Daily camera., 1899-03-25
SEEK A NEW ORANGE.
Experiments Going On in tie AGrt
cultural Department
0usssss se Present ERse>s WOIl
ASvoAatioaiss aAA ExDAAA ~
o0AAOsGrowing InAus~
IN ne N0ssA.

work upon the orange, and it is likely
that he will be able TO do it II sue
cess crowns experiments now in prog
ress the orange will become . hardy
fruit, able to grow and bear even as
far north as Canada, with skin that
will peel on as easily as tang crimes,
and perhaps devoid Of the seeds that
now threaten the peril Of appendicitis
Such a recreation Of this luscious
fruit-for that is what it W ould amount
to- would deserve to rank with the
greatest marvels Of the end of the cen
tury. 1t would revolutioni.e and ex-
pand the orange-growing industry. and
remove all danger from the frosts and
freezes that now either blight or en-
tirely 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 a loss upon the crop ex-
pec.ed OF nearly s 10000 and dam
age to the industry in general that has
been computed at the e1traord nary
years yet before orange-growing is on
a paying basis and ten to fifteen years
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 quail
ties not found in the fruit Of to-day.
The practical part Of the work is be-
ing conducted under the supervision Of
II. J. webber and W. T. Swingle, sp~
cial agents Of the division OF vegetable
physiology and pathology.
Up to the present the aypsHmental
processes have been productive of the
results expected, but the most inter
esting and delicate stages are yet TO
come In the greenhouse there are at
least 1000 hybrid growths from the
see<h that have been crossed, and this
spring many Of these will be taken
10 the southern states and grated on
the orange trees growing there Then
at leas, three years must elspSe be-
fore the grated trees will begin 70 bear
the fruit that is TO be hardy, sweet
loose-rkinned, and perhaps. .seedlees-
In 1899 Messrs. Webber and Swingle
were in the south studying the diseAses
that affect oranges, and the need Of .
harder orange than the usual varieties
WAS brought to their attention This
was emphasized by the disastrous
~f ~
had sought to overcome their foe by
selecting for planting and developing
~eeds from only the hardest OF the
trees growing in their fields, but even
these succumbed TO the severe attacks
Of ths invading cold,
In the meantime experiments con-
Quoted by Mr.. webber IN this city
turned out unfavorably, through no
fault CT his own. 1t wax not until 1897
that he succeeded in hybridizine -he
orange in q way to insure the favorable
result OF planting or grating. He had
found. prior to the hybridizing, that the
japanese trifoliate orange, although
its fruit is small and of little value ex-
cept for preserves is deliciouA and 20
hardy thatitcan be grown without pro-
lection as far north a. Philadelphia A
number OF these trees had been planted
in the department grounds, and, in
spite Of cold, had borne fruit. small
and bitter. 1t occurred to him TO cross
the japanese variety with the different
kinds that flourish in the south to get
the hardy quality. The practical work
Of hybridizing them commenced.
II the seedlings that are grated on
the southern trees develop fruit that
cannot be killed in blossom or maturity
by the winters in tina. section, the sci
entists will feel that they have been
sufficiently repaid for all their efforts.
Orange growing then would not be AZ
tended by the great risks that now en-
compass IL In addition. il hardy or
angc can be produced that will live in
the north, and yet have the sweetness
and juiciness Of the southern fruit,
then the work OF nature will have been
wholly improved by the hand and in
telligencs Of man.-waAhington Star.