GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 267 



extreme as far as central Morida is concerned, for reasons appar- 

 ent after reading" the description of that region. 



The east coast has the most valuable land ])er acre, but is sur- 

 passed a little in value per farm by the eastern flatwoods. where 

 the farms are over five times as large, on the average. The east 

 coast strip also has the nfost valuable farm buildings, and there- 

 fore presumably the highest standards of living, and the lime-sink 

 region is the other extreme, as far as the statistics show. But in 

 value of implements and machinery the east coast is lowest, on ac- 

 count of the small farms worked mainly by hand labor; and the 

 lake region ranks highest. 



The eastern division of the flatwoods, being still mainly in 

 the pastoral stage as far as agriculture is concerned, is far in the 

 lead in the value of live-stock per farm, as well as in number of 

 cattle, horses, and sheep. The Gulf hammock region seems to lead 

 in dairy cows (though this may be due to some error in the census, 

 as suggested elsewhere), the Middle Florida hammock belt (with 

 the largest proportion of negroes) in mules and goats, the lime- 

 sink region in hogs (as in corn and peanuts), and the east coast 

 in bees. 



The east coast has the highest expenditures for labor and fer- 

 tilizers and the lime-sink region the lowest, but no region in cen- 

 tral Florida spends as much for feed as the State average, perhaps 

 because there is more winter pasturage here than in northern Flor- 

 ida. The east coast also leads in value of crops per farm and per 

 acre, while the Hernando hammock belt is lowest in crops per 

 farm and the lime-sink region the lowest per acre. The east- 

 ern flatwoods and the east coast strip, although adjacent, are 

 opposite extremes as far as the value of animal products is con- 

 cerned. The value of crops is roughly proportional to the value 

 of land and buildings, and inversely to the illiteracy percentage, 

 though if different states were compared some exceptions to this 

 might be noticed.* 



*For some statistics of farm expenses and receipts in different regions in 

 Florida and in several other states, with a regional map of the State and a 

 discussion of general principles, see the Quarterly Bulletin of the State Ag. 

 ricultural Department, vol. 30, No. 4, pp'. 14-26. (Nov.) 1920. 



