The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-01-12

the ladies' mad two or three rigs
hitched up and drove out the other
way to see the great Monarch Grove.
owned by Mr.. Charles King, who lives
on his immense estate. like one Of the
small princes Of Europe in medieval
times, with the exception that Mr..
King has every modern Improvement
and convenience on his estate. both
about his residence and the grove. The
grove is surrounded in hammock,
thousands of the original forest trees
are still standing and one sees more
| OF the forest than orange trees in
| walking about in il. There are just
/ 1000 acres in the grove and il is the
| largest single orange grove owned by
one man in the world, ii is said. The
grove is protected by the waters of
Lake Panasofkee and the heavy ham
mock growth that cold is but little
| feared, though Mr.. King had smudge
| pots always ready for lighting il the
| mercury goes too low. In this
grove he has every known variety of
orange or other member of the citrus
family. among them being some he has
propagated and cultivated himself. or
his father before him; among them be-
| ing the King orange, one Of the best
known in Florida.
| Tram roads ramify the grove and the
| fruit is thus easily hauled to the mann
moth central packing house, where al
most half the crop could be stored at
once. The crop this year will be in ex-
cess of $4,000 boxes. The trees are
iyoung and are rapidly increasing their
yield. Mr.. King and his superintend-
ent showed the party every kindness,
explained everything to them and
showed them about over the property,
biz TO- nf he
tram cars and when they departed
loaded the buggies down with fruit.
Among the other interesting sights in
the grove was the Monarch" live oak,
As feet in circumference. probably the
largest tree of any character in the
state.
/ Thursday forenoon was devoted to
inspecting the Warm Springs Ham
mock. nearly all of which is planted to
fcabbage this season. This is probably
the richest, strongest and best irrigat-
ed land in the state. 1t is divided into
blocks of 10 acres and is very precious
as its acreage is limited. There is
only about 1900 acres of the hammock
that IS suitable for cultivation and
practically all of it is in cultivation.
The land is worth whatever man is
willing to take for it above 5000 per
acre, as none ever changes hands at
less than that figure and some have
refused s400. This may seem incredul
Gus, when one recalls the thousands of
acres of cheap land in the state. but s
one man said: when this land will
net me 10 per cent clear each year on
a valuation of $1,000. what is the use
of me selling it for s400?" The truck
ers alternate the crops with cabbage,
tomatoes and lettuce, followed in the
summer by corn and hay, and it is
producing full crops at all times.
Just now the hammock is a mass of
dark green cabbages; everywhere cab
bages. some of them heading up nicely,
though all are backward this season.
The beauty of the Warm Springs
Hammock land is that it holds the
moisture. and the plow and hoe can al
ways turn up moist earth in the dryest
season. All that is necessary to keep
the crops green and growing in a dry
spell, is to keep stirring the soil. In
wet weather the land would impress
the stranger as being very wet and
soggy. but the water does not interfere
with the growth of garden truck. and
1t soon goes back into the earth to
seep to the surface when needed.
Shipping season at Coleman is one of
the busiest times ever seen. The Cab
crop. It is sold to the very best ad
vantage at a minimum cost, and the
!, growers get every dollar of their mon
ey.
Over the other side Of town smaller
hammock in the Panasoffkee Lake sec
ton. which contains about 500 acres,
is being rapidly put under cultivation,
and is practically the same land as the
, Warm Springs Hammock. The pine
land around Coleman is fully up to the
average Of good pine land, but the
strenuous gardening and cultivation is
: only done lin the hammock
The town of Coleman is growing
rapidly and two out of every three
houses are right new ones. We did
not ask the population, but it must be
at least 1000. There is a good amuse-
ment hall. large and well furnished. a
splendid new concrete block hotel. a
number of large stores. right up to
date in their stocks and arrangement
and the Coleman Banking Company
has one of the prettiest little banking
houses in the entire state with a mod
ern, roomy, fire and burglar proof
vault and manganese steel safe. that
is as up-to-date as can be had. The
bank is doing a fine business and has
made a most satisfactory showing for
its first years existence.
Many of the homes in the town are
pretty and modern in their construc-
tion and several of the principal
streets and sidewalks are paved with
lhard clay.
There are no more hospitable peo-
pie on earth than the citizens of Cole
man and they possess instinctively the
faculty of making you feel at home
and welcome. These good people
could not do enough for US during our
all too short stay in their little city and
to Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Watson, at
whose comfortable and hospitable
home we stayed, we owe one of the
most pleasant little visits we have ev-
er made.
The Wicker brothers are brothers OF
Mrs. J. A Walters of this city and the
two Mrs. Watsons are daughter of Mr.
q t III. Wicker. Miss Florence Walters
u of Ocala. who spent two weeks witt
g the families. was with them while we
u were there and was having a fine time
q among the young people.
nEITanyE CnTCu MEDICINE