The free press. (Southern Pines, N.C.) 1898-19??, 1900-05-05
A BIG ORANGE CROP
CALIFORNIA WILL THIS YEAR
BREAK HER RECORD.

southern C4ilfornla-CoSt and Prof.
its of an Orange Grove-The Fear
of Jack Frost.
These are the liveliest days of the
year in the sou. hern California val
leyS where oranges are grown. The
orange groves are noisy with hun
dreus OF men and boys picking the
golden fruit, the packing houses are
as busy as the p.OyerDial beehive
with thousands of men, women, boys
and girls packing the fruit in boxes
and the shippers are full of business
al day lOno. he yle.d OF oranges this
season is between $4,000 and HOO
carloads, or between 100000 and A.
100000 boxes. here has never before
been such a yielu Of Or.nges in Cali
fornla. Last year the crop was about
1900 ca. loads, and the year before it
was 5000 carloads The prices, too,
are the best in ten years.
In a general way tie present orange
crop is worth to the growers about
s4,t0O,COO. The RAILROAD companies
will get about $2,6O0,OOo for hauling
the product to market and the ship
pers, who are practi> ally spectators
in oranges, may make tens of thou
sands of dollars more from the out
put of the season These are wonder
lul figures when one considers that
ten or twelve years ago, orange grow
ing in California was in it's infancy.
The increase in the duty on foreign
oranges has helped the Ca ifornians
;-mazingly, and the ruin of the Flori-
DO groves by freezing in December
four years ago Las left the California
growers with lite competition in the
United States. Groves that will yield
their owners a net profit of $3.50 an
acre this season are common Here
and there are older groves bearing SUI
perior fruit, which will yield their
owners $3.50 and 1915 an acre clear
profit But the growers have had their
share of hard times and discourage
ments, In the winter of 1929, when
the yield was unusually heavy and
the fruit in fine condition. there were
no buyers or shippers and a crop,
which ordinarily would have sold for
$1,.10,0OO brought less than half the
expense Of transporting it to the East
ern markets. Many growers became
insolvent through their losses that
year, and as many more put mortgage
es on their property and hoped for
better days In 1895 the crop was Wis
tied by frosts, and in few hours one
January night. $2,C0O,OOO worth of
oranges were made unstable.
The magnitude of the orange indus
try surprises most Fasteners in Cali
fornia for the first time The Los An
geles Express recently estimated the
total capital invested in orange grow
ing in this State at $44,00O,OOO. The
industry is almost wholly confined to
the seven southern-mo coun les of
the State, Los Angeles, Riverside, San
Bernardino. Orange, San Diego Santa
Bari ara and Ventura and in these the
orange groves comprise an area of 49,
300 acres. The number Of grange
,ress now in beari g in southern Cal
fornia is put at 2,072,4CO and the
humber of nOn-hearing trees is placed
It 1,2273O0 With the same produc-
iveness, when the latter come to
gearing the annual crop will be up
ward OF 27,OoO car Dads, and at prices
ike those of this season, the Califor-
lians will sell their products forsome-
hirg like $10O00,OOO
The orange harvesting season be-
ms in early December 1t reaches it's
Ugh water mark about the middle of
'ebruary, and continues until June A
ew weeks previous to the picking
lme the wholesale shippers 20 the /
ornds Of the groves. Experts some
mes guess within 100 boxes of what
ten-acre grove will yield. Some buy ,
rs have ARRANGEMENTS from year %
ear with the growers, while most of ,,
re producers prefer to make new
)ntracts each season. The agent in.
oects the groves and offers so much
box or so much for the fruit on
ees and here the responsibility of
lie owner ceases. The shipper pits
Is pickers and packers at work. The =
.Ower receives his chocL o0d avail v