55 



ward side of your grove; or, on that side from which come 

 the, prevailing winds or gales. In East Florida the prevail- 

 ing winds and gales of long duration are from the north- 

 east, east and southeast. On the Gulf coast, some of the 

 gales come from the west,, south and southwest. It is bet- 

 ter to be protected on all sides by tall forest trees, if possi- 

 sible. In all orange-producing countries one of the requi- 

 sites considered of special importance is, the protection of 

 the grove from high winds arid gales. This is accomplished 

 by the erection of high walls, planting belts of forest trees 

 locating the grove in sheltered valleys, or on leeward side 

 of mountains. 



Dr. C. J. Kenworthy, who has travelled extensively 

 through the orange-growing countries of the world, in- 

 formed the writer that the practice of protecting the orange 

 groves from the effects of wind-storms, is universal ; and 

 is considered of vital necessity wnerever the business is 

 prosecuted successfully. 



During the late gale of August 29, 1880, which vis- 

 ited the State of Florida, a grove situated near the coast, 

 on Indian river, which was not adequately protected on the 

 windward side, suffered a loss of 40,000 oranges, besides 

 damaging the trees to a fearful extent, by uprooting, wing- 

 ing and twisting the branches, whipping off the leaves, etc. 

 All this might have been averted if the grove had been 

 located with a view to protection from wind. Other 

 groves on Indian river, and throughout the State, in the 

 track of the storm, suffered more or less, in proportion as 

 they were exposed to the hurricane winds and rain. Thou- 

 sands of dollars worth of property was destroyed, which, if 

 the proper precautions had been observed when locating or 

 planting the grove, might have been saved. 



