Citrus industry in Florida Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Citrus industry in Florida - enquiry Paper ExampleIn 1834, citrous fruit groves were being cultivated by farmers, which were interrupted by the event of a halt in February of 1835 (Floridas Citrus Production 2013). The freeze, which happened on February of 1835, killed all the fruit trees in St. Augustine as temperature dropped to seven degrees above zero, thus, robbing people of their income (Dobson 2009). The farmers recovered production for the succeeding fifty-one years as the state only experienced warm winters during this time, northeast Florida, as well as St. Johns County, became the hub of citrus supply (Dobson 2009). In the 1890s, citrus production increased to five million boxes per year imputable to the demand for the said fruit in the northeast and the existence of rail lines, which promoted long distance exaltation of the citrus fruits (About Citrus 2012). In fact, in the year 1894, the shipment of crates of citrus to the north amounted up to 5,000,000 (Dobson 2009). On December of 1894, another freeze happened, killing all of Floridas orange crops in its wake. On the ordinal of February the following year, another freeze came about, bringing about the same disastrous effects such was its match that on 1896, Florida was only able to ship a little above 100,000 crates of oranges (Dobson 2009). The freeze caused the abandonment of citrus groves in the North of Florida and the production of melons and potatoes in its place (Dobson 2009). This was the most severe in the history of freezes that Florida had undergone (Timeline of study Florida Freezes 2013). In 1901, there were little above 1,000,000 crates produced (Dobson 2009). In 1917 and 1934, still the state was plagued with the same natural contingency the freeze of 1934 resulted in the formation of the Federal Frost Warning Service -- a replacement of the nurture whistles, which warned people of imminent frosts in the previous years (Dobson 2009). The occurrence of continuous freezes in D ecember of 1934, as well as on February of 1935, yielded a negative impact as it reduce production from a million boxes to just below 150,000 boxes of citrus (About Citrus 2013). Again, the farmers planted their citrus crops, yet another freeze took its toll in