Delaware gazette and state journal., 1896-04-02


Special corrospondenec OF Gazette and Journal
Bloomland, Fla, March 25.-With
what vicious kick winter must have
taken his departure from more northerly
climes, judging by the aftertaste which
Florida got OF his parting breath.
Even down here an oyercoat was not
unwelcome on ihe mornings Of the
Goth and 2lst, and last Friday night
especially was an uncomfortably close
call for watermelons. The minimum at
Bloomland was 3S degrees, but it went
lower on the other side of the lake and
there was frost and even a trace of ice
at Eustis.
Speaking of watermelons, there is
often surprising difference observable
in the relative hardness of the cultured
plant and the volunteer--a volunteer"
being melon which comes up of it's
own accord and is generally left to shift
for itself. While melons carefully
planted and fertilized and coddled with
solicitude when the mercury drops are
alarmingly prone to succumb TO the
first little chill that catches them un-
protected, the more rugged volunteer
in whose welfare you take no interest
-pAb NhibukA bAb WllnOul d
ahivcr and bohs up smiling the next
morning with frost on its toughened
leaves. | have vines in my own patch
which were planted in January and
were for weeks barely kept alive with
watchful attention, yet the most vigor-
ous vine on the place to-day is volun-
teer which received absolutely no care
during - the critical periods OF its in
fancy
Tho winter just ended. according to
the almanac, has been, however. on the
whole, model one here. Only on
three or four mornings has the Their
mometer touched the freezing point
and that before sunrise the lowest re-
corded at Bloomland being 80 degrees,
and nothing of importance has been
knocked out by cold. Such plants as
sweet potatoes, tomatoes, egg plants
and beans, not to mention the harder
onions, lettuce, radishes, corn and peas
have gone through the whole winter
unprotected, and piueapplos, feel
confident, would have done the Same
had | ventured to risk my little patch
unsheltered. But the experience of
the disastrous preceding winter had
naturally made mo distrustfu on this
score and anxious to err on the safe
side
THE PEACH CROP.
Northern Florida has been looming
up of recent years US peach growing
section. though, as in watermeons,
Georgia gets the credit of much of the
product. But central and southern
Florida have yet to be heard from in
northern markets as peach producing
sections, although apparently adapted
TO peach culture. There are two reasons
for this. Ono is that up to the Sth of
February, 1895, the orange had bcen
king-everything was subordinated to
it. Orange growers had no inclination
to bother with peaches-or anything
else--they were prone to stake all on
the main chance" and when thoir
groves were frozen to the ground many
of them were left flat ON their backs.
The second reason is that until within
a few years the peach adapted TO this
section had not been developed. North
ern varieties are no good here; even
the famous Elberta. which thrives so
we'll in Georgia and northern Florida,
cannot be successfully grown farther
south. A few peaches of Spanish OK
traction were grown with but indif-
forent success. 1t remained for the
Chinese Peento, of late introduction
and development, to fill the bill. From
this stock have come the Angel, tho
Waldo, the Bidwcls and other varieties
that promise su much for this part of
the State while waiting for the orange
groves t. grow again. And orchards
have been and are being planted where,
at most, only few trees for nome use
stood two years ago.
The outlook for the coming crop is
surprising considering tho youth of
these orchards. Trees set out only a year
ago--and that were then mere sticks
not more than foot and half high
and not much thicker than a lead
pencll-haye already made phenomenal
growth and are so full of fruit that
much OF IL must be thinned out by
hand. 1t is easy to find such trees,
the little branchless lead pencil sticks
OF a year ago, now six feet high and
with dozen branches or more laden to
their tins with young fruit grading
from the size of walnuts, down TO
marbles and peas Not all have grown
to this stature, however, The freeze
that did the business for the oranges
left its mark here and there on newly
planted little peach trees, discouraging
ana temporarily stunting them. 1t is
laden with fruit: pOcl1et edition of
n tree no higher than our knee with
perhaps % to 80 peaches on its stocky
little branches. These, however, are
exceptional; moro than nine out of ten
have made very satisfactory growth.
POSSIBLY these precocious trees may
prove correspondingly short lived.
Possibly with the revival of the orange
groves tho culture of the peach will be
allowed to fall into neglect. But at
least 1T is reasonable to expect these
young orchards TO materially assist the
impoverished orange men in bridging
the gap that must be tided over until
their groves come again into profitable
bearing. AT the best, in this neighbor-
hood, two Or three years must yet
elapse before this comes TO pass Thus
lar the orange sprouts, generally speak
ing, have done surprisingly well. Many
growers. after their trees had been
KILLED 10 the ground, had to abandon
their groves altogether and hustle at
something else for their bread and
butter. Many others who hung on
have bpen and still are unable to buy
fertilizers to ait in the work of recup-
Grafton. But nature has been kind and
even these abandoned and neglected
groves are coming on. Not so encour-
aglhgly, of course, rs those better
cared for, in some of which the
'sprouts" have already grown to prom
islng young trees, 10 feet or so high,
which, considering that they had to
start alresh last spring and summer
from tho ground, from tho roots of the
frozen stumus, is an astonishing illus
Tatloh OF thc rccuperativc power Of the