The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-06-05
orLIeHT TO NORTHERN EYES

Probably nowhere else in the world
no found such a combination of
!. IA and climate as the section of
Ida OF which Marion county is
d. center. For that matter. Marion
"a Is,y is Just about the center of the
~ H. Of Florida, being equidistant
jacksonville and Tampa, and
r. Pensacola and Miami. There is
small portion of the soil of
IRON county that is not adapted to
L. form of agriculture, while the
-. l.ler part of ii is splendid farm
land with bases of best Florida
ily Is the government has surveyed in
or Il Static. For this reason Marion
:. Iuuty stands first in six products
q. stands we'll along towards the top
Ip. the column in all agricultural pro-
IN rs of a general nature.
with the history of Marion county
Of not the intention of this edition
x IDEAL. The points to be portrayed
= the present development and the
ksibilities for the future. The
kny interesting stories of great
kalth-producing groves and planta-
q. Ens in the days prior to the time of
Il present workers in the soil, may
st secured by writing to the secreta-
Of the Marion County Board of
7 Trade The object of this edition is
b place before the Northern home
Ieskers the exact conditions of Ma
4 bon county today, with the outline
C. h what seems most promising for
y the Immediate future.
!. Today Marion county has in Guilt
). Patton or occupied with improve
bents 900 acres of land. The
ltal valuation on the tax books is
!, f754,67S, with lands assessed at an
ferage of $4.02 an acre including i'm
kFements. If you can buy any of
e land at that figure, you can qua
Elple your omney in a week. The
lDducts for the season of 1912 were
fer million and half dollars and
N season this figure was raised at
&st a third, making last seasons
oducts at the very least estimate
ler two million of dollars.
Marion is big county. 1t en-
tsces an area of 1,640 square miles
LOCI, 800 acres. of which 794,455
aefe assessed last year. The popu-
ZION given in the census report for
l0 was 26,941, but the Marion
funty Board of Trade claims a
fund $4,000 for the county today.
the area of the cultivated portion
the county has been almost trebled
ten years, it is not unreasonable
assume that the Board of Trades
Elmate, while a trifle high yet, is
kearer the mark than the last census.
Marion county is that kind of hog
tad hominy' land that the Northern
stor looks for when he strikes
Elrlda-and seldom finds. 1nterspers-
among the fields are gardens that
Eve the county prominence among
Pe vegetable producers, but the back
f0ae of the county is the generaI
ann with its own dairy herd, It's
Prove of fat thoroughbred hogs ana
poultry yard. Here in the saluo-
Fous climate of the most typlcally
FmEtropical State in the Union, IS
land of fairly rich soil that produc-
crops with which the general FAR
TT of the North is familiar. In TINS
fes the distinctiveness of Marion.
Throughout the county the visitor
struck with the varying character
the land, it's rolling slopes and
Eooded hills. Hard surfaced ROADS
~s@h III every uIICIlAOh ch
Flher side of these roads one sees
prosperous farmes and homes. Broad
Felds of corn and rye and oats sug
pest the Middle West, while between
Eaem are the fruiting gardens OF WIN
er vegetables that are famed
throughout the world as Florida's
money crops"
IN such a setting as this, Marion
'ounty naturally takes high place II
ae regard of northern, western and
'iorida man alike. The groves of cit
'us fruits attest the semi-tropic char
Iacter of the climate and the yields
Il corn and cotton shows the com
'anation of northern and southern
PRODUCTS more incontestably thar
anything else could make possible
Tampa Tribune's Special Edition.