The Grenada sentinel., 1889-06-08
RISE OF THE SHADDOcK.
How the Fruit Was Ihtrsducsd Into the
United states

United btates-F \
The shaddock, or 'grape fruit" as 1t
is sometimes called, is a tropical fruit
that people in this country are just
coming to know and learning to like.
Every body has seen the big, light yell
low globes on the fruit stands in the
streets, and about every body has tasted
them. The verdict is usually disap-
proval. Most people. when they bite
into their initial shaddock, have their
mouths made up for the taste OF an Or
ange. The acidulous, piquant flavor OF
the shaddock is in the nature OF disa-
greeable surprise, and the fruit is at
once set down as not enticing. Shad-
docks must be eaten rightly, and really
to like them is in most instances an &C.
quired taste. Very few of the peo-
pie who eat shaddocks habitually,
and shaddock eating is habit
with some people. but had to
learn to like them. Another cause for
the slow growth in popular favor of the
shaddock is that it is impossible to tell
by appearance of shaddock whether
it is ripe or not. An unripe shaddOck
is as disagreeable to the taste as a ripe
one is pleasant, and it often happens
that an experimenter' S first shaddock
is green one, and because it is so sour
as to make his jaws seem loosened, he
condemns all shuddocks because OF this
one. The color of the shaddock is a
pale yellow, almost green in its pale.
ness, and this color deepens but little
after the shaddock has attained its full
size, which is anywhere from the size Of
a baseball to that Of small football,
though it takes week or two of sun
shine to thoroughly ripen shaddock
after it has attained its full size Shad-
docks grow on tree that looks much
like an orange tree. like it being an
evergreen. They grow very thickly
all over the tree, much more thickly
than oranges.
Il have seen a little twig no bigger
than my little finger" said a fruit
dealer, yesterday, with five or six
big shaddocks on it. The twig didn' t look
strong enough to hold their weight. A
comparatively small tree will often bear
as many as two thousand shaddocks at
a time. They grow rapidly and easily
wherever oranges grow, and they are
rapidly coming into favor with the pub
lie. Down south they are much liked
and nearly every body eats them. But
in the North they are less known. /
presume there are three hundred or
four hundred barrels of them sold here
in Washington each week, though the
sales this season have not been as
arge as last. Their season is just the
same as that of the orange, and they
are packed and shipped just as oranges
are. The taste for them is an acquired
one, though. just as the taste for toma-
to is. A Florida fruit paper, short
time ago, printed an article to the effect
that there was fortune awaiting the
man vino had nerve enough to plant a
Shaddocl1 grove. They are certainly
on the rise in popular favor, and |
would not be surprised if they should
come to be as much eaten as oranges
are"
The shaddock is native OF China, it
is said, and the story goes that naval
officer who ate and liked them there
brought home some of the seeds and
planted them in Florida. For long
while the trees were valued only for
their picturesqueness, Finally, though,
Southern people got to liking the fruit,
and now the taste is spreading all over
the country. They are sometimes
called grapefruit, on account OF their
tart flavor, and there is quite a general
impression that shaddocks grow on
vines; but Southern people, the story
goes, for want of better name, gave
them that of the navy captain who in
troduced the fruit into this country.
Shaddocks are also grown in Lower
California, though most of them come
from Florida. They are sold on the
fruit stands, according to size. at from
five cents apiece to three for a quarter,
or, for very large ones, fifteen cents
apiece. They vary in quality as much
as oranges do, and while the good ones
are very good, the bad ones, if green.
are very bad. Those with smooth,
bright skins are the best, and as to get
ting green ones, it is impossible to tell
whether a shnddock is ripe or not with
nnt tnStinr Il -Washi in rton Critic