The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-04-25

the floors, tables, benches and chairs
all gave evidence of the free use OF
I it. Everything looked spic and span
and clean. Scarcely a speck Of dirt
could be observed anywhere.
The ashes are afterwards put
around the roots of peach trees, pre-
venting the ravages of the circulio.
/ As an extra sanitary precaution he
! has a tar plant, and showed us bar
! rel nearly full of tar. He finds it a
health preservative. Asthmatics, dys-
peptics and consumptives have deriv-
ed benefits by it's judicious use, and
/ it is given to the stock and poultry
with the most advantageous results.
The farm consists of $50 acres and
is planted to 200 acres corn, 200 acres
velvet beans, % acres Florida cane,
j12 acres Japanese cane, IS acres wa
termelons, a number of acres OF
smaller crops. There are 10 acres in
bearing orange trees Is acres IN
peaches, with the promise of a fine
crop this year; 40 acres in pecans,
and 10 acres being budded to the ma
tive hickory stock, and fine 12-acre
garden.
He has $50 bushels of velvet beans
on hand, and ample corn and forage
crops to last until this years crop IS
available. He has just sold 1000 BUSH
els of sweet potatoes. which he is
now shipping to Atlanta.
He has u cows, furnishing plenty
of milk and butter, and a barnyard
full Of chickens and other fowls.
Captain Purvis is thoughtful, kind
and tender, and evidences everywhere
abound that he is most solicitous OF
the welfare of those under him His
heart is in the right place. The pris-
oners adore him. and he finds little
trouble in maintaining good discip-
line. He sees that they are well fed,
we'll treated, not Overworked. and his
mode of punishment is other than the
strap, except in extreme and extra
ordinary cases. Sometimes he with
holds meat at meals, and resorts TO
other similar modes of punishment
He permits no swearing either on the
part of the prisoners or the guards
One can stay there for a day. or for
several days for that matter and new
er hear a harsh word or an epithet
used of any sort. He says that he Is
trying every means in his power 10
make those under him better men and
women when they leave the farms
and go out into the world again. To-
this end he holds regular Sunday ser
vices and Sunday school
One little incident will give some
idea of Captain Purvis' kindness and
tenderness: He met a team of little !
Jersey oxen. They looked as pretty |
as playthings. Patting one of them !
affectionately on the back, he said |
Il want kiss. Billy" and the animal
raised its head and put out its lips
almost for the world like a little child |
would have done.
Now, a man like that has got some
heart in him, and is the kind to be at |
the head of an institution of that sort |
There are baths provided for the |
prisoners, and the men and women /
are segregated, and the whites and |
blacks have separate apartments.
The sleeping apartments are kept |
in excellent condition, and are well
ventilated. The beds have springs, |
mattresses, pillows, pillow cases and /
all the ct ceteras. They are provided /
with books. newspapers, musical in
struments, cards, dominoes, checkers.
etc.
The food is substantial, we'll cook
ed and wen served. AS the proof of
the pudding is in the eating, we can |
testify personally as to its savoriness.
For dinner there were the following |
items, all of which were cooked to q
turn: Boiled bacon, fried bacon, corn
bread, hominy, collard greens and I
sweet potatoes, and for the sick there I
were soup and other delicacies.
The aroma from the kitchen was so !
delightful and the food so delicious
that Secretary Rooney said that he |
was going out again
The Marion Farms is an exposition, /
it is an experiment garden, and if one
wants to see what a real farm in 1
Florida looks like he will be doing
himself an injustice not to visit it.