The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-29


ing future developments has been an ox-
pensive luxury to the owners of ali these
once thrifty groves. Had they been cut
of early in the spring their present
growth would have been more than dou-
bic in value what it now is, and the ex-
pense of the work at least one-third less
Contrary to the advice of old grove own
ers / cut my trees, budded and seeding
old and young, close to the ground early
IN the spring. l covered the butts with
two or three coats of hot tar and then
lhIeW SAND over them ! have kept the
SOIL stirred around the-not stump, rather
butts, as they are only from one to three
inches above the roots, and in nearly
every case fine. healthy shoots have come
up from the roots. / selected the best one
not too near the butt to train into q tree
This | staked and gave special attention
to cutting away all shoots near it and Civ
ing u as Tar as possible the full benefit
of all the roots of the old tree. In addi-
ton have kept dirt around these special
shoots in order that they might form roots
of their own. Thus / have secured some
young trees that are now over twelve
feet high and with branches about three
feet long l do not ask for any greater
progress than this for new trees.
My neighbors did not cut their trees,
and those who trimmed are still in doubt
as TO what the final outcome may be
from the borers or future decay of the
partially deadened trunks and large
branches. The owners Of groves left tc
themselves now feel sure that the cutting
of process viii have to be adopted All
such groves, and not a few Of the trimmed
groves, have been badly set back by the
delay in giving them the proper treat
ment last spring Men who have left
their groves entirely alone since the
freeze have made very serious mistake.
Some have uone so on account of poverty,
others to await future developments Ii
is now clear that the men who were
quick to grasp the situation and cut their
trees to the ground, or very near it, ex-
cept in special cases, are to reap a rich
reward in early bearing new trees and
high prices. for the product My lemon
"a ara Haar IL
reproduced from the roots of the old
trees, and 1 feel perfectly satisfied with
the future outlook for my previous in
vestments that were blighted by the terri
bic freeze. Some of my largest
and best bearing Seeding trees
shoot. but the roots are alive and there
are indications that the shoots will soon
appear OF course these trees will be q
year behind the others. still they will be
earlier than if | had simply trimmed
them instead of cutting them to the
ground.
of course there are exceptions to all
rules, and in various parts of Florida
orange, lemon and grape fruit trees may
be seen in full or partial bearing. There
were local causes that shielded them from
the severe freeze and left them vigorous
to enter at once upon a new growth of
fruit But as a general rule the groves of
the state have suffered as l have des-
cribed, and their recuDeration is slow and
uncertain in many sections. while in
others, new trees are being cultivated
from the roots of the old trees. or the live
wood of the trunks of the old trees not
severely injured IS being used to create
new branches. As before stated, the fu-
ture of these trees is still in doubt Some
budded trees have been saved, but a large
amount of budding has already been done
on new shoots. while some growers have
resorted to root budding as the safest
from future frOsts I prefer to wait until
next spring to do my budding. Then the
new trees will have tested another win
ter's blasts, and viii be, ! think, in bet
ter condition in many other respects.