New-York tribune., 1910-04-19
ORANGE GROWING IN TEXAS
Sub-CoaSt Region Rivals Florida
and California.
CITRUS FRUITS ABUNDANT
rigs, Olives, Dates, Grapefruit
Bring Riches from Soil of
Bee County.

tne cultivation ~ the citrus fruits-oranEes.
lemons and grapefruit. Conditions are r1uch
Ike those in THE other states. with more
rain than o. the PsciHc Coast and less
than IN Florida. and with a climate t,at IS
eoushle al the year round. There are over
one hundred thousand orange trees n bear
ing condition. and this industry Is firmly
established
beeRllie Is not new community. Y IS
IN Bee County. almost midway between
san Antonio ana Corpus Christi. on the
Gulf The country averages about 80 feet
above sea level and the soil rs IN the
Vhole coast region. Is pra cticallv mex
hau1tible in fertility. To the northeast Is
Gol.sd County. and toward the coast and
bordering on the Eulf are san Patricio,
Refug1o and Aransss counties. This near
ness - the Gulf assures ecuab bility of tenn
persture al the year.
Orange culture has gone fa- beyond the
experimental stage here. o. there would
not Re numerous hourfshing groves The
owners of these groves ara IN the main
from California and Florida. and the ma
tives who are engaging IN the culture of
the fruit have acquired about al the tech
uical knowledge of the former. aided by
the government experts. They talk orange.
dream orange and claim that the future
- the whole region 70 the Gulf viii rival
the industry in the states which used 70
n1onopolize the production. Ard with usual
Texan sudacitv. never without sufficient
ar thority. they claim that this region viii
surpass ell others
The cultivation of oranges successfully
depends upon several conditions beyond the
control of man. The climate must be .ust
right. the oil must be very rich and the
rainfall must not be too great Climate
soil and rainfall meet the requirements
here The rainfall Is 8 inches q year DIS
tri5uted among the months when most
needed. Extremes OF temperature are IN
known
When a devastating frost IN 1925 visited
Florida. orange growers and the govern
n1ert Immediately began 70 experiment 70
fnd a hardy fruit that would resist these
occasional visitauons Of low temperature
A. Houston. this state. there was consider
able success in this venture. Varieties were
crossed and a hardy orange was produced
thai would Withstand almost any sudden
drop in the thermoneter. and this new
variety is being cultivated IN this section
with great success.
Beev.lle claims the honor q having pro
duced the Texas cuEst- This was before
the great frost in F1ort6a, ard they can
show the original tree il this city. Il was
an accidental acquisition. as the tree ar
rived in q shipment from California which
in turn rad received il from japan. A. all
events. there are hundreds Of thousands ot
duEar orange trees IN Texas. producing
many thousands Of cases OF the fruit for
market
IN Bee COUNTY the minimum orchard is
d-ed and sixty acres. The first man 70 90
into this business extensively was sent
down - this place from California 10 in
vestiEate q report that conditions were IA
vOrable here for orange culture. He bought
one hundred acres. and has now one Of the
most extensive groves IN tie county In
addition. he has proved a source Of much
technical Information. which has enabled
the natives and settlers 20 grow the fruit
successfully.
There is state experimental farm five
miles from Beevne, whore grapefruit is
growing successfully. from this farm the
experiment has been made a business sue
cess by private growers. Ten-scre orchards
given over entirely % grapefruit are pro-
GucinE enough 20 enable the grower 70 con
fne himself % ills crop. Technical krowI-
edge is ne ~essrry for success. bEt when a
problem cannot be solved there IS the ex-
periuental farm. with experts ready 10
help out. These experts are one of the
great resources Of the state. They are
graduates Of agricultural college. and
have had extensive practical experience.
They are ever at the service of the farmers.
This whole region, and II is vast. may be
SAID 70 resemble the countries, il the kinds
OF fruits grown, that border the eastern
- s-
rlerous than the orange and grapefruit. and
olives and dates have passed the expert
mental stage on many places. Experts de-
clare that there is no reason why the
soutn western territory Of Texas should not
supply the country with figs, dates and all
the citrus fruits. That would cut out the
Greek and Syrian market.
The Sarsuma orange was long regarded
as an ornamental tree. TIE dueat had the
cal. but in recent years the Satsurua has
shown commercial possibilities. and there
are now many profitable groves. Every
known obstacle % the cultivation Cf su
varieties of oranges has been removed.
Shipping facilities are of the best, whether
rv water or rail- The railroads tap the
Northern cities. whence r-e Western.
Northern and Northesstern territories may
be reached. From the GuIf ports the great
cities on the Atlantic sesboar5 can De- sup
rIed with the seui-tropicaI and tropical
fruit As in other sections ~ the state. Co
operation among the shippers has proved a
e~est saving In fact. losses in transit
have been eliminated. The farmer knows
10 a nicely what his crop will bring
There are few more attractive sections
than this sub-Cosst region. The orange
groves are things 90 beauty; the dater.
r~spefrrit x and the more hardy fruit.
like NUNS. apples and peaches make the
ra~Fz~sue one q varied hearty. Road
rsfdf-c has been extensive and farmers
AWAY from the immediate shipping points
nave ne rough rhorouz1 TO overcome
i- their long h8uis. AS IN other sections.
-.poolg are convenient for the children of
,ra settlers. and churches are numerous.
r, order rhat :here may be the diversity
.r-- v.fT assure success ir aE-i,uIflre
MANY Of the fruit growers devote parts OF
,ref~ land ~ truck gardening. There fs an
s,.e- vasdv market for al kinds of vegets-
So and as the rainfall iE SUFFICIENT. there
-,.. te no aTrlres Successive crops make
..,. la-s q continuous source of pro1t. And.
l,.-,,ira the continuous use, The fertility
~. ,,t entered. This is because 0f the
...s4o-,, ia me choice ~ crop rotation. al
.t,,,7pb me soil IS 80 natively rich that IN
-. -o.atiou would not exhaust H. but the
~. .-serlrz would be Impossible.
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