58 

 SHIP AND BOAT BUILDING. 



With more length of coast line than any other State; 

 with several fine harbors for large vessels, and with al- 

 most innumerable small harbors; with hundreds of miles 

 of navigable rivers flowing through semitropical scenes 

 of rare beauty; with many lakes of ample size and with 

 romantic surroundings to invite the pleasure seeker ; with 

 a climate so mild and equable that the waters are en- 

 joyable the whole year round, Florida holds a very low 

 place in the boat-building industry. It is not because 

 boats are not used. The harbors, rivers, lakes, and pas- 

 sageways swarm with vessels during many months of the 

 year, and the landscape, with its interlocking waters, are 

 scenes of the greatest activity ; but the boats seen by thou- 

 sands are nearly all made elsewhere than in Florida. 



The resources for boat building are ample, and the mar- 

 ket for high pleasure boats ought to be among the best 

 in the United States. A large proportion of the winter 

 visitors in Florida are possessed of means suflScient to buy 

 yachts, canoes, dories, and craft of every kind that the 

 place and climate call for. Vessels in large numbers ply 

 the waters, but they are not made in Florida. They come 

 from New England, New York, Michigan, Maryland, and 

 many other places where lumber is not as plentiful or 

 cheap as in Florida. 



A few manufacturers have taken advantage of the op- 

 portunities, and are building boats. Table 7 shows the 

 amount of wood used and the kinds. The total is a mil- 

 lion and a half feet, which is about one-fourth as much 

 as Maryland demands annually. The Maryland market 

 calls chiefly for business boats, while Florida demands 

 pleasure vessels. Yet boats for business purposes are by 

 no means few in Florida. The tradesmen about Pensa- 

 cola, the sponge fishermen in the shallow water ofE Apa- 

 lachicola, the lumber tugs which load the sea-going ves- 

 sels, the many fishermen on both the east coast and the 



