Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-26
Most Work in the Field.

Most Work in the Field
Most of the work that the Department
of Agriculture now does with plant breed
ing is in the field where 1t is to be grown
as a business. The department has its
own experiment station, where any work
that demands careful scientific attention
can be done. But 1t has been found that
what the farmer needs is improvement in
plants that can be maintained without
scientific attention, work that any ordi-
naIfly intelligent farm laborer can do
when the simple way has once been point
ed out TO him. The result is that the de-
partment is today working In cooperation
with host of good farmers all over the
country, and IS getting them to do breed
ing work under expert supervision so that
when a new cotton is wanted for the GeoT-
gia uplands Il is grown and bred there, If
a new lettuce Is wanted for Colorado IL
Is produced on the spot, and If a special
breed Of corn is needed in Iowa II is bred
in Iowa and adapted from the first to the
local conditions that 1t Will have to meet.
The development of the hardy orange,
which is one of the triumphs of the De-
partment Of Agriculture. Is due to the work
of DR.. Weber OF the bureau of plant IN
dustry- 1t commenced back in 1896, after
successive freezes had killed out many of
the orange groves in Florida and caused
untold loss and depreciation in the value
of orange lands. II was seen then that
if the orange industry in Florida was to
continue a success the groves would have
10 be grown under some sort of protec-
ton which was an immensely costly under
taking. or else there would have to be de-
yeloped an orange that would Withstand
the occasional frosts. The department
knew that the Japanese tTffoiata, which
IS a fruitless member OF the orange fam
lily, is a hardy plant and grows in the open
far north as Philadelphia.
The question was whether the sweet
orange could be grown on this hardy STOCK
ana produce a fruit that had some frost
resisting qualities and was at the same
time commercially desirable orange.
The work was carried on for years. ana
the scientists have at length succeeded N
producing, not what they set out to get
an Indian river orange on hardy stock
bur what IS practically a sweet lemon on
a stock that is very much harder and that
will extend the orange-growing industry
as far north as the whole tier of the gulf
states.
Two distinct fruits have been produced
the Rust citrange and the Willetts citrange
The first has developed and been tested
TO the point where ii is shown to be ex-
ceedingly hardy and useful for many pur-
poses Ii is IN size between the orange
ana the dwarf fruit of the trlfoliata. The
taste is slightly acid, little more so than
In the grape fruit, and Its aroma, which II
gets from the parent trifoliata, Is very at
tractive and pronounced. 1t is heavy and
has more juice for equal bulk than the
lemon. and while It is almost too acid to
be eaten out of hand. II is still excellent as
a breakfast fruit with sugar, AMI makes
delicious citroHade, pies and preserves. In
fact 1t can be used for about every favor
ing purpose that the best lemons can be
used for.
There have been some variations pro-
duced In breeding in the tangarine by
crosses with the pomelo. producing har-
der, though not frost-resisting fruit. but