“ A constitutional convention may be called if demanded by a two-thirds vote of each House and the approval of the majority of the State electors voting at a general election. Suffrage is granted to male persons of twenty-one years, who are citizens of the United States, or who shall have declared their intention of becoming such, and have lived in Florida one year and in the county six months. ”

“ Rivaling corn in value of product is cotton, over one-half of the acreage being devoted to the sea-island variety, the State ranking next to Georgia in the acreage devoted to this plant. The total production of cotton, however, is small compared with that of the other southern coast States, and there has been no tendency to increase for a number of years. Tobacco, beans, peas, and peanuts are extensively grown, the last being of greatest importance. The value of the peanut crop has exceeded $900,000 for a year; the area devoted to the nuts in 1899 was two and a half times that of 1889. ”

“ Manufacturing has always held a minor place in the economic activities of the State, but recently it has made remarkable progress. The total annual product ($48,000,000) more than doubled during the last decade of the nineteenth century. The manufacture of cigars and cigarettes is of great importance. This is confined largely to the southern portion of Florida—particularly to Tampa and Key West—and is the outgrowth of the immigration of Cubans to these parts. ”

“ The educational status is attributable to the presence of a large negro population, though the burden of negro education in itself is not so prominent a factor in the situation as is usually supposed. ”

“ In 1898 the public lands of the State—exclusive of swamp lands granted to the State—amounted to 1,757,000 acres. The State contains much excellent pasture land, especially in the central portion, and rapidly increasing numbers of cattle are raised. The decrease shown in the table in the number of dairy cows is only an apparent one, being due to a change in census methods. Horses, swine, and sheep are raised in considerable numbers. The following tables show the relative importance of the principal crops and farm animals, and the changes which occurred in the last census decade:
Manufactures. ”

“ The negro farmers are centred largely in the cotton-growing counties, and the white landlord still in great part owns the farm implements and working animals used by the negro tenant; but the status of the negro farmer, as indicated by census comparisons, has improved, particularly during the last decade of the century. ”

“ After 1882 the reclamation of swamp lands in the south of the peninsula was carried on on a large scale, and led to the development of the sugar industry. The discovery of rich phosphate deposits in 1889 improved economic conditions greatly, and the growing popularity of eastern Florida as a winter resort has further enhanced its prosperity. The present Constitution was adopted in 1886. In politics, both State and National, Florida since 1876 has been invariably Democratic. ”

“ The coastal lands are low, monotonously level, and often marshy. The grassy Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp cover a large portion of the peninsula south of Lake Okeechobee, and there are large areas of swampland in the northern part, especially along the lower course of the Apalachicola River, and west of Saint Mary's River where the Okefinokee Swamp extends just south of the Georgia State line. ”

“ Toward the interior of the peninsula the surface rises very gradually to an altitude of more than 100 feet, the central ridge in places reaching nearly 300 feet. Western Florida resembles southern Alabama in its surface features and is generally hilly and well wooded. The Florida Keys, stretching in a curved line 200 miles long from Biscayne Bay southwestward into the Gulf, are remarkable examples of the work of coral organisms. ”

“ The most important factor in the manufactures of the State is its extensive forest area, which yields nearly one-half of the value of the total manufactured product. The forests cover over two-thirds of the total land area, the long-leaved pine extending over about 6000 square miles. From the forests of pitch-pine, tar, turpentine, and rosin are produced, and these products have increased during the last decade from almost nothing to a large figure. ”

“ The hard-rock and land-pebble deposits are worked either by sinking pits through the light overburden or by hydraulic mining. River pebble occurs in the basins of the Peace, Caloosahatchee, and Alafia rivers, but it is found only along the Peace in deposits of sufficient extent to warrant exploitation. ”

“ Where the character of the soil is favorable, trees and smaller plants grow in profusion of species and, especially in the southern part, with tropical luxuriance. Some of the common species are magnolia, live oak, persimmon, sweet-gum, passion-flower, pitcher-plant, hibiscus, and wistaria. ”

“ A bill may embrace but one subject, and may originate in either House. All impeachments are made by the House and tried by the Senate. A two-thirds vote of the members present in each House overrides the Governor's veto. ”

“ Florida also produces most of the domestic supply of fuller's earth from deposits near Quincy. The output in 1900 was 11,813 short tons, valued at $70,565. There are no metallic mines in the State.
Fisheries. The long coast-line of the State gives the advantage of extensive adjacent fishing waters. And while the fisheries are not fully developed, they are more important than those of any other Gulf State. In 1897 6100 men were engaged in the industry, about four-fifths of them on the Gulf coast, and the product was valued at $1,100,000. ”

“ They form a continuous reef, the upper portions of which have been extended both vertically and laterally by accretions of sand and floating materials, and by the growth of vegetation until now there are many habitable islands. ”