SOIL. SURVEY OF THE OCALA AREA, FLORIDA. 199 
During the last two or three years the cultivated areas of farms 
have been greatly increased. The agriculture of the area consists of 
growing* the general farm crops along with heavy trucking, in which 
a large acreage is usually involved. The general farm crops follow 
the truck crops, the latter being heavily fertilized, and the following 
crop, such as corn, getting the benefit of the fertilizer remaining in 
the soil. Thus, corn always succeeds crops that are marketed early, 
such as cabbage, tomatoes, and snap beans. Besides corn, the velvet 
bean is an important field crop. This plant matures its seed in this 
section and is sold for seed. The light sandy soils of the Norfolk 
series will grow the velvet bean and improve in productiveness at the 
same time. The crop is grown alone or with corn. It is said to do 
better with corn, as where it covers the entire ground the growth is 
so rank that it smothers itself. Ten bushels or more per acre is con¬ 
sidered a good yield, and 15 to 20 bushels are often obtained. Oats 
are grown to' some extent, being cut when in the heading stage and 
cured for hay. Peanuts are grown extensively, especially on the 
lighter soils. These are grown between the rows of corn, and while 
much of the crop is intended for feeding hogs, a considerable pro¬ 
portion is harvested and put on the market. In 1909, according to 
the Thirteenth Census, there were 5,046 acres in peanuts, yielding 
88,958 bushels. The peanut, aside from its value as a certain crop, 
is desirable as a soil improver. 
Sugar cane is grown on every farm, but few produce more than 
enough to make sirup for domestic use. The product, which is 
being manufactured by the open-kettle process, is of excellent quality. 
About 15 to 20 barrels of sirup to the acre can be made. A number 
of varieties of sugar cane are grown, but the Japanese cane is much 
in favor and makes a good forage crop, as well as an excellent grade 
of sirup. Cowpeas are grown quite generally for hay. A source of 
hay is the crab grass, crowfoot, sandspur, and beggarweed, which 
appear as volunteer growths following all cultivated crops. They 
make a fairly good growth and quantities of hay of this class are 
usually obtained each year by all the farmers. 
Sweet potatoes succeed on all the light soils and are grown uni¬ 
versally, but in no large acreages, the output being hardly sufficient 
to supply the local market demands. 
Trucking is now assuming a place of considerable importance. 
Especially has the industry developed during the last few years. 
The crops are those that come under the class of heavy truck and 
