FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
31 
equipped, and many were disjointed frag¬ 
ments beginning in a hammock and end¬ 
ing somewhere in the piney woods. How 
horticulturists ever succeeded in making 
a living under those conditions of trans¬ 
portation is impossible for us of a later 
day to understand. The following inci¬ 
dent, which occurred in the spring of 
1892, illustrates the indifferent way in 
which business was done 011 some of the 
plug lines then in operation. Some co¬ 
operative experiments were being car¬ 
ried on at Grand Island, and it was de¬ 
sirable for me to make my way from Eus- 
tis to a point on the Sanford & St. P. R. 
R. By driving to Tavares one would be 
able to take the T. & G. then popularly 
known as the “Tag,” which left at about 
sunrise. On the morning in question, 
the train, probably the only one on the 
road, was composed of a few box cars 
and a coach for accommodating passen¬ 
gers. The train started about a half hour 
late, but still early enough to prevent 
the passengers from obtaining breakfast. 
After running for an hour or an hour 
and a half the train stopped suddenly in 
the woods. The whole crew, from fire¬ 
man to conductor, abandoned the train 
and started directly for a nearby water¬ 
melon field. We passengers discussed 
among ourselves whether to follow or to 
remain. To our surprise, the train men 
went leisurely about to find the choicest 
melons, carried them to a fence, sat down 
and ate until satisfied, and then each car¬ 
ried back to the train one or two melons. 
Well, to cut the story short, we got to 
Clermont just in time to see the train we 
wished to take pull out from the other 
station. One train a day. Passengers 
and perishable fruit left at a junction 
point without any reasonable cause. 
While we do not live under ideal condi¬ 
tions at present, the passenger and freight 
traffic is fairly good compared with a 
decade and a half ago. 
THE PRACTICAL HORTICULTURIST AN AR¬ 
TIST. 
The progress made in the production 
of fine fruit is fully as great, or possibly 
greater, than that in transportation. We 
all recognize the fact, however, that we 
still have much to learn. If it were not 
for the strong desire to improve on our 
present condition we would not be as¬ 
sembled here. 
The best horticulturists of today in 
Florida are artists in their special lines. 
It takes as much careful thought, and 
as much application of this thought, to 
produce an ideal tomato, or an ideal or¬ 
ange or grapefruit, as it does to produce 
a fine picture on canvas, or to build an 
engine. As there are only a few master 
hands that can command a talent suffi¬ 
cient to produce a really first-class paint¬ 
ing, so there are only a few who produce 
a really superior horticultural product; 
and still fewer who have the commer¬ 
cial instinct sufficiently developed to get 
the highest price for their product. 
The pioneer fruit and vegetable grower 
lives under conditions that enable him to 
extract a mere existence in exchange for 
his toil and thought. It is quite natural 
that he should become more or less dis¬ 
satisfied with his lot in life. His sur¬ 
roundings cause him to lose interest in 
his work and home; he either sinks into 
a careless and indifferent existence, or 
drifts to a populous center where he be¬ 
comes a mere atom in human existence, 
and tosses about from one engagement to 
another. 
MIGRATION TO BUSINESS CENTERS. 
Under our old routine rule-of-thumb 
method of horticulture, the farmer and 
his children were mere machines, which 
