Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-05-06
NOW AT ITS HEIGHT
The Work of Harvesting Oranges in
Southern California.
CROP Is THE FINEST IN YEARS
Millions Invested in a Profitable
and Pleasant Industry
RESULTS OF IRRIG ALTON
RESULTS OF IGATION


| Special Correspondence Of Tie Evening Star.
POMONA, Cal, April p, 1Sg?.
This is by long odds the most prosperous
| harvest season the orange growers of
| southern California have had in ten years.
| Taken as Il class and considering the in
| crease in the total value of the orange
| output Of this region, this is The greatest
| season of profit the orange industry OF
southern California ever enjoyed, Con
| servaGve estimates put the present Cali
| fornia orange crop at 800 carloads, or at
), ,0,D boXes-worth to the growers about
! $A45o.G 3o. But for the drouth throughout
| the orange-growing valleys of California in
1855 the crop would have amounted to fully
1900 carloads. The big prices the fruit
has been bringing and the unusually active
market for four months have more than
compensated for the shortage in the guam
| tity of oranges.
April is the high noon Of the orange har-
| vest in California. just as January is in
the Florida orange-gr0wing region. The
scenes in the orange groves of this region
these days are very attractive. To visitors
from northern Chimes the scenes Of picking
packing and shipping the golden fruit TO
market are always charming. The gangs
Of men and boys picking oranges amid the
foliage of a beautifully-kept grove, their
snatches at song ana their chattcring con-
Versations while they work in the green
trees the sunshine that percolates the deep
olive foliage and tesselates the ground be
meath, the fantastic garb of the Mexican
and Chinese piCkcrS and the azure blue sky
overhead, all combine to make n horticul-
tural scene SO attractive to the beholder
that 1t can never be forgotten. Then the
! hauling Of the fruit TO the packing houses
and the life and activity of the hundreds of
young men and women there in grading and
sorting the fruit, wrapping it in tissue
paper and packing it in perfect rows and
according to sizes, and finally the slowing
of the labeled and packed boxes of
oranges in the freight cars. are parts of the
other scenes which make the southern Cal
ifornia harvesting days interesting and pic
tureSque to the visitors who have come
from colder ATTITUDES.
Best in Years.
The quality of the orange crop is the
best yet produced In southern California
and the season, thus far, has been the most
advantageous in point of climate for the
best development and fruition of the orange
yield that has been known in some years
AT no time has the temperature I'm the
fruit-growing regions in the valleys of
southern California been below 30 degrees
above zero. Last winter ii went down to
80 degrees above zero twice in one week.
About 100 carloads of oranges We're ship
ped to the eastern markets in December
last for the holiday trade but the har-
NtSttiit5 OF l!C orange crop does not begin
in viSor until early in February. When the
middle of the month comes. thousands of
men, women, boys and girls are busy in
the orange groves, the packing houses and
the fruit-shipping depots. The season will
probably continue until May. In seasons
of fuII crop the season reaches into June
for the growers hold their best fruit from
market as long possible. \ saying com
mon among the horticulturiSts here is to
the effect that the nearer to the Fourth Of
July one sells his orange yield the better
price will be had. The older horticuIturists
therefore welcome the cool nights in Ian
uary ard February, provided the mercury
does not get too near the point of 30 de-
srces above zero, because it retards the
ripening of the crop, and brings it nearer
the summer limit. So far as frost and rains
are concerned, this winter has been an ideal
season for southern California orange
growers.
Scene of Beauty.
1t often happens that the ripe luscious
fruit is still ungathered when the trees are
all abloom for the next years crop, and
then the scene Is, as some one has express
ed 1t, "a general combustion of beauty"
But an orange grove, with its evergreen
trees, compact and symmetrical, is always
pleasing to the artistic sense each season
having a charm of its own. To this at
tractive picture may be added the closely
cut cypress hedges, the broad avenues and
well-kept drives, shaded with the stately
GuColS Plus, uGWSGlnS magnolia, lTreNlll9
busta-a beautiful tree-broad-leaved palms. |
and the graceful pepper, with its feathery
dropping foliage and red berries and the
mountains always for a background. No
wonder IS II that one who sees an orchard |
for the first time becomes enchanted. and
is seized with uncomfortable desire to |
possess one of his own.
The orange does not thrive near the |
ocean. The excess of moisture and fogs
at certain seasons of the year produce a |
fungus on the trees and fruit that detracts |
from the fine, healthy appearance of both, |
and necesSitates either the extra expense |
of cleaning or placing the fruit on the mar |
ket at reduced prices. For this reason the |
otherwise suitable lands of Santa Barbara |
and Ventura countries as well as parts of |
Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego coun- |
ties, are better adapted to lemons which |
do not SO much object to moist atnos- |
phere
Recent Development.
While there has never been time since |
the first seeds were planted by the Francis |
can Spanish padres at The Mission San
Gabriel. about the year 1904, that oranges !
have not been grown in California, the In
dustry, as such, did not come into special |
prominence until after the experiment of |
Riverside, though there were always sew
eral famous orchards in or near Los An
geles, and some fine trees at old San Ber- /
nardino. One very good reason why orange |
growing did not earlier receive more at
tcntion was because the whole of southern
California-eXcept the Colorado Desert
was one vast stock range, and there was
garden plots as southern California was
practically treeless, and the days Of wire
fences were not yet.
Several small orchards were planted soon
after the mission orchard and, like 1t, were
surrounded by an adobe wall. the first frui.
being grown simply for home use. The
famous Wolfskill orchard. in Los Angeles.
at growing them for profit, and IL some