The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1909-01-15
FARM CONDITIONS IN CENTRAL
FLORIDA

! To the Gazette-Replies are re-
| quested to the questions which are
thus submitted by one of your readers
] in Mclean Co., ILL.,:
Il would like to know more about
/ the Productivity Of Florida Farms,
described on page 1923, issue of De-
cember 9. and desire answers to the
/ following questions. concerning agrl-
cultural conditions in Marion county:
What are the qualities of its soil?
What is its color and the subsOil?
What are the products? What are the
markets? What are the prices Of land
/ in relation TO nearby markets? Give
the lay Of the land What is the av-
erage rainfall, and how distributed?
What is the price of day labOr?"
These questions are specific and
pointed. and l answer in as few
words as possible.
The soil here varies from pure sand
TO waxy clay. The best land for gen
eral farming is a sandy loan. The
color varies with the subsoil. 1t is
generally brown or yellowish brown.
The subsoil is generally yellowish
brown clay. much mixed with lime.
The products are corn, oats, sweet
potatoes, hay, peanuts, velvet beans,
cantaloupes, cabbage, tomatoes, Irish
potatoes, watermelons, a little cotton,
horses, mules, hogs. cattle, sheep, or
anges and grapefruit. At the Marion
county fair, held in Ocala, the county
seat. last week the best collective
exhibit from one farm" contained "A
entries. the second best So entries, and
the third best Cby q negro IS entries.
At this fair were entered 252 animals,
b all owned in this county, including "a
head Of pedigreed Shorthorns, Jerseys
and Holsteins. CT head of pedigreed
Berkshires and Duroc-Jerseys, 16 pedi-
! greed Hampshire. Shropshire and
RambouiTet sheep, and 20 Angora and
mich goats.
Our market for staples is at home.
I Cabbage. cantalOupas. melons and or
anges go to every town on the Allan
tic seaboard and west to the MISSISSIPPI
nj river. It is only twenty-four hours
to New York by express, fifty to sixty
hours by freight.
The price Of land depends upon
p many things. Sore land very near to
: transportation is valueIess, because it
: is so poor. Much of the good land is
unready for use. because not yet clear
ed. Lands ready to cultivate, close
to railroad, sell from $40 to S25 per
I acre.
The lay Of the land is very attrac,
, tive. There is very little fiat land in
? this section. II is gently undulating
but not enough SO to be called billy
+ Travelled visitors declare that our best
E farming sections suggest strongly the
+ topography of the blue grass regions
Of Kentucky and Tennessee. Our
: hardwood "hammOcks" are especially
attractive in their beauty of undula
ton and their fertility of soil.
The normal rainfall for the year al
Ocala is $3.50 inches. distributed as
follows: January, 2.75 inches; Febru
airy. 3.2S inches: March, 3.O+ inches;
April. 1.94 inches; May, $40 inches;
June. 7.SS inches: July, 7.79 inches
August. 7.6S inches; September, 80
/ inches: October, 2.7S inches; Novem
r Der. 1.G1 inches; December, 2.45 inch
L es.
L The price Of labor for negro men is
So cents to 81 per day of 10 hours;
negro women, co cents to So cents pei
l. dav for 10 hours. These are farm la
borers. Phosphate miners, turpentine
l. and lumber men get from 81 to $1.5C
l. per day. c. Chambliss in Breed
l. ers' Gazette.
r Marion county, Fla.