Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-03-29
PEACH CROP BADLY HURT
BY NIGHTS KILLING FROST
Damage to Fruit Will Run Above
SI,ooo,ooo--High Wind Saves
Utter Ruin in State

T.. Lee WofSnam, state entomologiSt,
to-day declared that the Georgia peach
crop especially in the northern section
of the state. had been hurt seriously by
the killing frost which fell last night,
and the damage done would amount to
hundreds of thousands Of dollars.
The expert asserted that his own
peaches in Ormewood had been dam
aged considerably and the buds on trees
planted in low spots were frozen.
With the temperature as low as %
degrees in suburban Atlanta" said
Worsham, peaches in the Gainesville
and Clarkesville sections doubtless suf-
fered serious damage, and in many
places the crop is destroyed. Only the
high wind which prevailed during the
night saved the north Georgia crop from
utter ruin.
"A peach tree at the present stage Of
budding can not stand more than %
degrees. An advanced tree is sure to
suffer from the frost that fell last night.
Orchards situated on ridges and
slopes, so as to get the full force of the
wind may have escaped with slight
damage, for indications are that the
wind was high enough to keep the frost
from falling in certain localities.
Damage Runs High.
1T is difficult to estimate the damage
done. even in the north Georgia section,
-. ~. +o-,naro+ura &c hound IN bava
been low. but It will run into hundreds
of thousands. What damage was done
in the Fort Valley and Perry section is
conjectural."
Mr. Worsham, when shown dis
matches from Macon estimating damage
In that section from 20 to 40 per cent,
said that damage in northeast Georgia
probably would reach so per cent.
ION a guess, made from the meager
information on weather conditions that
has come to this office, I would place
the damage done by the frost to the
fruit crop at close to 100000" he
said.
Atlanta was one of the coolest places
in the South this morning before the
sun rose. the thermometer showing 28
degrees at o'clock, as against So de-
grees for the same day last year. How
ever, as soon as the sun rose the Their
mometer showed it's effect, and rose ten
po ints in the first hour.
Warm Weather Coming.
The weather bureau predicts fairer
and warmer weather for Atlanta to-
night and Saturday.
Weather Forecaster VonHerrmann
said that Atlanta has had her last cold
spell for the year, and that from now
on it should be all sunshine and flowers.
At 10 o'clock Worsham received tel
egram from z. B. Heard. a prominent
fruit grower in ElbertOn, in the heart Of
the northeast peach section, asserting
that the crop had been destroyed. The
telegram said:
Temperature 90 heavy frost. Fruit
crop destroyed. +. B. HEARD"
Similar disheartening news came
from other parts of the state. Mes
sages from Summerville, in the extreme
northwestern part of the state; Barnes
Vile, Fort Valley. Adairsville, Cornelis
and other towns and districts told that
the damage to the fruit had been great.
1T will be several days before we
can estimate with any degree Of accu-
racy the extent of the ruin" said Mr..
Worsham. To-day the frozen buds
look very much the same as those
which have not suffered, but within a
short time they will turn black and
will show how badly the fruit growers
will suffer"