Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-02-21

A few SNAP shots" taken in the best
fruit growing districts Of southern Cali
fornia will doubtless interest many readers.
The region known as southern California
is an indefinite quantity, but it is usually
represented by the seven counties Of San
ia Barbara. Ventura. Los Angeles. San
Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, and san
Diego. lying south Of the 3jth parallel Of
latitude. The Southern California railroad,
starting from Los Angeles. makes the cir
cult OF these counties, turning 10 the right
and left as required. touching al all places
Of importance, and forming a perfect hg-
ure 5. with the western end somewhat en-
larged. called by the railroad people the
"kile-shaped track presumably copied
after its well-knovn prototype al White
River junction, which was the conception
Of a former president Of the Vermont Ag-
ricultural society. THIS Southern CalitOr-
mia kite track, ike most limitations 10 this
state IS on a somewhat larger scale than
the one 10 Vermont. Instead Of being
one mile in the circuit it Is l6I miles in
length, with a grand stand extending along
the entire course, the route seeming ike
private roadway through an elegant park
filed with plants, shrubs, deciduous fruits,
oranges, lemons and small tropical exotics
in boundless variety.
The first orange trees known by Amer
leans we're found near Los Angeles in lSGO
and were looked upon with curiosity by
the rugged and bronzet miners .as they
journeyed through the region. Meantime
a party Of Mormons, seeking to plant a
new colony in the wilderness, penetrated
to this land Of sunshine, settled in San
Bernardino, and began the cultivation Of
the fruit, copying at first the rude methods
of tie Spanish monks, and then begin
ming the development Of the system of ar
tiicial irrigation which has now grown TO
such enormous proportions, comprising i'm
mense artificial lakes and storage basins
from which the water is distributed as
needed over hundreds Of thousands Of
.rtile acres.
OF the 80 or more towns on the kite
track route, in which fruit-growing forms
the leading industry, Redlands may be
chosen as type of all. The town, which
lies on the bench foot hills of the Santa
Ana valley, in San Bernardino county, was
first settled in 1857 by colony from Con-
necticut. The results which have been
wrought are fabulous and cannot be re-
allied without being seen. In lSS7 this
valley and the heights around Il were a
sarren waste Of mesquite and sage brush.
Not an acre was under cultivation; not
one family claimed home here. Today
Redlands is an incorporated town of 500
- inhabitants. compactly built. with hotels,
churches, schools banks, electric lights,
paved streets, and hard, wellkept country
roads. Around the city orange groves ex-
tend as far as the eye can reach. -Four
thousand acres are covered nth the trees
and 2000 acres more will be planted the
coming season.
The seed of the common orange is plant
ed in nurseries. When the little plant is
year old it is budded from the navel or
ange which has no seeds, and in four
years more you begin to have navel Of
anges from your little trees, which increase
in value yearly il attention is given to
keeping the ground light and mellow, the
trees pruned, the ground properly filled
with moisture, in short, by giving attention
to business, which is the grand broad road
to success either in Vermont or elsewhere.
The season for marketing begins about
Dec. and closes the last of March, four
months in all. The marketing of oranges
is reduced 10 fine art. II is one grand
trust, divided into 20 subordinate sections,
and the members of each division employ
an agent, who is an orange gro ser. His
business is 10 receive, pack and forward
TO market all the fruit raised in the divi-
sion, The system is cooperative and each
producer receives the same price as his
neighbOr for fruit of like quality. In
short, it means the strangulation or cleo
trocution Of the horde of middlemen who
prey on the producer. The agent OF d.
vision sells his oranges direct to the whole
eale dealer, in carload lots only. He re-
ceives his orders from customers east of
the mountains, from Kansas City 10 Ban
gor He then notifies the growers that
they must send a given amount to the
packing house on particular date. Early
in the morning the teams begin 10 arrive.
the fruit is weighed, being in open boxes.
passed by the inspector. and then goes into
the sorting room, where the several sizes
separate themselves By running from a re-
ceiger over two bars slightly inclined. The
space between the bars increases gradually.
and as the oranges roll along they drop
into the different bins according to their
size. As the yellow globes trundle into
the bin they are met by rosy-cheeked
maiden stationed at each outlet, and be-
fore it gets accustomed to the environment
the orange is seized by the nimble fingers
OF the packing divinity, covered with pa.
per, and tucked into a clean box with lg5
"a 80 ASAAcH5s pdChcIS are al
at as many bins, and the whole force of 20
people prepare 1000 boxes day for ship
ment. The entire cost of packing, includ-
ing boxes, which are made from native
wood obtained from the mountains, is 25
cents per box.
The freight rates TO eastern points Kan
sas city and all intermediate places TO Bos-
ton inclusiye) is 90 cents per box, 300
boxes being legal carload. The net DO
ceeds, to date, of oranges sent from the
Redlands district are Sl.90 cents a box,
and the whole crop of the district. when
marketed, will amount to $50 carloads.
This information is official as | had the
pleasure of personal introduction to Mr..
Ruggles, the agent, who gave me these
data from the books kept by the associa-
ton.
The water supply for the system of irri-
cation in this district is ample for double
the acres under cultivation. From the
great storage reservoirs the water is con-
Quoted through iron pipes, by complete
city system, to the outlying groves. In the
town the water is utilized for running the
electric light plant and for other purposes.
The price OF these orange lands,
equipped with water, and orchards four
years old or more, with good buildings, is
from $500 to $1,000 per acre. One hun
dred trees 70 the acre is the usual allot-
ment, and two boxes of fruit from each
mature tree, per annum, is the average
production.
From this synopsis the reader may
estimate the profits per acre, the inter
est on investment and other expenses.
awaN