| Show I r Ul Etl r I 1 II I AUThENTIC t 1 t fi i roger nV Discusses F Florida Freeze The recent freeze was very severe The newspapers sa say worst in the century Statistics Sta Sta- Statistics show v that a similar freeze cam carn in 1899 1599 Then nearly all citrus trees north of Orlando Fla were killed This latest freeze hit the citrus citrus cit cit cit- rus belt or the central portion hard but hut also the southern portion where many of the vegetables are an grown likewise had crops wiped out The northern section of Florida where the celery and other hardy crops are aro raised suffers suffers suf suf- fers leIs less damage from freezes RECEIVED WARNING There was no mistake on the part of the Weather Bureau for three days it had warned Florida Flonda of oC the very cold air coming down from the Arctic regions But what could the fruit and vegetable growers of oC Florida do about it Only the Indian River area escaped The rhe early crops had been picked The second crop including including in including in- in the Valencia oranges were not ready to harvest Many 1 growers built fires but these raised the Ule temperature only two or or- three degrees Growers who had adopted new schemes of spraying with water wa wa- water ter saw the spray itself freeze LOSS VERY GREAT I IThe The loss has come corne not only to the growers but to all the pickers the tho cultivators and andUle the Uie teamsters It has thrown over a million out of work and thereby affected all the merchants merchants mer chants and e c r s. s 1 Worst Vorst of all it came at the Christmas season when the people and th the th merchants planned on their best business The canning of oC juice has been the greatest hope of the grove industry If f fruit even en though frozen could be rushed to the canners while it was stilt still sweet such juice could be saved but the canners canners can can- ners could handle only so much juice and were powerless powerless powerless power power- less to can the true truckloads of fruit coming to them I have been in the midst of the Ule situation situation situa situa- tion and will say that everyone everyone everyone every every- one rich or poor has helped freely in ever every possible way wa AL ALMOST EVERY STATE FACES A SUDDEN LOSS When r I was a boy in Glou Glou- cester Mass 1 our most profitable profitable profitable profit profit- able product was granite and we knew it could not freeze We had great quarries and we shipped the granite to Boston New York Washington Washing Washing- ton and Ph Philadelphia for use usein usein usein in erecting the largest public bu buildings We believed we had nothing to fear Suddenly the invention of cement came and Cape Ann received a great economic blow It was saved only by its fearless fishermen The cities which grew up ur- and prospered from coal have suffered greatly since the 01 oi and natural gas have flourished When I wa waa a boy every Gloucester horn hom was heated by coal I went to the Ule woods with my ther tl er when snow was on the ground to bring bling homo home on a sled kindling wood for future use Even the farms of oC Ne England once so prosperous have been gradually aban droned The farm machinery introduced so widely for pI plow plowing plowing 0 ing cultivating and even for Cor harvesting hal could not be em employed on the rocky New England England England Eng Eng- land farms WARNING TO EVERY SECTION OF US U.S. 1 It is the j need to be ready for a change especially now that we art arr arton on the verge of the Electronics Age Every Ever industry in ever every county of this great country is subject to change 2 It is the to knowledge knowledge knowledge knowl knowl- edge that every community must diversify more This should be bc greater diver diver ica ica ca- tion The only way w y Florida or any other agricultural or fruit state will lick climatic problems problems lems Isms for COl droughts and floods may be as serious as freezes is by attracting more indus indus- tries But even these should be of different kinds A cit city now note dependent upon the steel industry or the paper indus indus- indusI I try or any other one industry may be greatly handicapped by foreign competition Prime Minister l Macmillan l has been telling this to President President President dent Kennedy Kennerly and he may be right in saying that we cannot canno have world peace without more freedom of trade This may mean that hat the have more nations may need l to give up more to the have less nations This is what wha Mr 11 Macmillan l was telling Mr 11 Kennedy Kenned in the Bahama Islands a few weeks ago FlorI Florida Florida Flor Flor- I ida and every other state i should prepare for gre a t I tI I changes ahead A n |
