The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-01-22
]. Bv' FranI,k$ g Carlrpenter.

WASHINGTON, ID. CT J IAN. q - Uncle
4 Sam has turned matchmaker The fact
{ need not excite the 900 splnsters of
Massachusetts. nor the nj llions who ar are
|pir,ingi for husbands In the other parts
+ or the United XII States. Uncle Sans
4 ma tcl,es have not to do with human be-
Ftngs. III Such unions are ma do In hea ven.l
II Uncle Sam IS marriages are $of the earth
earthly. They are he&marringe Of plants
and fruits, and they are adding to the
EwealthEof the country can t tell Just
i how much: but tho sum runs high into
the millions, and the matrimonial bu-#
8reau Is just beginning to work,
New Oranges for the South.
q i spent& to day at the Agricultural De-
&rartment talking With DR., II erberts J q
Weber, the head "A OF the laboratory {ofS
plant breeding and with other scientists
on what Is being done to 4 oduce5 new
s5plants and fruits. DR. sNVebber has de-
voted his life { to this work. and under
/ the direction OF the Secretary Of Agri--5
compishing wonders. They have u pro-
4 duced new cottons. tobaccos and grains.
and they have now d discovered an orange
Nwhicllt8WIl grow about three hundred.
miles further north than any W DIV
4 have AT present the oranges Of the
United States ore grown. Il a m ost alto
agether In the southern halt Of Florida
and d III comparatively small part OF
\ California. This will extend the orange
region northward throughout IS g orgtIa.5
aid into South Carolina, the gulf Sta tcs.B
Texas, 8# pa rts Of Arizona and into many
II other parts OF California. 1t will make
K 1t possible for every southern farmer
OF these regions to have an orange grove
In his back yard and oranges VIII 20 as 8
M a
5the north. II. li9 +.
Z Ia took a bout ten years to produce this
result, How#it came about is as follows:
IN 1894 and 1895 we had q terrible frost
which destroyed the orange groves 4 Of
Florida. s Tho Il trees were frozen down ".
TO tho ground and upon looking back u
was found that such frosts had come
from time to time and DESTROYED every
thing. The Department then tried ~ e
4 fir,dor n hardler orange which would
Withstand the cold e and DIR. Vebbersa md
PRO-. w ,i r. s;wngl q, 3B Who were e then
working for the Department In Florida,
were given this task. Afteri q time. Prot,
swlnglc dropped out, but DR. Weber
continued md produced the !, q, ofan y sss
which he showed mo to-day. The first
work that was done was the selection or
hardy trees, They picked out the tough ~
i est and tried to breed toughe rl ones by
seed selectionS This was very sloW ana
+ they looked around to see IL they could
not ma types with which they might
cross breed 81 Il Ssg
4 Among the other things experimental, line MIC
with was u hardy little orange tree.
4 which grows as far lortl as New! York.
There are some on Long Island ana
several In the Agrioult Department
4 grounds. Tho tree Is grown for he'd ges,5
lit lis known as tho Trlfoliate orange and
IT. has g. fruit about as big around q q
! baby.s fist bl,taa sour as 4 vinegar ana
as bitter as gall, l IT As. however, g per-
feet orange In shane and is really an
orange although not ut for eatlng
X They took this tree and married " 70
tho sweet orange tree Of Florida, and
\ after many trials they have now pro-
dueed the trees Which WILL grow and
u fruit 800 miles farther north. 81 ESs y 8
srhe new orange Is three Inches IN
diameter; 1t lis a good eating orange
although q little bitter, IT can he prppat--t
gated by budding, and can be easily
y spread throughout the southern portion
OF the United States. Our naval oranges
all come from, a tree which was sent
here from Brazil and grown In the ag. n.y.
sylcult,ral hot houses. That tree was
: The father Of the seedless orange industry
Of California. llese trees will be the!
father Of orchards all oyer tho South,
Orange Lerlo ns and PoInel los, H:
X IN crossing these trees several athert
yarletles az oranges were iplodllp ed he
seed ION the SuniGn I, had to- be first
planlef, a!Ea 40 aAes Ybp9t Al loRS