276 Appendix. 



block of ice. Nursery stock, which had already been stripped 

 of its leaves by the earlier frosts, was now killed outright, 

 predicting the utter annihilation of the orange groves 

 throughout the whole of our section." \ 



The frost appears to have been very severe for Florida. On 

 the Qth January, 1886, the thermometer marked 40 degrees, 

 Fahr., at noon. On the loth, 34 degrees at noon, and 24 

 degrees at 9 P.M. On the nth it did not rise above 30 de- 

 grees at any time, and on the 1 2th 34 degrees was again the 

 highest point reached. These figures were taken from a 

 thermometer partially protected by a veranda, so that the 

 orange trees in the open must have been exposed to still 

 lower temperatures. 



In 1883-4 there was also a bad frost, and also in 1876. 



A month after the disaster, however, says the writer, " the 

 groves are again putting on leaves, and not much damage 

 has been done to the trees. But the loss of the crop and 

 nursery stock was a heavy blow." 



NOTE. The remedy for all this would appear to be to 

 raise a hardier variety of citrus. Any kind which survives a 

 bad frost would be the best for that locality. Risso states 

 that in the south of Europe, where the orange was at one 

 time largely grown from seed, hardier varieties often turned 

 up, so that, by their means, the orange tree could be pushed 

 further north, without injury from frost. 



No. 32. 



In the Tropical Agriculturist of ist December, 1882, 

 appeared the following : 



" In the Azores, up to 1836, the orange trees were in per- 

 fect condition no care, no attention, no labour, was given 

 them, save that of picking and packing." .... They were 

 left " without manure, without draining, and may be without 

 pruning." .... Suddenly, however, a disease appeared, 

 " trees 2OO and 300 years old, and producing each 6,000 to 

 20,000 oranges, \yere disappearing." It was observed that all 

 the trees affected produced a very heavy crop the very year 



