9- ApALACmCOLA FLATWOODS. 253 



The following trees which are more or less common in neighboring 

 regions are rare or absent in this one: — Short-leaf pine (riiiiis eclnnala), 

 juniper, cedar, hickories, beech, chinquapin, most of the oaks, haws, plums, 

 holly, dogwood and sourwood. One of the cottonwoods, Fopulus heter- 

 oly/iylla, seems to be found in Florida only in the swamps of the lower 

 Apalachicola,* and the same might be said of a few shrubs and herbs which 

 are almost too rare to be listed. Only one or two weeds seem to be abundant 

 enough to be ranked among the first 50 herbs. 



About 68% of the vegetation is evergreen, 15.6% of tlie shrubs (.or 

 about .04% of the total vegetation) are Ericaceae, and only i.y/o of tiie 

 herbs are Leguminosae. 



Economic Features — In 1910 less than 3% of this region was un- 

 der cultivation. There were less than 8 inhabitants to the square 

 mile, on the average, and nearly all of those lived in towns. But 

 tJie population increased about 28% between 1900 and 1910, and 

 perhaps inventive genius will devise means for making this a flour- 

 ishing agricultural region before many decades. (At the present 

 time the expenditures for fertilizers per acre of improved land in 

 this region seem to be below the state average.) At least 58% of 

 the inhabitants are white. 



Lumbering and turpentining and grazing are naturally the dom- 

 inant industries; but bee-keeping is relatively more important here 

 than in any other part of the State. Calhoun County, the "banner" 

 honey county of Florida, produced in 1911-12 233,247 pounds of 

 honey and 2,176 pounds of beeswax. The principal honey plants 

 are the two kinds of tupelo gum, which are common in the swamps 

 of the lower Apalachicola River; but the three kinds of tyty and the 

 gallberry and saw-palmetto are also important. 



The leading crops, in order of value, seem to be corn, sugar- 

 cane, sweet potatoes, peanuts, Irish potatoes, cabbage, oranges, up- 

 land cotton, tomatoes, beans, grapes, peaches, field peas (including 

 hay), pears, onions, figs, plums, velvet beans, cantaloupes, oats, pe- 

 cans, and (grass) hay. 



*Most books dealing with southern trees do not m^ention the occur- 

 rence of this species in Florida at all. Although nearly every botanist 

 who has been to Apalachicola by way of the river (the usual route previous 

 to 1907) must have seen it, those who took no notes had no record of 

 it, for the trees are rather inacoessible. 



