Los Angeles herald., 1892-05-01
An Interesting Letter From an
English Paper.
1t Questions Some Claims Made fol
Florida.
Southern California Shown to BE the
Finer Orange Section Of the Two.
A Comparison OF the Soil
and Fruit.


from the Field, the country gentleman's
paper of London, England, Of April I'd,
paper of great influence and circula-
ton among the wealthy classes in Eng
land. which will be read with much in
terest here:
Sir: have read Mr.. Rogers's letter
in the Field of March 9th on the above
subject. There are, as he states, thou
sands of young orange treeg shipped
from Florida to California every year
as also there are from Jamaica, South
America, Tahiti and elsewhere. Mr..
Rogers says "a fact that is new to MOI
that they are considered better than
Californian grown stocks. AS matter
OF fact, the demand for young trees in
California is so great, that to supply it is
difficult; but, practically, the only
trees shipped from Florida are
what is called "Florida sour stock, and
are only used for the purpose of having
other varieties budded upon them,
being regarded as otherwise valueless.
Before they are permitted to enter Riv-
erside they are compelled to undergo a
thorough disinfection, as many of the
tIO0b hA0 oilNO WILL oChlos
l am not personally acquainted with
Florida, but have many friends who
now reside there or have resided there,
and from nearly all of these, writing to
me in an unbiased way, / hear the same
STORY. g., failure. There are also in
Southern California many ex-Florida or
prefer California, because they make
vnnnnw <horo SnatonA nf 1ou,nc t.
seems to me that the price Of land is q
ally beg leave to doubt the fact that
800 an acre near railway. If that is
the case in Florida orchardists there
most certainly ought to make several
hundred per cent if they can get any
kind of crop at all.
AZ the land of Riverside, Duarte,
Redlands and other Southern California
orange-producing districts shows a
steady increase every year, the natural
inference seems-t0 me at any rate
that the value of it from an agricultural
standpoint has increased, and, 10 judge
by the annual returns, it most decidedly
has increased.
As regards climate, that is entirely q
matter of taste. have been in many
OF the southern states whose climate
resembles that of Florida, and so can
almost speak from personal experience
on the merits of the two climates. Mr..
Rogers is the first person have heard
OF who, having been both in California
and Florida, prefers the latter climate.
OF course, there is no accounting for
taste, but to me it seems only natural
that the majority of mankind should
prefer dry climate, with warm days
and cool nights, to q humid climate,
with hot days, and hot nights, and
should also prefer a climate where .fe-
vers and epidemics are practically un-
known to one where malaria is almost
universal, and yellow fever not infre-
quent.
As regards the flavor of the oranges
of the respective countries now under
discussion, that also is matter of taste.
And therein Mr.. Rogers's tastee'agsin
seems to me singular. have eaten
oranges in nearly every country where
they are grown except Florida, and, of
course, I have eaten also scores of
Florida oranges; but of all l prefer the
Riverside navel. This seems to be the
general opinion in the United States
too, for the Riverside navel commands,
and for years has commanded, the high
est price of all oranges in the American
markets.
do not think that the comparative
proximity of Florida to eastern markets
constitutes much of an advantage, for
with fast freight trains running at the
speed of expresses, the distance of few
hundred miles matters but little. More
over, there are other markets besides
eastern cities, and to the cities of Chi
cago and st. Louis are shipped every
year hundreds of carloads of oranges.
am afraid that orange growers in
Florida have really never forgiven Cali
fornia her marvellous success IN the cul-
tivation of citrus fruits; and it was q
bitter blow to all Floridans when in the
recent New Orleans exposition, prac-
tically every one of the prizes for citrus
fruits was carried off by California
growers. The ungenerous conduct of
the Florida exhibitors in accusing their
California confreres of oiling their fruit
to give it a better appearance is fresh in
my memory at least. Is Mr.. Rogers
aware that the first and second prizes
for navel oranges, for seedlings and for
lemons were all awarded to Riverside
growers?
After all, facts speak for themselves.
/ never intended to raise controversy
about the relative merits of California
and Florida; but I would like anyone,
who has had real experience in both
countries, to say whether in all Florida
there can be shown an instance of a
success attained by any town equal to
that of Riverside, and producing crop
worth 81 800, 1000.
CHARLES E. SIsMEG.