The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1894-06-02

fornia were planted by the old mis-
sion fathers, who undoubtedly
brought the seed from Spain, where
: il was originally carried from Arabia
by wandering tribes. The orange is
a remarkable tree. 1t fourishes in
what is apparently the poorest soil,
is always green, ripe fruit will hang
on its limbs for year, and it is al
ways in fruit or blossom. The tree
will bear when 80 or 200 years old,
while at Versailles there is tree
known 10 be over 400 years old, and
Older still is II tree at Nice that is
fifty feet high and still bears 6, 900
oranges year. It's exact age is un-
known but it is product of an
! tiquity.
The orange craze, as it has been
called, is most alluring. The pros
pect, as viewed by the novice, is Of
sitting down and waiting for the
agent to come round yearly and buy
! the crop, yet constant work and at
tention are necessary. The orange
| grove requires to be irrigated,
ploughed and weeded throughout the
year, but the chief trouble lies in it's
various parasites. Five years ago a
! number Of the groves of Southern
| California were almost ruined by the
! white scale. Orange men were in
! despair, and orchards worth thou
sands Of dollars were literally given
up to the destroyer and looked as il
fiecked with snow. The Government
| sent a Commissioner to Australia,
! who discovered lady bug that proved
! an enemy to the white scale, and to-
! day the trees are again in fine condi-
/ ton. The white scale is unknown
| here now, despite continual investi-
/ cations and searches for it by the
many local horticultural inspectors
and associations.
Only once in thirteen years has the
/ frost seriously damaged the Southern
| California orange crop. On Christ
mas eve in 1891 the mercury went
| down to 81 deg. above zero in nearly
every part of this regisn. and re-
manned there for several hours.
! When dawn came the growers knew
| they had lost over half a million Of
dollars in damaged fruit. The oranges
/ on the inner and protected branches
| Of the trees escaped with little or no
injury. In that season Pomona Val
ley marketed $3.50 worth of
oranges, whereas the amount would
have been over $3.50. 1000 without the
cold snap.
Some of the statements Of profits
made by some of the old orchardists
seem so absurdly large that, if they
! they did not come from reliable and
prominent citizens, one would hardly
believe them. There is, however,
positive proof that some of the ten
and twelve year-old orange groves in
Pomona Valley have, since they came
! into full bearing, when six years old,
borne several crops Of fruit that
netted the grower S. tree, or $500
an acre. A few orchards here have
netted their owners over 5000 an acre
! in some years, but the majority Of
bearing orange orchards in Southern
| California yield crops worth between
/ 1925 and $500 an acre in an average
! year. One or two growers who have
learned the art of growing the best
fruit, and have packed it carefully
}
got over $500 per acre clear for in
vestment and labor.
The largest profit that can be relied
upon yet reported in the Pomona
| Valley this season for oranges is that
from the seventy-acre Rhorer or
| chard, which has borne crop that
was sold on the trees last week to
Chicago buyer for 500, 900. The trees
are nine years old and have had
unusual care. The property has
cost to date between $50, 900 and
! 500, 600.
These profits have created most
wonderful demand for orange land
and trees. Thousands of acres that
were formerly grain fields or unpro-
ductive of any crops, have been
planted to groves since the great real
estate boom bubble of 1887 burst.
| Two years ago the Pomona Progress
estimated that nearly $1,000, 900 was
Invested in one season in land, trees
4 and labor for orange groves, the
/ amount invested in trees alone being
/ about 800, 900. This season orange
planting, and the purchase and pre-
/ paration of land for the same will
/ probably run up toward 81 100, 900.
Riverside expects to add to its acreage
! by about 1,200 acres, Pomona by 900
acres. Pasadena by 600 acres, San
Gabriel by 500 acres, Redlands by
| 600 acres and other localities about
| 500 acres.
What especially pleases the grower
/ is the fact in the last ten years the
consumption Of oranges has increased
! 500 per cent. in this country and is
on the increase. Not only this but
rival and new roads have opened up
market for California fruit which it
has not had in former years New
| York Sun.