The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-04-21
MILLIONS FROM TWO TREES.
Discovery of Seedless Navel Oranges
and It's Results.

49,
POMONA, CAL. March 27-Twentyfve
years ago there were no seedldess or navel
oranges grown. A few oranges were
raised in Florida, but the bulk of the sup
ply in America came from the Mediter-
ranean ports and the fruit was expensive.
The total annual yield of California oranges
was less than five carloads. Now the an
nual orange yield in California is upward
of 10, 900 carloads, and next year it may
exceed 20, 600 carloads The total amount
invested in orange properties in California
twenty five years ago was about S23, 900.
Now something like $40, 900, 600 is in
vested in the orange industry in this State,
and the amount is increasing by about
so, 900, 600 every year. The introduction
of the seedless navel orange has caused
these changes 1t has revolutionized the
orange industry of the United States. 1t
has drawn 13, 900 men out Of other pur-
suits. 1t has transformed vast areas of
sunbaked land in California into the most
beautiful orange groves that ever grew.
1t has been the prime factor in the growth
from nothing of dozen towns of 5000,
5000 and 10, 600 people in southern Cali
fornia, and it has added directly more
than S43, 900, 900 and indirectly $50, :
900, 900 more to the taxable wealth of
this State.
The first seedless orange trees were ap-
parently freaks of nature Their counter
parts have never been found. In the sum-
mer of 1872 William F. Judson, United
States Consul at Bahia, Brazil, heard an
account from natives of a few trees in the
swamps on the north bank Of the Amazon
some sixty miles inland that bore oranges
without seeds. He was of scientific bent
and Consul that knew his business. He
had heard of the starting of orange groves
in Florida and he believed that seedless
orange trees were well worth experiment
ing with there. So he sent native up
the river to cut some shoots of the trees
and get some of the fruit. When the
native returned the Consul was delighted
with the specimens. Forthwith he sent
six of the orange tree shoots, carefully
packed in wet moss and clay, to the Ag-
| ricultural Department at Washington for
propagation. The trees did not excite as
much attention in the Department as the
enthusiastic Consul had expected. Two of
the shoots, which were no bigger than
horsewhips, died from lack of care in the
Department grounds, and the others were
almost forgotten in few months. In the
winter of 1873 Mrs. Horatio Tibbetts, a
native of Maine, was visiting the family of
her cousin, Gen. Benjamin f. Butler, then
Congressman from Massachusetts, Her
husband had recently removed from Bos-
ton to Los Angeles, CAL, and was about
to pre-empt tract Of Government land in
the San Bernnrdino Valley. The scheme
was an uncertain one, but anyhow he in
tended to grow semi-tropical fruits there.
He asked Mrs. 1ibbetts to get from Gen .
Butler an introduction at the Agricultural
Department. She was then to ask for
specimens of fruits and shrubs suitable for
experimental propagation in southern Cali
fornia. Among other things Mrs. Tib-
belts got from the Department grounds the
four surviving orange tree shoots from
Brazil The trees reached Mr.. Tibbetts
safely at Riverside, CAL, week later and
were Immediately planted. That was in
December, 1873. One of the shoots died
from neglect and another was broken and
chewed up by cow.
Five years passed and the two surviving
trees came into bearing In the winter Of
1878-79 they bore sixteen oranges, the
frst-seedless oranges ever grown in North
America. the specimens were carried
about southern California and shown to all
ranchmen and fruit growers. There were
many who doubted whether the trees would
annually bear such royal specimens Of
orange culture. Nearly every one believ-
ed that the fruit would become coarse and
tough in few years more So the second
crop was awaited with curiosity among the
neighbors. There were about box Of
oranges in the second yield, and they were
even better than those of the first crop.
The fame of the Tibbetts seedless oranges
went far and wide in southern California
People who were growing the old fashioned
oranges travelled hundreds Of miles in
wagons to see the trees. Still there were
less than half dozen people who believed
that such freak as seedless fruit could
ever be propagated into an established in
dustry.
81 remember the time | saw some of the
second crop of Tibbetts' seedless naval
oranges, said ex-senator J. E. McComas.
"Several of us seeding orange growers
went over to Riverside purposely to see
what truth there was in the statement
that Horatio Tbbetts had trees that grew
oranges without seeds. We looked the
two trees over and over, sampled the fruit
and wondered how it could be- Larger,
juicier and more pungent fruit we had
never known. But it all seemed so freaky
that no one dared risk several thousand
dollars and six or seven years in trying to
grow navel oranges for market. More
over, none of us knew how to go about
having grove of seedless oranges because
there was no seed to start it. =
Mr.. Tibbetts was sure that there was
fortune in his new variety of oranges. For
two years he experimental with propagat-
ing trees from shoots and cuttings from his
two seedless orange trees. But all his at
tempts were failures. Finally he hit upon
the scheme Of budding from the seedless
navel trees upon Seeding trees. Expert
ments along that line were successful. 1t
was found that bud taken from one Of
Tibbetts' two navel orange trees and
grated into the bark of a seeding tree
would grow to be limb, which bore seed
less navel oranges. Then Mr.. Tbbetts
grew tiny seeding orange trees, just as had
been done by orange growers for ages, and
budded into the trunk Of each little tree
several navel orange buds When the