Los Angeles herald., 1890-06-21
How They Do the Business
in Florida Now.
Orchards That Cost $50 to
$500 to FertiliZe.
The Difficulties of the Industry in
the Land Of the Everglades.
Los Angeles Has Many Advantages of a
Very Pronounced Character Over
Florida.


has recently come to Los Angeles from
Florida. In that state he was engaged
for eight years in the business of grow
ing oranges for an English syndicate.
The company bought up large tracts of
land, which were at once put in order
and planted; the trees were cared for
until they came into bearing, and then
sold off in small tracts to seekers for
homes that a living could be made from.
Mr.. Leach knows all the ins and outs of
orange culture, and gave his views to
HERALD representative yesterday. He
has been here about five weeks, during
which time he has visited nearly all the
important points in this vicinity. He
has inspected the orchards and the soils.
In substance here is about what he
said:
In Florida the industry has suffered a
good many setbacks. The frosts have
been the most serious difficulty that the
business has had to contend with, and
the worst of that is there is no remedy
nor precaution of any avail. There are
two classes of land on which oranges are
grown in Florida. One is an up
land originally covered with dense
growth of live oak. 1t costs 5000 an
acre to clear this after paying 500 on
the land. 1t is in bad condition when
cleared and requires much labor to get
it in order for trees. This land is about
twenty feet to water, and as it rains in
summer, no irrigation is resorted to.
This was the only land used for oranges
until General Sanford went to Florida.
He took the pine lane, which is almost a
pure silica or white sand, and planted
it. At first the trees would not grow,
but he went to Spain and studied the
business. He came back and began to
fertilize heavily, and succeeded admir-
ably. For the first year this land has
to be fertilized when the trees are
planted; 80 cents worth of commercial
fertilizer is put at the root of each tree.
1t costs the same, about $50 an acre, the
second year for fertilizing, and $75 an
acre each year after until the trees come
in bearing. Then the expense is 800 to
$500 an acre every year. The more fertili-
Zer the more oranges. The uplands do
without fertilizing for some years, but
later on it, too, must have the same sort
of attention. The best orchards are
nearest the seacoast. The fruit is
cleaner and the crop is heavier. The
Florida fruit is thin-skinned, and will
not bear transportation to any great dis
tance. To ship fruit at all it must be
picked from the tree before it is fully
ripe. By the 1st of March it falls from
the tree if not gathered. The bugs have
given the growers great deal of trouble
and are still troublesome pest.
AS to this country, Mr.. Leach thinks
it is vastly superior to Florida for this
industry. He has beer all along the
foothills from Los Felis to Santa Monica
and he thinks that an ideal place for
orange growing AS for the soil, he says
it would be an excellent fertilizer for
the average lands of Florida. He
saw some trees there that were
in excellent condition. The trees OF
Mr.. Durfee, in a nook in the hills above
Aguas, he thinks were about the best
effects of intelligent cultivation. AT
Buenos Ayres, he saw trees that were
actually too rank from the effects of the
soil. They were shooting up ir
tastic shapes, because the wood is too
soft. They get too much ammonia, ant
grow too rank. Mr.. Leach thinks tha
by proper cultivation oranges will grow
without irrigation on this foothill land
at least until they come into bearing. II
is his opinion that he never saw better
district for the industry anywhere, anC
he has visited all the noted districts
of the Mediterranean. The Rodec
de las Aguas, the Soldiers Home
tract, the Sunset tract, the Buenos Ayres
and the ranch of Jones and Baker, al
Santa Monica, would all produce fine
oranges, walnuts and other fruit. Mr.
Leach thinks the Soldiers Home tract
ought all to be set in oranges, and thai
the grove would support the home.
This scientific and expert horticulture
list thinks he sees orange orchards here
that need fertilizing. The trees have
absorbed the potash and other ingredi
ents of the soil necessary to their pros
perity, that must be supplied in the way
of fertilizers Orchards from ten years
old and upwards need special attention
in this direction, and irrigation only
makes matters worse as the water
washes some of the elements of the sol
away He is also of the opinion that
we are making two serious mistakes il
our methods of treating the trees. The
soil near the roots of the trees ough
not to be stirred to deptl
below two or three inches. Tht
tree is a surface feeder, and the
network of fibrous roots near the ball o
the tree are the thousands of mouths by
which it absorbs sustenance. No plov
ought to touch the ground where these
exist. A cultivator that will stir tn,
soil two inches deep is sufficient, merely
to keep down the weeds. A rake is alst
used in Florida. The weeds ought no
to be allowed to start, but be cut off al
the seeds germinate. Nor should th'
trees be trimmed up three to six feet from
the ground. The branches should be
allowed to grow quite close to the root
on the tree, leaving just sufficient room
to work with a rake under the low
sweeping branches. These low branches
keep the roots cool and moist in sum
mer and warm in winter. In this way
the roots are kept at about the same
temperature all the year. Many OF ou1
orchards are not sufficiently cared for
They need more attention and more in
telligent methods. Orchards where tn,
ground lies in great chunks as big as /.
bushel basket, are disgrace to the com
munity.
Another thing Mr.. Leach touched OF
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