Arizona republican., 1899-03-14
SEEK A NEW ORANGE.
Experiments Going On in the Agri-
 cultural Department.
Success of Present Efforts Would RevoIutiOnize and Expand the Orange-GrowinE Industry
 in the North.


 Man is seeking to improve natures
 work upon the orange, and it is likely
 that he will be able 10 do it. If suc-
 cess crowns experiments now in prog
 ress the orange will become hardy
 fruit, able 10 grow and bear even as
 far north as Canada, with skin that
 will peel off as easily as tangerine's,
 and perhaps devoid of the seeds that
 now threaten the peril of appendicitis.
 Such a recreation of this luscious l fruit-for that is what it would amour t to--would deserve to rank with the greatest marvels of the end of the cen tury, It would revolutionize and eX- pand the orange-grOwing industry, and remove all danger from the frosts and freezes that now either blight or en- tiFeIy destroy the trees and their fruit in the states where they are grown.
 The freeze in the southern states in 1894 and 1895 destroyed every orange tree. causing loss upon the crop ex- pected of nearly S5,OOOOoO, and dam age to the industry in general that has been computed at the extraordinary figure of S75, 5,0OO,O0O. It will be five wears yet before orange-growing is on J before the orange crop is as large as it was at the time of the disastrous weather.
 Since that time the agricultural de- partment has been experimenting in the cross-fertilization of oranges in the hope of producing one or more varie- ties that will resist the attacks of frost and that will possess the other quali- ties not found in the fruit of to-day.
 The practical part of the work is be- ing conducted under the supervision of H. J. Webber and ". T. Swingle, spe- ciaI agents of the division of vegetable physiology and pathology.
 Up to the present the experimental processes have been productive of the results expected, but the most inter esting and delicate stages are yet~to come In the greenhouse there aresat least 1000 hybrid growths from tho seeds that have been crossed, andthis spring many of these will be taken to the southern states and grafted on the orange trees growing there. Then at least three years must elapse be fore the grafted trees will begin to bear the fruit that is to be hardy, sweet, loose-skinned, and perhaps seedless-z
 In 1892 Messrs. Webber and Swingle were in the south studying the diseases that affect oranges, and the need of a harder orange than the usual varieties was brought to their attention. This was emphasized by the disastrous frosts of 1894 and 1895. The growers had sought to overcome their foe by for planting and developing seeds from only the hardest of the trees growing in their fields, but even these succumbed to the severe attacks of the invading cold.
 In the meantime experiments con ducted by MT. Webber in this city turned out unfavorably, through no fault of hi9 own. It was not until 1897 that he succeeded in hybridizing he orange in way to insure the favorable result of planting or grating. He had found, prior to the hybridizing. thatthe Japanese trifoliate orange, although its fruit is small and of little value eX- cept for preserves, is delicious. and so hardy thatit can be grown without pro- lection as far north as Philadelphia. A number of these trees had been planted ' n the department grounds, and, in 1 spite of cold, had borne fruit. small ! md bitter It occurred to him to cross the Japanese variety with the different | kinds that flourish in the south to get he hardy quality. The practical work of hybridizing them commenced.
 If the seedlings that are grafted on he southern trees develop a fruit that cannot be killed in blossom or maturity lv the winters in that section, the sci lntists will feel that they have been repaid for all their efforts. Orange growing then would not be att ended by the great risks that now en- compass it. In addition, if a hardy or lnge can be produced that will live in he north, and yet have the sweetness md juiciness of the southern fruit, hen the work of nature will have been wholly improved by the hand and in eIligencs of man.-Washingt Star. DENIS OF HORROR.