Bradford County telegraph. (Starke, Fla.) 1888-current, 1895-10-25
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?
The Outlook for Orange Growing In
Florida.

Florida.
We reproduce the following inter
esting letter written to the Times
Tnion by Mr.. John F. Rollins, of the
firm of Greedy, Rollins & Morgan,
representatives of the Florida Finance
company, the great and enterprising
combination of English capitalists that
has done so much for the state. Mr..
Rollins says:
During the past six weeks l have Wis
tied orange groves in Duval, st. Johns,
Clay, Alachua, Putnam, Orange, Osce-
ola, Polk, Lake and HillsborO counties
The object of my visit has been to ex-
anime into the present condition of the
groves in which our company is inter
ested and to decide whether it was
worth while to continue to cultivate
them, and if SO, what was needed to be
done this fall to start the trees on the
road to recovery, what groves were
worth cultivatiug and what locations
were the most favorable for the growth
of the orange, and any other informa-
| ton / could obtain aB to orange cul-
ture and the best way OF treating orange
trees that had suffered from the freeze.
have examined at least fifty groves
| in which our company is interested,
and many others, with a view of ob-
tanning all the information possible
The conclusions l have come to may be
of value TO others as we'll as to our
selves, though do not claim to be able
! to give advice and l AN only acting
! upon what seems to me to be common
sense, We have commenced work on
| groves in all the counties named, with
n view of rebuilding them as soOu as
possible. To this end VIC have them
hoed out, the lower limbs cnt off and
| the roots carefully examined for wood
lice, all dead wood and Dark removed
aud apply lime and sulphur to drive
the lice away; also have the groves
| plOwcd out to turn under the grass
aud weeds. Where the young shoots
| are strong enough, we are putting In
/ binds.
In many groves that have been
worked during the season fine buds
have been put IN that have made Il
good growth. All are budded near
the ground, so that in case of freeze
the coming winter they can easily he
protected. In all the groves I have
examined find buta small per cent of
dead trees, as upon examination, live
wood is found almost invariably below
the surface of the ground. see no
reason for our citizens to be discour-
aged as to the growth of oranges. The
freeze has been sad blow. but the
groves can soon he brought back into
bearing if oUr people will only act
promptly. Where a whole grove can
not be cared for, the owner should
cut down the area to what he can care
for in good shape. One tree, well
cared for, is better than five half
worked. There are many POINTS that
it seems to me it would be we'll for our
state authorities to look into in con-
nectiOn with the freeze and its results
The many thousand people engaged in
the orange industry, and the vnst
amount of money invested, surely de-
serve to he protected from such diBas-
tiers il it is In the power of man to do
it, and even if only partial protec-
tiOn or help can be had, it would he
of great value, not only at present,
but in view of like troubles in the
/ future.
In my trip about the state have
4 been brought in contact with some of
the best growers, and find much diff
ference of opinion Us to-whIt is best to
be done with frozen orange trees.
Whether TO leave them alone, as many
have done, or cat them down and Guilt
.vate as many others have done. My
own observation leads me to think
that to cut aud cultivate is the best.
In the cases where the trees were not
at once killed to the ground, there
are many Interesting and important
questions that deserve the careful
study of skilled man In horticulture
and chemistry. Many trees that sent
ont shoots in the spring, high up in the
LranceS have since died down. Others
are sill alive. and have made an i'm
= mense growth Of sprouts, have been