The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1894-11-16

What ! Rool Nan can Do ii TIorids
With Energy and Perseverance,.


Is 81 +. II Times Union
It has been wisely said that what
man has done man can do, 2 and there
u no better proof Of what poor man
can do In Florida than to relate the ex-
perience Of one who has latey come un-
der my observation; IL is 50 full or les
sons for the farmer and for the fruit
grower, SO full Of facts, showing the
wonderful possibilities Of Florida, that
I feel it will be benefit, not only to
future Settlers but to many that are
here already, but who have not
achieved the JUL measure of success,
which is possible.
The facts are briefly thus: Four
years ago A. r. Cross came to Welsh
ton, accompanied by his wife and two
children; he was in very bad health
in fact, was confined to his bed for
four months, but the salubrious eli
mete and kind attention finally re-
stored him to perfect health. He
bought piece Of land in the woods,
such as is known in Florida as thigh
pins land.u He then built small
house, in which he was assisted by his
neIghbors, and bought mule. After
paying for his land, house and mule,
he had 50 and some cents left, but not
q tree cut or sign of fence. He went
to work and with his own hands
cleared and fenced twelve acres Of
land, working out meantime, to get
money to buy meat and bread with
and feed for his mule. He now has
the twelve acres in thorough state Of
cultivation, has built q barn, which is
full of hay made from cabgrass and
"Florida clovern (beggar weed, he
has 800 budded orange trees from two
to three years old, many of them bear
ing Il counted thirty-six oranges on a
two-year-old bud), and all are in as
fine condition as any grove lever saw.
He has 500 grape vines, 800 plum trees,
200 peach trees, and last, but by no
means least, he has 100 apple trees,
which, although only three years old,
have good crop Of fine apples this
year, some of them bearing two crops,
and are in bloom the third time. It
has generally been thought that APP
pies could not be grown successfully
IN South Florida, but Mr.. Cross has
solved the problem. The secret Is this !:
He gratis his apples upon stocks Of
the red haw, which grows wild
throughout Florida, aud which is 3
very hardy bush, but does not grow to
large size. He says he has never
seen finer apples grown anywhere
than he has rrised this year, and he
expects large crop mex. year. In adj
dition to the above fruits Mr.. Cross
raises all kinds of vegetables, of which
he sells more than enough to support
his family. On one plat Of onions be
produced at the rate Of 400 bushels per
acre, and one sweet potato weighed
eight and q halt pounds. He also
Il A1inS5 CL WHITES uaQ utHCE 5ui1ti
fruits, and makes enough corn and
hay to do him.
Although the entire farm is highly
fertilized, he has never bought q
pound Of commercial fertilizer; he
uses muck taken from pond on his
land, and soft phosphate, of which
there are large quantities in the neigh
borhood, and which only costs the
hauling.
MIR. Cross does not owe a dollar in
the world; he owns cows and stock;
his farm is more than self-sustaining,
producing enough to support his
family and very neat surplus be-
sides. He has not been sick a day
since his final recovery, and is enthu-
siastic over Florida, her soil, climate
and vast possibilities, which only need
intelligence, energy and perseverance
to develop.