Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-15
FARM AND FIELD.
The Unshin Orange Again-Further
Showing Indicative of its Adapta-
bility to Texas.
Seeding Peaches -sufferIngs of Sick Horse
Eggs on the Farm-On Dsiry Farm
ing and County Fairs.
The Unshin Orange Again.

!
Ala, figured quite extensively as an
orange region. There were many fine
groves, and the oranges produced ranked
high as to quality; but the great freeze
of few years back destroyed all the
orange trees and put an abrupt end &c
the industry. Since then very little in
terest has been taken in the orange
there, the people being afraid to risk the
expense that would be involved in re-
ne wal of their groves.
Just now, however, stimulated by the
belief that new variety harder than the
old kinds has been discovered. new in
terest seems to be rousing, and many
a good deal about once more trying their
luck at orange culture. Under date of
May 26th Mr.. J Rowland, a prominent
citizen of Mobile, who is an ardent lover
of horticulture, and who has fine place
on the "shore' below the city, writes
us approving of what we have been say
ing of late relative to the Unshin or
Satsuma orange, and adds: ''Iu Febru-
airy of 1888, friend of mine in New
Orleans, who formerly lived and farmed
in Mobile county, wrote me that he
thought it wo Id be folly to make fur
Their attempts with the orange here IN
less we could find variety that would
stand some frosty weather. Fortunately,
in his opinion, such variety had been
found. Through that winter he had paid
strict attention to the new orange, and
was satisfied as to its unusual hardness.
1t was an importation into CalifOr
MIA from Japan under the name of I'm
shin, or Oonshin, though few Califor-
mans called 1t the Kii-seedlIng. Some
of the imported trees found their way to
Florida, where the new importation was
promptly identified as an old aoquaint-
ance of many years standing, and known
as Satsuma, name given on account Of
Satsuma being the Japanese province
whence the earliest importations to Flor
ida were made.
Mr.. Rowland further quotes his New
Orleans friend as stating that up to the
recent stir made by the Callfornians, the
Satsuma orange had attracted no par
ticular attention in Florida, due to the
fact that the people of that state, south
of Jacksonville, did not feel themselves
lin need of any oranges more hardy than
sthe regular kinds under cultivation. This,
he says, was the only reason, for the
Satsuma is undoubtedly very fine or
ange. It belongs to the so-called Man.
DARN GLASS, of which there were already
several varieties cultivated in Florida.
The fruit of this class always commands
a better price on the Northern markets
than does that of any other.
There may have been another cause
that held 1t back little in Florida, for
Mr.. Howland's correspondent says
the Satsuma specially requires good,
rich land. This it can find in Texas,
and this fact may eventually secure it to
US. If it must have the rich land, and
we can supply it naturally, while the
other orange regions must make it, we
will certainly have such an advantage
that would enable us to put our oranges
upon the market at figures too low for
competition, provided we should desire
to do So 1t would be better than ma
tional protection or state bounty.
The New Orleans writer further states
that the Satsuma is q slow grower, and
never becomes tall. 1t makes a big
brush-like tree. 1t bears very young,
often producing some fruit the second
year from the bud. But it should never
be permitted to bear much fruit while
very young, as that would check the
growth of wood. 1t is a very hardy tree
how hardy 40 one knows, as yet, since
it seems never to have been tested fur
Their north than it has been able to stand
the freezes. OF course, one must not
expect to find it as hardy as an apple
tree, but he thinks it might be depended
upon with entire safety at any point
where the mercury does not fall below
90 dogs. above zero-it might stand
temperature considerably lower.
This would probably make 1t safe for
quite broad territory in Texas, for the
writer is having in mind the regions east
of the Mississippi river. The effects of
cold on vegetation are very different in
Texas, as we showed in a former article
r-these columns. We once collected
many native trees and plants from
among the Guadalupe mountains in tn 9
neighborhood of Austin and San Marcos,
(where a temperature down to ten de-
grees above zero is not an unusual thing
in time of northers) transferring them
to Mobile. Through the first summer
most OF them grew as well as they would
have done in their native haunts, but in
the first Mobile winter, though the tenn
perature did not fall below twenty-seven
degrees, every specimen was killed by
the cold. This we have ever regarded as
an important test, proving that on ac-
count of meteorological conditions peoul-
lar to Texas, vegetation will stand
much lower temperature in that state
than in the regions east of the Missis-
sippi river.
The New Orleans man says trees OF the
Satsuma or Tnshin orange may be had in
California of direct importation from
Japan. They may also be had of most of
the Florida nurserymen-home grown,
of course. He considers the Florida
trees much the best 10 get, as the i'm
ported trees are rather uncertain, to say
nothing of the fact that they have poor
roots, aud have been more or less in
jured by their long transit. Some of our
Texas nurssrymen may have the same
variety in stock, for aught We know to
the coutrary-if so they will probably
advertise them in THE GAZETTE in time
for the next proper season to transplant.
In February ( the same year Mr..
Rowland received letter from Florida
hurseryman, who said it was a matter of
much discussion as to whether the Sat-
suma orange should be budded on sweet
orange stocks or on those of the wild ma
tive or sour orange of Florida. The ma
fsfss were much more hardy than the
sweet varieties, and hence it was argued
that the Satsuma propagated on these
harder stocks would prove more hardy
than IL on sweet stocks. For his own
part lie had decided in favor OF sweet
stocks, as the sour stocks seemed to tend