The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-04-21
FLORIDA CLIMATE
COMPARED WITH
THAT Of THE NORTH

Patriot, Mr.. E. w. Barber says:
When thunderstorms come and
peach trees bloom in Michigan win
ter is supposed to be over. Both of
these evidences Of spring are here.
Soon orange blossoms will be per-
Tuning the sunny air. When the
breeze is softest and the air light
est especially if waited over water,
the fragrance of the marriage uow-
ers can be realized two. to three
miles from grove.
The weather is superb. Mr.. Hol-
peters thermometer registered 76
degrees last Tuesday. The cooelst
spell came in December. Thus far
there has been more rainy and
cloudy weather in Florida than dur
ing any winter for many years. The
water in Crooked Lake is eight to
ten inches higher than it was two
months ago. The new supply has
all come from the clouds, as the lake
has no surface inlet, and no current
flows down its hillsides, for the soil
absorbs every drop as 1t falls.
One realizes the extremes of eli
mate to read in the Patriot a press
dispatch from Marquette, Michigan,
that at Humb6idt. near there, the
mercury sank to 48 degrees below
zero, and government thermometers
tell the truth; while here the tenn
prature was SO to 76 above. For
equality of climate South Florida is
without rival in this country. For
about forty years the United States
weather bureau has been making
daily observations with its self-reg-
isterinw thermometers, and during
that entire period the hottest NOM
ent of the hottest day at Tampa was
Sc degrees; while at Marquette, in
Northern Michigan, the highest was
108 degrees, out-hotting Tampa by
10 degrees.
For the lowest extremes during
the period Marquette shows q be-
low, and Tampa 10 above, with a
mean temperature at Tampasfor July
of 80 and for January of 81, and at
Marquette for the same months Of
IS and 10. More and more the
southern climate will inevitably be
potent economic factor in its IA
vor. and the same is true OF the
longer daylight hours in the winter.
At this season Of the year there
is over an hour and half more
time between sunrise and sunset in
this portion Of Florida than there is
in Northern Michigan, giving that
much longer daylight for labor be-
tween sunrise and sunset In this
section. This, too, is an economic
factor in favor of the South, as we'll
as in saving artificial light and
heat.
Rainfall is an important feature.
The mean annual precipitation Of
rain and snow at Detroit is a fair
criterion for the best agricultural
section of Southern Michigan, and
this is given by the U. s. weather
bureau as 1922 inches; while at
Tampa the official record for the
same period gives 53.1 inches, or
over 81 inches the most, and here
there is no surplus.
! Students of air currents, and of
the laws that govern the precipita-
tion of moisture in its relation to
agriculture, tell US that the bulk Of
the annual rainfall over the great
central section Of the United States,
naturally one of the finest and most
productive farming areas Of the
globe, comes from evaporation OF
the waters of the Gulf of Mexico
and the caribbean Sea, and the pre-
vailing southerly winds blow this
heavily moistened air over the land.
Reaching the cool attitudes of the
Allegheny mountains the moisture
is condensed, and al the air cur
rents thus laden with moisture blow
over the country and into Michigan,
rain in summer and snow in winter
are natural results.
AS we 60 north the annual rain
fall decreases. From SO inches at
Tampa it falls to 40 inches at At
ilanta, SO at at Cincinnati and 80 at
Detroit. At Nef Orleans it is 81 in
ches, at st. Louis 81; at Chicago 3S
at st. Paul 80 inches. Always the
melted snow is included in making
up the total. In Florida much the
largest precipitation is in the sum
mer months, and mainly the fall
is in frequent showers rather thar
in long downpours.
Among the Gulf cities Mobile
leads with 60 inches for year. and
it is noticeable that at Birmingham
in the same state, the decrease is Il
40 1-2 inches, at indianapolis to Al
inches. The least in the United
States is at Yuma, Arizona, 81 in
ches yearly. The highest given IL
California is 25 inches at Red Blum
20 at Sacramento. and the least II
at San Diego.
These natural conditions hav'
. much to do with the cost Of pro
4 duction. and the economy of living
isoil. sA4Aahine aadk-rain are the es