FLORIDA.


fence to proceed.


We cut three stalks of the cane, each


twenty-one feet long, and they had fifty-two, fifty-four,
and fifty-five joints respectively. The reader must bear in
mind that each joint represents an increased value of the
cane for sugar, and that on the famous sugar-plantations
of Louisiana a stalk ten feet in height, or even eight, with
fifteen joints, is regarded as something to boast of.
 Here the planter is not obliged, by fear of frost, to cut
all the crop at one date, thus requiring a large, hastily
collected force and much expense; but he can employ
three or four hands, one at the mill, one at the sirup-


kettle, and two to cut and haul, and
can make sugar all the year round.


with this small force
 Nor does the cane


require annual planting or cultivation, hoeing, etc., but
they cut the stalks close to the ground, strip off the leaves
(which are much like corn-blades), and thickly cover the
ground with them, thus keeping down the weeds, and
securing, as they decay, a rich compost. The roots soon
"rattoon," and no fresh planting is needed for ten or twen-
ty years.
 The sirup of fresh cane is very sweet (to me it was
slightly sickish)-and how the bears, hogs, and darkeys
do love it It is very fattening, and a darkey on a sugar-
plantation is always noticeable for his fat, oily appearance.
Mr. Wager grinds his cane in a mill of three iron rollers,
worked by a mule, and boils the extracted juice into sirup
in a large, shallow kettle, the same as is used in making
maple-sugar. With the labor of three negroes, he is able
to net about sixteen hundred dollars from ten acres.
 Returning to Titusville, we embarked next day on the
same yacht for a journey down the Indian River. It
was a hazy, soft, dreamy, delicious sort of day, and, as
the boat bowled along with a pleasant breeze, we qui-
etly and indolently enjoyed it. At noon we landed at the
home of Captain W. H. Sharpe, a very agreeable gentle-