298 



FLORIDA. 



FORBES, ALEXANDER P. 



delivered at Jacksonville on the 24th of March, 

 it was claimed that the climate was not only 

 adapted to the cultivation of the best tropical 

 fruits, but was preeminently healthy and de- 

 lightful at all times of the year. It was stated 

 that in almost any part of the State 100 orange- 

 trees could be raised on an acre of land, pro- 

 ducing 1,000 oranges to each tree, worth at 

 least a cent a piece to the grower. This would 

 make the gross revenue of an acre of land 

 planted with orange-trees $1,000 a year. It 

 was also said that lemons could be grown to 

 advantage, larger and finer flavored than any 

 from the Mediterranean. Pineapples of the 

 most luscious quality were grown on the islands 

 of Southern Florida, and their production could 

 be increased to almost any extent. Bananas, 

 guavas, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, mangoes, paw- 

 paws, Spanish plums, avocado pears, Otaheite 

 apples, and other tropical fruits, were men- 

 tioned as growing with great perfection on 

 Florida soil. It was also said that sugar-plan- 

 tations yielded $500 to the acre, and that the 

 State was capable of supplying the whole 

 country with this product. Tapioca, arrow- 

 root, and cassava, were enumerated as among 

 the profitable products of the State, besides 

 medicinal plants of great value, cotton, tobac- 

 co, and a variety of the most valuable grasses. 

 In an address before the Medical Association 

 of the State on the " Climatology of Florida," 

 by A. S. Baldwin, M. D., results were given 

 of observations at various stations extending 

 over a period of many years. The mean tem- 

 perature of the entire State was given as 71.62 

 in spring, 80.51 in summer, 71.66 in autumn, 

 and 60.04 in winter, or 74.87 for the whole 

 year. The difference between the northern and 

 southern stations is given as 4.28 degrees in 

 spring, 1.83 in summer, 6.34 in autumn, and 

 5.40 in winter. It is seldom that the temper- 

 ature is as low as 20 in winter or higher than 

 90 in summer. The average number of frosts 

 at Jacksonville in twenty-seven years has been 

 5.4 in January, 3.1 in February, 1.3 in March, 

 0.2 in April, 0.2 in October, 2.3 in November, 

 and 5.2 in December. In the same period the 

 first frost came in October four times, in No- 

 vember sixteen times, and in December seven 

 times, and very few frosts have occurred in 

 April. From twenty- two years' observation 

 it has been found that the average number of 

 clear days was 20.3 in January, 19.5 in Febru- 

 ary, 20.4 in March, 25 in April, 22.1 in May, 

 17.1 in June, 18.5 in July, 19.1 in August, 17*2 

 in September, 19.2 in October, 20 in November, 

 and 20 in December. The relative humidity 

 was for January 67.20, for February 67.15, for 

 March 57.50, for April 63.20, for May 62.60, 

 for June 73.3, for July 74.7, for August 73.4, 

 for September 76.8, for October 74.4, for No- 

 vember 71.6, for December 74. What is called 

 the rainy season ordinarily begins about the 

 middle of June and continues sixty days, but 

 oscillates about a month either way. The av- 

 erage rainfall is '9.09 inches for the spring 



months, 21.16 for summer, 12.64 for autumn, 

 and 7.90 for winter, or 50.97 for the year. 



The unsold school lands of the State amount- 

 ed at the beginning of the year to 589,508 

 acres, seminary lands 38,714 acres, internal im- 

 provement lands 216,000 acres, swamp and over- 

 flowed lands 10,676,919 acres, besides 4,326,007 

 acres to which the State is entitled, but for 

 which patents have not yet been issued. Much 

 has been done and is doing to induce immigra- 

 tion into the State. The results thus far are 

 not altogether satisfactory. 



The bonded debt of the State in January 

 was as follows : 



Bonds issued previously to 1871 

 with interest to January 1, 1874, 

 to be exchanged for bonds of 1873 



Bonds of 1873, sold 



Bonds of 1878 exchanged for other 

 bonds 



Bonds of 1878 exchanged for Con- 

 troller's warrants 



Bonds of 1871 



Bonds due school fund 



Bonds due seminary fund 



Deduct amount of bonds in sinking 



fund for payment of bonds of 1871 $15,600 00 

 Deduct amount of bonds in sink- 



$312,522 50 

 800,000 00 



191,900 00 



17,300 00 

 850,000 00 

 190,752 63 



71,292 45 



$1,433,767 5S 



ing fund for payment of bonds 

 of 1878 .... 



Total bonded debt, less bonds 

 in sinking fund 



00- 88,900 00 



$1,394,667 58 



There were also warrants and certificates 

 outstanding to the amount of $185,646.14. 

 The receipts of the Treasury for 1874, the last 

 for which there is any official report, were 

 $401,679.68; expenditures, $292,037.37. The 

 receipts of the year from taxes and license fees 

 were $368,459.97. 



The number of public schools in the State 

 in 1873 was 511 ; in 1874, 557; number of pu- 

 pils in 1873, 19,196; in 1874, 20,911. The 

 amount of money received from State and 

 county for educational purposes in 1873 was 

 $94,102.77; for 1874, $95, 774.53; total amount 

 expended in 1873, $103,907.06; in 1874, 

 $139,870.61. The interest derived from the 

 common-school fund in 1874 was $15,039.30. 

 The amount obtained from the Peabody fund 

 was $8,000. The work of building the State 

 Agricultural College at Eau Gallie on Indian 

 River is in progress. 



FORBES, ALEXANDEB PONEOSE, a bishop of 

 the Scotch Episcopal Church, was born in Ed- 

 inburgh in 1817 ; died October 8, 1875. He 

 was the son of Lord Medwyn, a Scottish Judge 

 of Sessions. He graduated from Brasenose Col- 

 lege, Oxford, in 1844, and was soon afterward, 

 ordained. In 1847 he was consecrated Bishop 

 of Brechin, and at the same time received the 

 honorary degree of D. C. L. He wrote a con- 

 siderable number of devotional works, among 

 which the " Commentaries " on the Canticles, 

 the Litany, the Seven Penitential Psalms, and 

 the Te Deum, are best known. He held very 

 advanced High-Church views, and was more 

 than once suspected of an intention to join the 

 Roman Catholic Church. 



