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their general character. Some crates of strawberries to be packed in 

 ice and destined for New York, were thrown upon deck after the 

 manner of a traveller's trunk. Remonstrance was made by the 

 owner. "Got angel in dar?" was the ready reply of the deck hand, 

 emphasizing his wit with an additional thump of the crate. The cap- 

 tain of the boat laughed at the wit of the negro and left him to repeat 

 his damage and wit on the next victim who should take the pains to 

 grow fruit for such fun. About thirty-three per cent, of the melons- 

 which are shipped from the St. Johns to New York never reach their 

 destination. There is no excuse for this. The watermelon, well cared 

 for and handled, will easily keep from six to ten days. A cargo of 

 twenty thousand melons shipped from Fernandina to New York 

 reached the latter port well cooked. Unfortunately it is not the 

 fashion to eat cooked melons. What is needed for East Florida is a 

 direct line of steamers from Jacksonville to New York. Such a line 

 would not only pay the owners, but double many times the products 

 of Florida in a single year. If it were known that such a line would 

 be established early next Spring, thousands of acres would be plante 

 in strawberries, blackberries, cucumbers, squashes, tomatoes, indeed the 

 whole catalogue of garden vegetables ; while during the Summer such 

 a line would be kept busy carrying melons, grapes, figs, pomegranates, 

 guavas, peaches, &c., already grown and wasted for want of transporta- 

 tion. The Winter would be an equally busy season with passengers, 

 lemons and oranges. The boats of such a line would not come back 

 empty but laden with such goods as we would be glad to get in 

 exchange for our now wasted luxuries. That portion of the Great 

 Southern Road projected, and the road bed already far advanced 

 between Jessup and Jacksonville, should be completed at once to Jack- 

 sonville. West and Middle Florida should have direct communication 

 with the North-west. That beautiful, rich and attractive country 

 would in a few years become like the garden of the Lord. This is a 

 seeming digression from orange culture, but it is pardonable, for while 

 the orange is not so perishable as some other things needing transpor- 

 tation, the increasing production is such as will demand in addition to 

 semi-weekly lines of steamers from Fernandina and Jacksonville to 

 New York, a daily orange train from Florida to the North-west. 



