204 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
rather deep, and need constant fertilization. As the quantity of 
stable manure available is very small, proper soil management must 
include the growing of crops to be turned under. In no other way 
can organic matter, in which the soils are mostly deficient, be eco¬ 
nomically supplied. Even those soils containing considerable or¬ 
ganic matter are improved by plowing in some coarse materials. 
The heavier hammock soils would also be improved by deeper plow¬ 
ing and the turning under of coarse materials. It has been found 
that the growing of peanuts, cowpeas, and velvet beans on even the 
lightest soils increases their water-holding capacity and makes them 
much more productive. An old method of manuring the land, that 
of “stock penning,” is still in vogue. By this method the stock are 
kept in a small inclosure, an acre or two, and the pen changed when 
it is thought the soil has been sufficiently enriched. This practice 
is only followed for a few weeks prior to planting. The practice 
is good, but more effort should be put forth to make stable manure 
through the year. A considerable quantity could be produced by 
keeping the stock corralled at night. At present they are not 
sheltered. 
As is the case throughout the greater part of the State, the rural 
population of this area is sparse, and only a small proportion of 
the land is occupied and in farms. There is considerable forested 
land in this area, and while the turpentine operators and the saw¬ 
mills have reached all parts, there are yet a considerable number of 
trees left, which are gradually increasing in value. 
The size of the farms is steadily decreasing. In 1880, according 
to the census figures, the average size of farms was 151 acres; in 
1890 it had decreased to 97 acres, and with the division of large 
areas of land into 10-acre plots during the last few years it must 
now be still less. There are holdings, however, varying from 5 tc 
10 acres in the intensive-trucking hammock lands to hundreds of 
acres, while large tracts of rolling pine land exist upon which no 
clearings have been made. 
While up to recent years the farms have been worked almost 
entirely by the owners, there is now an increase in lands worked by 
tenants. The basis’of renting varies with the land and conditions, 
and no general plan is followed. Farm labor has become scarce and 
commands good wages, almost equal to those for ordinary labor on 
public works. The labor is mostly negro—men, women, and the 
larger children being employed. 
