The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-19
FLORIDA ORANGE GROVES.
How They Are FIOurishing-Nut
Culture n Growing Industry.

How They Are FlOur1shtng-Nu ut
Culture n Growing Industry.
Maitland, Fla. Oct. 1S.-The sale Of the
old Bigelow orange grove property has
brought to our community a most excel
lent family from England, who have
greatly improved the place. The resi-
dence, a handsome mansard-roof building,
was erected years ago by the late John
Bigelow of Boston, Mass, who made his
orange grove one of the most noted in
this county. Its recent sale since the
freeze shows that well cultivated and
properly irrigated grove can now be put
on the market with good prospects of find
Ing a purchaser. The recent sale of the
valuable Brown place was made at an
advance of several thousand dollars over
what he paid for it less than three years
ago.
A careful inspection Of groves that have
not been properly cared for reveals
| great danger ahead to many of the trees.
1t has been discovered that tree can be
covered with live shoots from ten to fiji
| teen feet high, and have the appearance
| of pushing ahead to a bearing condition,
| and yet be dead all over in the trunk ex-
| cept little strip of live wood less than an
| inch thick and five inches wide. The late
storm blew over several such trees and
| thus revealed their true condition. 1t is
| doubtful if many of the old trees from
| which the dead wood was not all removed
after the freeze will ever reach a good
| bearing condition. Some of our largest
| orange growers feel satisfied now that
| they were wise in cutting their trees to
the ground, or down to good, healthy,
! sound wood The new trees from the
ground are doing splendidly, making new
roots as well as drawing from the old
| trees roots.
Orange county has been safe refuge
| from disastrous storms heretofore and
| this fact has just given us new industry.
| The turpentine men have spied out our
| advantages and propose TO remove here
| from the storm swept sections OF the
| state that have so long held a monopoly of
| that business. We have had a good many
small saw mills to clear out surplus
valuable pine forests, but the turpentne
| industry will be something new to our peo-
| pie. Orange county has been noted as n
| quiet, desirable and healthy region for
winter homes, and fancy orange groves,
and phosphate mines, big saw mills ana
turpentine stills have not been desired.
! But the latter are soon to be with Us
from now on, and the result will be
watched with a great deal of interest by
/ people not favorable to the innovation.
A great deal has been written about
planting soft shell pecans and making n
grove that in ten years would pay a good
/ profit. But Mr.. w. W. Lyon, of Glen
lyon Grove" on Lake Minnehaha, has
/ discovered a much more speedy and prof.
/ liable way to get a pecan grove. Three
years ago he secured some fine pecan
| CRAFTS from near Punta Gorda, and put
them into few big hickory trees on his
place, and this year he has a fine crop
Of delicious pecan nuts. a few of which
| l mail you for examination. Now here is
a money crop, easily grown and gathered
| and marketed that becomes its own Gull
| tivator, etc, at the end of three years
and without mishaps, producing each year
a fine crop of soft shell pecans. These
| crafts passed safely through the iate
freeze so there is no danger from that
source. Mr.. Lyon has also had remarka-
BILE success in grating some of the choice
est Japan persimmons on his common per-
simmon trees,
Florida and the Plant system have a
new general advertised in a handsome
volume of the Brain and Drawn Series. &"
published by w. A. Wild & Co. of Bos-
| ton. The author is William Drysdale Ia e
of the New York Times but now Of the
Sun, story writer of rare popularity
as well as talented journalist lie is
! a near friend of President Plant, and the
book, 1.-The Fast Mail" has Messrs. Plant.
Durham, Jack Papy. Wrenn and others
among its characters. 1t is the story of
a Train Boy" commonly called a news
| butcher" who runs between New York
and Tampa, and by his courtesy, etc,
attracts the attention of President Plant
and this leads to his rapid promotion until
he becomes assistant" to Mr. f. r
Papy. For time he was station agent M
Maitland, where Drysdale has his winter
cottage, and where the book was mostly
written. Savannah, Tampa, Jacksonville
Sanford and other places are given COM
plimentary mention. Bert Walker is the
boys name. and he has many adventures
even after he became a freight solicitor
| in the Georgia melon field, the east coast
pineapple plantations and the Florida
| orange groves. He was stationed at Matt
land when the big freeze came, and this
] event is graphically pictured by Drys-