200 FLORIDA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 
are grown in large acreages, though recent purchasers of small 
acreages of land are entering to some extent into trucking. The 
crops grown are watermelons, cantaloupes, cucumbers, snap beans, 
cabbage, and tomatoes, with some egg plants, peppers, and beets. 
With the exception of watermelons, trucking is confined to the 
hammocks around Ocala and those along the Seaboard Air Line 
Railway from Belleview south, Summerfield and Oxford being 
trucking centers, as well as Coleman, lower down. 
Watermelons are grown in large acreages, and, being a heavy 
crop, they are confined to sections near railroads. The logging 
roads reaching into the central part of the area in the areas of light 
sandy soils, the Norfolk sand and the Norfolk fine sand, are foster¬ 
ing the growth of this crop and haul the product out to the main 
trunk railroads. The light soils are especially adapted to watermelons 
and a fair return is realized. Land for this crop must be highly 
fertilized. The yield is about one-half carload to the acre. The 
trouble encountered in growing watermelons is the wilt disease, be¬ 
cause of which the crop can not generally be successfully grown a 
second time on the same land for a period of several years. Several 
varieties are grown, those for market including the Kolb Gem, Big 
Blue, and Tom Watson. The crop is planted in hills, generally 6 
by 9 to 9 by 9 feet apart. The crop is fertilized, using from 500 to 
1.200 pounds to the acre of a high-grade special brand. Newly 
cleared sandy pine land is preferred. The Gainesville loamy sand is 
also used for the crop and gives somewhat higher yields than the 
lighter sandy soils. 
Cantaloupes are grown quite extensively, but on account of dis¬ 
eases the acreage planted to the crop the past season is said to have 
been reduced. The Rocky Ford is the only variety grown, the seed 
being obtained every season from the Rocky Ford district of Colo¬ 
rado. The Gainesville loamy sand and the Gainesville sandy loam 
are the most desirable soils for this crop, though the better phases 
of the Norfolk sand at present are also used. The finer textured 
Gainesville type would also be adapted to their production. About 
100 crates is considered a good yield per acre, with an application of 
600 to 700 pounds of a fertilizer mixture analyzing about 7-3-4. 
Experiments are in progress by the Department of Agriculture in 
this area to demonstrate the methods of fighting the diseases of these 
and other truck crops. 
Cucumbers are grown to some extent. The White Spine is the 
