Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-09-04
By William Anterior Du Puy
IF you live IN the cotton
: belt or on the Pacific

Coast or anywhere else
that the temperature does not go below ten
degrees Fahrenheit, you can plant tree or
two in your front yard and raise all the fruit
you need for the making of the family lemon
ade or its equivalent. The Department of
Agriculture has succeeded in pushing the line
above which no citrus fruit could he raised a
thousand miles TO the north. and thereby
added TO the area Of such production third
Of the United States. Nowadays it is offering
the hardy trees that will grow as far north
as Tennessee to whoever wants to try grow
ing them; thereby proving its claims through
the method common in Missouri.
This does not mean that oranges and
lemons of the well known varieties can be
grown in these ATTITUDES. Far from it, These
delicate and unacceptable fruits still hang
about the fringe of the nations southern
border and are frequently given hard tussle
in Florida and Arizona. Government ex-
perts are offering this new fruit as a sub
stitute for the lemon. the orange, and the
grapefruit and the men who know much of
it would not be surprised if 1t relegated these
staple citrus fruits to a condition OF lnnocu-
Gus desuetude, so to speak.
The new fruit looks like tangerine, tastes
like lemon, is a sometime substitute for the
grapefruit: but IS in reality an ofshoot of
the orange when crossed with Japanese
ornamental plant euphoniously known as
the trifoliate orange. Because it was cit
rus fruit and an orange in combination, the
scientists who produced it have called it
citrange. The plants have been growing for
a number of years, and this season the crop
at many experiment stations throughout the
cotton belt and along the Pacific Coast as
far north as Canada is good and the fruit is
being served in many States.
Nee .ssisy It's Mother
TT all began back in the COS, when orange
and lemon culture began yielding such
handsome returns in California and new
fields were sought in which to plant them.
Florida gave itself to this manner of farming
with fair degree of success; but an occasional
freeze made the business insecure. There
was no great extent of country where tenn
peratures would allow the safe and profit
able cultivation Of citrus fruit on the main
land Of the United States.
Experts found that there was an orna-
mental plant that partook of the nature Of
an orange and grew outside in ATTITUDES like
Philadelphia and St. Louis. 1t was sturdy
and cold resisting. 1t was grown because of
its beauty as a lawn ornament, and the
orangelike fruit lent bit of color to many
front yard, though it was Of no value as
edible fruit. If the palatable qualities of the
orange might be grated upon the Cold-re-
sistant nature of this ornamental shrub it
was argued that great good might result.
In Northern Florida the two plants were
raised side by side. When the experts were
ready for the naturalization, which is done
by bringing the pollen Of one flower into
the pistil of the other unlimited care was
taken that no mistakes were made Certain
buds were selected for the cross. Paper
bags were placed over them, that the pol
lenization might not take place accidentally,
as through the a!ighting Of a bee on the
chosen flower. When the bloom was ready
for fertilization. the pollen of the chosen
mate Of a given flower was shaken into it
and the bag was replaced.
The seeds resulting from this cross were
sent to Washington greenhouses, where
they were carefully planted and nursed. an
exact record being kept of the origin of each.
When the plants grew strong they were sent
to the subtropical gardens at Miami, Flori-
da. where they were grown to maturity and
the fruit bearing age. Various buds from
each were grated on other plants, and the
numbers that should produce the new fruit