The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1896-06-10

The next morning after these calamities
the world knows of it and the great heart
of the sympathetic Americans swells with
pity and suggestion of want brings forth
a response that is truly marvellous AL
ready over $500. 900 has been sent to ST,
Louis as relief fund and more will follow
and it would not be surprising if half
million or million dollars would be for
warded to the city of death, ruin and sor-
row to SO many. and we are glad to see 1t.
There is one exception to the hearty re-
spouse of the people, however, to which
many interested in Florida can testify. No
calamity ever befell state which destroyed
so much valuable property. paralyzed so
many industries and carried such financial
ruin as did the two freezes of 18o4-'o5 and
yet no relief fund has been sent to the
state, no kindly hand held out to help stem
the tide of desolation. but on the other
hand many things have been done to make
it harder. if possible, for Florida to recover.
St, Louis and vicinity may suffer loss of
ten or fifteen millions but Florida's loss can
not be put down at less than one hundred
millions, for her orange crop that was frozen
would have brought six millions to the
state to say nothing of the pineapple, veg
etable and other industries that were being
pushed in all directions and that were
bringing thousands to her border All
swept away in two nights and no help from
outside, yet Florida is recovering and before
another decade is past train loads of fruit
will be going out and only the ugly scar of
the terrible freeze will be left to tell of what
happened in that eventful winter of 18o4-o5.
The men who have been the principal
factors in building up Florida and develop
ing her industries do not know what failure
is. They came to the state ignorant of
the many difficulties in the way of making
horticulture paying investment They
met failure after failure, which was due in a
great measure to their lack of knowledge and
were realizing some of the profits of their
labor when it was so quickly swept away
| but the old habit of surrounding failure
was not taken away and to-day all over the
state recovery and rebuilding is the order.
Florida does not ask and would not &C.
cept contributions to replace her loss all
she asks is fair treatment. The press of
the country would not advise people to
keep away from ST Louis on account of
the cyclone, or jamestown or the Ohio
valley on account of the floods, but they
do not hesitate to advise giving Florida a
wide berth because of the disastrous freeze.
Give US chance, let the people who de-
sire a change come here and see with
their own eyes. We do not want them to
invest in anything till they have seen for
themselves.
The past eighteen months have been
months of undreamed of possibilities.
People who thought it impossible to get
along without the orange have found that
necessity is the mother of invention and
that they have been able to make the most
of the living for themselves and stock from
the soil. They have found that it is not
necessary to spend four or five hundred
dollars for a trip north or to the mountains
each year and many who had complained
of dyspepsia while acting as "boss" have
found that work has cured the disease and
added sauce to their daily meals.
Those who come to the state now can