The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-01-26
FIORIDIAN FLASHES.
,nouehts culled from the Orange Groves.
IT. ". G., in Atlanta Constitution.
SANFORD, FLA, January 10.

5ne e. heart of The Grange belt 70 review
s+hs, then wrote. find that facts have
Is,,.run NV prophecy, and the five years
j 90 brought more than / dared to ex.
The State of Florida raised this year
syer 5O,OOO,OOO (iffv million) oranges,
Ind this was short crop. l asked DR..
Harris, the Speaker of the House, to-
sipht what the crop would be five years
fom now, and le answered: "At least
Ire times that much-or 250,000,0 0,0tUW p
And Eve years lster7" "Ah figures
8ail for that compilation" he said. laugh
q Z have seen nothing in print that gives
In adequate idea of the immensity Of the
%uture. In the old days orange growing
Eas fancy pursuit, INDUCED in here and
3here. A grove of 500 trees was then q
Aaree one. The finest grove in Florida is
ihe Speer grove near here, which covers
Snly 6 acres and has $50 trees. The next
Sest is the Hart Grove at Palatka, which
las 700 trees. The first is worth $4,000
and yields $50, 900 oranges, worth on the
IN 8 $l5 q thousand. The crop this
wear Ia short year) sold for $4,000 on the
{rees. The Hart grove is worth 100000
and yields about $4,000 q year. The
.only reason that these groves are 80 val
liable is that the trees are about 40 years
aid and in full bearing. Now, Mr..
Markham, of Atlanta, has, near the
'6peer grove, with its 600 trees, grove of
E6oO young trees just coming in" as they
call 1t. His son, Marcellus, has 1000
trees, Of which only 600 are bearing, and
Judge Hayden grove of about 1000
trees Just bearing their first fruit. Gen.
Sanford grove of 5000 young trees.
Mr.. W. l. Treywick, of Macon, a grove
of 5000 trees. From these figures, sam
plies OF hundreds of others, it will be seen
that orange planting for the past few
yYars is business on large scale in
stead of a fancy, as formerly. For ex-
ample, Mr.. Markham's grove will pro.
ducc ten times rs many oranges as are
produced by the Speer grove, now the
finest in the State. Gen. Sanford's g grove
alone will produce more oranges than are
now produced in radius of eight miles
which has 292 groves. Or, to make it
palmer is the center of the
largest orange producing portion Of the
State. In radius of eight miles from
this hotel there are 292 groves, with
l65, ,265 trees. These groves now pro-
duce 100000 oranges, but only per
cent. of the trees in this radius are bear.
ing. When the other 95 per cent. come
in this radius of eight miles will produce
5O000,00O oranges, or as many as the
entire State now produces. To particu-
larze, Col. Markham now gets $4,000
oranges from a grove that in six years
will produce 100000, Judge Hayden
100000 from a grove that in four years
will produce 100000; Gen. Sanford
900 from grove that in six years will
produce 5000, 900, and so on through the
list In addition to the accessions from
these groves coming in, the groves now
bearing will increase their yield annually
for many years, as the full fruitage of q
tree is not reached under twenty years.
In addition to this there are thousands
Iof new trees being put out annually that
in five or ten years will add millions to
the crop. 1t will be seen, therefore, that
Ithe estimate of two hundred and fifty
million oranges as the crop for 1887 is a
VERY reasonable enc. Indeed, !. may JUS.
las likely be twice that much. In ten
lyean it will certainly be 5O0,0OO,OOO
with indefinite expansion beyond that
point.
Some idea of the new groves may be
had from the statement that for the past
four months the snles of new places aver
Iaged IN this county alone about fifty q
week. Mr.. Osborn, the editor of the
South Florida Journal, says he published
a list of weekly sales until it took up so
much space that he had to quit. DIR.
Harris estimates that the new groves set
out will average 500 trees each. AS all
the land now bought is for orange cul-
ture.",everything else being aband0ued-
IT VIII be seen that the sales provide for
iuily 10000 trees n week set out in
Orange county. I have no doubt the
figures were above this during the season
especially if we include the trees con.
1ln1Unaliy ~, added 10 old groves.
Ihe question now arises, will not the
production of such an enormous crop as
Z5o,0OO,COO glut the market and throw
t1c price of oranges down to unproEta-
ole figures? | think not. The orange
is The most delicious OF all fruits. 1t ia
neai'hy and invigorating, and doubt if
tnere Is man, woman or child in the
country who does not find it palatable.
Inc demand for Florida oranges, incom-
parable and superior to all others, has
more than kept pace with the supply.
;. II Is just as easy to sell q crop of fifty
millions as it was to sell crop of ten
In six years the price has va
req Dut little. 1t settled to cent and a
hali piece on the trees and holds there
good oranges commanding two cents.
AT these figures every grove in Florida
could sell its fruit TO orange buyers to.
morrow.
After all, the great cost of oranges is
~ transportation and handling. An
grange Oh that costs 10 cents in city has
% cents added for transportation and
pfoht. A box that sells for $5 at whole.
SAFE cost only 80 at the grove. AS the
cfop increases the facilities for transpor-
.a1ion will be improved, rates cheapened
aad new markets opened. At present
\, florida oranges hardly find their way to
.ne West at all. A few Eastern cities
consume all that can ha raisad. With
,e ,ae great Northwest fairly opened, mil
Mons OF oranges will be diverted to mar.
rvs that buy luxuries more freely an1 at
gTSlser ~, prices than the Eastern cities.
Inc building of new roads in Florida
ind the oopsning of new waterways, GO
,bg ,hg on with great rapidity, will cheaper
no no cost of carrying to market very
luch. 1t often costs more now to get an
,yhsange ,ha from the grove to depot or wharf
van 10 carry it from the wharf to New
a aolk. AS the crop becomes more inn
pollant the trunk lines aud the ocean
;;.eaners :, Will compete more sharply for
~ ana freight rates will drop.
II is estimated that not one person in
fTn Th IN America ever tastes an orange.
Anose ,nn who do eat them average perhaps
ten year: With the fruit more abun-