The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-13

with only a few hundred dollars expended
On it can now be sold to an eager pur-
chaser for $4,000, but the new owner de-
clines to sell at any price Now this grove
is sample of many others that are
coming into notice, groves owned by peo-
pie who made cattle raising their prime
industry and orange culture hardly a sec
ondary considera ton Most of the groves
needed ittle fertiiZing or working and
We're protected from severe cold by pine
forests, so the owners paid little atten-
Jon to them or to the crops of oranges
they bore
Of course. the deadly freezes in less
favored parts of the state aroused these
people to a realizing sense of the value
of their orange groves, and also prompted
them to fertilize and cultivate their trees
to the highest point of bearing. Many
: owners, however, took advantage of the
rise in values and sold out, preferring
some other occupation than that of an
orange grower A genuine Cow boy" cat
tie raiser finds the cultivation of an
orange grove time work compared to
cattle round up and a branding cam
piagn.
All the way nearly, from Punta Gorda
to near Lakeland, on both sides of the
railroad, thrifty groves, old and young
are 10 be seen. Nearly all appear to have
been well protected by heavy pine for
ests. When the naval stores men and saw
through their extensive operations, l fear
that the groves will require some addi-
tional protection. Last winter, in some
groves, fires were kept burning at night
during the cold spells, and in other groves
wood was placed between the rows of
trees ready to fire If needed. This is evil
dence that not all the groves in this ia
vored section are considered safe without
some protection during the coolest nights
The guava is a very tender plant, and yet
| saw some bushes at Punta Gorda and
other places in bloom and with fruit form
ing. But in some places | have seen the
tender tops of the guava bushes killed by
the cold However, up in Orange and adj
joining counties the whole bush is killed
to the ground every winter.
One of the star attractions is Col. Wat
kins' famous grove of grape fruit trees a
few miles from here. The fruit is smaller
and of different flavor from the ordinary
Pomelo or grape fruit. but it has made a
ready and profitable market for itself at
the North, and Col. Watkins sold his crop
from tifty-six trees for $500. The great
demand for grape fruit and the high
prices realized has prompted orange grow
ers to largely increase the number of
young grape fruit trees set out recently.
If the prices hold up the grape fruit grow
ers in South Florida Will reap big har-
vest next winter And the orange grow
ers will do well, although l doubt II prices
rule as high as they ala last season.
Messrs. Heard, Rails e. Reynolds, whose
office is here, with packing houses at
Fort Ogden and other points, are among
the largest buyers and shippers, and put
their fruit into the market in manner
that gives them a ready sale for their
shipments They expect this Ode Soto)
county to yield crop of some 250,00 boxes
the coming winter. which will put large
amount of cash into circulation here.
OF course people are hocking here from
less favored sections of Florida as well as
from other states Some have bought
groves while others have purchased
farms. gone into merchandising or taken
hold of some money-makiug enterprise.
New stores and houses etc, are constant
w going up. which gives the lumber mills
all they can do, while mechanics find
ready employment. How long this boom
will last IL is hard to say, but IL is on now
for all il Is worth. AS an illustration, Mr..
Heard moved his family here from Matt
land and rented a house; that house and
two others in which he subsequently NOV
ed were sold over his head, and in self
defense he is now building him hand
some residence. From what l can learn
a degree of this prosperity is falling 10
other places in the county, while on the
Gulf coast. at Braidentown and St. Peters
burg and other favored places the booms
are even more surprising than here IN
Arcadia, the hustling county scat of De
Soto. Sidney Herbert.