Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-03-03
For the VERMONT FARNER.
A Rustic Vacation.


On a tract Of land lying between St
Johns river and Dunn's lake, called "fruit-
landpeninsula," are many fue orange groves.
The people on this strip Of land twenty miles
long and seven miles wide have oranges on
the brain. They will talk, think and dream
Of nothing else. On the golden fruit field
they imagine roads, broad and straight to
honor, wealth and power. 1t is a mooted
question whether the wild oranges of Florida
are indigenous to the climate aud soil Of this
state, or whether they were introduced by
Spaniards several centuries ago. The latter
theory is generally accepted, for nowhere do
we find accounts of there being oranges here
when discovered by Cabot, and it is known
they were extensively grown in Spain at that
time. They we're no doubt conveyed to the
interior by the Indians, and dropping few
seeds here and there. in the course Of several
hundred years became large groves, and to
all appearances natives Of this state. Wild
OiaubVS arc VI b"O Aiuu5i SVut ahu OiNVOi
sweet. The juice Of wild oranges contain an
acid, resembling lemon and lime, from which
a very good lemonade can be manufactured.
At the expense of fifty cents gallon wine
is quito extensively manufactured from the
juice, worth from three to four dollars q gal.
lon. From the rind and blossoms valuable
perfumery is extracted. Wild groves usu.
ally occupy swamp and hammock lands, bor-
dering the lakes and river, between 29e aud
81 north latitude.
But few years ago many of the largest
wild groves in the state we're cut down aud
destroyed, aud the land they occupied con.
verted into sugar-cane and cotton fields.
Sweet oranges are either grown from the
seed or by budding sour stumps Trees
grown from the seed usually commence bear.
ing from seven to eight years Of age. The
quickest way of obtaining bearing grove is
to bud sour stumps. This is done by saw
ing off the sour tops two or three feet from
the ground and 10 one or two months bud
with sweet buds. The stumps will send
forth sour shoots which are removed until
the sweet top absorbs all the sap, then shoots
will cease growing. l saw oranges on one
tree that had been budded two years. Bud.
jed trees seven or eight years old will be in
full bearing, while those grown from the seed
will not attain the same condition until ten
or eleven years old. Trees little moro than
two years old from the bud have been known
to bear one hundred oranges, and budded
tree six years old sometimes yields one thou
sand oranges. Trees have been known to
bear $500 oranges, but an average crop is
1900; allowing one hundred trees to the
acre you have 10000 oranges, worth four or
FIVE hundred dollars. In cultivating oranges
they have two drawbacks, frost and scale
insect, neither of which will discourage a
persevering man. Many succeed while 9TH
ers fail in this as in all other occupations.
Mr. Drew of this place, formerly of Maine,
has met with marked success. Four years
ago he purchased eighty-One sour stumpS,
conveyed them twenty miles, set them out,
and seventy-ninS lived and were buddsd.
Last season six trees bore, and probably
many more will this year. While he lost
only two stumps, many lose half or three.
fourths set. Mr. Drew tended his trees,
while other people do not, and that accounts
for his success.
Mr. Cook, formerly Of New Hampshire,
has ten or fifteen large trees bearing. aver.
aging about 200 each, aud he has large
grove that will commence bearing in year
or two. He has sent oranges to New Hamp.
shire this winter with good success, but they
usually send to New York aud Boston.
Mr. Hutchinson, former resident Of YER
mont, has fine grove on the banks of Dunns
lake. His sweet trees mostly sprung from
the seed, and he claims they improve each
time planted. His house is completely en-.
velOped in orange trees, aud in one place
oranges were growing inside. Col Bailey Of
New Hampshire had just arrived at Mr.
Hutchinson's when we were there, and l
doubt very much about the colonel being
profitable bOardsr, valuing oranges worth a
cent each.
Mr. Newbolds grove, bordering DunnS
lake, is an improved wild grove. This is
the largest bearing orange grove in the pes
ninsula. He will probably have 10000 or
$4,000 oranges this crop, aud they are now
selling in New York from four to four aud
half cents each. 1t costs about cent each
to ship oranges from his place to New York,
His oranges are badly rusted, which does
not hurt their favor or shipping qualities.
At the close of the war Mr. Newbold's grove
was sour to-day he has sweet grove bud
ded from sour stumps worth thirty or forty
thousand dollars. He is converting his fall
ing oranges into wine, which sells high, and
is said to be the best wine in the market. /