Daily camera., 1899-02-16
WATER HYACINTHS.
Futile Effort of the Government to
Kill Them in Florida.
The Rapidly Growing Plants Impede
Navigation in the St. Johns
River and Cripple the
Lumber Industry:

lHdt lHe p'tHl was pest, as clearly
as the gypsy moth in Massachusetts.
and that it impeded the navigation of
rivers. 1t now transpires that the
farmers of Florida think the water
hyacinth pretty good cattle food, and
that they are even propagating it in
places where it had not before existed.
In the hot months the cattle like to
90 down into the shallow water and
eat the hyacinths floating on the sur
face. and while not a food of high su-
periority, it constitutes decided addi-
ton to the bill of fare of the Florida
COW. This strange development in the
case has made it impossible for the de-
partment at Washington to continue
a war of determination against the
plant, as had been purposed, and efforts
are now directed toward keeping it out
of the great paths of navigation, and
letting the rest of the water surface
of the state take care of itself. Since
the hyacinth has become a problem
of navigation it has appropriately been
transferred from the department of
agriculture to the engineers office of
the war department. and under SIS 900
appropriation from congress party of
engineers has been studying the sub
lect.
This problem is of general interest
as showing what tremendous
strength in combination harmless lit
lie ornamental Towering plants come
to possess. When a large steamer at full
speed strikes a bank of hyacinths it
comes almost to a standstill. \ screw
propeller finds it impossible to pene
trate n very large mass of the plants,
as they become so entangled about the
screw us to prevent it from revolving.
raddle-wheel steamers are able to pen
citrate masses of the plant much better.
but they are frequently entirely
blocked. The plants collect between
the wheel and bulliheads. packing in
so soidly that it is almost impossible
to reverse the engine. This makes it
very difficult to approach a landing
The steamboat becomes like 4 train Of
cars without brakes. Steamers with
low-pressure engines are troubled by
the injection pipes becoming clogged
so that sufficient water cannot be Sc
cured for the condensers. In parts of
the river which are very wide. it some
times happens that steamers are
blocked between floating masses Of the
plant. carried out of their channel and
stranded. The timber industry has also
been severely crippled. Where logs
were formerly RATED down the St.
Johns to the mills, they now have to
be dragged by the strongest kind Of
tugs through these beds of water hya
cinths. and at a very great expense.
Fishing by net has, of course. had to
stop. But perhaps the worst feature
of all is the effect upon bridges. II
case of a flood the hyacinth banks up
against the piles cf the bridge and
makes of the structure dam which
holds the water back until the pressure
becomes great enough to force away
the obstruction. bridge and all. A new
construction will have to be adopted if
the plant is allowed to continue its
course.
1t is less than ten years ago since the
flower was first introduced into the
St. Johns river. and that was at Edge
water. about four miles above Palatka
At that place it had been grown fol
some time in pond and to clear it the
plants were thrown into the river As
an ornament about The fashionable ho.
tells it has for many years been under
cultivation. When it frs1 b. gan tC,
grow IN the river no one supposed that
ii would ever become nuisance, and
settlers up and down the stream car
ried punches of it to beautify the slug
gish places. 1t was not until 1894 that
people began to think the charms of
the hyacinth had been overestimated.
and that perhaps the St. Johns had
had enough. 1t then appeared much
harder to stop the thing than it had
been to start it. For distance of 200
miles of the st. Johns river Il is now
very abundant. and on the Ocklawaha
river it lines the shore for about a hun
dred miles and there is no telling how
far it may spread. 1t will not grow in
braclish water or where the current
is strong. The effect of frost upon the
plant is not all that might be desired.
\ single frost cuts it down only to the
surface of the water, and the great
freeze in Florida a few years ago,
which killed off the oranges, did not Sc
ricusly disturb the hyacinth. On the
other hand. it is believed that the re-
peated frosts of river as far north us
the Potomac would be too much for it.
Since the project of eXterminating
the hyacinth mas been abandoned the
present scheme is to construct a series
of booms, MADE of tloating logs, which
will mark off such part of the stream
as is necessary for navigation. Within
these limits boat specially construct
ed for the purpose might ply back and
forth clearing out he weeds as often
as they grow. The material gathered
| by this "hyacinth-catcher' might be
| used as fertilizer on the land, or fed
10 the cows and hogs, or burned, and
perhaps the most profitable disposition
of it would depend upon the locality in
| u-bi.b Tho hcat ,,oS nj ,rorlr II iS a