156 
FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
damage and of which the present gener¬ 
ation has knowledge was that of Febru¬ 
ary, 1835, when citrus trees two feet in 
diameter were killed. The subsequent 
cold waves doing marked damage occur¬ 
red in January 1886, December 1894, and 
February 1895 an< ^ 1 &99- 
Cold waves are generally felt first in 
Montana and their average daily move¬ 
ment is about 600 miles. The time re¬ 
quired to reach the Atlantic Seaboard de¬ 
pends on the track followed and the pos¬ 
sible opposition of low areas, which fre¬ 
quently develop. 
VIRTUES OF COLD WEATHER. 
< ♦ 
Many virtues have been ascribed to cold 
waves; it is conceded they have some. 
Their utility, however, is largely inferen¬ 
tial while their disadvantages are direct 
and effective. Severe freezes are bene¬ 
ficial to the extent of disintegrating soils 
and making available the material nec¬ 
essary to support plant life; the heavy 
snow, usually an incidental feature over 
limited districts, gives warmth to the 
ground thereby protecting some cereal 
crops. Prof. Moore, Chief of the 
Weather Bureau, sustains the position 
that the dry cold air intensifies vitality, 
making buoyant the listless and recharg¬ 
ing the nation, as it were, with more ener¬ 
gy and higher incentives. 
To the fruit and vegetable grower of 
the South the cold wave is an erratic and 
unwelcome factor, cutting down profits 
and consuming dividends, though itself 
inert and non-productive. It negatives 
energy, push and pluck, and puts a pre¬ 
mium on fear and trepidation for the last 
named state is that of the fruit grower, 
who, with surplus of energy and a mini¬ 
mum of capital, goes forth to deserve suc¬ 
cess, if not attained, in a business vulner¬ 
able at all times to attacks from frosts 
and freezes. 
WILD WEST EFFECTS. 
The limitations on the influence of cold 
waves do not terminate with the indus¬ 
trial world. Human effort comprehends 
action—peaceful as a rule—war-like if 
necessary. And in considering the wel¬ 
fare of people we may view them singly 
or collectively. Nations are but aggrega¬ 
tions of men, and are subject to the same 
influences. Who knows the true weight 
that should be accorded prrevailing 
weather conditions at times when the fate 
of nations is involved? The retreat of 
Napoleon from Moscow supposed to have 
been accomplished 1 in a pitiless blizzard, 
is a pertinent query; and the historic 
secenes of our own soldiers at Valley 
Forge and in “Washington crossing the 
Delaware’’ are memorable events in our 
natural history. 
CLOSE STUDY NECESSARY. 
The fact that there is only one force 
capable of destroying the citrus industry 
of this state, judging the future by the 
past, should impel everyone interested to 
seek the closest possible alliance with that 
bureau of the government whose province 
is to give warning where direful condi¬ 
tions threaten. 
By close alliance is meant cordial co¬ 
operation ; a co-operation that recognizes- 
the interdependence of grower upon 
grower. Let the citrus industry, as a 
