The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-12-19
THE DIVISION OF SUGAR HAM
MOCK

section, now nearly half a century
ago, the two most famous places out
side of Ocala, with the exception of
/ Silver Springs, were Marshall
Swamp" and Sugar Hammock
The last named places had been
made famous because OF their i'm
mense productivity.
They had become so noted mainly
for the immense amount Of sugar and
syrup they had, furnished the armies
of the Confederacy. This fact at
tracted the attention of the federal
authorities, and a detachment of
troops was sent into this county for
the purpose of destroying, the works.
The detachment was successful in
reaching as far as the Marshall
Swamp" and destroyed the sugar
works there, but before, reaching
Sugar Hammock" they were repuls-
ed and driven back.
We mention this incident because
it requires a rich soil to produce SUI
gar cane and Sugar Hammock" de
rived its name because of its sugar
producing qualities.
Had it been possible to have utitfz-
ed for colonization purposes SUCH as
the Sugar Hammock lands, the ex-
periments would have been altogeth-
er successful, and the advertising it
= Mar
been beyond price.
Sugar Hammock embraces, thirty
| six hundred acres. 1t originally be-
longed TO the father of the late. Colo
mel Alfred Martin of Shirley, 8. c., re-
Gently deceased, Colonel John NJ.
/ Martin of this city. and the late Major
Abram Martin OF Ocala. 1t descend
ed to the three sons and their chill
dren. and the will stipulated that it
was not to be sold until all the chill
dren became of age. That time hav
ing now arrived the heirs of the late
Major Abram Martin have decided to
place on the market their share of the
property comprising twelve, hundred
acres.
The land is located between Lowell
and Martin on the Atlantic Coast
Line railroad, in this county, and the
entire estate of between 5000 ana
1000 acres includes what is known as
the John Broward grant, That pant
of the estate which is now offered for
sale is the extreme eastern end of the
grant, all in body.
The average man has very little
idea of the richness of this piece of
property, and very few know OF its
existence, having been owned by one
family for over fifty years.
Nothing short of a visit can give
an adequate idea of it's value.
1t is rather unusual in Florida to-
see 600 acres under one fence. all in
cultivation, but such is the case, and
it is a beautiful sight when the fields
are green with beans, lettuce, oats
and other crops. The land is particu-
larly suitable for cantalodpes and wa
termelons
1t is no exaggeration to say that
this tract of land now under fence
cost more to reclaim from the virgin
hammock than it can be bought for
today, and when the work was done
labor was not at such premium as it
is at present. II would be a stapen-
rous undertaking with present labor
conditions, but when this work was
done slaves were employed. some of
whom still work on the property as
we'll as many of their descendants.
More than any other crop, corn can
be raised on this land without the use
of fertilizer, and for many years the
land has been rented to tenants who
would rather plant their corn crop on
Sugar Hammock" than on their own
lands, paying rent therefor and trav-
cling many miles to work the crops
Some of the tenants move on to the
property and pitch their camps and
work the land when needed
1t is safe to say that for the grow
ing of corn, oats. cotton, watermelons,
cantaloupes, velvet beans, snap beans,
wax beans, peas, squash, lettuce and
cabbages there is no finer body of
land in the state of Florida, and this
is saying a good deal
A visit to Sugar Hammock" will
convince anyone that forty acres of
Sugar Hammock" plantation will
support any man if he works, and he
need only work few months in the
year.
The land is now being surveyed and
sub-divided by the Partridge Woodrow
company, and will be arranged in siz-