Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-14
LESSONS OF FROST

The fruit of the Louisiana orange crop
is beginning to reach market, more IMAM
a month later than usual. says the New
Orleans CORRESPONDENT of the New York
sun. That there should be any crop is Il
, surprise. because it was the unanimous
sentiment of Orange W last year
that the severe weather had Killed every
sweet orange tree in the state. \ few
hardy Japanese oranges survived. but
all the sweet varieties persisted. rms
was the fruit report made by the aSrl-
cultural departments, state ana natiohai'
and verified by subsequent eXamina-
tions.
AS a matter of fact. fully half the
orange trees were killed-but due almost
wholly to carelessness-and the rest re-
manned in Il state of suspended NINA
ton. to revive With warmer weather.
There will be ii small crop this year. but
no smaller than after previous freezes,
and many of the orange growers believe
that the cold weather has actually been
an advantage to the industry DE SHOW
ing them what kind Of oranges to grow
and how. to protect them against the
cold. -
The orange industry of Louisiana is
] nearly two centuries old. and nearly that
much older than the FLORIDA and Cain
fornia orange farms: but 1t mas not until
lately been conducted On a business basis.
and it has heretofore been subject TO
many collanses and shocks. In the Old
Creole days any temperature under -
degrees was 4 calamity to the orange
growers and killed half their trees. Inc
older trees survived ANA thus kept up
orange growing. AS these cold spells
came every score or SO of years. the story
Of the orange industry was 70 years or
building up. to be followed by Il crushing
blow which undid all the work and COM
PEELED the orange oWe to start fresh.
When, however. regular orange laffnS
We're started in Plauuenine parish, the
necessity of harder trees was recoS-
nized and the experiment of grating
sweet oranges on sour orange trees was
tried. 1t was Il complete success, pro-
duced an acid-sweet range watch be-
came popular. and enabled the trees TO
stand far colder and more severe wealth
err. There was Il great development in
the orange industry until 1881. when the
temperature went down to Is. something
that had never been known in Louisiana
for a century. The orange trees had been
traine TO stand "a and wen 20 degrees,
but not Is. and many of them perisned.
The orange growers went to work to
find harder trees and several Japanese
varieties We're imported. They began,
moreover. to use precautions to protect
the trees from severely cold weather. and
announced that they We're prepared
should a temperature of is ever come
again, and, indeed. for far more severe
weather. Then came the freeze last Feb
ruary, and Il temperature OF rs dtSIeas,
not only something THAI had never oc-
tuIlSd : G., III iisiS tiAtS ~
not be even imagined. 1t was believed
to be fatal TO the industry, but it is now
found that it was not. ana many orange
grOWers believe that ii vas :; blessing i!
disguise, by showing them what varie'
ties of orange best stand cold Weatlc
and how the trees can be projected from
a freeze. 1t is now demonstrated tina
with proper precaution there is no reason
why a zero temperature should kill Il sin
/, gle tree. The Mandarin. Tangarin. Sat
4 suma, Oonshin and Gumuuat.= all Jap
y anese varieties, escaped injury VIII
properly looked after.
The loss of the range trees ~ tn
I freeze is now shown to be the result q
y negligence or rather of ignorance. Man
u growers went to work to SlnudS" tn
!: trees and Guild fires around them durin
q the cold weather. Others even dresse
J. the trees in mating. All that is neces
II sary to protect the trees against IL
II seerest cold possible is to hill the tree
d above the bud. Ii zero weather CONF
II branches. bat the body of the tree II
n mains intact and shoots out its branch'
l. in the spring. The hills can then BE- Il
, mover, the dead branches cut off and II
~ trees will bear fruit ~abundantly.
1t is this experience which has rtNiN,
= the fallen hopes of the orange grove
of Louisiana, and which vii! result in Il
j.. laying out of many thousands of oran:
~ trees his spring. The growers belle
=. that they have solved the problem OF he
-, to beat the freeze.