The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-09

so phenomenal was the growth of his
| industry that at the time Of the cele-
brated freeze of ls94-lS95 his crop was
estimated at 1921 900, Others followed
his lead, taking up the wild groves. I'M
proving the stock and studying trans.
portation methods until the industry
became the leading one of the State.
Up until 1880 the orange section was
frostless. The groves spread through
he northern part of the State and when
! trees were twelve years old the profits
were from ten to hundred and fifty
! per cent of the value of the trees. BY
! the time tree is twelve wears old il is
usually valued at 800. In 1856 there
! came a blizzard that cut back all the
/ trees IN Florida. and only those in the
| protected stations and in the far
| South escaped. Since then the annual
frosts have kept back the Younger trees.
and few have developed north of Tampa.
Then came the great freeze Of the win
ter OF lS94-lS95, a freeze that wrought
disaster In the orange industry from
which the State has not recovered. First
IN december there was great freeze.
and IN the following February a still
greater one. There would have been
about 100000 boxes that wear, and
the total loss has been estimated at over
500 100000.
IhIs disaster TO Florida turned the al
tentIon of the buyers and consumers to-
wards California, where preparations
were Immediately made TO meet the de-
nhnds. Ihere, too, the Spaniards in
thclr work of civiliZing the new DOS
sessions of their crown had brought the
orange. the vine, the olive and the flo.
From Mexico the fearless Jcsuits had
carried the fruits of Spain over the
MOUNTAINS and the gulf into their lower
,alifornia missions, and in the fall of
1927 Salyatierra planted an orchard
ana brought cattle and horses into the
mission grounds at Lorcto. Under tho
management of good Father Ugarte,
the founder of agriculture in Low.
or California. the VINEYARDS and
groves prospered and by 1907 the
peninsula had a good export trade into
Mexico.
Into upper California Father .Juni.
pcro Sierra carried the principles OF ag-
ricuIturc as well as fhc gospel of peace
IN II fb9, and under his direction the val.
!feyS about the missions blossomed with
inc irult and flowers Of old Spain. and
were balm 10 the homesick eyes of the
padres, as well as n comfort to the
weary traveller who sought refuge at
lhlS or that hospice IT was Don .Jo.
seph de Galvcz, godfather of Galveston.
Texas. who ordered the taking of the
seeds of fruit: grain and vegetables
INTO the California country. Under the
tutclage of the fathers and of the carly
Spanish settlers the fruit and grain in.
duStrlcs throvc rapidly. Vancouver
when exploring that country comment
cd on the gardens, and as early as 1880
ten. vallejo had planted groves in So
noma valley. In 1894 the mission gar.
dens began to decline, the "Gringo'
had come, the land went from cccIesi-
astlcal to secular control. and when
Fremont passed through in 1876 he
wro1e that little remained of the or
chards that had been kept and cult.
waited at the missions. Wild mustard
swept over the valleys. conqucring the
garden and orchard lands, and for a
while neglect and discouragemcnt hung
over The fertile valleys.
The gold fever of 40. bringing death
TO the power and glory of the helpful
missions. revived the orange culture TO
some degree. tho first fruit Jlppcd be.
ing taken from the lower part of tho
state by steamer TO San Francisco and
from there by pack train 10 the MN
ers camps. where it brought fahu-
loUs sum. There was no especial inn
pctus to shipping until 1856 Rv then
the treasured Acapulco orange of the
old padres had been taken from tho
Los Angeles orchards at san Gabriel
mission. and planted in Sacramento,
and IN Butte county, in the far north
eTn part of the State. over 500 miles
from the first mission garden. BY 1899
Inc acreage of oranges in California
was $4,000, the groves had climbed the
foothills of the Sierras had taken pos
session of Kern, Tulare and Fresno
counties, and in the northern part Of
the state were competing for rcccgni-
tion with the mineral resources To-
day the acreage is 100000 and orange
Thermal Belt. which rms from Butte
and Tchama counties on the north 10
San Diego county on tho south, fol.
lowing the line of the foothills for 700
miles, In path from three To thirty
miles wide and at IN altitude of from
800 60 1900 feet above the sea.
Oranges arc shipped out of CaIifor.
MIA all the year around, beginning with
the uavcls in November in time for the
Christmas trade. These ship until
June, then come the Mediterranean
sweets. tho blood oranges and others
Thousands of pickcrs swarm over the
fields, Japanese. Chinese, Mexicans.
half-breeds. whites. IN an lndiscrimi-
nate mixture. who. with knives, lad
dcrs, bags and boxes, climb, clip and
pack, until the groves resemble busy
ant-hills Cooperative packing compa-
MICS now handle almost all the shin
ments, facilitating matters and rcduc-
ing expenses. Giant machines wash
dry. polish and carry the fruit, finally
sorting if according to size, padded