The herald., 1896-03-01

side section, but even there the grow
ers are making money. The picking In
California does not usually begin unit
February l, but this year, by q fortu
nate provision of providence, the sea.
son began several weeks earlier. The
Florida season used to begin in Octo-
bsr and lasted until about March, SO
| that the two states were brought into
sharp competition. Formerly the Cali
fornians tried to market their fruit as
late as possible, but this season they
have rushed their pick into the mar
ket at the earliest possible moment.
This seasons prosperity means
great deal to many owners of new
groves. 1t does not require a great
amount of capital to start an orange
grove in California, but it does take q
whole lot Of time and patience to get a
grove up to the paying point. With
$5OOO man can go into the Pomona
valley and start an orange grove. If
he will stick to it for ten years he will
find that his trees are bringing him in
handsome revenue. Once in bearing,
the value of grove steadily increases,
SO that wealth is only matter of time.
The greatest California orange dis
trict is located on what was once
thought to be worthless land. A daring
genius came along one day and an
nounced that he thought those arid
valleys would be good places in which
to raise oranges. He made great rep
>utation as humorist, but he carried
out the joke, got together a syndicate
of capitalists, turned the course of the
Santa Ana river 80 that its waters filed
the irrigating bitches which had been
dug at great expense end transformed
thousands of acres of waste land into a
veritable Eden. That is where the
trainloads of oranges which California
sends to all parts of the union come
from today.
Riverside was the pioneer orange dis
trict in the irrigated region. Soon after
came the Indiana colony which planted
the now celebrated groves at Pasadena.
The men who started these groves paid
from $40 to $35 an acre for their land.
water privilege included. Now some
OF these plantati ons are worth hundreds
Of thousands of dollars. The largest
single orchard is in Pomona. 1t CON
sists OF over 400 acres, only part of
which is just coming into bearing, but
it's owner, Seth Richards, has recentlv
refused an offer of $350,OO0 for it.
What will be the eventual yield of
California when all it's extensive or
chards now under cultivation begin to
bear can only be conjectured. With
the increase Of irrigation facilities the
limits OF the fruit growing district be- |
Tween Los Angeles and San Bernar-
dino, which are eighty miles apart.
have been extended until it will not be !
many years until there will bs a contin- |
lous succession Of fruit orchards. Flor |
da used to produce twice as MANY or. |
.nges as California. and so it left a big
,ole in the supply when the crop Of
he former failed. The prospects are
hat California will soon bs able to
meet this demand.
This winter, however, we are eating
OTIS of imported oranges. The Jamaicas
re about the first in the market. Thev
re light colored, but sweet and juicy.
The Bahamas and Cuba send oranges
Q this country, many of them by way
Il Key West, where they are put in
.oxes and shipped north as
florida raised. There is an i'm
ort duty on oranges which amounts
D from 40 to 50 cents box.
ut even after this is paid it is still
roftabie to ship them here. The
oranges can never be
old for domestic fruit. They are
mailer and the quality is always poor