Catoctin clarion., 1900-09-13
A BIG ORANGE CROP
CALIFORNIA WILL THIS YEAR
BREAK HER RECORD.

Rapid Increase of the Industry In
Southern CaIfornia-Cost and Prof.
its of an Orange Grove-The Fear
of Jack Frost.
These are the llveliest days of the
year in the southern California val
leys where oranges are grown. The
orange groves are noisy with nun
dreds of men and boys picking the
golden fruit the packing houses are
as busy as the proverbial beehlVe
with thousands of men, women, hoys
and girls packing the fruit IN boxes,
and the shippers are full of business
all day long. The yield Of oranges TINS
season is between $4,000 and 14,0Oo
carloads, or between 100000 and T.
100000 boxes. There has never before
been such a yield of oranges III Call
fornia. Last year the crop was about
5000 carloads, and the year before 1t
was 5000 carloads. The prices, too,
are the best in ten years.
In n general way the present orange
crop is worth to the growers about
$46OO,0OO. The railroad companies
will get about $4,000 for hauling
the product to market and the ship
pers, who are practically spectators
In oranges, may make tens of thou
sands of dollars more from the out
put of the season. These are wonder
full figures when one considers that
ten or twelve years ago, orange grow
ing in California was in its infancy.
The increase in the duty on foreign
oranges has helped the Ca'ifornans
amazingly, and the ruin of the Flori-
do groves by freezing in December
four years ago has left the California
growers with little 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
pcrior fruit, which will yield their
owners $3.50 and 1910 an acre clear
profit. But the growers have had their
share of hard times and discourage
ments. In the winter of 1S92-93, when
the yield was unusually heavy and
the fruit in fine condition, there were
no buyers or shippers, and crop.
which ordinarily would have sold for
$1,200,0OO, brought less than half the
expense Of transporting it to the East
eru markets. Many growers became
insolvent through their losses that
year, and as many more put mortgag-
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, $2,000.000 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 S4i 100000. The
industry Is almost wholly confined to
the seven SOuthcrn-most counties OF
the State, Los Angeles. Riverside. San
Bcrnardino, Orange, san Diego Santa
Barbara and Ventura and in these the
orange groves comprise an area of 49,
600 acres The number of orange
trees now in bearing in southern Cal.
fornia is put at 2,0I2,iO0 and the
number of non-hcaring trees is placed
at 1,227,3O0 With the same produc-
tiveness, when the latter come to
bearing the annual crop will be mp
ward of 27,000 carloads, and at prices
like those Of this season, the Califor.
mans will sell their products forsomc.
thing like S10000.o0Q,
The orange harvesting season be-
gins in early December. 1t reaches its
high wator mark about the mildl" Of
February. and continues until June, \
few weeks previous to the picking
time the wholesale shippers go the
rounds of the groves Experts some.
times guess within 100 boxes of what
n ten-acrc grove will yield. Some buy.
erS have arrangements from year 10
year with the growers, while most OF
the producers prefer to make new
contracts each season. The agent in.
spccts the groves and offers so much
box or 50 much for the fruit on
trees and here the responsibility Of
the owner ceases. The shipper puts
his pickcrs and packers at work. The
grower receives his check, and anoth-
er year is begun.
AT the orange picking time the coun.
try Is a marvel to the EascrnCr.
While standing among the oranges
the picker looks away over grove af.
ter grove, fields Of flowers, acres of
golden escholtzias, patches of wild
daisies, bluebells and yellow violets;
and finally the eye rests on the Sierra
Madres twenty or thirty miles away
the garden wall of this lIcspcrides.
His nOstrls inhale the odor of the
orange blossom, while his eyes see the
snowbanks Of winter on the great
peaks. The orchard picker, however.
has no time to spend on the aesthetics
Of the subject, he is picking against
time and an East is waiting.
Almost the only danger the orange
grower has to fear is a visit by Jack
Frost. True, the meteorological records
of southern California for thirty. seven
years show no time when the temper
ature has gone below % above zero,
and 1t is only once or twice in eleven
years that the mercury in orange
groves has reached that point The
ticklish period of the winter, so far as
frost is concerned, Is during the latter
part Of December and the early part
of January. But so far this season
the mercury has not been below 80,
and that once was for a half-hour just
at daybreak last month. The orange
will bear five or six degrees of frost,
if for very short duration; but IL
such temperature continues for sever
al hours, or occurs several nights in
succession, the fruit will be injured,
and young nursery stock affected,
though the trees may not suffer.
There is no absolutely frostless locall-