GEOGRAPHY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA 1 51 



over lo years old in Brevard County in 1910, only 1.1% of the na- 

 tive whites, 4.5% of the foreign whites, and 17.1% of the ne- 

 groes were illiterate. The figures for native whites and negroe? 

 are the lowest in central Florida. 



The leading religious denominations among the whites in Bre- 

 vard County in 19 16 were Baptist, Southern Methodist, Northern 

 jMethodist (?), Catholic, Episcopalian, Northern Presbyterian, Ad- 

 vent Christian, Disciples of Christ, and Congregationalist ; and 

 among the negroes, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, Baptist, 

 A. M. E., and Northern Methodist. 



Agriculture. Dr. Turnbull's Minorcan colony was primarily an 

 agricultural one, and it is said that in 1772 they had about 3,000 

 acres of hammock land planted in indigo. But the modern intensive 

 agriculture goes back only about thirty years. On account of the 

 rather dense population, the mild climate, and the fact that most of 

 the farms are within a mile of a railroad that can take express ship- 

 ments to New York in less than two days (with double track most 

 of the way), farming is now more intensive and specialized here 

 than in any other region in Florida, although the soil probably av- 

 erages the poorest in the State. 



The ratio of improved land to total area cannot be estimated ac- 

 curately, because the region does not cover as much as half of any 

 county, but the statistics for Brevard County illustrate agricultural 

 conditions very well in other respects. 



The specialized farming that prevails here evidently sets too fast 

 a pace for the average negro, as shown by the considerably higher 

 proportion of whites among the farmers than among the total pop- 

 ulation. The proportion of farms operated by managers is very 

 large, and this probably indicates that quite a number of orange 

 groves are owned by people who do not live in Florida at all, or 

 spend only the winter season here. (The census of 1900 was taken 

 in June, and that of 1910 in April.) The managers' farms in 1910 

 averaged 79 acres with 16.8 improved, and land and buildings worth 



$i5»375- 



II 



