Daily Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1876-1884, 1883-04-15
The Orange Trade.

hoT wrote the remarkable series Of lot.
ters to the New York Tribune which
were afterwards embodied by him in q
book devoted to California, the orange
producing section Of this State was com
paratvely restricted in area. Los An
geles county was the main producer,
and production even here was limited to
the Pueblo. the San Gabriel Valley and
to Anahoim. In San Bernardino county
few groves, out at old San Bernardno,
wero the only producing regions, while
the few oranges grown in San Diego
county were raised on Col. Cave j.
Cout's Guajome ranch. Since then a
great change has come over the orange
situation. In Los Angeles county, In
addition to great extension Of the old
and famous groves Of the valley proper
and Of the San Gabriel Valley, in Pasa.
dena hundreds of thousands OF trees
have come into bearing, while West.
minister and Orange, Santa Ana, the
Duarte and Asuza, and q score of other
orange producing sections, havo estab.
lished themselves as formidable rivals of
the older groves, in many instances pro
ducing finer fruit than they. We prob
ably risk nothing in assuming that the
orange production in Los Angeles
county has certainly doubled, and per
haps trebled, since Nordhoif gave such
an onticing account of the profits of
orange culture.
The advances in the citrus fruit
culture in San Bernardino county
have been even greater, relatively.
When Nordhoff wa, in this State,
Judge North and few co-laborers
had but Just engaged in their expert.
ment of retaining the bleak sands
where Riverside now stands and con-
verting il into semi.tropical Paradise.
To-day Riverside is n large producer of
avery superior class Of oranges. Even
San Diego has entered the field in
earnest, and, in the Chollas, Paradise
and Swcetwater valleys and on the KIM
ball rancho at National City, is demon
strating the ability to make herself felt
in orange production. This fact was
proved, the other day, by tho dispatch
ing OF a full carload Of San Diego
grown oranges to the East. This is a
modest but noteworthy instance Of how
the area Of production has widened dur
ing the past decade.
Are we, then, prepared to admit that
there is danger of an over production Of
this priced fruit? Most emphatically
not, and for the following reasons
While the production has increased to
the extent we have outlined, the fac
must still be borne in mind that the
belt of country, even in Southern Cali
fornia, capable of producing the orange
is very limited. The quality OF tn,
fruit is largely dependent upon the i'm
mediate local climatic and other en-
vironment of the groves. We can take
the inquirer to extensive tracts, in the
heart of Los Angeles, where the orange
trees ought to be grubbed out, the cold,
compact and repellant soil being utterly
unfit for this fastidious plant, With
only limited section of the United
States adapted to the growth of the or
ange, and only fractional part of tina
limited portion available for the growth
of fine fruit, we have no hesitation il
saying that there is infinitely more dan
ger of Cutting the potato than the or
ange market.
But, while we fearlessly take oul
stand on the position that the orang,
market cannot be glutted, ON the Other
hand a bushel of inferior oranges is
more than it will take with any profit tc
the grower. 1t is worse than folly tc
cucumber tho ground with trees which
produce sort of orange nubbin. All
such groves ought to be at once budded
with superior grades of the oran ge; and
If, after this has been done, the soil i;
found to be intractable, the trees ought
to be cut down and the ground planted
in alfalfa, grapes, or some other CROP
which will yield income.
Owing to the fact that the Los An.
geles orange is at its best when the
Coast, Florida and Louisiana orange.
have been cleaned ont of the market
the East will take every good orange
that can ever be raised in this county
or section. Since the establishment o.
the liberal fruit schedules of the South
ern Pacific Railway there has been nj
Instance of the failure of the Eastern
market to absorb shipment of oul
oranges. San Francisco, which used t,
be the sole recourse of cur orchardists
now only receives the refuse portion o
the crop. The only instance of tn,
price being unfavorably affected by tn,
amount Of the shipments East was wheI
three car loads from Los Angeles arrive,
in Chicago on the same day, and evei
then the price was only momentaril,
lowered, the consignments havini
proved quite remunerative. Our abilit,
to supply the market at time whel
our orchardists will encounter no com
petition from any point is priceless
advantage.
The magnitude OF the demand for thi
fruit may be best understood by state
ment Of the fact that the shipment o
oranges from Messina and three othel
Italian ports, averaged, for u decade
fully S25, 900, 900 a year in value. Tn,
fruit is staple article; and, with tn,
precauhon OF sending forward to the
new and highly desirable markets in
the East, which have been created by
our railway extension, nothing but first
class oranges, the demand will increase
IN far greater ratio than it is possible
to attain in their production.
HAPPILY yesterday completed what was,
for years whereof the memory OF man
runneth not to the contrary, known in