as quickly wilted and died, seemingly without reason.<ref>Douglas, p.&nbsp;318.</ref>

The increasing population in towns near the Everglades hunted in the area. Raccoons and otters were the most widely hunted for their skins. Hunting often went unchecked; in one trip, a Lake Okeechobee hunter killed 250&nbsp;alligators and 172&nbsp;otters.<ref name="McCally117"/> [[Water bird]]s were a particular target of [[plume hunting]]. Bird feathers were used in women's hats in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1886, 5&nbsp;million birds were estimated to be killed for their feathers.<ref>Grunwald, p.&nbsp;120.</ref> They were shot usually in the spring, when their feathers were colored for mating and nesting. The plumes, or [[aigrette]]s, as they were called in the [[Hatmaking|millinery]] business, sold for $32 an ounce in 1915—the price of gold.<ref name="McCally117">McCally, p.&nbsp;117.</ref> Millinery was a $17&nbsp;million a year industry<ref>Douglas, p.&nbsp;310.</ref> that motivated plume harvesters to lay in watch of nests of [[egret]]s and many colored birds during the nesting season, shoot the parents with small-bore rifles, and leave the chicks to starve.<ref name="McCally117"/> Plumes from Everglades wading birds could be found in Havana, New York City, London, and Paris. Hunters could collect plumes from a hundred birds on a good day.<ref>McCally, pp. 117–118.</ref>

[[Rum-runner]]s used the Everglades as a hiding spot during [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]]; it was so vast there were never enough law enforcement officers to patrol it.<ref>Douglas, p.&nbsp;330.</ref> The arrival of the railroad, and the discovery that adding trace elements like [[copper]] was the remedy for crops sprouting and dying quickly, soon created a population boom. New towns such as [[Moore Haven, Florida|Moore Haven]], [[Clewiston, Florida|Clewiston]], and [[Belle Glade, Florida|Belle Glade]] sprouted like the crops.<ref name="dovell"/> [[Sugarcane]] became the primary crop grown in South Florida. Miami experienced a second real estate boom that earned a developer in Coral Gables $150&nbsp;million. Undeveloped land north of Miami sold for $30,600 an acre.<ref>Douglas, p.&nbsp;334.</ref> In 1925, Miami newspapers published editions weighing over {{convert|7|lb|kg}}, most of it in real estate advertising.<ref>Grunwald, p.&nbsp;179.</ref> Waterfront property was the most highly valued. Mangrove trees were cut down and replaced with palm trees to improve the view. Acres of South Florida [[slash pine]] were cleared. Some of the pine was for lumber, but most of the pine forests in Dade County were cleared for development.<ref name="fwspine"/>