Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-01-18
Effect OF the Late Cod Spell ia
Florida.

Our Florida exchanges, writing con-
corning the effect Of the recent freeze in
that State upon the oranges and other
fruit, all agree in declaring that the
bearing orange trees were not materially
injured even when most exposed to the
cold, although the branches were fire.
Quently encrusted with ice, and icicles
hung pendant from the leaves. The fruit
when left on the trees was, of course fro
zen and damaged. and considerable loss
will result from this; but the trees them
selves are uninjured, and viii be in as
fine condition as ever one year hence.
There is no evil without compen-
sating good, and it is likely that the
Florida freeze will prove a blessing in
disguise. In the first place it is gener-
ally believed by those who have studied
the matter closely that the extreme cold
killed OF pretty generally the eggs of
the insects which prove so troublesome
to the orange growers as well as the in
sects themselves, and that next year the
trees viii feel the good effects of their
destruction.
In the next place the loss of the fruit
by freezing will teach orange growers
a valuable lesson regarding the danger
of allowing their fruit to remain on the
trees after it is ripened, instead of gather
ing and shipping it to market before it
can be exposed to damage from cold
snap. A firm in this city, which
does a large business in Florida
fruit, told US yesterday that they
had written to their customers
some time before Christmas, begging
them to send their crops to market, be-
cause the fruit was in fine condition
and could command a good price. The
letters were unheeded, however, and this
same firm has now on hand hundreds Of
splendid looking oranges, but which are
almost worthless, because while still
very juicy, the freezing process through
which they had passed has extracted all
the sugar from the juice, leaving the
fruit with an insipid taste. In this con-
nection, we see that writer in the New
York World on the subject of frozen
oranges says that when once picked, if
by any means they then become frozen,
they can be restored to as good condition
as ever by being soaked for about TWEEN
ty-four hours in cold water. "This
plan" says that paper, 'of drenching
frozen vegetation with water is a familiar
one to gardeners in the North, and is
often followed successfully with flowers,
when these are found frost-bItten in the
morning; only, the drenching must be
done before the sun has had
time to thaw out the frost. II is curious
fact, however, that frozen oranges on the
tree cannot be restored by this process,
even if picked for the purpose of the
experiment. If frozen before they are
picked they are a total loss. Doubtless
the orange growers of our sister State
will remember these facts, and-so that
they may ship their oranges in good con-
dition, and also be able to reclaim them
should they become subjected to a
freeze-they will probably see to it
that the fruit is hereafter gathered as it
ripens.
The great advantage which the late
freeze will be to orange growing, how
ever, is that it will be very likely to give
renewed impetus to that industry.
Heretofore, no doubt, many who would
have liked to have invested in orange
groves have been deferred from so doing
through fear that a cold spell, such as
has just visited that State, might come,
and, cutting of. both fruit and trees,
destroy in day the expense and labor
of years. 1t has been very conclu-
sively proven now that the orange tree
can stand a much more consider
able amount of cold than has
been generally supposed without
injury, and since with the trees
uninjured the source of revenue from q
grove is only temporarily cut off-and
there is scarcely likelihood that such a
freeze as that Of the present winter will
occur again in generation-it is not i'm
probable that there will be felt more con-
fidence in orange growing, and more
persons viii be willing to risk their capt.
tai in that direction.
We hope, therefore, that the late
freeze will in the end be productive of
much more good than harm, and that
before another year shall have passed
our neighboring State will have more
than recovered her losses from the
present unusually severe winter.