Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1925-03-26
Letter From Florida


Morsan County Democrat:-ThF
5s a raw of sunshine from about q
degrees north latitude, but the de
gree OF latitude does not tell all the
story You may be able to figure
ont inst how far south of this place
the sun is today. and just what day
of what month it will be that many
degrees and seconds south OF your
,,arricular degree of latitude, but at
that YOU will be unable to tell the
lind of weather we are having, be-
cause the farther north one goes, the
farther behind the sun the season
drass.
BEFORE the air can get warm in
Ohio. the earth must be free from
its burden of snow and frost. In
Florida. this part especially, there
is no snow. and very seldom IS
there any frost, and never any frost
in the ground for more than day
or two. so the seasons here do not
arag SO far behind the sun as they
40 increasingly as we get farther
north
Probably this is a little bit of
physical geography that you may
never have thought of-is new to
ne assure you,-neyer thought Of
u in Just that light until | came
down here.
OF course there are other factors
That modify the climate in this sub
Aopical region-for instance, there
y an ocean or one side Of it, and a
Large gulf on the other-that Won
dprful gulf with its warm stream Of
water modifies even the climate OF
western Europe.
Then there are the numerous
small lakes that abound in This
region. making it different from that
of the coasts-it neither gets so hot
Il. summer. nor so cold in winter, as
some other parts Of the state.
This is part of the highland
region of F,orida-is about 240 feet
above sea level. and part Of the back
bone Of the state that extends north
and south for over 100 miles. Win
ter Haven is in Polk county, the
richest county, per capita, of the
state-is said to be the richest
county per capita in the United
states; do not know if this claim is
valid or not. but give it for what It
j. worth
The principal industry is that Of
citrus erowin4-or rather was cit
ras growing until the last two years.
Rnt at present the all absorbing oc-
c,pation is laying out subdivisions
and selling town lots. and this ap-
plies 10 the state as we'll as 10 the
county.
We have had many spectacular
PUSHES 10 "Eldorados" in this coun-
try. beginning with that TO California
in 1919. and including those TO
Alaska, Oklahoma etc, but nothing
heretofore can compare with the
present Florida boom which started
some years ago, and which shows 10
signs OF diminishing 50 far.
Those other rushes were limited
in are4. but this is state wide and
state long-the latter term meaning
much more than the former, as Flor
ida has about 100 miles Of coast,
and is only little over 100 miles
wide at ihis part.
Fine bearing orange groves all
around here are being laid Nlt in
town lots. and bearing grove is
worth anywhere from 1920 to
$500 per acre. But at that they
stand no show-the march Of build
iae and progress can not stop for
orange groves. no matter how beau
tiful or valuable they may be.
Florida is Just a strip of land ly-
mg between the Atlantic ocean and
the Gulf OF Mexico Sand every
where. Sand, not mud. Three nun
dred and sixty-fve days OF a common
year, and 366 days of a leap year
one carries sand into the house on
his sand, not mud. as we said
before. OF course there are some
muck lands to which this will not
apply,
In Ohio the more it rains, the
deeper the mud, and the worse are
the clay roads. In Florida the more
it rains the better the sand roads,
dry sand gets fluffy and machine
makes deeper and deeper ruts in it;
when it rains, the sand will pack
and make better road than when
dry.
The roses and many other flowers
have been blooming ever since we
have been here, the birds are sing
ing now, and it looks like the best
part of May in Ohio.
1t frosted once in February, and
we had cold winds in both January
and February. but one could be out
of doors all the time by wearing
proper clothing-a cold wind here
does not mean the same temperature
it does in Ohio, although it means