Arizona republican., 1901-10-07
ARIZONA ORANGES
A Short Review of the History of the
 Industry.

The first Arizona Ccanges-frst on the market. first in price and first In size. flavor and color-are rapidly reaching the gathering point. and in about five weeks the first car will be shipped to New York, to astonish anl delight the connoisseurs, many of whom still believe Arizona to be . waste of sand and mountains
 Strange as it may seem. it has been less than twenty years since the lands that produce the juicy, golden frui.. the great Washington navel of ArI- z.ola. were given over to cactus, grease wood and mesquite. The weary way farer who trudged across are arid val ley of the Salt river. a quarter of a century ago little thought. he watched the willy Apache, that this same valley would be producing or alges that would put to shame the fruit Of California.
 The first oranges in Arizona were planted in 1883, on land located ten miles northeast of Phoenix. The first trees set out were Of Florida stock, but resulted so Unsatisfactorily that the next year California trees were set out. The first crop was picked in 1S93 and at that time there were two hundred acres planted in oranges in the valley. Then Arizona oranges first began to attract attention in the east and tne following year, at the midwinter fai.' in San Francisco. they were awarded the first premium. California judges mak- ing the awards. The Arizona fruit was sent to San Francisco in November. and lay there on exhibition until the awards were made. the following April At that time the Arizona orange was praised by California growers for is beautiful color and exquisite flavor an1 it has since been these same qualitiss that have caused it to command the highest price in New York and Chi cago markets. The acreage pIanted has steadily incT eased until now there are about 1000 acres in oranges in the Salt River valley. and 100 in the vicin- ity of Yuma. From this valley about thirty cars will be sent this year. a to- tai of nearly 5000 boxes, and several cars will go from the Yuma district
 The orange district proper in this valley is contained in a strip of land about three miles wide and running for eleven miles along the south side of a protecting range of mountains north of Phoenix. There are groves in other parts of the valley. but in few places are they sufficiently protected to be- come as valuable as the orchards near the mountains. F re the Washington
 
 at Yuma the most profitable fruit is the Mediterranean sweet Experiments were first conducted with navels. but did not prove successful and the trees were cut down and budded to sweets. The Mediterranean sweet is a large va riety of orange. maturing in Californ.q in January and February, but at Yuma is ready for the market by the 2Oth of November. Experiments are now be- frn~r fIa
 Florida variety. Oonshuns and Quani- quats. Japanese varieties. in hope f getting as early a producer as the Phoenix navel.
 The exact conditions which combine to make the superior quality of the Arizona orange are hard to define: but the equable climate. the warm nights and days, and lack of frost at night tD- Sether with the rich ailuvial soil, are probably to be credited with the pre- duction of the thin skinned, aromatic oranges which are on the market a