The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-08-07
ROOFING AN ORANGE GROVE.
Hundred Acres to De Protected in
That Manner From Frost.

That Manner From FrOst
From the San Francisco Call
Riverside.-It may be possible that real
estate dealers In the orange belt of South
ern California will not be pleased that
anything should be said of this glorious
land detrimental to it. Surely 1 would
not do this, and still the fact is patent to
any person acquainted with this locality,
or. In fact, with any locality in the world
where oranges are successfully grown,
that the frost, for the past four or five
years, has ruined, or at least partially
ruined, the fruit and many of the groves.
Why not be reasonable and look at this
situation squarely, as by endeaVoring 10
cover the issue with deception all chances
of obviating the difficulty and of bringing
profit to this section of the country are
by such action lost Gould the orange
orchards of California be absolutely free,
or perhaps safe would be a better word,
from frost, the fruit could be more readily
marketed and would bring better price.
Oranges are grown 10 better advantage
i'm a semi-tropical latitude. The tropics
are too warm, and in the northern latl-
hdes they cannot be grown at all. The
location for this culture, then Is granted,
and is a semi-tropical one All semi-trop-
ical ATTITUDES are subject to frosts of
greater or less severity and of more or
less frequency. Consequently, then in all
/ countries where the best oranges are
grown the element of a frost more or less
severe must enter into the arrangements
when this industry is considered so that
We do not uncover any secret when we en-
deaVor 10 furnish a means of removing
this obstacle to the successful prosecution
of this industry Neither do We consider
that we are advertising any unpleasant
feature peculiar TO this particular orange
growing country because an such coun-
tries are to greater or lesser degree so
affected
The scheme here unfolded viii to many,
be considered impracticable; however, we
can remember when this blOssoming val
ley was a desert; when the beautiful green
lawns and fertile land had but the sage
brush to grace their barrenness, and had
hut The festive jack rabbit as tenant. The
rancher who settled here set out a few
orange trees for Whcih he paid at the rate
OF Sc TO the plant, and then brought wa
ter for miles in wagons with which to wa
ter them when the dry season came on The
| idea of rrigaung this entire country was
| not Thea thought Of, and the idea of irri-
| eating a small section of IL was tabooed.
! Stil there were those who grasped the idea
! that something must be done so that water
/ could be got here, cost what it would. Can
| ais were built irrigation companies were
/ formed, and to-day the success Of the ir-
/ rjgntion of arid lands Is a matter of his
! tory.
The question now before the rancher ig
! frost. and It Is an accepted fact that some
! method must be devised by which a ranch
! er can be absolutely assured his oranges
or lemons are not TO be frozen, or chilled
| even. because the chilling Of a ripening
orange or lemon, thereby destroying its
! flavor IS about as bad as though the bud
! had been destroyed before the fruit had
! commenced to mature. To accomplish this
end MANY experiments have been tried.
! Some have been partially successful while
/ othcrs have been absolute failures.
/ Situated on Magnolia avenue In the city
Of Riverside and about five miles from che
town we fnd the Everest rancho. This
mace consists OF 100 acres Of orange trees
! and Is owned by the Everest Rancho, inc,
| of which Mr.. H. r. Everest Of the Vacuum
! OIL Company, Rochester, n. Y, is the pres g.
ident. and Mr.. Arthur J. Everest Of River
/ side IS secretary and treasury
! Mr. Everst has here 100 acres OF orange
trees, and the quality Of the fruit com.
rosed as 1t is Of the choicest varieties
known 20 the horticulturists when proper
ly matured is excellent. But there has al
wavs been tn. fear that some cold night
IN December and April the trees or the
fruit will get nipped by the frost
One Of the first experiments tried was