The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-12-14
PROJECTING ORANGE TREES.
Sheds Overhead, Mounds About the
Trunks and Fires Between the
Rows Now Deemed Necessary to
Protect the Groves.

khOWs NOW DCeEu0O NGCGSSAEE ~
Protect the Groves.
Maitland, Fla, Dec 13.-Three white
frosts within a wec6. and the ihermome-
ter down to so is rather too much of a chill
for the more tender winter residents of the
once famed Land of Flowers" and trop-
zeal climate, and just now there is much
complaint
1t is evident that the saw mill and naval
stores men have already made sad havoc
with our forests. and each succeeding win
ter gives ample evidence of a change for
the worse in our hitherto mild climate. II
seems pretty well settled that We are TO
lose some of our profitable industries, such
as guavas and bananas and very early
vegetables and strawberries. The past
week has seen our guaVa bushes in exposed
places again killed which cuts off guaVa
jelly making except in extreme southern
points Of the state.
The same is true 10 a less general extent
of bananas, as a few are SIN grown in
highly favored and protected spots. The
bananas are mostly grown for home use,
but the guava industry had become a large
and profitable one. AS to the new and
rapidly developing pineapple industry, the
poor man can hardly 60 into it for profit.
ne HluSi CtOS6 l6IlCG III Ills StOuliu, anu
not only slat it overhead, but with our
present weather conditions have a can
vas cover 10 unron cold nights, ard when
little blizzard comes along he must
also build fires in his pinery. Not only IS
this true of pineapples, but our lemon
and orange and grape fruit growers are
putting sheds over their trees and also
building fires inside on very cold nights,
Poor men can hardly afford to do all this
;- L.. eefA
I made tour of inspection yesterday
for the Morning News to see what prepar-
alton was being made between here and
Sanford for the cold snap expected last
night. In some groves Of rich men l
found the trees Of small growth banked
up into the limbs with sand. the base of
the mounds being from five 20 six feet in
diameter. Now this is no child's play,
but a long and tedious job, and in some
cases, where left too long the sand mounds
injure the trees. In other groves l found
the trees banked up in similar manner
with straw and dead leaves, a much quick
er and easier process if you have the ma
terial handy In still other groves small
trees were protected by wisps of straw or
| hay with baggins wound round the out
side to hold it in place. The cost in TABOR,
etc, Of any one Of these plans of protec-
lion is not small, and in many of the
groves, in addition, I saw piles of fat pine
wood, three feet long, scattered among the
| trees to be lighted in case of severe cold
| snap.
This year the people of Orange county
! have gone extensively into strawberry Gull
/ ture for home selling or shipping to dis
| tant markets. The early blooming plants
| have suffered in some cases from the Sc
we're weather of the past ten days, and
the outlook for the season does not now
| seem cheerful These people had tried
| waterme. ons, cukes, cabbage etc, and had
| bad luck and it is to be hoped that their
| first big venture in strawberries will be
| more successful. The camphor fad has
struck US also, and thousands of young
nursery trees are being put out with the
expectation that they will yield a crop of
! camphor for market in the sweet bye and
bye These people will find, I think, that
distance does not lend enchantment to the
! view. More daring eXperimenters are
| putting out rubber trees, and they may
| live to gather ready-made rubber shoes
from the trees now being planted. Per-
haps
Five-cent cotton up in Georgia is not the
only calamity, nor the pear blight, nor
The peach yellows. Where big crops Of
! any product are grown there are "set
backs" that discourage and dishearten
| the feeble workers and men with limited
means. This explains why there Is always
a shifting element, one year trying this
| crop the next that crop, and the next The
| other crop, failing perhaps in al for want
| of means or knowledge to make either
| crop a success On the other hand, right
here in Orange county, some men, with
means, energy and the desired intelligence,
! succeed with every one of the allowed
named crops. They practice the eternal
vigilance" that alone protects and pro-
notes delicate crops in this now variable
winter climate where, glass or canvas
| covers, or sheds and fences, or mounds
and fires are becoming the rule, rather
| than the exception in pineapple strawber-
ry and citrus fruit culture.