Daily Los Angeles herald., 1878-08-25

Angeles orange comes into the
market at . time when 1t Is de-
nuded Of the staple, that the fully
ripe fruit hangs on the trees four
or i've months, and that it can
even be shipped to Europe, by q
circuitous route, involving pas
sage of thirty or forty days, with
= perfect certainty that it will be
marketable ON its arrival there.
On this branch of the subject we
find the following interesting state
ments In Mr.. Garey's lecture:
We have evidence from the Flor
ida people themselves, which We
will produce presently, showing
that their oranges will not keep,
and hence are not as good variety
Is ours, and must be used almost
exclusively for their local trade.
The writer above quoted further
says: "The trees are stronger and
bear more luxuriantly than either
Of the above mentioned, and the
fruit lasts longer on the trees; Is
better adapted for shipment and
market than the Florida orange,
which rots rapidly" This writer
has no pecuniary interests IN Cali
fornia, but writes In an Eastern
paper, from a disinterested stand.
point.
Our oranges are very peculiar In
their keeping qualities; they can be
allowed to become ripe and sweet
before picking from the tree. and
yet stand transportation to long
distances, while the Havana, Ia
hiti, Florida and other oranges must
be picked green in order to reach
the market before rotting, making
them tough and insipid, which is
proven by the Tahiti oranges now
In our markets. A San Francisco
paper says:
"The Tahiti orange crop Is later
In market than the Los Angeles
crop, and arrives at San Francisco
In hot weather, in damaged con-
dition. The business has become
quite Improbable, SO much 80 that
California importers propose to
abandon the trade. This change in
commercial affairs will open the
market for about 5,000,0 900 more or
anges from Los Angeles"
The problem rs to whether or
ange growing can be overdone here
is . very interesting one to our
pomologists, and is handled very
exhaustively by Mr.. Garey. After
giving instances, verified by Mr..
William Pridham and Mr.. Freder-
ick NJ. Shaw, Of the arrival of con.
signments of Los Angeles oranges
In Europe which had been packed
when perfectly ripe, the lecturer
continues:
Mr.. Wolfskill, of Los Angeles,
shipped o car load of oranges last
season to st. Louis, Mo-, where
they were received in perfect order,
and brought satisfactory prices. 1t
appears, after practical proofs OF
the keeping qualities OF our or
anges, that the question of over
doing the market should be forever
set at rest; none Of us, nor our chill.
dren's children, will live 10 see
this great great business overdone
A nd remember these oranges were
ripe when picked from the tree
Theu, again, an orange orchard i:
q legacy that will be = monument
to the memory of the man who
plants it, for generations to come
An idea of the age which orange
trees may attain is furnished by
the history of the magnificent tree
in the orangery OF the palace OF
Versailles, known by the name o.
the Grand Connetable, or GranC
Bourbon, which is now 450 years
old. 1t grew from some .pips of O
bitter orange planted in pot al
the commencement of the fif.
teenth century by Eleanor of Cas-
tile, wife of Charles ILL.,, King o
Navarro. The young plants which
sprang from the seed were kept il
the same tub at Pampelunar unit
1884. tn 1893, more than two cen
turtles after, they were removed tt
Versailles. The Grand Conneta
BILE, regarded as the senior of living
orange trees, is still perfectly Wig
Orous, and does not exhibit any
signs Of decay. At the San Gabrie
Mission, in Los Angeles county
there is II grove of orange tree
over ninety years old, which arr
healthy and vigorous, bearing
heavy crops annually.
The rest of Mr.. Garey's lecture il
taken up with technical discus
sion of budded versus seeding
trees, into which we do not pro-
pose to follow him. We had beel
previously familiar with most of the
facts so attractively presented by
him, and they have produced upon
US, as we think they will upon any
unbiased inquirer, favorable i'm.
preston of the vitality of our or.
ange interests, no matter how
many trees may come into bear
ing. 1t has been estimated, by
parsons familiar with the subject,
that there is large money in raising
oranges, even If the price should
sink to half cent a piece-an
event little likely to happen.
WE are glad to be able TO chroni-