Information gathered in the last decade by the U.S. General concentrations of citrus can be shown on a map of Florida though concentrations within the county may be distorted. The county citrus statistic is then divided by the number of blocks occurring within its border, the quotient providing the value assigned to each of these equal area units. Values assigned to the blocks are derived by noting how many blocks coincide with the county area.
(See figure 2.) Thus, the State may be divided into equal area square blocks without reference to the county boundaries. One way of creating such a standard areal unit would be to superimpose on the map of Florida a set of uniformly spaced grid lines. There is a need for a smaller standard size area for more precision measurement and comparison of relative concentrations of citrus cultivation. County information poses a problem of measuring areal distributions as variation in county size makes it difficult to establish standard size units of production. This was county data of acreages planted and boxes harvested, and until recently all information has been presented in this manner. Statistical information on the location of citrus groves is available as early as 1880 from the United States Census of Agriculture. The purpose of this paper is to measure the shifts in the growing areas, past and present, and to determine some reasons why these shifts occur. At the present time little citrus is produced along the lower Saint John’s River where the initial boom took place. Since that time, the citrus growing areas of Florida have been shifting to more southerly locations on the peninsula. A general expansion of citrus lands followed, mostly to the south of the earlier producing areas.
An enlarged market for citrus fruit in northern cities was met with increased production in Florida. Railroad construction in the 1880’s and 1890’s provided transportation to other ports of Florida.