The Mercedes Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 4, 1984 Page: 2 of 10
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Page 2 -- The Mercedes Enterprise
Mercedes, Texas 78570 Wednesday, January 4, 1984
• Produce •
Washington Ex. Fancy
Red Delicious Apples 37%
Colorado U.S. #1 Russets
Potatoes 8-Lb. Bag $1.19
Golden Ripe Central America
Bananas
California Hass
Avocados
California
Lettuce
4m./99%
2/79’
E. 49
Texas
Cabbage
Mexico
Cilantro
Colorado Yellow
Onions
• Meat Department •
“Best in Town”
Ground Beef
U.S. Good
Rib Steak
U.S. Good
Chuck Steak
U.S. Good
Shoulder
Round Steak
Beef Skirt
Fajitas
Beef Brains
BeefTongues
Center Cut
Pork Chops
Pork Steak
Finger Ribs
Wesson
NE
Gallon
$5.99 3
Fab
Gt. Size
$1.89
Hygeia Pure Reg. Only
Ice Cream % Gal.
Cheer Family Size
Any Additional $6.39
STORE HOURS
MON. THRU THURS.
7:45 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
7:45 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Open
SUNDAY ALL DAY Hunt's
Fruit
Cocktail
No. 300 Can 6%
Coke, Dr. Pepper
Sprite and
8-Pack
16-oz. Returnables
29%
49
Ju.
37’
ARLENVER
Saving Vegetable Seeds
For Another Year
Fanta
flavors
$1.29
. 00 Premium Saltine
$1.89 I —
Crackers ^ Box 77
$1.98
Lb.
$1.69
Lb.
$1.79
Lb.
$1.59^
$1.29 Lb.
$1.19 Lb.
$1.98 Lb.
$1.29 lb.
985 lb.
• Self-Service •
Armour Products
Armour
Bacon 12-oz. $1.29
Armour
Franks 12-oz. 98’
Armour
Bologna 12-0z. $1.29
Armour
Polish Sausage
U.S. Good
Round Steak Well Trimmed
U.S. Good
Stew Meat Boneless
ARMOUR BACON
1-Lb. $1.89
$2.29
Lb.
$2.09
‘ Lb.
r-1 >Fr 1-Lb. Can
Folger’s Coffee 4010
Folger’s Instant Coffee 2-Lb. Can - $4.69 D L .13
.... 12-oz. Jar - $4.89
aiktaa)* . -nont wierers
• Dairy •
Borden’s 1st Grade
Milk
Kraft
Gallon
2-Lb. Box
Velveeta Cheese
Tri-Better Grade “A”
Eggs
Imperial
Margarine
Ranch Style
3-Lb. Can - $6.89
$2.35
$3.59
Ex.-Large Doz. $1.29
Lb. 07
No. 300 can
Mrs. Tucker's
Shortening
42-oz. Can .
Pride of Illinois
Corn Whole Kernel
No. 300 can ( /0Q€
• 4/07
Black Eyed Peas w/Bacon 3/$l .00 Pinto Beans
Gebhardt’s
Chili w/Beans
Libby’s Cut
Green Beans
3/99’
No. 300
17-oz. Can
65’
39*
Comet
Rice 42-oz. Box $1.19
Contadina 8-oz. Can
Tomato Sauce
Light Crust
Flour
Banner
Tissue
Pillsbury Plus
Cake Mix
Hunt’s
25-Lb. Bag
• Frozen Foods •
5/99’ Morton’s 11-oz. Asst.
$3.99 TV Dinners 88°
Patio 12-oz.
4 Pack
Asst. 19-oz.
32-oz. Bottle
Tomato Ketchup
88° Mexican Dinners
Minute Maid Pure
775 Orange Juice 12-oz.
Banquet 8-oz.
99* PotPies
$1.19
$1.19
45'
$1.49
$5.9
6-Pack 12-oz. Cans
Texas Pride Beer $ 1.39
6-Pack 12-oz. Cans
Lone Star Beer $2.49
6-Pack 12-oz. Cans .
Schaefer Beer $1.59
Vinerose, Rhine,
Petri Wine Chablis Blanc 4-Ltr. $4.29
Gallo Wine Asst. 1.5 Liters $2.99
"W A me me me my 1
Bounty Towels
Jumbo Size
Pillsbury
Flour
5-lb. Bag
79’
99
Pampers $8.29
60’s 48‘s 90’s
• Drug Items •
White Alcohol 499
" Pint
Pepto Bismol $1.29
4-oz. Bottle "Ie47
Spray Deodorant
Secret 5-oz. Can $1.99
Q-Tips
54‘s 59’
Though seeds are a
bargain when you consider
how many dollars’ worth of
vegetables you get from
them, their cost can still add
up if you have to buy sev-
eral varieties of vegetables
every year.
You may find that the
seed packets of some vege-
tables contain many more
seeds than you can possibly
use in one year’s garden,
and you may wonder if
these seeds can be saved and
planted the following year.
In most cases, the answer is
yes, if the seeds have been
stored in a cool (40 to 45
degrees), dry place.
Under such conditions,
some seeds, like beets,
eggplant, cantaloupe, and
tomatoes, can be expected
to last more than 5 years.
The cole crops, lettuce, and
peppers can be expected to
last 3 to 5 years, while some
seeds only last a year or
two, like onions, parsley
and corn.
To check whether last
year’s seeds are still
“good,” follow this simple
procedure. Place a known
number of seeds on a dou-
ble layer of paper towels.
Roll the toweling up over
the seeds and secure it with
a rubber band or string.
Place the rolled-up
tube in an oblong cake pan
and moisten it with water,
4.
or stand the tube on its end
in a glass containing about
1 inch of water.
Keep the paper-towel
/ tube moist and unroll it in 7
to 10 days to see how many
seeds have sprouted. Deter-
i mine the percentage of via-
ble or “good” seed by
dividing the number of seed
germinated by the total
number of seed tested.
Discard the seed if the
percentage of good seed is
less than 70 percent. If the
percentage is better than 70
percent, plant the seed with
the knowledge that you are
doubly saving money this
! year.
RDENER
P.O. Box 9005 Dept. BR
Waco, TX. 76710
01983 TEXAS GARDENER MAGAZINE
CITRUS NEWSLETTER
Texas Agricultural
Extension Service
By Leon R. Smith, Ph.D. and Julian Sauls, Ph.D.
GENERAL SITUATION - Mother
nature’s pest management strategies
include pest elimination -- something not
much appreciated by growers here in the
Valley but which nevertheless has
occurred. Although much too early to
assess extent of damage, the hard freeze
on Christmas day has reduced the
present crop to whatever fruit can be
salvaged for juice before spoilage occurs.
Most trees are expected to defoliate
within the next few days. Later we will
be looking at a lot of dead wood where
next season’s crop would normally
originate.
Temperatures recorded on one hygro-
thermograph at Edinburg showed a brief
low of 16 degrees Fahrenheit, with
approximately six hours below 20
degrees Fahrenheit and a total of 55
continuous hours below 32 degrees
Fahrenheit. As with past freezes we can
expect to see a wide variation in damage
ranging from complete kill down to the
bud union on some young trees, and of
large scaffold branches on older trees, to
only moderate damage at some locations.
Those of you fortunate enough to sustain
only light to moderate damage would do
well to review fall management practices
and/or general grove conditions that
might have contributed to cold
hardiness.
THE CHRISTMAS FREEZE - The
Valley citrus industry received a disaster
for Christmas when the temperatures
dropped into the teens for several hours
Christmas morning. The temperature at
Weslaco fell below freezing about 3 a.m.
December 24 and did not return above
freezing until about 2 a.m. on December
26. Typical highs on Saturday were 25
degrees, even lower on Sunday. The
lows for pre-dawn hours on Christmas
day were 15 to 20 degrees across the
Valley - those lows held for several
hours.
FRUIT DAMAGE - Citrus fruit
already had ice crystals in the juice by
noon Saturday. Sunday morning the fruit
was frozen solid. Because citrus fruit
that have been frozen cannot be
marketed fresh, the entire crop is lost to
the fresh market.
The December 15 Texas Valley Citrus
committee report indicated that 80
percent of the grapefruit, 60 percent of
the early oranges and all Valencias were
still on-tree. That represents 78 percent
of the total commercial supply of fresh
citrus that was lost.
TREE DAMAGE -- Bark is spliting
on limbs up to two to two-and-a-half
inches in diameter. However, splitting of
bark can continue for a couple of weeks,
so it is too early to tell the extensiveness
of limb damage. There is no question of
the damage to twigs and leaves.
While it is much too early to
determine tree damage, some general-
izations can be made. Older orchards in
only fair conditions (due to age, disease,
and previous cold damage) can be hurt
badly. Young, healthy orchards can be
damaged extensively due to their smaller
size. Perhaps surprisingly, trees set
within the last few weeks (and wrapped)
may show least overall damage, as they
were completely dormant.
THE INDUSTRY -- High production
costs coupled with only fair to poor
returns the last couple of seasons could
result in quite a few marginal groves
being pushed out in favor of more
profitable use of the land. Less acreage
3 means less fruit to market and should
increase returns to growers of good
quality fruit.
No estimate of damage to citrus
nurseries has been made, but they
suffered the same temperatures unless
the nursery trees could be protected
from cold somehow. Consequently, there
may not be an adequate supply of trees
for replanting. Traditionally, the nursery
requires two to two-and-a-half years to
produce a citrus tree, so there could be a
shortage for a couple of years.
Thus, it is likely that the industry will
lose some acreage.
SALVAGING THE CROP - Frozen
fruit may hang on the tree for two to
four weeks, perhaps longer. However,
the fruit will dry out daily, thereby
reducing the juice yield. In time, the
fruit will fall or dry out completely on
the tree.
The remaining supply of early
oranges can be harvested for processing,
but time is of the essence as juice yields
will decline daily. Valencia oranges may
have reached legal maturity; if so, they
can also be harvested for juice. The
limiting factor is time or the capacity of
the three local processors and one in
Houston to actually process the fruit.
Obviously, grapefruit can be pro-
cessed into juice also. However, there is
too much grapefruit out there and
grapefruit juice inventories are high.
Certainly, the processors will balance
inventory, movement of juice and the
potential lack of juice until late 1985 (due
to probable light production next season)
and other considerations to make a
decision about trying to salvage some
grapefruit juice.
SALVAGING THE TREES -- After
despair, the next thing that occurs after
a severe freeze is the urge to do
something. Pruning comes to mind
immediately. Don’t.
Citrus trees will flush out with new
growth come spring. Unfortunately,
much of that new growth won’t survive,
as dieback will occur due to underlying
wood and bark damage. Consequently,
pruning should be delayed until the
spring flush matures so as to determine
how much pruning will be necessary.
The best advice is to do nothing until
a complete assessment of the damage
can be made based on sustained
regrowth. Production practices can ang
should be altered, but there is plenty of
time yet to discuss those changes.
FUTURE PRODUCTION -- It is too
early to tell about future production, but
some generalizations can be made. The
duration and severity of the freeze
coupled with bark splitting on two-inch
wood would indicate a crop of less than
half of normal would be expected.
However, greater damage could drop
production to about 25 percent of normal
or less. Trees that have to be cut back to
the scaffold limbs (buckhorned) will
produce no fruit next season.
However, the potential for production
cannot be estimated until the extent of
the damage is known -- about May.
COMMISERATIONS - Other agricul-
tural industries in the Valley were also
hurt by the freeze, particularly
vegetables, ornamentals, sugarcane, aloe
and others.
Too, the same severe freeze moved
into Florida’s Peninsula citrus orchards
early Christmas morning with temper-
atures in the low 20’s in the Central
Florida area.
District opens
with loss to
Rio Grande
Varsity basketball Tigers
dropped their first game of
the new district season
Tuesday, losing to Rio Grande
City by a 54-47 score.
The loss brings the season
record for the team to 7-9.
“We just shot worse than
we ever had before,” reports
Coach David Sanchez. “We
shot cold from the start,” he
adds, saying the Tigers had
only 13 points by the end of
the first half.
Only Tiger scorers in
double figures were Horace
Pequeno with 11 points and
Ricky Flores with 14.
“Rio Grande City has a
good ballclub, definitely one
of the top district contend-
ers,” Sanchez says. “But we
played fairly good defense
against them, despite some
fast breaks they pulled off
early for some easy baskets.”
Next district contests for
the team will be against
Edcouch, Friday, and with
Donna, next Tuesday. Both
games are slated for Tiger
Gymnasium. Varsity play
begins at 7:30 p.m.
New Shock
..now under
new management
with new hours
and new LOW prices!
Take out orders available- 565-9591
BREAKFAST SPECIAL
includes two eggs, any style, bacon,
hash browns, toast and coffee
6 to l1 .m.
$1.39
Watch for our Daily Specials!
Open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily except Sunday
Corner of Washington and Business 83
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The Mercedes Enterprise (Mercedes, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 1, Ed. 1 Wednesday, January 4, 1984, newspaper, January 4, 1984; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1632037/m1/2/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Dr. Hector P. Garcia Memorial Library.