The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1917-02-16
Is THE FREEZE A BLESSING n
DISGUISE?

vocate, printed in the southern sec
ton of the state, hopefully exclaims
that there is a silver lining to every
cloud.
Suppose" it says, Eve never had a
freeze in Florida; suppose there were
no citrus canker, white Gy or injuT-
ieus insects? Would paradise be
ahead of Florida?
"'Tis said that there is only one
thing certain in this world, and that
is death. Even in the frigid zone
people hate to die, and how much
harder would it be in Florida if we
did not occasionally run across a lit
tie bump.
I'm fact, if we always had such
weather, such balmy breezes, beauti
full flowers and shrubbery, golden lad
en- trees and green fields as we did
through January, in what way would
paradise have it on Florida?
"We should not expect perfection
on this earth.
Can any good thing come out OF
NAZARETH" Let us wait and see.
''It is by the hard knocks of expert
ence that we receive our most valu
able lessons.
Before the great freeze of 1855
it was thought that citrus fruit was
about the only crop that could be pro
duced in Florida. That great calam
ity forced the people to turn TO some
thing else for a livelihood until the
citrus trees could again be made
to produce their golden harvest, and
as a result the raising of early vege-
tables has been developed until it has
become a close second to the citrus
crop as a producer of revenue.
without the incentive of a disas
ter, there has been more development
in Florida in stock raising and gen
eral farming the past twelve months
than there has been in the previous
ten years, if the freeze of the
past week will hasten this develop
ment will it not prove a blessing in
stead of disaster?
1.-THE great freeze of 1856 was the
cause of giving Florida two great
money crops instead of one. Who
can say that the little shaking up we
had the past week will not cause
modern stock raising and general
farming to soon become of far greater
import than the citrus and vegetable
crops combined?"
Then, the Gadsden County Times
printed at Quincy, in what was for
merly known as middle Florida, says
that the freeze emphasizes the merits
of that section.
We make the following extract
Much the greater part of the
wealth of the state lies in products Oh
a very different character. such as
corn, cotton. tobacco, hay, timber
hogs, cattle, potatoes, peanuts, pecans
velvet beans. sugar cane and all the
other staple products we find here in
middle and west Florida. And most
of these take no risk from the freez
es that come unheralded like a thief
in the night and carry devastation
and mourning all through the citrus
belt"
While we can grow citrus fruits in
Marion almost with the same certain
ty and safety as in the counties fur
Their south of us, we have exception
ally fine farming lands, and are now
paying the greater attention to raising
stock and growing staple crops.
We have in mind a thrifty German
who bought farm in the Lowell sec
ton recently and the first year he
cleared thirty-seven and a half dol
lars per acre growing peanuts.
He not only paid for the land or
the first years crop, but has snug
little bank account to his credit.
This man is an enthusiast He
thinks we have the greatest country
in the world-and so we have
The freeze will accentuate the rails
ing of stock and emphasize the mer
its of this section for the growing O
more substantial crops and in the
growing of which it is both safe an(
sane.
TWO AOIISATONICS