Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-05-22
THE ORANGE SUPPLY.
Magnitude of the Trade in Oranges
Grown in California.

LSan Francisco Bulletin, May Goth.
few years ago it was feared that the
culture of citrus fruits, especially of the
| orange was being overdone in California.
| The wonderful success of a few orange
groves having given everybody in two of
the southern counties the orange fever au
immense area Of land was planted with
young orange trees. Not much of a market
having been found at that time for Cali
| tornia wine, to many vineyardists the out
| look was discouraging. Vines were freely
uprooted and citrus trees planted in their
stead. Those who thus transferred their
vineyards into orange groves believed there
was no future for California wine But
| there were few men in Los Angeles county
at that time who had greater faith in the
vine than the orange tree, and cut down
their groves to make room for more vines
The late Don Mateo Keller, a well known
wine manufacturer, was a notable example
He took out the greater portion, if not all.
OF his large lemon and orange grove, and
planted a vineyard on the site, believing
| that California wines would at an early day
| be in good demand, and oranges would be
a drug on the market. The experience of
| later years has shown that the extremists
on both sides We're wrong. California
wines are in favor, and there is a growing
| demand for them at home and abroad. The
! instead of being overdone. the market for
the golden fruit has expanded to the Allan
| TIC Coast This development has been pro-
| duced by the opening of trans continental
| railroads through the orange-producing
| counties OF the south. A still later develop
ment in the same industry is promised in
| the northern and central counties of the
State, The adaptability of the sod and eli
mate having been fully demonstrated by
multiplicity of experiments,
A systematic canvass has Just been made
| by the agents of the Southern Pacific Com
pany to determine the extent of the Cali
| fornia orange trade, and from correspond
| ence which has passed between the heads
| OF departments, it appears that the gross
| production OF oranges in Southern Calitor-
mia during the season now drawing to a
close, was equal to $3.50 carloads. A care
| tul computation of their numerical contents
| PAGES the total number of oSsnges at
l33 100000. This was less than three Or
anges to each person in the United States
| One thousand two hundred and seventy
| carloads, containing about 6S,5S0 600 or
anges, were shipped by rail from points in
| Southern California to points east of the
| Southern Pacific Company's lines. Along
| the lines of the company, but outside of
| the southern counties, 730 carloads con-
| tanning about 80 APO, 600 oranges. were de-
| livered 1t is estimated that at least 100
| carloads, containing say 100000 oranges,
| were consumed in the southern counties,
and at the date the canvass was closed,
namely, May 10Th, it was estimated that
| $50 carloads, representing about 1S,90O, 600
| oranges, remained on the trees. 1t is I'M
derstood that these figures cover the fruit
shipped by steamship as well as by railroad
| lines.
| The industry cannot be said to have
| reached, by any means, its maximum
growth. The citrus exhibitions at Sacra-
mento and San francisco have directed at
| tention to the central and northern coun-
| ties as promising fields for citrus culture,
| and no doubt much attention will be given
| to it in these sections hereafter, especially
| in those places where successful expert
| ments have been made.
The season now closing has, it is true,
| been an unusually favorable one to citrus
| growers, as compared with previous sea
| sons. The heavy frost in Florida destroyed
| the greater portion of the crop in that State,
| and low freights and systematic shipments
| enabled the growers of the southern cOun-
| ties to place the greater portion of their
crops in Eastern markets and clear splen-
, did profit. We cannot, OF course, expect
| heavy frost to kill off the Florida crop
every year. Therefore, whatever effect that
| calamity may have had the past winter on
the California orange crop must be regarded
as exceptional. But reasonably low freights
are likely to be permanent, and the bug
bear of Florida competition is reduced to a
| minimum when it is considered that the
crop of that State is practically exhausted
when the California orange appears fresh
and luscious in the market 1t is the fact
that the California orange ripens at time
when the orange of no other country or
| State is in condition, which gives it mar
ket. for all time, throughout the length and
| breadth of the land