The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-05-13

dry period which would cause most
disastrous drought in the North appears
to have hardly any effect upon them.
Most Of the citrus fruit is grown on
the high pine lands, which are general
nv rolling. so that the contrasts are
often very striking. For instance, you
may drive northwest from Tampa for
eighteen or twenty miles through nat
region dotted over with pools of stand
ing water, and at Tarpon Springs come
Iupon rolling land fifty or sixty feet
higher. which might easily be mistaken
for lands a thousand miles north were
| il not for the ever-present gray moss
.and the semi-trop' cal character OF the
,vegetation. Stretches Of the same beau
tiful country, ideal for truck crops ana
icitrus fruits, may he found all through
the lake region and north of it. But IL
is not safe to grow citrus fruits much
|above the lake region.
You may know the third class OF high
. pine land by the roads. There Is no
uistaking it, for the sand is coarse,
, loose and dries out easily making
mighty hard pulling. A AThe growth OF
pine is small and scrEbby, with mere
: and there a bit Of underbrush The
! soil is nearly sterile and is generally
r considered unfit for cultivation.
e The pine mats contain tlt AOh 5-ASoA
i pine. the short saw" palmetto and
grasses. The trees are usually far
= IaDart. The dark, sandy soil is gen.
n orally underlaId with hardpan; 1t Is
: usually wet with standing water from
& one TO four feet below the surface.
These flats" as their name implies,
z need undertakings to make them at
S all vaIUable-an expensive ana often
- ldffacult operation owing 10 the slight
d fau necessary 10 carry off the water
& For alI-round purposes the hammock
u Hands are the most valuable in Florida.
IS They have a more or less heavy growth
l. of hardwoods-white oak, live oak,
IA water oak dogwoOd, bay magnolia
x and the tall picturesque cabbage pal
n metto. There are light and heavy
- hammocks. so named from the density
a Of the growth rather than from any
S. Iapprec able difference in the soil Both
N the soil and subsoil Of these lands con-
a s!st Of moderately fine sand. The
,d heavy hammock land is almost black
n owing TO the age-Iong accumulation OF
IA organic matter from the dense growth
is of trees, vines and other vegetation
* which form an almost impenetrablt
a Jungle. The expense Of clearing these
se LANDS is very great, but very often pro-
nd duce enormous crops Of fruit as well a.
III. truck.
m Interspersed with the various Pre-
ID. lductive soils, principally the high pine
he are areas of scrub or blackjack land
ry having a more or less dense growth o
tn; dwarf spruce pine, scrub oaks, small
en- desert plants and bushes that turl
if their leaves up edgewise TO the sun
or The line dividing the scrub and tn
good land Is often as clearly define
II by the difference in vegetation as tn
or curbing on sidewalk 1t can be FOL
lowed through the level land or up hill
Of and down dale as easily as an ope
ter road. Even at the edge Of a lake yo
lr- may stand with one foot on land tina
r a viii not grow a blade of anything Z
wo 10 eat, while the other rests on so
ely that VIII produce huge crops of tn
is most succulent vegetables.