to $150 per bunch-$93,750 to $112,500; 2,000,000 Baracoa cocoa-nuts, sold at from $25 to $30 per 100-$500,000 to $600,000; 20 cargoes of pineapples from Matanzas and Havana, aeveraging 80,000 dozen per cargo, and sold at from $8 to $12 per 100 -$128.000 to $192,000; 20,000 dozen St. Barts pines, sold at from $7 50 to $8 per 100-$18,000 to $19,200; 200,000 dozen from the Bahama Islands-$15,000 to $16,000; 10 cargoes of Havana oranges, averaging 350,000, at 3 cents each—$10,500; have been received thus far the present season, the crop being more abundant than at any time during the last fifteen years. West Indian oranges arrive in October, and are most abundant in January and February. Bananas and pineapples begin to arrive about the first of April, and are most plentiful during the succeeding three months. Cocoa-nuts arrive all the year round. Mediterranean oranges, which come in boxes, and are most extensively shipped to different parts of the United States, begin to be received in January, but not extensively until April or May.

The above list comprises but few of the foreign fruits imported-and these only from the West Indies. A few minutes' calculation will show the sum paid for the articles enumerated in the list amount to not less than $850,000. The total amount paid for foreign fruit last year was not less than $20,000,000.

Our exports are comparatively trifling. With the very best soil and climate in the world for growing fruit, embracing twenty three degrees of latitude, we pay out annually to foreign countries cash enough to stock a Territory with the choicest varieties of fruit trees. Besides, fruit grown in our own soil and climate is better adapted to our people, and far more healthful than that which is imported from other climates.

PHILADELPHIA CATTLE MARKET.

The following tabular statement presents the number of cattle received in Philadelphia during each of the last eleven years, with the exception of the large number brought in by butchers, of which no account can be obtained:

In June number of the Merchants' Magazine we published a brief sketch of the history with some statistics of hops in the United States, derived from the excellent report of C. L. Flint, Esq., the Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. From a recent English authority we learn that the gross total number of statute acres of land under cultivation for hops in England in the year 1854 amounted to 53,823 acres, of which 11,490 were in the district of Canterbury, 2,050 in Hants, 4,5484 in Hereford, 1,403 in the Isle of Wight, 10,337 in the district of Rochester, 1,377 in the district of Stourbridge, 1,224 in that of Worcester, and 11,690 acres in Sussex. The total amount of duty charged on the hops in the various collections of England, the growth of the year 1854, was £36,422 against £47,327 under the old duty of 1 12 20d. per lb., £34,981 under the new duty of 8 20d. per lb., and £4,113 for the additional duty of 5 per cent. The average amount of duty per acre is stated to be £1 12s. 1d.

RAILROAD, CANAL, AND STEAMBOAT STATISTICS.

ww

COST OF PASSENGER AND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION BY RAILWAY.
BOSTON, June 1st, 1855.

FREEMAN HUNT, Esq., Editor of the Merchants' Magazine, etc :—

DEAR SIR-Inclosed you will find a table exhibiting the cost of passenger and freight transportation upon the principal railways of New York and Massachusetts, submitted for insertion in the pages of your valuable journal. The statement is compiled from the legal returns made by the companies of each State to the Legislature thereof. In the returns of the New York companies, the expenses of each department are divided by the companies, and the division stated in each report. But in the return from the Massachusetts companies the division is not made, but on the other hand a large amount of expenses are designated as "miscellaneous."

Total.

$11,514,200 $2,807,921 $956,451 $2,101,406 $5,865, 778

OCEAN AND INLAND STEAMERS OUT OF THE PORT OF NEW YORK.

NUMBER III.

"THE METROPOLIS.”

In the June (1855) number of our magazine we commenced a new series of descriptions of the first class steamers out of New York. In that number we spoke of the "Commonwealth," and of the Norwich route to Boston, Worcester, and Northern and Eastern New England, to which that elegant steamer belongs. In the last (July) number we described the beautiful" Plymouth Rock," of the Stonington line to Boston, and briefly referred to the history of that route.

Early in June the proprietors of the Bay State Line between New York and Boston, by way of Newport and Fall River, brought out their queenly boat, the "Metropolis," which had been for some time announced, and of which partial descriptions had been given.

This is certainly a most remarkable steamer, and is entitled to special notice at our hands. She is undoubtedly the largest boat now running; her machinery is the most massive and powerful ever made. In the construction of her hull and boilers she differs materially from all others, and in some respects has no equal. For strength, speed, safety, and in the extent and convenience, as well as elegance of her accommodations, she is not surpassed. The utmost care and most liberal expenditure of money has been bestowed upon her. The cost, which was about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, is a sufficient proof that no expense has been spared to make her everything that is desirable in a steamboat.

She has now been running for several weeks, and her qualities have been fully tested, and in no respect has she failed to satisfy the most sanguine expectations. Her hull was built by Mr. Samuel Sneeden at Greenpoint, and is much admired for its beautiful proportions and graceful lines. She is 2,108 tons burden; 347 feet in length; 16 feet depth of hold; 47 feet breadth of beam; and 82 feet over the guards. She has 7 kelsons of immense size. Her saloon deck extends over her whole size, and the side timbers, which are carried up to meet it, are braced in the same manner as the first class sea-going steamers, with upwards of 50 tons of iron bars. These cross each other diagonally, and are bolted together, giving her great strength, and dispensing with the unsightly hog-frame which disfigures most other steamboats. She has 98 state rooms, many of them with wide berths, and doors communicating for the convenience of families; they are arranged two tiers deep on each side, leaving between them a spacious and elegant saloon, richly and tastefully decorated and furnished; comfortable sleeping accommodations for 800 persons can be supplied. The engine was made by Messrs. Stillman, Allen & Co., at the Novelty Works, and is considered their master-piece. It is a beam engine of 200 horse power, and works with the most perfect case.

The cylinder is 105 inches in diameter, with a twelve-feet stroke. Before it was placed in her, a horse and buggy were driven through it; a party of twenty-two persons dined in it; one hundred and five men stood in it at one time. Its great size gives it a large increase of power, with a low pressure of steam. Twenty-five pounds to the square inch being the full working pressure, this is twenty pounds less than is carried on the usual plan.

The wheels are of wrought-iron, 42 feet in diameter; the working bean weighs 24 tons, and the shafts 25 tons each. She has 4 separate boilers, with 8 furnaces, and is fitted with vertical brass tubes like the Collins steamers-the only river or Sound boat upon this plan. With such extraordinary motive powers, it was of course expected she would be fast, and in this respect she has surpassed all expectation, having