New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-05
LEMON AND ORANGE TRADE.
IAN SEASON FOR IMPORTERS OF
THE ACID FRUIT.
NAVE ALREADY MET HEAVY Losses
,,e CONDITION OF THE ORANGE MAR
,r.c1t Rr1-TER-pooR QUALITY
CROP.

.,,ros have been made and lost by i'm |
' of lemons the trade varying greatly IN he
.f,ooront annual seasons, which pFsh "pu' u"
,suo ~ october and end in September Inc sea
u" - 1894 has thus far BEEN importers oe-
W. .ha mast disastrous ever known In the ousI-
' .rbourh II opened favOrably. on the carsoes
s,cb arrived by the first two or three steamers
,,, Sicily bringing from looco 10 -''o" ooN''
ch the importers realized proht oil from 81 ~
how The cargo Of the California. being the
eve. steamship to arrive from MesSiha al" 'edcn
~, - IN tho last week OF November consisted
- 8. ooo hoxes I, was sold on December l. at
<or, 50 y 10 s. p box. FOR good ana fancy lemons.
Trio season continued prosperous "'l'n '"e '''' "
D.cen,b,r but with the opening 81 '"'"''F Wv
s,.,d suddenly sackened mos, SURPRISINGLY anu
.,bir or,v two weeks lemons were Sou al sue"
,o,,.,. Low, nriccs that the importers lost not
, ,ha nroft they had made in the early part Oh
che season but also tens OF thousihoS vi "'''
additional The prices on February o. 1882 r"nee'
.-o,n e. TO g 50 a box OF fair 10 i""'H 'V''
,ro on the same date Of this year only from
- g - could be obtained for lemons
" .ho same Grades the auction sale ias'
1ridov the prices ranged from ~ cents 10 q 70
h,x showing a somewhat improved MARKET pu'
e., a,nears 70 be no chance. under existing
conditions for importers to offset '"o'' 'o''e' "'
inc the remainder Of the season
C,rsEs OF THE LOSS.
,r... aro savsrai causes to which the serious loss
-. orov and trade IS attributed. Among
Nm, are the heavy importation the nara uiiio'
.nd the fact that California now supplies 'he 49,
orr markets almost as far east as OniV"so .
a.. lemon crop Of California is estimated az aoou'
.ono boxes and that Of Florida AT apou' '".'
-, ,..ra Unmarried from Sicily last year 2''''"'
ta. aroi,st Only iO35 in 1879 The Sicilian lem
ans arc considered better than those from ~"
.,d Florida which are about alike III qu""H'
eres, lemons come from Maori ana No're"'o "
CT and during the summer they range III p'i0o
- ,,onths between the closing OF one re'uil
season and the orening of ano'her' "'o'' r
,,xes Of Spanish lemons are uSuaIN 'eN''
49, rho number of lemons in box ranges
.-on, 500 TO so so that the number oil lemons s'o"'
IN this country and the number OF thoSe mp '
" ,aca,har from So 100000 to 1026OORoW anhuaIE'
There are now about 10000 boxes oI 'N''o"S On r
tho nav from Sici'y - this country Inc "'oS' u
,nssa will be received In this city ana 'he
=, pos,op Priladelphia. Baltimore and New-or-
,oa,s The PRODUCTION of lemons IN sicily ~SPe'''
=, tho nrov,nce of Palermo is now SO great 'hat II
sxceeds their consumption in all countries 10
,hev are shipped. The fruit importers "
,.a,,o, Government, should restrict the expor'a-
zion Of lemons to this country so that only ''e pe'
GRADES be sent here the inferior ones oen's w..
=, ds,ireries and distributed in European naIAe'N'
abare they are in demand. The prihc'pH' supp,
~ vessina and Catania distribute ther "'"o"9 a.
corainr 10 the demands of different countries wv
w. ss,nnars Of Palermo and Sorrento have been
''e go - shin the greater part Of their lemons
- oil GRADES to the United States instead OF u'S
trhuting them proportionately among w ~ 49,
This country. Trieste. Odessa, HamDure' -, ,n.,
$685.. a,d the markets of England and ho"a'u
There is a practical movement ON 1901 " Wv ..
trade of this city TO prevent the shipp''e ''O
Islv 70 this country Of inferior lemons
CoxDITION OF THE ORANGE TRADE
rha trada in Slcilian oranges is reported u ~
l., ., ,rnnroved condition. though business "d
teen dull on account of bad weather anu '"' t -
vaIlinc financial depression. Its cohui''o" mo- 49,,
,nroysa on account of drawbacks which nav
heen experienced in the Florida raul -.
,n,,ad as a strong competitor with the Siciid'
80 b,,t this season the florida oranges haNe Nv
arrived in good condition and the uen '..a,
c,c,,ian oranges has consequently largely ihcr0aeu
THE Florida oranges in many Instances, raw -.
IN ~ arr;,sl IN be discol0rel and in sate
aecav So MANY oranges have decayed III uah9i ~ -
after os'n bv hoiS shippers and buyers The De
seriora.on OF the Florida crop inns s season ~
b3a II was growing. and TO other unfavoraDr
climatic influences. Thousands OF boxes nav nav, a. a
nn va on the wharves barely enough 10 pay IN
cost of boxing and freight leaving no,mf ~t an
ever to compensate the grower Tor PRODUCING a"
pa Ths last crop of Florida enormous
,ains Estimated al 100000 boxes. against onl
10000 the previous year. showing Io1'I 1 -
large number Of young groves which were brougf
into bearing last year
CALIFORNIA AS A COMPETITOR
The California crop is rapidly increasing. Tn
present crop is estimated at 100000 boxes. againS
100000 boxes last year but California is not
strong competitor with the Florida trade as
Sicily Freight from San Francisco. by RAIL- u o.
cents a box. while from Florida by steamer 3 NJ
o amy advantage Of 81 cents box since the gree
Increase in the growth 81 orans @ranpes Has dw
died into comparative nsgnifcance Havana oraie'
come IN barrels srs selling enfn al from 8 to s. %
They have been lrm IN price iD hoxes conainir
from 900 800 each and FlOrda GTanges IN cox
mainly from California and form only about ~ ZIP %
cent Of the whole crop or about 25OOO boxes; ~
sinary oranges Mandarin. tangerine and graz
fruit oranges come mainly from tIordai ana "a arr g
box 8 = b are ana Box to ass Safr At
opening no % Of the season sican oranges were fro
f25 10 81 box and are now from rom = 90 10 nra ~
shut out late years on account fr1 OF f9e s
or S5ah BOXES imported a sn Last
about 5000 boxes were received but this year 1t
esiVed. on account Of the bad condition Of +
Florida crop. They come in cases, each contain
,TSm selling h for from 3 & to case and those co
tanning 40 from 50 q to TO-
WHERE THE BEsT ORANGES ARE GROWN
There is a diversity Of opinion as TO what CO
stitutes the best oranges. some preferring
sweet Florida oranges and the more a.
ones from Sicily. but evidence in favor or
Florida oranges exists in the fact that wheh "
are in condition they command higher r'ices !"
their Sicilian rivals. The luscious oranges Fro Fro
on the elevated land in the region OF the lhqi
and Halifax rivers. near the sea coast, arr W
liked b. the great majority % consumers fI :,
lent oranges come from Rod. In Sicily, ana 10
ard the end of the season they are fre sarsir
sold as high as SO box. y leading p!iySIcI
said the other day that he thought the orant
that are grown in Catana. sicily. In volca
region were the best for medicinal purposes.
they contained much acid possessed Of c HISr
propertes while he considered that the r ioi
oranges were too sweet There has been a <,
decrease in the quantity OF oranges imported
1861 there were I,79sWo boxes imported aga
5000 in 1912 though in 1929 there were H.
00 boxes imported. account Of failure OF
Florida CROP Valuable Information con,ainrn,,,
this article was furnished by Isaac Tuck, f|nl
OF "rhe Fru. Trade Journal