28o FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY I3TH ANNUAL REPORT 



By comparing the number of animals of various kinds sold or 

 slaughtered in a year with the number living on the average farm 

 at the time of the census we can get a rough approximation of the 

 annual birth and death rate of each species, which in central Flor- 

 ida in 1909-10 was about io% for cattle, sheep and goats, 33% 

 for hogs, and 143% for poultry. 



The difference between the amount of milk, butter, chickens 

 and eggs produced and that sold is approximately that consumed 

 by the average farm family in a year, if none of these products 

 are bought by the farmers, and therefore gives some indication of 

 the standard of living. The -farmers of the east coast, however, 

 although they have the most expensive land and buildings and 

 therefore presumably a pretty high standard of living, must buy 

 considerable groceries with the money received for their vegeta- 

 bles and oranges, for otherwise the average family would have 

 only about ^^J gallons of milk, 3 pounds of butter, 18 chickens, 

 and 57 dozen eggs to eat in a year, as compared with 92.6 gallons 

 of m;ilk, 19.8 pounds of butter, 2^ chickens, and 69 dozen eggs in 

 the lime-sink region, which probably really has the lowest stand- 

 ards. (Very likely the east coast farmers eat more fish and oys- 

 ters than those in the interior, though.) If such data could only 

 be obtained for whites and negroes separately we would doubtless 

 find considerable differences 



