FLORIDA

the population of the state in 1920 was 968,470, a gain of 215,851 in the decade 1rg10-20. during the five years 1920-5 the increase of population has been even more remarkable, the state census for 1925 showing an increase of 295,079, or 30.4% since 1920, the total population being given as 1,263,549. in 1925 there were 21 cities with a population of over 5,000; those then exceeding to,ooo were: jacksonville (95,206), tampa (94,808), miami (60,754), st. petersburg (26,706), pensacola (24,958), orlando (22,273), west palm beach (19,122), key west (13,533) and st. augustine (10,190). the rapid development of florida cities and towns is giving the state a larger proportion of urban population than any other southern state. however, florida’s population 1s still pre- dominantly rural. in 1920 only 36.7% of the entire population was urban (living in cities or towns of over 2,500). during the winter months the population is largely augmented by thou- sands of tourists and winter residents, quite a number of whom become permanent residents or invest in florida property. for many years the coast resorts were the chief objectives, but many of the inland towns and cities are now attracting out-of- state visitors. far larger numbers of pleasure seekers have visited florida in the two years 1924-5 than ever before, and this movement is certain to grow. industries and commerce.—florida’s most extensive industry is agriculture. according to figures of the florida experiment station there were approximately 5,940,000 ac. of land in farms in 1925, not including open or fenced range lands. of this, 1,400,000 ac. were in crops, and 618,000 ac.of crop lands were idle; 275,000 ac. were in fruit; 1,500,000 ac. were in pasture; and 2,147,000 ac. in woodland. on approximately one-third of the cultivated acreage crops were produced by intertillage (the growing of two or more crops on the same land at one time) and by succession planting (where two or more crops follow each other on the same land in one year). the number of farms in florida, was 50,016 in 1910, 54,005 in 1920 and 59,817 in 1925. fruit is florida’s most important crop. the citrus industry has pros- pered despite the fact that some of the groves in the more north- ern part of the state have suffered from heavy frosts in severe winters. in 1920 the production of oranges was 8,500,000 boxes, and of grape fruit 5,000,000 boxes. in 1925 the production was 10,700,000 boxes of oranges and 6,300,000 boxes of grape fruit. in the sub-tropical part of the state pincapples, lemons, guavas, and avacadoes are grown profitably on a commercial scale. other fruits produced are peaches, pears, bananas, grapes, figs and limes. the more important crops with their 1925 acreage yields and values, are tabulated in the next column. there was a falling off in the production of cotton during the decade 1910-20; however, a good cotton season during 10925, and the use of short staple cotton which is more resistant tothe boll weevil, more than doubled the state’s production over the crop of 1920. the tobacco-growing section of western florida produces profitably a shaded leaf, grown from cuban and suma- tran seed, which is in great demand in cigar manufacturing. the pecan industry is comparatively new, most of the commercial groves having been planted since t905. it is believed that in the northern part of the state the pecan crop may soon compete closely with the citrus crop of the southern part. the production of early vegetables for the northern markets is developing rapidly, and the florida producer can put vegetables on the markets earlier than any of his competitors. the chief obstacles ra | are costly rates and inadequate railway freight and express service. much attention was formerly paid to stock-raising, but with the taking up and development of much of what was for- merly open-range land, the figures for 1925 show a decided shrink- age in the production of livestock since 1920. in 1925 there were 662,000 cattle, including milch cows, valued at $13,240,000; acres production value | staple crops: | corn 580,000 | 8,700,000 bu. $ 8,700,000 | cotton 106,000 40,000 bales 3,541,000 | hay 82,000 57,000 tons 1,296,000 | sugar-cane g,000 | 2,100,000 gal. 2,205,000 sweet potatoes . 29,000 | 2,465,000 bu. 4,060,000 | tobacco 7,000 | 5,460,000 ib. 1,693,000 | truck crops: irish potatoes 23,000 | 2,599,000 bu. 6,757,000 ' snap beans 20,530 1,663,000 hmprs. 2,494,000 celery 4,320 | 2,000,000 crates 3,700,000 cucumbers 10,830 1,256,000 hmprs. 1,520,000 lettuce 3,400 765,000 crates 1,570,000 peppers 3,f00 | 1,115,000 bu. 2,787,000 strawberries 3,170 | 6,023,000 qt. 1,807,000 | tomatoes 33,470 | 2,811,000 bu. 6,325,000 watermelons 20,910 7,841 cars 2,352,000 | frutt and nuts: | grape fruit. 6,300,000 crates 11,340,000 | oranges 10,700,000 crates | 26,750,000 | peaches 115,000 bu. 190,000 pecans 1,340,000 lh. 348,000 61,000 sheep, valued at $200,000; 506,000 swine, valued at $3,289,000; 31,000 horses, valued at $3,000,000 and 43,000 mules, valued at $5,934,000. these livestock statistics include only farm animals. | in 1925 florida produced mineral producis to the value of $10,908,000, the more important of which were phosphates, lime, limestone, brick, tile, kaolin and fuller’s earth, of which latter florida produces about three-fourths of the entire u.s. output. in 1924 the production of phosphate was: land pebble, 2,348,137 long tons, valued at $7,987,752; and hard rock, 199,516 long tons, valued at $1,071,675. jt lorida’s lumber production, due to exploitation, shows a decline since 1916, when an output of 1,425,000,000 ft. was reached; the 1924 production, mainly cypress and yellow pine, was 980,014,000 feet. considerable hard wood (chiefly hickory) is produced. naval stores are produced from the pine forests, where the sap of the trees is collected and distilled, yielding turpentine and resin. in 1923 florida produced 9,747,000 gal. of turpentine valued at $10,000,000 and 660,oc0 bbl. of resin valued at $4,000,000. in 1924 florida manufactured 546,799,000 cigars, valued at $35,000,000; and 2,767,000 cigarettes, valued at $55,000. a rapidly developing manufacture is that of commercial ferti- lisers, large amounts of phosphate mined in the state being used for this purpose. some index of florida’s recent business growth can be gained from the following banking statistics: deposits in national banks in jan. 1920, $187,286,267; in jan. 1925, $375,042,947; in state banks and trust companies in jan. 1920, $197,809,947; in jan. 1925, $287,636,588. histor y.—the outbreak of the world war tn 1914 interrupted two of florida’s more important exports to europe, 1.¢., na- val stores and phosphates, thus creating a temporary business depression. in the naval-stores industry the recovery was comparatively rapid, owing to the high prices of and increased domestic demand for the products, after the first few months of the war. the phosphate industry was more seriously affected, as germany had been a large purchaser. many phosphate mines closed down, to resume operations only after the signing of the armistice. the political history of the state during the years 1910-25 was uneventful. the question of prohibition played a large part in state politics until the ratification of the eighteenth federal (prohibition) amendment by the florida legislature 42 dec. 14 1918. since 1876 florida has been uniformly demo- cratic and, except in 1916, when a contested primary election in the democratic party resulted in the nomination of sidney j. catts as a prohibitionist and in his election as governor, all of the state’s executives have been democrats. the governors.since 1910 were: albert w. gilchrist (1909-13); park trammell (1913-7); sidney j. catts (1917-21); cary a. hardee (1921-5), and john w. martin, (1925- ). in 1924 florida adopted an amendment to the state constitution forbidding the legislature to levy an income or inheritance tax. a ee