684 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. (FLORIDA.) 



$190,482.94. Received in 1901 from State taxes, 

 $230,647.65; from State license taxes, $228,905.69. 

 The total debt of the State on Jan. 1, 1902, was 

 $1,032,500, divided as follows: Bonds in State 

 school fund, $650,100; in Agricultural College 

 fund, $135,800; in Seminary fund, $98,600; in 

 hands of individuals, $148,000,000. 



All the outstanding 7-per-cent. bonds of the 

 State issued in 1871 to mature Jan. 1, 1901, were 

 taken up as investments by the State educational 

 funds. These 7-per-cent. bonds, amounting to 

 $267,700, were refunded in consolidated manu- 

 script 3-per-cent. bonds, issued to the State edu- 

 cational funds, and the 7-per-cent. bonds were de- 

 stroyed. The State educational funds will take 

 up as investments all outstanding 6-per-cent. 

 bonds of the State issued in 1873, now amounting 

 to $764,800, and they will at their maturity, Jan. 

 1, 1903, be refunded in 3-per-cent. bonds, to be 

 issued to those funds. The total outstanding 

 bonds of the State amount to $1,032,500. After 

 Jan. 1, 1903, all these bonds will be held by the 

 State educational funds as investments, and will 

 bear 3 per cent, interest. The State has no float- 

 ing debt. The interest on the bonded indebtedness 

 of the State paid in 1901 amounted to $68,776.50. 



Valuations. The assessed valuation on prop- 

 erty of all kinds for 1900 was $96,686,954, an 

 increase of $3,159,600 over the assessed valuation 

 for 1899. The report of the Comptroller gives the 

 following data: Number of horses, asses, and 

 mules, 53,055; neat and stock cattle, 484,661; 

 sheep and goats, 116,236; hogs and dogs, 288,919; 

 full cash value of animals, $4,834,698; value of 

 all other personal property, $12,163,354; aggre- 

 gate value of all real estate, $60,175,465; per- 

 sonal property, $16,998,052; railroads and roll- 

 ing stock, $19,250,113; telegraph-lines, $263,324. 

 Total value of property returned for taxation in 

 1900, $96,686,954. 



Banks. According to the statement of the 

 Comptroller, on Jan. 1, 1901, 23 incorporated 

 banks were doing business under the laws of the 

 State. At the close of business Dec. 31, 1900, 

 their assets amounted to $4,773,016.11, an increase 

 over the assets on Jan. 1, 1900, reported as $3,- 

 862,541.21, of $910,474.90. Five of the State banks 

 are savings-banks, or have savings departments. 

 On Jan. 1, 1901, these reported assets of $2,061,- 

 974.57. 



Education. The latest report of the Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, covering the years 

 1899-1900, gives these statistics: Number of 

 schools in 1900, 2,443; for whites, 1,813; for ne- 

 groes, 630. School population (six to twenty-one 

 years of age) in 1900, 161,428, divided as follows: 

 White, 93,351; negro, 68,077. Children enrolled 

 in public schools in 1900, 108,874, divided as 

 follows: White males, 34,249; white females, 32,- 

 828; negro males, 19,716; negro females, 22,081. 

 Average length of school term in 1900, both races, 

 ninety-three days, divided as follows: Whites, 

 95 ; negroes, 87. Illiterates between ten and twen- 

 ty-one, both races, 4,031, divided as follows: 

 Whites, 779; negroes, 3,252. The United ' States 

 census of 1900 gives the percentage of illiterates 

 above twenty-one years in the State as 8.4, next 

 to the lowest among the Southern States. 



Number of teachers employed in 1900, both 

 races, 2,729, divided as follows: White teachers, 

 2,084; negro teachers, 645; white male teachers, 

 713; white female teachers, 1,371; negro male 

 teachers, . 294 ; negro female teachers, 351. Aver- 

 age monthly salaries paid teachers, both races, in 

 1900, $34.58, divided as follows: White teachers, 

 $36.81; negro teachers, $27.67; white male teach- 

 ers, $42.20; white female teachers, $34.22; negro 



male teachers, $29.06; negro female teachers, 

 $26.36. Expenditures for schools, both races, in 



1900, $656,804, divided as follows: White schools, 

 $522,919; negro schools, $133,885. Per capita cost 

 of all schools in 1900 for each person in the State, 

 $1.24; per pupil enrolled, $6.03. 



The appropriation of the State in 1900 for the 

 partial support of normal, military, and indus- 

 trial schools was $42,626.92. 



The school for the deaf and blind had an en- 

 rolment of 65 for the school year ending June 30, 



1901, divided as follows: White, 42; negro, 23; 

 white deaf boys, 17; white deaf girls, 17; white 

 blind boys, 6; white blind girls, 2; negro deaf 

 boys, 10; negro deaf girls, 8; negro blind boys, 5. 

 The appropriation for the school for the year end- 

 ing June 30, 1901, was $10,000. The Legislature 

 of 1901 increased the amount of the annual ap- 

 propriation to $12,000, and made a separate ap- 

 propriation of $4,500 for repairs and other ex- 

 penses. 



Charities. The Hospital for the Insane on 

 Jan. 1, 1901, had 600 patients. In the year, up 

 to Dec. 25, 1901, 270 new patients were admitted. 

 These were: Whites, 166; negroes, 104; white 

 males, 96; white females, 70; negro males, 67; 

 negro females, 37. More patients were admitted 

 during 1901 than during any previous year in the 

 history of the hospital. The State in 1900 ex- 

 pended $68,302.63 in the maintenance of the hos- 

 pital. The average monthly per capita expense 

 in 1900 was $9.36. 



Agriculture. Reliable sources give the follow- 

 ing data as approximating the value of the 

 State's agricultural productions in 1900: Sea is- 

 land cotton, $2,125,000; upland cotton, $1,400,- 

 000; corn, $2,500,000; oats, $270,000; sweet pota- 

 toes, $735,000; Irish "potatoes, $80,000; sugar-cane 

 products, $645,500; rice, $75,000; field peas, $315,- 

 000; hay, $245,000; peanuts, $1,500,000; tobacco, 

 $720,000; cabbage, $110,000; beans, $175,000; cel- 

 ery, $125,000; tomatoes, $1,000,000; other vege- 

 tables, $193,000; watermelons and cantaloups, 

 $225,000; strawberries, $245,000; peaches and 

 pears, $90,000; oranges, $1,212,500; grapefruit, 

 $182,000; pineapples, $600,000. Number of cattle 

 in the State, 460,000; value of cattle marketed, 

 $1,433,320; number of sheep, 75,000; value of 

 wool, $60,000; number of hogs, 320,000; value 

 marketed, $320,000; value of poultry sold, $250,- 

 000; value of eggs sold, $400,000; value of dairy- 

 products, $840,000; value of honey, $40,000. 



The secretary of the State Agricultural College 

 makes the following statements: The State has 

 the largest apiary in the world, 3,000 colonies; 

 the largest watermelon farm in the world, 2,300 

 acres; the largest tomato farm in the world, 250 

 acres ; the largest pineapple plantation in the 

 world, 65 acres; the largest cigar-tobacco farm in 

 the world, 1,000 acres; the largest fenced stock- 

 range east of the Mississippi, 25,000 acres; the 

 largest flock of sheep east of the Mississippi, 15,- 

 000 head; the largest velvet-bean plantation in 

 the world, 1,300 acres; the largest citrus-tree nuf- 

 sery in the world. 



Railroads and Telegraphs. The railroad 

 mileage in Florida in 1901 was 3,147.13 miles of 

 main track, with 361.21 miles of branches and 

 sidings. The assessed valuation of the railroads 

 in the State was $19,323,699.16. In 1900 the mile- 

 age of the main track was 3,109.70 miles, with 

 341.32 miles of branch, side, and switch track. 

 The total assessed valuation in 1900 was $19,190,- 

 310.81.' The gross earnings of the railroads doing 

 business in Florida were $7,142,134 in 1900; oper- 

 ating expenses, $5,252,821. 



There were 2,952.40 miles of telegraph-lines 



