The Washington herald., 1907-05-09

many OF the pTesent-day American in
dustries. Among those adventurers were
evidently thoughtful and provident souls,
who saw the possibilities of the garden
lands through which they passed. Seeds
anl plants became parts Of the impedi-
menta of travel, and the dropping Of
these here and there, whether through
carelessness or good intent, has brought
much good to the people Of to-day. All
along the route Of the Spanish In Florida
there sprang up orange trees. with their
golden spheres, and when Nature herself
did not SOW the fruit from hammock to
hammock the Indians did. and IN the shell
ter Of live oak and pine the orange forests
throve and spread, until many acres in
Florida and the delta country of New
Orleans We're ready for the first perma-
nent settlers that came that way, ready
with contributions from Cordova and
other Old World centers to the upbuild-
ing Of the new nation
Between 1855 and 1870 an enteTprising
hortculturist bought up a large part Of
a wild grove of sour oranges in the St
John River country Of Florida. near
Orange Lake and budded the tops of the
trees 10 a sweet variety. He invested
SI,900 IN this enterprise, and 50 phe-
nOmenal was the growth of his industry
that at the time Of the celebrated freeze
of 1S94-95 his crop was estimated at
$23l, 900. Others followed his lead. taking
up the wild groves. improving the stock,
and studying transportation methods un-
of the State. Up until 1850 the orange sec
tion was frostless. The groves spread
through the northern part of the State,
and when trees We're twelve years old
the profits were from 10 TO $50 per cent
of the value of the trees. BY the time
a tree is twelve years old it is usually
valued az 500. In 1856 there came a bliz-
zard that cut back an the trees in Flor
ida. and only those in the protected sta
tions and IN the far south escaped. Since
then the annual frosts have kept back
the younger trees. and few have devel-
oped north Of Tampa. Then came the
great freeze OF the winter of lS94-95
freeze that wrought disaster in the
orange industry from which the State
has not recovered. First, in December
there was a great freeze, and in the fol-
lowing February a still greater one
There would have been about 5000 900
boxes that year. and the total loss has
been estimated al over 800 O000o0
This disaster 10 Florida turned the at
tention Of buyers and consumers toward
California, where preparations We're i'm
mediately made to meet the demands
There. too. the Spanidrds in their work
of civilizing the new possessions of their
crown had brought the orange. the vine,
the olive, and the fg. From Mexico the
fearless Jesuits had carried the fruits
of Spain over the mountains and the
gulf into their Lower California missions.
and IN the fan OF 1857 Salvatierra planted
an orchard and brought cattle and horses
into the mission grounds at LOreto. Tn
der the management Of good Father
Tgarte "the founder of agriculture in
Lower California the vineyards and
groves pr0spered, and by 1501 the peHin-
sula had d good export trade into Mexico.
Into Upper California Father Junipero
Sierra carried the principles Of agricul-
ture, as we'll as the gospel of peace, In
1863. and under his direction the val
leys about the missions blossomed with
the fruit and flowers OF old Spain, and
were balm To the hOmesick ewes of the
padres, as we'll as a comfort to the
weary traveller, who sought refuge at
this or that h0spice II was Don Joseph
de Gaivez. godfather Of Galveston, Tex,
who ordered the taking OF the seeds of
fruit, grain, and vegetables into the
California country. Under the tutelage
Of the fathers and Of the early Spanish
settlers the fruit and grain Industries
throve rapidly. Vancouver, when eXpl0r-
ing that country, commented on the gar
deHs, and as early as 1880 Gen. Vallejo
had planted groves in SonOma Valley
In 1894 the mission gardens began TO
decline. the "GriHgO" had come, the land
went from ecclesiastical 10 secular con-
troll, and when Fremont passed through
in 1916 he wrote that little remained
OF the orchards that had been kept and
cultivated at the missions. Wild mustard
swept over the valleys. conquering the
garden and orchard lands. and for a while
neglect and encouragement hung over
The fertile valleys.
The gold fever OF '49. bringing death to
the power and glory of the helpful mis-
sions, revived the orange culture TO some
degree, the first fruit shipped being taken
from the lower part of the State By
steamer TO San Francisco, and from
there by pack train to the miners camps,
where it brought a fabulous sum. There
was no especial impetus TO shipping until
1856. By then the treasured Acapulco
orange of the old padres had been taken
from the Los Angeles orchards at san
Gabriel Mission, and planted in Sacra-
mentO, and IN Butte County in the FAR
northern part of the State, over 500 miles
from the first mission garden. BY 1893
the acreage Of oranges in California WIS