WATER SUPPLY OE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN EEORIDA. 123 
of the St. Johns River extensive areas of open flatwoods occur. 
Along the border of the uplands, back from the river and from 
the coast, a different type of topography has developed, consisting 
largely of the sandy or rolling pine type of soil although scrub 
hammock lands occur. These several types of country are due 
to a considerable extent to the drainage conditions. On the sum¬ 
mit of the plateau, in the interior of Florida, palmetto flatwoods 
and to some extent open flatwoods are again encountered. 
CLIMATE. 
The counties of Florida, covered by this report, lie bordering 
or near the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf, and are favorably 
located for a mild and equable climate. The heat of summer, a? 
elsewhere in Florida, is tempered by the proximity to the ocean. 
By varying the crops, the growing season can be made to extend 
practically throughout the year. 
TEMPERATURE. 
As the total length of the section covered by this report 
extends north and south fully 425 miles, the temperature varies 
appreciably between northern and southern points. At Jackson¬ 
ville, in Duval County, within about 25 miles of the north line 
of the State, the mean annual temperature is 69 degrees Fahren¬ 
heit. The means for the four seasons of the year are as follows: 
Winter, 56; Spring, 69; Summer, 81; Fall, 70. The absolute 
maximum for summer heat recorded at Jacksonville is 104, 
although temperatures above 100 are rare. The lowest tempera¬ 
ture recorded is 10 above zero. The mean temperatures for the 
several months of the year at Jacksonville are as follows: 
January, 55 ; February, 58 ; March, 63 ; April, 68 ; May, 75 ; June, 
80; July, 82; August, 82 ; September, 78; October, 71; Novem¬ 
ber, 62; December, 56.* 
At New Smyrna, in Volusia County, a station about 100 miles 
*United States Weather Bureau Bull. Q, Climatology of the Eastern 
United States, by Alfred Judson Henry, p. 352, 1906. 
