in Central Florida,
lat. 27, till the night of the 9th, ice having been found on the morning
of the 10th, near Enterprise, three-fourths of an inch thick. Oranges on
the trees were frozen through, and the leaves killed so they will drop.
But though here and there a branch may be frosted and will die and have
to be removed, little permanent damage to the groves has probably
resulted. Central Florida is distant, as the crow flies, from Central
Illinois, about one thousand miles. Suppose the cold wave moved steadily
southwest, it follows, then, its rate of speed was not far from 200
miles every twenty-four hours. It is easy to comprehend how a complete
signal service might warn of the approach of cold waves in time to take
every necessary precaution to meet and disarm them.

* * * * *

But as much of a stinger as the late cold turn was, it was a mere cool
breeze compared with that which fell on Florida and the entire Southwest
in the winter of 1834-35. Then snow covered all Northern Florida, and in
Central Georgia it lay on the ground some days, a foot deep. The young
orange trees were all killed to the ground, and few of the aged trees
escaped without the loss of most of their branches. But they soon
recovered--sprouting from the roots and stumps with great vigor, as they
will again do after the late freeze. And this is one of the strong
points of the orange. It will sprout from the stump or root when the
trunk is removed, as surely as the young hickory or chestnut, and when
transplanted young and trees of considerable size, will bear mutilation
with about as much indifference as the Osage orange or soft maple.

* * * * *

Those who expect Congress to do anything that will hurt German and
French importers, by way of retaliation for prohibiting pork and pork
products, will be pretty sure to be disappointed. Senator Williams is
responsible for the statement that the reason why agriculture is treated
with so much contempt, is it sustains no lobby. But you may be sure the
importers will not fail in that respect, as millions will be spent to
prevent legislation which will seriously interfere with the enormous
profits of the foreign importing houses in New York. Perhaps Senator
Williams will inform us what it will cost to keep up a well appointed
lobby in Washington, and how much the average one-horse lawyers in
Congress expect, in money down, in the way of a ret