NATURAL DIVISIONS.


the residents as the Orange Lake region-where there are
several quite large-sized lakes, which are of very attractive
appearance.
 Large orange-groves are found growing in all parts of
 this region, and thousands of trees are being set out
 yearly. Hundreds of the settlers there-especially along
 the line of the Transit Railroad (that runs from Fernan-
 dina to Cedar Keys) and its branches-in the vicinity of
 Starke, Waldo, Gainesville, and of Ocala and Leesburg,
 are engaged in raising vegetables of all kinds for the
 'Northern markets. Thousands of crates of green peas,
 tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, onions, cabbages, cauliflower,
 spinach, celery, lettuce, beets, etc., and car-loads of water-
 melons, are gathered and shipped to all -points North in
 January, February, March, and April. It is an industry
 that has, in a few years, -grown to great proportions, and,
 when the season is at all favorable, repays those engaged
 handsomely. In many cases profits of several hundreds
 of dollars (upward of a thousand dollars are known of in
 several cases) have been made in a single season, from an
 acre or but little more, of some special crop, that for-
 tunately ripened and reached the market at the right
 moment. Strawberries here grow abundantly, and with
 proper care and culture yield immense crops, repaying
 wonderful profits. I know of several cases where the
 clear profit, netted from about an acre, was almost fabu-
 lous. This is rapidly becoming a leading crop or industry
 of the State.
 i Semi-tropical Florida, while not very attractive in
,scenery, probably produces the greatest variety of mar-
 ketable and profitable crops of any region in our country.
 Although the hardier field-crops of the North, such as
 wheat, corn, etc., and the more delicate fruit-products of
 the extreme South, like the banana, pineapple, etc., do not
 grow well in this region, yet the variety of the vegetable
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