The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-01-08
CALIFORNIA; ORANGE CROP
ITS SAFETY NOW ASS SCRED-CHEER-
 ING REPORTS.

Damage From the Recent Frosts Prncti-
 caliy Confined to Groves in Low Grounds
 Loss Less Than Ten Per Cent. Results
 of a Canvass of the Whole Orange Belt.
 A prominent New Havener has re- ceived the following from California paper, the San Francisco Times, which shows that the orange crop of the gold en state is practically safe and that the reports of damage done the crop by frosts were much exaggerated:
 W. J. Pollard, manager of the Brad ley Fertilizer company, says that some of the reports of damage by frost to the orange groves have been greatly exag- gerated. w. E. Lankester, travelling salesman for the company, has just re- turned from a canvass of Redlands, Riverside, San Bernardino Ontoria and other points in the orange belt. He visited a large number of orange groves. talked with the orchardists, and brought back samples of the fruit. His investigation showed that damage to the crop has been much less than some of the reports would indicate. In many sections it Is estimated that less than 10 per cent. of the oranges suffered from frost.
 Scott Chapman, an orange grower. whose rancho lies between Sunny Slope and Santa Anita. says that no damage has been done to the groves in the San Gabriel Valley. He knows of no fruit in his vicinity that has been injured. Some of the new growth of orange and lemon trees were wilted by frost, but none of it was killed. He reports that the trees were looking very we'll
 REDLANDS AND HIGHLAND DIS-
 TRICTS.
 A thorough canvass of the orange groves in the Redlands and Highland districts has just been completed by a Times representative. The conclusions reached are based on personal observa- tion of the fruit and the trees, and up- on systematic inquiries among the or chardists The investigation shows that the damage has been greatly exaggerat- ed, and that the crop as a whole has not been seriously affected. As repeat edly stated in the Times, the only mate rial damage inflicted by the frost was in the groves situated on low ground.
 The Redlands district as whole, was found to have suffered but slightly. At Mound City the frosts inflicted no damage. Old San Bernardino, with the exception of a small acreage on the north side, also escaped uninjured. The Barton tract is in as good condition as before the frosts, with the exception of a. small acreage lying in low ground. GIadysta has wholly escaped. At Lu- gonia there Is an uncertain percentage of fruit which was damaged, but it would seem that 75 per cent. of the crop in this section Is in first class con- dition. Generally speaking, those groves fared best lying farthest from the river At Mentone no damage was done. Grafton has small percentage of damaged fruit near the reservoir, and two or three orchards in Impressions In other parts of the town show the effects of the frost. It seems certain, however, that from 80 to 90 per cent. of the fruit in Grafton is gilt edged
 Redlands proper has very few orch- ards which can possibly prove to be in jured, and on Redlands Heights there l is practically no evidence that there has been frost, even the tender growth on the trees being untouched.
 | In the Redlands district, as a whole, | including therein all the places above | mentioned, the investigation shows that l the damaged fruit will probably amount to between 5 and 10 per cent. of the l crop. No one who has carefully stud | jed the field places the estimate of loss | higher than 10 per cent.
 | As to the Highland district, generally speaking. all the groves lying above the l Santa F'e railroad are perfectly sound. | Some of the groves lying below the rail- road bear evidence of being damaged, | to what extent is still unknown, and 1t is noticeable that the damage increases as the river is approached. This applies to both Highland and East Highland, while West Highland is slightly more affected. The percentage of injured | fruit in the entire Highland district, in the opinion of many experts who have examined the groves, will be from 10 to 15 per cent.
 | RIVERSIDE.
 An examination of the orange groves l of Riverside shows that many of them escaped practically uninjured from the | recent frosts
 Briefly summed up, the damage on 1 Brockton and Palm avenues, Arlington | Heights, east of Victoria avenue, and at Highgrove, Is very slight. The oldest orchards in the county border the ave- | nues named, and experience has proved that they are located In favored spots. I Arlington Heights, east of Victoria is seldom affected by frosts on account I of the elevation, and the same applies i to the orchards about Highgrove Some
 of the trees in the last named locality show signs of frost, their tops being 1 whitened, but such effect is shown all most invariably in orchards that htve
 not been properly irrigated.
 PASADENA.
 A careful investigation. of the orange crop in the Pasadena district, bounded on the east by Lamanda Park, south by South Pasadena, west by the Arroyo Seco, and north by the mountains, fails
 to reveal that any grower has suffered | a particle of damage, and as near as can be ascertained, no oranges have
 been actually frozen in the entire dis
 trict.
 M. H. Weight, manager of the Fruit | C,ouors, osaOpiatiOn whiob oop,pr;,ae