THE ARGENTINE ANT IN RELATION TO CITRUS GROVES. 5 



astrous, occurred in 1886, 1 1895, and 1899. 2 These freezes had the 

 effect largely to discourage the commercial growing of oranges in 

 Louisiana. Many of the succeeding citrus orchards consisted mainly 

 of volunteer sprouts from the old roots allowed to grow at will with- 

 out care or culture. After the later freezes considerable nursery 

 stock, untrue to name and poor in quality, was imported into the 

 State. The present citrus industry of Louisiana has developed since 

 the great freeze of 1899, and all the trees now growing have sprung 

 from old roots or have been planted during or subsequent to that 

 year. 



Considerable damage also has been sustained by some of the 

 orange orchards from floods due to excessive rainfall and high water 

 and from tidal waves blown in from the Gulf of Mexico and the 

 JBarataria section by hurricanes and lesser storms. 3 An orange 

 grower informed the writer that such storms had, by washing 

 salt water from the Gulf over the orange trees on the left bank 

 of the river below Pointe a la Hache, caused almost complete 

 abandonment of orange growing in that section. Of the 8 or 10 

 severe storms of this nature, occurring in the past several years, 

 those of 1893 and 1915 probably caused the greatest damage to citrus 

 orchards. The storm of 1893 was followed by a tidal wave which 

 " engulfed everything before it," 4 the water sweeping over the orange 

 groves to a depth of from 3 to 5 feet or more in places, and remaining 

 there for several days. While the present investigation was still in 

 progress there occurred the most severe hurricane of all, that of 

 September 29, 1915. Besides destroying more than 90 per cent of 

 the entire orange crop of the State, and extensively damaging many 

 of the trees by stripping off their leaves and breaking branches, this 

 storm blew water in, at first directly from the Gulf and river; and, 

 on its recurve, brought brackish water, laden with millions of tons 

 of rushes from the Barataria swamps. The water remained about 

 the trees in parts of the orange section for several days, and the 

 rushes were deposited from 3 to 4 feet deep on the ground, many 

 of the trees being laden with them. It is difficult, at present, to 

 estimate the damage that will result from this storm to trees not 

 actually killed; but one way in which it will manifest itself will be 

 m the increased number of poorly formed trees due to killing of 

 the branches by defoliation. 



1 Stubbs, W. C, and Morgan, H. A. Tbe Orange and Otber Citrus Fruits. La. St. 

 Agr. Exp. Sta. Special Bui., p. 5, 1893. 



2 Records of the freezes of 1886, 1895, and 1899 are contained in U. S. Weather Bureau 

 reports. 



3 See Humphreys, Capt. A. A., and Abbot, Lieut. H. L., " Report upon the Physics and 

 Hydraulics of the Mississippi River,'' Washington, 1861, for a record of the earlier floods 

 along the lower Mississippi ; and Cline, Dr. I. M., in articles in the U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 Weather Bur. Buls. M (1904) and Y (1913), by H. C. Frankenfleld. 



4 Garriott, E. B. West India Hurricanes. U. S. Dept. Agr. Weather Bur. Bui. II, 

 p. 40. Washington, 1900. 



