Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1909-03-03
ORANGES OF FLORIDA.
A VISIT TO THE ORANGE GROVES
AT SAN MATEO.
DIR. Green Describes Great Product
of the Peninsular State, and
the Development of the
Grapefruit.
Palatka, Fla, Feb. q, 1909.

1
in January will be sure to have his
attention drawn to the sign exhort-
/ ing him to visit the orange groves
at San Mateo, which, if he would
see orange culture at its best, he
will certainly do, for there is prob
ably no better opportunity offered
lin the whole of Florida than at San
Mateo. With this thought in mind
Mrs. Green and the writer engaged
passage on the Rainbow, little
craft plying between the two points,
on the st. Johns river, distant five
miles to the south. On the day we
arranged to make this trip we hailed
skipper John, "gemman of color"
| who was in command of the Rain
| bow and engaged our passage at
John had for his pilot a little lad
about the size of my grandson, Har-
old Green, a right smart little fell
low, though, / would have you know
he was not near so clipper as Har-
old, there are not many that are.
1t was a pleasant little run and oc-
cupied about an hour. Upon reach
in San Mateo we went direct to
the groves, where we were greeted
with one of the most beautiful sights
my eyes ever looked upon. 200
acres on the bank of the river, en-
closed with tight, high board
fence, not for protection against
thieves so much as protection
against frost from which there is
always some danger in that vicinity
as also in all the northern and CEN
trail portions of the state.
At intervals all through the grove,
poles as high as fence are erect
ed and on these poles a heavy can
vas is stretched whenever there is
danger of a destructive freeze, so
that the grove is entirely enclosed
and sheltered. Then, in addition to
these measures whenever it is deem
ed necessary, fires are built at reg
trees, and the air is kept heated at
a safe temperature; thus in this sec
| ton all danger is removed while in
south Florida the groves do not
suffer from the cold. The trees
started in nurseries are budded and
then transplanted in rows in the
groves, twenty-five feet apart. Those
at San Mateo are young, healthy
looking trees, laden with fruit;
oranges, lemons, grapefruit and
kumquarts. Many of them were So
heavily loaded that it was neces-
| sary to use props to sustain the
branches. which otherwise would be
pressed to the ground. A ten-acre
grove will usually require quite
| $500 props to keep the limbs from
! breaking. If the grower be so in
clined he may have both oranges
and grape fruit on the same tree; all
A
orange tree and bud it with both.
/ noticed one tree which had been
served in this way and the result
was that on one side it was bearing
an abundance of oranges and on the
other an equally fine show of grape
fruit Grapefruit culture is claim
| ing its full share of attention from
the citrus fruit growers, and well
it may for it is not so very long
since it was comparatively un-
known; like the tomato it has forced
its way to the front on its merits,
and is fast finding it's way into the
markets of the world. In my judg-
ment it is destined very soon to be-
come a close competitor of the
orange and may eventually claim
much larger share of attention than
that excellent fruit. Incidentally. l
rise to remark that Mrs. Green has
just picked specimen from a tree
in my sisters garden, which meas
ures Is " inches h circumference
and weighs two pounds.
Mingled with the oranges at San
Mateo there are perhaps a dozen
lemon trees all of which are well
filled with an excellent quality of
as fine looking lemons as / ever
saw, though lemon trees are not yet
very extensively grown here. 1t is
claimed by some, however, that IL
it were not for it's greater sensitive
ness to cold it would be a better
staple crop than the orange, owing
to the multiplicity of it's domestic
uses, the earliness with which trees
come into bearing, and heavy crops
produced. 1t is easier to preserve
in good condition for several weeks,
and therefore more satisfactory as
a shipping fruit; 1t is less likely to
be stolen from the trees--a serious
drawback to the orange In frequent
ed localities; it thrives on poorer
soil and withstands more neglect.
| a.