The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1906-06-08
FROM FERTILE FLORIDA.
What They Are Doing in the Land of
the Grapefruit and Pine.

Oak Hill potato shippers have been
getting good returns.
Catalogues are still moving in car
load lots from anthony.
Heavy rains have been of much ben
eft to the Indianola orange crop.
A young business man of Ocala pro-
poses to set out 500-acre pecan grove.
Orange trees at Geneva are looking
fine. There will be a fair crop there
this season.
Again cantaloupes are on the break
fast table-good old Florida melons
well ENTHUSIASTICALLY netting the
grower a nice little pile.
Ten carloads of tomatoes were
shipped fro mPlant City one day last
week.
A new industry is about 10 be start
ed near Homestead in the raising Of
bananas for market.
l. T. Hodge went to Gomez last fall
knowing nothin gof tomato farming,
yet he has made $500 an acre on his
first planting.
Too much rain just now will be none
TOO good for the pfneapples, as it viii
make them too soft and watery to
stand shipping.
There are 100 acres of watermelons
planted at Montclair and 800 in the
section around Leesburg.
Two cars of watermeIons were loaded
at Bowling Green last week for the
northern market, the first of the sea-
son.
Reports from Batting Hollow, L. l..
are that the potatoes are coming up
nicely. There is some complaint of po-
tato bugs.
During the last 30 days the bank has
paid over $1SO,OOO to the truckers at
Plant City, the larger part of which
was for tomatoes.
Sorrento growers have been greatly
favored by copious showers. and mel
ons and cantaIoupes are moving along
at rapid rate.
Around Baton Rouge, La. the bean
crop has been damaged greatly by a
fungus growth. which is giving great
deal of trouble.
The key pineapple crop is now NOV
ing rapidly and being marketed as fast
as vessels can bring them from the
farms to Miami.
A farmer at Hastings recently sold
his GO acres of Irish potatoes for
$1,000. Yet there are people who persist
in raising 7-cent cotton.
Tony Masters of EIkton, st. Johns
-1unty, had the honor of shipping the
first car of Irish potatoes from that
county this season.
1t has been stated by a gentleman
who buys them that the Strawberries
grown in Bradford county are the fin-
est grown in the United States.
H. Cullen of Oak Hill is in Pompano
building a packing house at his pine
apple plantation and shipping his
pines. He expects about 500 crates.
Reports from Gomez are that the
pineapples. though good, are a little
late. This will give the pines chance
TO become larger before being shipped.
William Deubel of OcaIa has just
commenced shipping his tomatoes from
two and one-half acres. He has a very
fine stand and looks for good returns.
George NJ. Cooper, of Sanibel, has
been shipping many watermelons to
eastern markets the past three weeks,
and has been receiving good returns
for them.
II. G. Watson, one of the tomato
kings Of Coleman, expects to ship from
eight to ten cars of tomatoes and from
present indications has small fortune
in sight.
The truckers at Fort LauderdaIe felt
so good over their success with thier
crops this year that they celebrated
over it by a basket picnic last week
and had a good time.
Cullen Pence shipped the first solid
carload of pines from Boynton this
season. The car contained 800 crates
and is the result OF his first half acre
planted nine years ago.
Judge Shuttleworth, of Rochelle, has
200 acres planted in watermelons and