THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER. 113

There is a moss curing and packing house near by, where
the Spanish moss is prepared for mattresses for Northern
markets. This will probably become an important business
in Florida in the future. Federal Point, six miles above, is
a small hamlet on the eastern shore, with three or four cot-
tages, a store, and numerous young orange-groves. It is
noted for theigreat quantity of strawberries grown there,
upward of fifty thousand quarts having been shipped in the
winter and spring of 1881. Here are two of the finest
orange-groves in the State, curiously noticeable because,
contrary to all theories, arguments, or practical trials at-
tempted elsewhere, they are located on low, flat, inferior-
looking pine-land, the surface being very little above water.
Orange Mills, five miles above, on the eastern shore, is in all
respects similar to Federal Point.
 Palatka, the county-seat of Putnam County, is seven
miles above (sixty-one miles from Jacksonville). This
beautiful young city is located at the head of a large bay
on the western shore of the river, on a high, broad plateau,
affording a grand view up and down the river. The soil
thereabout is rich, susceptible of easy cultivation, and
yields abundant crops. Hundreds of market-gardeners are
settled in the surrounding country, and vast quantities of
all kinds of garden-vegetables and small fruits are annually
shipped North. In the vicinity are many old, productive,
and valuable orange-groves; and on the opposite side of
the river (reached by ferry) is the grove of Colonel Hart,
one of the most famous in the State.
 Palatka is the second city in size on the St. John's Riv-
 er, and is rapidly growing. It contains numerous large,
 well-stocked stores, packing-houses, warehouses, hotels, sev-
 eral handsome churches, public schools, and public build-
 ings. The streets are wide, neatly kept, and are generally
 shaded with large oaks and orange-trees, and lined with
 many tastefully constructed residences, and neat cottages