FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
33 
But as to the matter of protection, as I 
have had but little practical experience, I 
will leave that for Mr. Hubbard and Mr, 
Painter to say what they think best for 
North Florida. So far as South Florida 
is concerned, numerous small wood fires 
will be found the cheapest and best. I 
have seen acres of groves fired of a night 
when the trees were in bud and bloom, 
with entire success, not a bud or a twig 
being injured, and I was told they kept 
the temperature at 34 degrees in the 
groves, whilst it was 25 degrees outside; 
there was quite a breeze going, too. 
And so it seems small wood fires and 
plenty of them as a rule is all that will be 
needed in this section on the north line 
of South Florida, to save either bud, 
bloom or fruit from cold. 
The Florida Orange* 
A DISCUSSION. 
Mr. Butler—I notice that the speaker 
seems to be under the impression that 
the South Florida orange would not 
keep as well as the North Florida 
orange. I think the South Florida 
orange will keep as well as the North 
Florida orange when grown under the 
same conditions. The fault wasjnot with 
the South Florida orange, but with the 
South Florida man. For years we have 
been getting high prices for oranges. 
The shipper would sometimes get $2 on 
the tree. The trees were fertilized high¬ 
ly. Last spring we had excessive rain. 
With excess of fertilizer, the nitrogen 
had a tendency to make the orange grow 
softer than usual. Many were packed 
green and a large portion were packed 
very carelessly. I have seen oranges 
picked from the trees wet, dealers buy¬ 
ing and packing as cheaply as possible. 
Those who took care in packing have 
had no complaint of the condition. I 
know of growers who 1 never heard of a 
complaint from their oranges. 
Mr. Carter—I am from South Florida 
and I was made sad by the first article 
on the subject that condemned South 
Florida oranges as not keeping well; 
and the comparison between South Flor¬ 
ida oranges and East Coast oranges was 
very much in favor of the East Coast. 
We are envious of the East Coast down 
there, but when the gentleman told us 
that in Jacksonville, where they have all 
kinds of oranges, people would persist 
in eating South Florida oranges, even 
rotten I felt that South Florida was not 
so far behind after all. I wonder if the 
proposition would not take, that we get 
some of these men of brains to go to 
South Florida to raise oranges on scien¬ 
tific principles; and on behalf of South 
Florida, I extend an invitation. 
Mr. Porcher—Mr. Hubbard stated, I 
think, that some thought that South 
Florida oranges would not carry well; 
he did not compare them with North 
Florida or East Coast oranges, and it 
was only spoken of as last season. And 
