upland seed cotton, from 750 to 1,000 pounds; sea-island cotton, 800 pounds; crab-grass hay, 5,000 pounds, but 10,000 on the best lands; sorghum forage, 10,000 pounds; corn fodder, 200 pounds; sugar-cane syrup, 250 to 300 gallons.

There is an increased interest in beef cattle and in better milk breeds, the Jersey being the favorite milch-cow. The pasturage is excellent, besides which, cattle are fed on hay, bran and cotton seed meal.

In 1890 Worth county had 15,026 cattle, 269 being working oxen and 3,897 milch-cows, of which there were 115 from pure breed to one half bred and higher. The production of milk was 313,918 gallons, and of butter, 68,184 pounds. The 14,294 sheep gave a wool-clip of 32,629 pounds. There were 703 horses, 1,118 mules, 20,557 hogs and 51,310 domestic fowls of all varieties. The production of eggs was 79,219 dozens, and of honey, 3,899 pounds.

Quail and doves constitute the game of the county.

Vegetables, berries and melons in sufficient quantities for home consumption are raised. The people raised fewer melons than usual in 1900, alleging as a reason the freight rates, which ate up all the profits.

The acreage devoted to peaches is 1,000; to apples, 200; to pears, 400; to plums and cherries, 50 each. There are 4 vineyards, embracing in all 150 acres. About half of the grapes are sold in the markets, and from 25 per cent. of the whole number raised wine is made. From Poulan, thousands of grapes are shipped.

About 5,000 acres of woodland consist of pine, and 5,000 of cypress, hickory and gum. The annual output of lumber is 6,000,000 superficial feet, selling at an average price of $8.00 a thousand feet.

The minerals are clay, limestone and sandstone, but none of them are at this time being mined.

There are excellent water-powers in the county. Two hundred horsepowers are used by Mercer's flour and grist-mill. At Sylvester are two such mills, of which Haine's Mill is operated by water and Welch's by steam. At Willingham there is a large lumber and shingle mill; also large planing-mills with a drying capacity of 20,000 feet a day. At Ashburn are mills with a capacity of 50,000 feet of rough lumber and 50,000 shingles a day; also planing-mills with a capacity of 25,000 to 30,000 feet in a day. There are in the county several smaller mills with a capacity of from 5,000 to 6,000 feet a day.

There are in operation 12 turpentine stills. There is a fertilizer manufactory in course of construction at Sylvester, and a cotton factory being built at Poulan.

There are in the county two wagon and carriage factories, valued at $1,000 each.

Isabella, the county seat, has a court-house worth $20,000. There are in the county three banks, one at Sylvester with a capital of $15,000, one at Poulan, $15,000, and one at Ashburn, $20,000. There are 2 life and fire insurance agencies at Sylvester, one at Ty Ty, and 2 at Ashburn. In each of these towns are several successful mercantile establishments.

Ashburn, with a population of 1,301, is the largest town in the county. The district including Ashburn has 3,025 inhabitants. Next is Sylvester,

with 552 inhabitants. The whole district which includes it has a population of 1,612.

The receipts and shipments of cotton from the entire county are 7,500 bales. Of these 3,000 are handled at Sylvester. By the census report of 1900 there were ginned in this county 9,296 bales of upland and 1,189 bales of sea-island cotton during the season of 1899-1900.

Baptists and Methodists are the leading denominations, and their churches are scattered all over the county.

Worth county has 51 schools for white pupils and 23 for colored, with an average attendance in the white schools of 1,544 and in the colored schools of 762.

The area of Worth county is 778 square miles, or 497,920 acres. Population in 1900, 18,664, an increase of 8,616 since 1890; school fund, $10,421.57.

By the Comptroller-General's report for 1900 there are: acres of improved land, 372,328; of wild land, 80,351; average value per acre of improved land, $2.53; of wild land, $1.29; city and town property, $175,131; shares in bank, $18,261; money and solvent debts, $198,347; merchandise, $110,879; stocks and bonds, $1,718; cotton manufactories, $7,162; iron works, $5,025; mining, $135; household and kitchen furniture, $134,151; farm and other animals, $274,382; plantation and mechanical tools, $52,862; watches, jewelry, etc., $7,610; value of all other property, $183,512; real estate, $1,197,840; personal estate, $998,943. Aggregate value of whole property, $2,196,783.

Property returned by colored taxpayers: acres of land, 10,806; value of same, $26,210; city and town property, $6,499; merchandise, $717; money and solvent debts, $900; household and kitchen furniture, $18,409; watches, jewelry, etc., $287; farm and other animals, $26,312; plantation and mechanical tools, $5,627; value of all other property, $1,395. Aggregate value of whole property, $86,356.

The tax returns for 1901 show an increase of $240,561 in the value of all property, as compared with the returns for 1900.

Population of Worth County by sex and color, according to the census of 1900: white males, 5,286; white females, 4,966; total white, 10,252; colored males, 4,584; colored females, 3,828; total colored, 8,412.

Domestic animals in barns and inclosures, not on farm or ranges, June 1, 1900: 221 calves, 204 steers, 11 bulls, 260 dairy cows, 163 horses, 275 mules, 1,601 swine, 12 goats.

From the Comptroller-General's report for 1901 we take the following:

STATEMENT SHOWING THE ASSESSED VALUE OF THE WHOLE TAX-
ABLE PROPERTY OF THE STATE AND THE STATE TAX
LEVY FOR EACH OF THE YEARS, BEGIN-

NING WITH 1879.

1879.

1880.

1881.

1882.

1883.

1884.

1885.

1886.

1887.

1888.

1889.

1890

1891

1892.

1893

1894.

1895

1896.

1897.

1898.

1899.

1900.

1901.

9,866,129 $234,959,548 31⁄2 mills. 238,934,126 12,490,525 251,424,651 32 66 254,252,630 16,741,258 270,993,888 3 268,519,976 18,729,427 287,249,408 3 284,881,951 22,030,404 306,921,355 22 294,885,370 22,188,901 317,074,271 3 299,146,798 22,548,818 321,695,616 32 306,507,578 22,981,927 329,489,655 32 316,605,328 24,899,592 341,504,021 3.77 66 327,863,331 29,304,127 357,167,458 3.56 345,938,837 34,250,477 380,189,314 4 377,366,784 38,462,161 415,828,945 3.96 402,586,468 42,383,287 444,969,755 5.08 66 421,149,509 42,604,025 463,753,534 4.85 410,644,753 42,000,154 452,644,907 4.61 64 388,428,748 40,584,775 429,012,923 4.37 370,739,521 39,952,572 410,692,093 4.56 370,526,638 42,780,835 413,307,473 4.56 66 370,034,912 42,286,457 412,321,369 5.21 369,118,103 42,695,508 411,813,911 6.21 "" 372,927,077 43,933,411 414,860,488 5.36 46,181,721 434,335,134 5.20 46 51,554,897 456,347,034 5.44

To the railroad assessments must be added the estimated value of the property of the roads having charter exemptions from ad valorem taxation, which, at a conservative valuation, is worth $20,000,000, which would make the total value of this property $71,554,897.

In order to show in detail to what extent some of the chief classes of our property have increased, the following interesting statement is taken from the Comptroller-General's report:

The following is the school fund estimate, 1901 :