The herald., 1893-07-29
A FLORIDIAN's VIEWS.
SOME STATEMENTS ABOUT ORANGE
GROWING IN FLORIDA.
Mr.. s. o. Chase Tells About the Orcha ard
lists of that State and How They
Handle Their Crops.
Some Comparlsons. ai

At present there is gentleman in
this city who is prominent orange
packer and shipper in Florida. He has
been in Southern California for several
weeks and came simply for the purpose
of making a study of the methods Of
orange growing in this section.
He is Mr.. S. o. Chase, the senior
member of the firm OF Chase Bros, of
Sanford, Florida. He has already Wis
tied Riverside, Pomona and other orange
industrial centers. and expressed him
self as much pleased with what he has
seen. In a recent conversation he con-
trasted to some extent the conditions of
Southern California and those of his
own state. He says that the people
here need not feel that they are being
treated 30 much worse by the railroads
than are those in Florida. 1t costs
three-fourths as much to place oranges
in Chicago from Florida as it does from
California.
The difference in time of delivery is
about the same, so that all things taken
into consideration, the California people
are in reality given faster and cheaper
service, proportionally, than are the
4 iOllQS nhlPpCIbs 4hO Otduk0o kIOWu
in Florida are known to the sellers as the
fancy, the fancy bright, the golden rus
set and the russeb; this being their scale
which gets on the oranges and punctures
the skin, causing the oil to exude and
color the fruit brownish hue.
Irrigation is not practiced except in
very dry seasons. The rainfall averages
from 35 to 80 inches.
In the past year shipping to England
was tried but resulted in failure. The
probable reason was that the fruit was
sent in tramp steamers, and when it
reached it's destinat on the most OF the
oranges were spoiled. 1sf
The Floridans also have an organiza-
tion whose business is to handle that
part of the crop that has not been dis
posed of by the dealers. 1t is called a
fruit exchange, and the stock is owned
by the fruit growers. One 'of the diff
culties experienced by those in Florida
is the presence of young men from the
north who 90 down with their own ideas
of conducting the orange industry, which
are generally at varience with those of
the people already on the ground. These
inexperienced dealers set such high
price on the fruit as to make it very
difficult for the owners and conservative
men.
The process of packing In Florida is
similar to that in California, except
that larger boxes are used by the east
ern state. Their earliest crop ripens in
September and the latest in May.
The land holding is very small, the
growers generally owning about 20
acres. That condition exists in Florida,
however, that places the growers at a
disadvantage, and it is one which does
not exist here, owing to the fact that
there is plenty Of rainfall and that the
people are not dependent upon each
other they scatter over the country and
pick the crops whenever they desire.
AS result the harvesting in Florida il
not 80 compact as in this state.
Mr.. Chase predicted splendid future
for California orange growers. He says,
however that this is comparatively q
new section and cannot expect to &C
complish all at once 30 much as does an
older and more experienced place. He
was much surprised with the excellent
class of people who are raising oranges
in this section.