Daily Kennebec journal., 1900-06-16
/. |. SeedIess Oranges.

-.r,. less or navel oranges grown A
| icH oranges were raised in Florida but
the bulk Of the supply came from the
Mediterranean, and the fruit was ex-
pCnsive. The annual yield Of California
oranges was less than five carloads
Now the annual orange yield in Cali
forniI is upward of Is. 900 carloads and
the to,yl amount invested is now some
thing like $43 900, 600 while Twenty-Five
years ago it was only $o3, 600 The in
PRODUCTION of the scedlcss. or navel
orange has caused these changes. 1t
hl.; rcvOlutioniZcd the orange industry
t the United States. drawing $4,000
men out of other pursuits. and has
transformed vast areas of sun-baked
land In California into beautiful orange
groves. The New York Sun recently
had an interesting article on the sub
ject, from which we derive our in
formation.
The first seedless orange trees We're
introduced in 1872 through the efforts
of Nnliam f. Judson. United States
Consul of Bahia, Brazil. who heard
from the natives of a few trees in the
swamp on the north bank of the
Amazon, some sixty miles inward.
which had no seeds. 1t seems that
even in those days there were consuls
who We're interested in scien-
tific matters, and could fore
soc the economic value Of a
discovery Of this kind. He sent
..ttive up the river to get some shoots,
md ring back some Of the fruit. Sew
..... Y. the shoots We're packed in moss
Il. j.. ..- chi ~ ri
ultuiil department at Washington.
hey did not excite very much atten-
tor At first, but the next year Mr..
uo..'i' Tibbetts asked the agricultural
I,,a tm"nt for specimens of fruits and
g. g.. suitable for experimental
... g.. alton in Southern California
- no-.y other things Mr.. Tibbetts OBJ
aimed the four surviving orange shoots
from Brazil. They were shipped to
t,v ryide. California. and We're imme-
l..lcly planted. Even here the shoots
pear. to have had bad luck: one
tied f neglect and another was
chew up by COW.
FIN. ..lrs PASSED ana the two surviv
inC 'ft- .Dme into bearing and in the
Niuf FL I l31S-19 they bore sixteen oranges
M ~" seedless variety-the first ever
..-t,,u in North America. Specimens
5 shown to oranEemen and fruit
G..H-..s- At first they We're SCeptiCal as
30. ,..4ther the trees would bear annually
.. T. fine sperimens The second crop
ras 9waited with great anxiety. There
.-.~ .l-nut a box of oranges in the sec
ono = rs crop, and thev were even bet
r-r han those of the first crop. Mr..
I .":,etts was sure that there was for
t..e In the new variety of oranges For
to.' cars he experimental with prona-
a. f.r4 trees from shoots and cutting
m hi two seedless trees. His at
t6mpts were failure. but finally he MT
uJun L scheme Of budding from the seed
| lc-e navel trees upou the Seeding trees
Ey n-riments along that line Were sue
| e. it'll. and it was found that A bud tax
ell ..tm one Of the two TihbettS trees and
e. ttN q int" the bark Of Seeding tree
v,a.. grow TO he : limb which would
7ru.. ~tcdless orarr-s. The original or
tn-, branches Wei, hen cut away and
H. zee thereafter bore only the new va
rit ~ fruit Work was carried on in
| ear, 1T n the winter of 1882, and in the
| fcll .Ying rear the demand for buds was
So -:rae t'.at = dozen frequently sold for
3, nd Zach was finally not conSid-
/ .1.d ,v,rs..fve for a good bud. y fence
/ F.- n..t around the two trees to protect
| tt,..tu and a year or two later the or
aus-.. res that had been propagdted
| from the two original trees began to bear.
| and tlt ~ furnished tens of thousands of
navel buds. which were a good as those
from the two original trees. The indus
| t.r has grown until now no ono thinks Of
rlantng Seeding oranges. and tens Of
thousands Of Seeding trees nave been
.lIaei into navel orange trees, and there
.r- many navel orange groves In the re-
| -..n which have Yielded net profits Of
4 i.rr - to $500 an acre per year. River
I -i.t.. .Ls grown from 2 hamlet Of less
rh.. thirty American inhabitants - a
| pros pcruu. town with 1900 population.
| /. IL the greatest orange producing local
| itv in the world 5000 acres of the land
Icing devoted to it. The average annual
| shipments of the oranges from Riverside
are ,6ro OCS boxes. The Riverside citizens
are now urSing that the two trees which
were the shurce of this prosperity, be re
moved to a public park and suitably pro-
tccte1 n order that they he kept for the
next -.-uoratiOn as an object lesson. No
visitor * allowed to take any flower or
| fruit into the orchard for fear of the
scalc.-ScientifiC American.