Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-11-18
FLORIDA ORANGES AND VEGE-
TABLES.
Sixty Varieties of the Fruit-Farm Pro-
duce to be Plentiful,
From "a Nelo York Tl.ibnne.

From the Nel0 York Tribune.
q. s. Palmer, the Florida fruit and pro-
duce merchant, was visited again by a
reporter on Saturday at his Office, No. 1866
Reade street.
"Oh, yes" he said, 81 am always glad
to talk about Florida and Florida oranges.
We are just getting we'll into the begin
ming of the season. Two thousand boxes
of oranges arrived yesterday and , 200 are
expected to-day.
"Few people. l fancy" he continued,
shave any idea how many kinds of Florida
oranges there are. l know of some 60
varieties now in the market. or course |
can't tell you All their names, but they
are easily distinguished in color and
flavor by experts. Here, for Instance, is
a Maltese OVAL" pointing to an almost
lemOn-colOred, egg-shaped orange. ''Later
in the season we shall get the Tangerine,
which is easily separated and has a high
color and flavor. This variety is some
times called the kid-gloye orange, from
the fact that the skin can be taken of
without staining the glove on one's hand.
not SO nigh in color or flavor. The
Indian River has a wide fame
on account of its richness In
saccharine matter and tenderness OF
pulp. These varieties command higher
price than the rest, and sell often as high
as SO TO SO a box. Many oranges come
into market covered with sort Of rust.
This Affects the price, but not the quality
of the fruit. The rustness, in fact. keeps
the skin tirmer, and is a great advantage
in shipping long distances. There is q
wild Florida orange which is used largely
in this city for decoration. 1t IS very Bit
ter, and makes an excellent drink in hot
climates. The wild orange tree is very
valuable, 1t grows rapidly and the sweet
oranges can. easily be gotten from 1t by
grating.
II see the Florida Orange EXCHANGE
had its first sale, a few days ago, and eX-
travagapE statements have been made in
some of the city papers about IL. The
price of oranges ranged from 81 %
box to SO S1H, that Of common from 70
cents to 81 rs. The bulk of the oranges
were sold for less than So. The commits
sion merchants have always sold early or
anges for 81 and 50 a box, and all through
the season, the bulk of the fruit has
brought over SO. Oranges cannot be sold
| at the Exchange the same day they ar
| rive. 1t takes day to catalogue Them
and advertise the sale. 1t 10 really not a
| reform at all IN handling fruit for the
fruit is placed on the market a day later,
and the prices average less. 1t is only
when the fruit comes into port in very
large quantities, and choiceiy graded
| that 1t can be sold to advantage by auc-
tiOn.n
'What is the outlook for the Florida
vegetable cropw
Every flaCterIng, indeed. Vegetables
begin to come In quantities the latter part
| OF December; even now we are getting
cucumbers, tomatoes and string beans,
and we shall have strawberries before the
holidays at So quart. The vegetable
crop is very remunerative, and almost
every Florida farmer has a truck plot Of
! some size. One of my correspondents
writes that he has 95 acres in cabbages.
40 In tomatoes and SO in cauliflOwers, egg
plants, cucumbers and beets. Vegetables
come in packages which sell at 81 to So.
During the season the four Southern
steam ship lines to New York bring In
$4,000 to 70, 600 packages a week. This is
an immense crop of perishable articles to
handle, but we have always done it very
successfully"