The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-10
FAITH IN FLORIDA ORANGES.
-,,T THE FREEZE PLAYED MORE
havoc THAN THOUGHT.

Rrauch es-Stitt many Eeopie are
uochosin= Groves, and Work on
Tbem Is Kept Up-Increase of the
pineapple Industry in the Last
Few Years.
orlando. Fla, Juno 9.-On Feb. Is last,
600 DAYS after the freeze, which swept
aver The South. the Morning News called
mon its Orlando representative for full
formation as 20 the extent of the dam
ace # any, to the fruit interests of this
section
at that date effects were not apparent,
aod no man could determine the extent
Of the injury chat had been done. Nearly
f5--T months have passed since them, and
d-ve,opments are still in progress. The
fru extent of the damage TO the orange
frees can not yet be determined. Trees
mat apparently came through without
serious injury have since shown dispo-
sjrion to droop and die. Not a week has
n,ssed since the old leaves fell and new
arse mt out after the freeze but branch
here and branch there, sometimes
considerable portion of a tree top. has
bfrbied. the leaves turn brown, and
lose examination discloses the fact that
fine wood is dead
This effect is not observable in all of
tb Groves But ii is found in a consid
eranle number that, two weeks after the
,old wave passed over, We're thought 10
hive pulled through all right. AT this
dale no expert would risk his reputation
nv attempting to predict just when the
uees will cease to die back, and begin
aput on the old-time healthy growth.
Lei ii be understood that not all of the
orange groves of this section exhibit this
evidence of a decline. There are many
mat have withstood the test and have
held their own. Some trees have made
a substantial growth since the growing
s.qson began and il is confidently expect
ed that with the opening of the rainy sea-
son which is now due, such trees viii
Give a good account of themselves. These
bertar groves cannot be confounded with
the ones that are in a decline. No novice
could make such a mistake. Their Vigor
IS apparent 10 the most casual observer.
II is fair to presume that such trees will
improve rapidly with good care, and will
vet make their owners happy by yielding
large crops of fruit.
There are a few people who, observing
the signs of the times, are of the opinion
that good orange grove win be a gold
mine in the years to come They are
taking advantage of the present condi-
tons 10 pick up healthy groves at eX-
ceedngly low prices. The market price
of orange groves is depressed. Careless
people make little distinction between
those that are coming out and those
that are going out But men who can
recognize a good thing on sight and who
have nerve, are investing in orange
groves, even in these unpropitious times,
and they are not taking many chances
as their neighbors imagine. 1t is a little
remarkable that most of the recent pur-
chasers are Rome people who have been
here through all of the vicissitudes of the
past few years and who have had ample
opportunity for observation. They are
demonstrating their faith in a tangible
way.
DIS. Person and Harris, resident ply
sicians. have secured one grove. A E.
wilson of Cleveland, o., but who was
resident of Florida for ten years in the
earlier days. has secured another. f. F.
Sperry. superintendent of the Foundry
and Machine Works. has bought two;
". H. Reynolds another, and several
other parties have bought or exchanged
for orange groves, all during this period
OF depressing conditions.
The Damage TO PineappIes.
The pineapple industry came in for its
share of damage, but the extent of it
was the cutting Vi AAboAliiS VI Inv bOPns
taking fruit where fruit had set and cut
ting blades to the ground. But pineapple
plants recover rapidly from such rough
handling, and many of the plants which
were cut to the ground on the 18th of
February have since then thrown up tops
and set forth fruit, which is now in all
stages Of growth.
Where the center buds were killed the
plants have thrown up shoots or suckers
III in tor mn 1lopV han
they would have done had the fruit ma
tured. These suckers are in sharp demand
for planting new pineries, so that the in
crease of suckers will largely compensate
for the loss of fruit.
The pineapple industry has quadrupled
in this vicinity during the last two years,
and new ground is now being cleared and
prepared for planting that will more than
double the area during the next three
months. This business is on boom here,
and yet il can hardly be considerd a
boom, because the increase is but the lesit-
innate outgrowth of the demand for fruit
such as Orlando growers have given to the
world during the few years since pineapple
growing as a commercial venture first be-
gan here. The suburbs of Orlando in all
directions are dishgured by acres of sheds
under which the fruit IS produced. 1t is
not pleasant sight TO find the road sides
walled with eight of nine feet high solid
plank fences, or to look over a landscape
where such unsightly enclosures constitute
the chief object of vision. But a thou
sand dollars per acre per year of net profit
has a tendency to reconcile one with the
ugly features of the business, and this is
what the pineapple growers are realizing
out of their investments here. When we
mad three or four acres in high-grade blue
blood pines a few years ago 100 acres are
growing to-day, and more than another
hundred acres of land are being prepared
Tor planting this summer.
This years vegetable crop is probably
The best ever grown here since the coun-
try has become thicktly settled. Cattle
are in demand and are fetching better
prices than at any time in the last fifteen
years. The cattle men are improving the
grade of their stock and are finding that
nigh grades flourish on the native range
equal TO the old natives that were built
on the gothic style of architecture The
bigger ana finer animals find more ready
market and a better figures.
on the whole in spite of the absence of