634 THE ORANGE. 



never since regained. A previous killing freeze is recorded 

 as having occurred in 1747, and it is a curious fact that all 

 three of these fatal frosts fell upon the same date in February. 



The trees killed by the recent freeze are mostly sprouting 

 freely from the roots, and, if taken care of, will begin bearing 

 in two or three years, and promise to regain their former size 

 by another decade, if not sooner. But as some owners have 

 neither the means nor courage to rebuild their groves, it will 

 probably be longer before the previous output is reached. 



Although the trees can bear the low temperatures before 

 stated, the fruit cannot. Exposed to 25° for a few hours, the 

 juice next the stem begins to evaporate, and a longer exposure 

 will cause its total disappearance. Badly frozen oranges soon 

 drop and decay, while many of those slightly touched will 

 hang for several weeks in fair condition for eating, and may 

 be sent to near-by markets. Those that are small and tight- 

 skinned often lose half or two-thirds of their juice, where the 

 larger ones, having a loose and coarse rind, will become en- 

 tirely dry, and light as puff-balls. The vitality of many of the 

 seeds will also be destroyed. 



An effectual protection against total destruction by frost 

 consists in banking up earth around the stem as far as prac- 

 ticable, this to be removed when the danger is past. Should 

 the top be killed down to this mound, the tree will at once 

 sprout from the live wood with great vigor and begin to bear 

 again in a year or two, whereas if killed to a level with the 

 ground, its recovery would be much slower, if indeed it ral- 

 lied at all. The boughs of pines or other evergreens laid 

 among the branches afford some protection in a moderate 

 freeze, but such precautions availed little in the intense cold 

 weather in Florida during the month of February, 1895. It 

 may be worth mentioning that, at the same time when all 

 other citrus around them were destroyed, some whose growth 

 had been checked a short time before by severe root-pruning 

 came through with few signs of injury. Any top shade or 

 scattering umbrageous trees mitigate the effects of lighter 

 frosts to a considerable degree. In Europe and Northern 

 India a latticed shelter is often built over the trees in exposed 

 situations. 



