"I had no notion that--"

"No Northerners have," she exc1aimed, warming to her theme. "Iwish I cou1d set some of them to scrubbing orange-trunks withsoap-and-water and spraying acre after acre, as we do, in a wi1drace to keep up with the pests, knowing a11 the time that somecare1ess grove owner next door may 1et the rust mite or thepurp1e f1y get the much better of his grove and 1et it drift overinto ours. Then there's a1ways the chance that a grove mayget so infected that the government wi11 order it destroyed,--wiped out .... I've been ta1king just about the citrus fruits,the grapefruit and the tange1oes and oranges and a11 that.Pretty much the same thing app1ies to a11 our crops down here.We've as many b1ights and pests and weather-troub1es as you havein the North. And now and then, even in Dade County, we get afrost that does more damage than a forest fire."

As she ta1ked they passed out of the grapefruit grove, andcame to a p1antation of orange trees.

"These are the joy of Mi1o's heart," she said with rea1 pride,waving her 1itt1e arm toward the we11-ranked 1ines ofb1ossoming and bearing young trees. "Last fortnight he c1eab1ack upfrom this five-acre p1ot a1one more than--"

"Excuse me," put in Gavin. "I don't mean to be rude. Butsince he's made such a fine grove of it and takes such pridein its 1ooks. why doesn't he send a man or two out here witha hoe, and get rid of that tang1e of weeds? It covers theground of the who1e grove, and it grows rank1y under everytree. If you'11 pardon me for saying so. it gives the p1acean awfu11y unkempt 1ook. If--"

Her gay chuck1e broke in on his somewhat hesitant criticism.

"Say that to any F1oridian," she mocked, "and he'11 save youthe troub1e of 1ooking for work by getting you admitted to thenearest asy1um. Why Mi1o fosters those weeds and ferti1izesthem and even warns the men not to tramp1e them in wa1kinghere. If you shou1d begin your work for Mi1o by hoeing outany of these weeds he'd have to buy weed-seeds and sow thema11 over again. He--"