Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-21
II
FRUITS. AND PLANTS
New Varieties That Have Re-
Gently Been Produced.
WORK OF SCIENTISTS
ADD IMMENSELY TO THE WEALTH
OF THE COUNTRY.
Crossing the Orange and the Lemon
A Better Cotton-How Vegetables
Are Improved.
WORK OF SCIENTISTS

Are Improved.
Copyright 1905, by Frank g. Carpenter.)
Written for The Evening Star.
Uncle Sam has turned matchmaker!
The fact need not excite the $4,000 spin
sters Of Massachusetts nor the millions
| who are pining for husbands in the other
parts of the United States. Uncle Sams
| matches have not to do with human De-
| irgs Such unions are made In heaven.
Uncle Sans marriages are OF the earth'
earthly. They are the marriages Of plants
and fruits, and they are adding to the
wealth Of the country. l can't tell just
how much; but the sum runs high into the
millions, and the matrimonial bureau Is
Just beginning to work
1 spent day at the Agricultural Depart
| ment talking with DR.. Herbert J. Weber,
| the head of the laboratory Of plant breed
| ing, and with other scientists on what is
being done to produce new plants and
| fruits DR.. Weber has devoted his life to
| this work, and under the direction Of the
Secretary of Agriculture he and his asso-
ciates are accomplishing wonders. They
| have produced new cottons, tobaccos ana
| grains, and they have now discovered an
orange which will grow about oOo miles
further north than any We now nave. AL
present the oranges Of the United states
are grown almost altogether In the SOUTH
| ern half of Florida and in comparatively
small part of California. This Will extend
the orange region northward throughout
Georgia and into South Carolina, the gun
states, Texas, parts of Arizona ana lnIo ,
many other parts of California. II VIII
make it possible for every southern FARMER
of these regions to have an orange grove IN
his back yard and oranges will be as COM
mon there as apples are throughout the
north.
How It Came About.
It took about ten years to produce this re-
suit How it came about is as follows:
In 1894 and 1895 we had terrible frost
which destroyed the orange groves OF FLOR
lido. The trees were frozen down to the
ground, and upon looking back IL was
found that such frosts had come from time
time and destroyed everything. The de-
partment then tried to find harder orange
which would Withstand the, cold, and Dr.
Weber and Prof w. T. Swingle, who
were then working for the depart
ment in Florida, We're given the
task After a time Prof. Swingle dropped
out, but Dr. Weber continued and pro-
duced the oranges which he showed me
The first work that was done was
the selection of hardy trees. They picked
out the toughest and tried to breed tougher
ones by seed selection This was very
slow, and they looked around to see II they
could not find types with Whlch tney might
cross breed.
Among the other things experimental
with was hardy little orange tree which
grows as far north as New York. There
are some on Long Island and several in the
Agricultural Department grounds. Inc
tree is grown for hedges. It is known as
the Trifoliate orange and 1t has fruit
about as big around as baby's fist, but
as sour as vinegar and as bitter as gall.
It is, however, a. perfect orange In
| iS really orange. altlOURn
not fit for eating They took this tree and
married it to the sweet orange tree OF Flor
ida, and after many trials they have now
produced the trees which will grow and
fruit 800 miles farther north.
The new orange Is three inches in diam
eter; 1t Is a good eating orange, although
little bitter. 1t can be propagated by
budding and can be easily spread through
out the southern portion Of the United
States. Our navel oranges all come from a
tree which was sent here from Brazil and
grown in the agricultural hot houses. That
tree was the father of the seedlesS orange
industry of California. These trees will be
the fathers of orchards all over the south.
Orange-Lemons and Pome1os.
In crossing these trees several other va
rieties of oranges were produced The seed
from the union had to be first planted, and
as 1t takes about as long for an orange tree
to yield fruit as 1t does for an apple tree.
1t has been several years before the depart
ment could know whether it had anything
or not The first fruiting came this year.
One variety was the Rusk orange, named
after the late Secretary Rusk, of which ]
have already written. Another was an
orange lemon of just about the size of the
Rusk orange. This orange Is as sour as a
lemon and 1t tastes not unlike one, having
delicious flavor slightly different from the
lemon. It has more Juice than a lemon of
the same size. This orange-lemon can be
grown wherever the Rusk orange can be
grown and it will give orange-lemon or
chards to millions of families throughout
the south where lemons cannote now be
grown.
Another of the trees produced by marry
ing the Trifoliate orange with the Florida
orange has a fruit which might be called
the orange pomelo. or the pomelo orange.
This fruit is about the size of a large
orange, but it tastes somewhat like cross
between the orange and the pomelo. 1t will
grow In these same localities and will make
a fine breakfast food. In short. from the
union of these two varieties of trees, one
little more than a scrubby bush and the
other a fine orange tree. have been pro-
duced three good varieties of trees which
will give the greater part of the south
oranges, pomelos and lemons
The Tangelo.
Have you ever seen Tangerine orange?
It Is a little orange with loose skin so
fastened to it that it is sometimes called
be taken off and the sections of the fruit
pulled apart and eaten. You know also the
Crane fruit or Pomelo, which has delicious
acid flesh but a bitter. tight-stcking skin.
Roth fruits are sold in the markets. DR..
Weber and his assistants have married
this little Tangefine orange tree to the
Pomelo, and they have produced a Pomeio
which although not SO large as the ordi-
nary Pomelo, Is of a good size. 1t has
loose skin SO that you tear it off with
your fingers as you can that of the Tanger-
Inc orange The flesh of the new Pomelo
orange is more delicious than that of the
Pomelo itself. 1t Is sweeter than the
Pomelo, and more juicy. and acid than the
Tangerine, and It contains the bitter prin-
otpIe of the grape fruit slightly reduced It
might be calledIa kid glove grape fruit.
Uncle SANS New Babies.
These products are among the most prom
Using of Uncle Sans new babies. They are
raa,J,, tho o,,tntlt OF the Agricultural De-