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 
Barataria 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 
u 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 
in the increased number of poorly formed trees due to killing of 
the branches by defoliation. 
1 Stubbs, W. C, and Morgan, H. A. The Orange and Other 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 Thysics 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. Frankenfield. 
4 Garriott, E. B. West India Hurricanes. U. S. Dept. Agr. Weather Bur. Bui. II, 
p. 40. Washington, 1900. 
