The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1909-02-12
ORANGE INDUSTRY IN FLORIDA
ed a Quarter Of Century in
Marion County

Wal tOh SONHbJ
wish l could give you a history of
the orange industry, and tell fully
what has been Marion county's part
in making this history, but it is a
long story, and ! will give you a short
account Of the orange industry, as I
have known It, since I have been in
the state landed in this place-Mc-
Intosh-on January Sth. 1854, just -
years ago-a quarter OF a century
and have been interested in oranges
all Of these years, and finished this
seasons shipping last Saturday, The
9th, having shipped 10000 boxes this
season.
l have had good success and some
hard knocks, as / was here when the
freeze OF 1895 killed my trees to the
ground. When l came to the state in
1884. and for quite a number Of years
later, Citra was the largest orange
shipping point in the state, and 1 was
told that around and adjacent to Or
ange Lake there were more wild or
ange trees than in all of the balance
of the state. Since then I have heard
of some large wild groves being
found at other points, but nothing so
extensive as around Orange Lake.
When I determined to plant a grove
| l reasoned that nature knew more
about where to plant orange trees
than man, and that ! would make my
grove on land that nature indicated
was cOngenial to the growth, and l
yet feel that l made no mistake.
The freeze of 1895 was a great blow
to the industry in Marion county, as
by then the trees had been planted
farther south, and there was a ten
dency to try to get below the social
ed frost line, but, so far, the frost
line has not been located. Cold has
caused great damage to trees as far
south as Tampa and the Manatee riv-
er section, and of late years some of
the old grove owners of Marion cOun-
ty that were discouraged and went
south after 1895 are coming back and
replanting groves on the old grove
lands around Orange Lake.
Last year Mr.. E. L. Wartmann and
Mr. j. w. Crosby obtained control of
the lands of the old Bishop and Hoyt
grove and the Harris grove at Citra
and are feeling good over their pros
poets They have been getting gOOd
prices for their fruit this season, quite
a lot of it selling for IS or more per
box, when the fruit from a good many
other sections was selling for $50
or less.
l have been quite satisfied with my
sales. An examination of the sales
catalogue of the Brown and Secomb
/ auction house of New York will show
how the fruit from the different sec
tions SELL and I am not ashamed OF
the position of the Arredondo brand.
The now famous Pineapple orange
was discovered a few miles south Of
Orange Lake on the old Commander
plantation, | think, and | believe the
original tree was bought by the Bish-
op and Hoyt Company of Citra, and
used to supply bud-woOd for their
groves, and, it is said, the Pineapple
orange does not attain the same de-
gree of perfection at any other point
in the state as it does around Orange
Lake.
! The one great advantage of this
| section is the fine keeping and car
rying qualities of the fruit produced.
While there has been great complaint
of decay in fruit this year the fruit
grown around Orange Lake and, in
| fact, in all of the groves in Marion
county, so far as | have been able to
learn, has reached market practically
sound.
The lime in these lands may be the
cause of the fruit having this quality
| think it is the history of all fruits
let it be apples, peaches or other fruit
the farther north the fruit can be
grown the better the fruit is, having
a better flavor and a better structure
While the lands of Marion county
will produce oranges that have no su
perior in flavor and structure, having
superior carrying and keeping quail
ties, no section can produce them al
less cost, as these rich hammock
lands do not require such heavy APP
plications of fertilizer, nor such inten
sive cultivation. In fact. We have al
most concluded that no cultivation