The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-03-05
Deduct for ,emoB :, per cent.

Deduct Tor s'thoiS ~ Pet ''"''
Total foreign oranges ii>"""'
Mr.. Crosby puts the Florida crop
this ,esr at I,.pav0 boxes. II, to
box, equals IV"ao
Excess Florida oranges over foreign 'S""'s
of course this is not right, none Of Mr..
Crosby's figur, are right. hut | will give
him little better showing than he makes
ont for himself. and compromise with
him by admitting just the facts OF the
case, which are that We import Just
about double the quantity OF oranges
that are used Of Florida production, and
always wi.l. herause Florida oranges are
mainly marketed ls,fo.e the hoiidaNs,
while foyeiSn oranges are being ini-
ported nearly all the year round.
Why does Mr.. Crosby mix foreign or
anges and lemons together and put the
two together, against Florida oranges
alone. and why does lie reduce boxes To
single oranges, unless to mi,i, al and con.
fuse the many readers that are not expert
mathcmaticians:
! If his article was not penied to de-
ceive the unwary, initiate the value OF
his lands and thus lure to certain ruin,
,lestitution and despair another crop OF
victims to the orange craze, then what
! ..,,, ~ ,,-e:e ko,, fors
Would It seriously have hurt Mr..
Crosby's feelings to have said my two
gentlemen friends were mistaken. IN
,teai of coarsely say ing their statements
were "falsV" and that mo credehce
hould be placed in such stnriesl"
What shall ] then say Of his Don:
( presume a real, live Portuguese "Don,"
with a million and half Of orange
trees they must be orange trees for the
lion" says SO, otherwise ] should call
them bushes, such as gro~ ON the barren
sands of the Azores. Then let me- ,uy-
ccst a better scheme than speculation in
Florida lands. We will suppose tiese
hnshcs-no. trces-will producea box Of
oranges apiece Csome Of our Florida trees
produce from 80 to Is boxes, but when
YOU have n million and half trees one
box 10 a tree is enough. IL any more It
would br too much work ogathtr them.
Now get together, say ten more 'Dons.
they need not be all iirstcla.s "l)ons.
bu, as our "Don's" orange grove is but
lone in thousands" Mr.. Crosby says so
and therefore il must bc 81, there should
lc no difficulty IN getting together, say
ten ether "Dons," have then, form
5, Indicate and supply the world with or
anges. They could in one year. eleven
of them. at 500. 900 boxes each, place In
market 1G, ,,OO, ,OO0 boxes of oranges, and
when the supply ran short they co'''d
take in another "Don" or two and thus
solve the orange problem for all time.
But what Il to become Of the other
thousands of poor "Dons.' with their
IL, 200 acre farms and their l,5OO,OOO
boxes of oranges each, rs well rs all the
other producers Of oranges throughout
the world. Be careful, MIR. crosby. these
.Dons' will destroy you. They have al.
ready got the orange business far ahead
of anything have ever predicted for
Florida, and when the fact becomes
known, you can sell no moe orange
lands. This will be bad for yoI, bat sal
vation to your intended victims.
Mr.. Crosby places the orange pfoinc-
ton of Florida, for the past ten years, at
1900, 600 boxes, and says We import
more fruit in one year than this entire
production. What blessing that Baron
Muncha,isen left this world before t'rosby
came into it, lie would have found
himself suspended, his occupation gone,
AMI doubtless would have died from
riff and .nvy.
Mr.. Crosby himself gives Il table of
imports to the four principal cities. in
the very letter am answering, showing
total Of lsj 900, 900 oranges and Inn
ons, equal to 1888, 1893 be ga, insteafof
$500, 900 boxes as above stated.
/ The main question is, Has there been
a .'glut' Of Florida oranges In the mar.
k.ts of the United StitesI There has
bocn, twice during the present season,
an oyerstock to an extent that caused
conscnees to send out circulars advising
a suspension Of shipments: and there is
a clut uf Florida oranges in New York
to-day. to an extent that has caused
holders Of oranges to send ont scores OF
r,.ld-men, in. order to get rld OF the
.,ork On hand. and | saw good, sound
Florida oranges offered In Binghampton,
two hundred miles west Of New York, q
week ago last saturday, at % per box.
Last winter same fruit would have been
rotten and thrown overheard, weeks and
even months. before this time.
Very respectfully,