The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1881-03-23
Florida Oranges.
Boston Herald

The orange culture in Florida am ounted
to little or nothing before the War. North.
ern industry and methods have found theiI
way into the State since, and gave this cul-
tivatiOn remarkable impetus. Ten years
ago even the product amounted to but lit
tie. Now it brings millions to the State,
and its increase for the next ten years can
hardly be estimated. General Cameron was
taken yesterday by ex-senator Yulee, a
friend and former associate. who represent
ed Florida in the Senate thirty-five years
ago, to see the largest orange grove in the
world. This was the first time they had
met since Mr.. Yulee left the Senate for the
South in 1861, and the renewal of the friend
ship between the two has been one of the
pleasing incidents of the stay in Florida.
Colonel Duffy and myself were invited to
accompany the party, and did so. Long be-
fore we reached the great grove toward
which we were tending, there were patches
of orange trees to be seen on every side, many
of them with the golden fruit still hanging
to the branches. Beautiful flowers bloomed
in the black muck, and early vegetables were
Just springing up. little later the train
dropped us in the midst of 10000 orange
trees, covering over 400 acres of ground. A
perfect wilderness of orange trees, apparent
ly not cultivated with care, certainly not
planted regularly, but just nature had
SOwn the wild seed. The wild luxuriance of
nature had, however, been curbed by man,
who, in pursuit of wealth, had turned vine
gar into honey, and by grating on the
sour trees the finer sweet varieties, had
snatched from the wilderness an income of
over 500 year. General Cameron ram
bled with US over the place, all of us pluck
ing the golden fruit ad lib, and imagining
ourselves in the veritable Garden of Eden
earth, air and sky, soft, balmy and ethereal,
combining to fix the illusion, and were only
brought hack to a realization that we were
fifty miles from our hotel by an exclamation
from one of the party: "By Jove, we're
lost" This fact soon became apparent to
bound by bands of thick-ribbed
ice-lost in an orange grove in
Floridal General Cameron enioyed
the joke, and busted himself eating the
fruit plucked with his own hands. Many
OF the trees were laden with fruit of i'm
mense size and beautiful color, although
much of the crop had been gathered. One
Of the tempting sights in the grove was the
grape fruit, of great size and beautiful
lemon color. Is is said to be the forbidden
fruit of the Garden of Eden. 1t is useless,
except to look at and for preserv-
ing, although it is eaten by some.
1t has a sour, insipid taste. Lemons
of immense size, growing upon small
trees, now and then dotted the orange or
chard. After an hour spent in looking over
the grove, we, one by one, found our way
back to the packing house, where the Su-
perintendent told US that IL, 900 boxes of
oranges had been shipped this season from
one-half of the grove over which we had
been rambling; that means !, 500 900 oranges.
for which the owner had been offered
$35. 900 while the fruit was on the trees.
GLOW many years does it take for an
orage grove to come into bearing?" asked
the Superintendent. Eight years from the
seed, and about five years if grated or
budded on to the wild fruit That is
mean to say they will bear in eight years
from the seed, and in FIVE years from the
graft. They constantly grow better and bear
more oranges every year. No man can tell
how long the tree will be useful-certainly
more than 100 years
People in Florida are naturally as en-
thusiastic over orange culture as miners are
who find rich placers, and they tell almost
as marvellous stories. You hear them talk
about trees upon which grow from 1000 to
1000 oranges, but there is a great deal of
fancy in this statement, and the truth is
marvellous enough.
Mr. Fairbanks, the historian of Florida,
and an eminent authority upon the orange,
says that an average tree will bear, season in
and out 700 oranges, and that, where they
are grown from the seed or transplanted
regularly, about sixty trees. to the acre
would be fair average. These sixty trees
in fair season would yield 1900 oranges,
worth at the grove $40. This is cold re
liable estimate of what an ordinary orange
grove will do; many will do more, and still
more will do less but $40 worth of fruit
upon an acre of ground will strike the North
ern farmer as being decidedly profitable.