The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-06-24


year from a ten-acre grove of 800 or
ange trees and 500 grapefruit. trees
BUT. according to figures of ave-
rage citrus fruit values compiled by
the Florida commissioner of agricul-
ture, this same number of trees
would produce crop worth at the
most, 5000 And the trees would
then be in full bearing.
A sixteen acre grove, with 1900
trees in full bearing, was offered for
sale for $4,000. with the prospects
OF $500 income the first year,
And a twelye-acre grove, six years
old, was offered for less than $4,000
All good Florfdians date every
thing from the Big Freeze. That
happened twenty years ago-a short
time in any country. except this bless
ed one of ours-but as long ago as
it seems to them no man in that
warm climate recalls it without
shudder. However, should such an
atmospheric freak occur today it
would not not only be far less de-
structive, but it would be viewed
with more equanimity by the people.
for in 1912 the citrus fruits came
near being fourth instead of first in
the value of the states products
Florida today is an unknown
country to ninety-nine out of every
hundred people in the United States.
Even the majority of those who visit
it fail to get anything like correct
idea. In 1894 the peninsula was
thought by the inhabitants themselv-
es to be a mere strip of sand jutting
out between the Atlantic and the
Gulf. fit for nothing but growing or
anges. So if you had then ventured
the opinion that the freeze was a sort
of economic cataclysm-one Of
those proverbial blessings in dis
guise you would probably have
been hanged to sour orange tree if
one could have been found.
But there We're mighty few left,
and many people. thinking their only
asset was wiped out, quit the state.
There were many others, however,
possessed of courage. fortitude and
vision. whose faith in the future of
the country has been amply justified.
Those who stuck to citrus growing
realized that while freezes do come
every now and then to damage the
crops, or even cut the seasons ten
der growth back, the temperature
had not fallen so low as fourteen de-
grees in Florida since 1895. Among
them E.. II. Mote, whose story is
worth sketching because it is in some
ways typical of thousands of men who
came to Florida when it was in a
very primitive stage, fell in love with
Il and stuck to it.
Mr.. Mote was Delaware man.
Like many others he went south for
his health in 1881, locating at Lees
burg, then village of less than a
hundred people, situated between
Lake Griffin and Lake Harris. The
lake region is by far the most beau
tiful part of Florida But even then
the crooked promoter was abroad in
the land So the new conner promptly
got stung in the purchase of some
land which he had never seen, a1tho'
he paid only So an acre for it.
With the deed in his pocket he went
out to take look at it. 1t was not
only covered with scrub. but there
were lot of small mounds scattered
all over it. Beneath each one was a
hole
What Gare those?" he asked.
Gopher holes
The Florida gopher is not furrow-
ed but shelled. 1t is a sort of land
turtle and it often digs a hole into
which you could throw good sized
vaIise. Disguised, the tender-foot
was about to drop his deed into one
of them when he was persuaded to
trade the land for "a pair of mules,
one of which was spawned, the other
blind in one eye. With this pair OF
steeds and $500 Mr.. Mote embarked
in the livery business. 1t logged
along for a few years, finally came
down to a walk, and then one day a
perfectly bare feed room over the
stable gave him an idea.
Danger From Frost is Less Now
In week or so enthusiastic Flor
idians we're sailing around on roller
skates. The rink was opened in Feb
ruary and by July it had netted
$1,000, just enough to give Mr. Mote
start in the hotel business. That
grew, but the town needed a real
emporium. It was opened with gen
era1 stock of goods costing $4,000
half of which was bought with cash
A series of free excursions brought
the natives from distances of fifty
miles or more and the whole stock
was sold out in less than two weeks
Out of this business he bought q
twenty-aere orange grove in 1891
paying $4,000 for it and forty acres
adjoining. Groves were just as high
priced in those days as they are now
Then came the big freeze which
cut the trees to the ground and broke
him as well as everyone else in the
citrus industry. Nothing daunted