Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-09-15

BY ELTWEED

tEDITOR'S NOTE-TLis in the frat Of q
series Of articles on horticultural subjects By
Herald. Mr.. Pomeroy started was pxesident
and is now honorary vice president Of the
Rio Grande horticultural Society. 10 vice presi-
dent Of the Texas State Horticultural Society
American genealogical Society. the national
society. He is also u member o, the Texas
state Florists and u the Texas Nurserymen's
Association and his place. In Granja. just east
Il Donna. l. considered one If the show places
in the Valley. He has just visited California
md these articles will contain the results Of
his observations.)
Recently there slipped into and out of
the valley to visit me a gentleman who
started into the growing Of citrus trees
in Florida in 1880, growing them at first
for his own planting and later both to
plant and sell. He shipped over two mil
lion trees TO Caliio:-'a III the early his
tory of It's citrus growth and knows Cali
fornia well. He has sent over a halt mil
lion to Cuba and knows what it can do He
has orchards of his own Of perhaps a cou-
pie of hundred acres and manages the Lu-
cern orchards of a thousand acres and has
perhaps a million trees growing in his nur-
sery and does, possibly, the largest bust
ness in Florida in citrus trees. He j.
also owner of the Buckeye Nursery and of
an ice plant, lumber mills, etc He is a big
man, physically and mentally, and his opin-
ions Of the Valley are worth quoting and
observing.
Mr.. III. +. Gillett Of Tampa, Florida, the
visitor, was the mayor of that city when
the Spanish war was on and OH viewing the
training camps starting like magic cities
at McAllen, Mission, Mercedes and Llano
Grande, he said it reminded him Of those
old times.
CALIFORNIA AND FLORIDA
COMPARED.
One Of the most interesting OF his talks
was in the Hidalgo County Bank TO Mr..
L~astinger, its president, and a number of
others who gathered to hear him. He told
how he was in Los Angeles and they got
him into q real estate office. The Califor-
MIA real estate man is even verse i'm per-
s~istence, brag and at bottom a real be-
lief in his country than those in the Val
ley. When they had him cornered, they
asked him: "Well, if you were setting out
a citrus orchard as a pure commercial
proposition, you would come to Calfor-
MIA, would you not?" Not wanting to get
into a discussion, he put them off, but they
pressed and he said:
PRICE or RAW LAND COMPARED.
"Well, if you went up in your orange
section, what would you fellows want for
first class orange land; you would want
a thousand dollars an acre for it, would
you not7" They assented. "Then it is
evrv uneven and the clearing and lcveling
would cost $500 an acre more, would il
Aoi? 2" They assented. "Then you would
have to get the water on il and you might
ght It well irrigated III winter, but in mn
mcr the water plays out and You would
have trouble right there" They had to
assent. "In Florida, | can buy good, level.
sandy land not too far from a station for
from $1,000 10 $1,000 an acre and it will
cost not to exceed $3.50 an acre to level
and prepare and we have seventy inches
of rain and do not nave to ~irrigate. Thus
YOU see in California. ! would begin with
a handicap of at least $4,000 per acre on
which ! would have TO reckon investment"
QUALITY OF FRUIT AND MARKET.
"But," said one one, "look at the quail
ity Of our fruit and the price it brings"
Eyes" Mr.. Gillett continued, al managed
the Citrus Exchange for its first year and
am now one of its directors and last sea-
son the average price obtained in New
New York for Florida oranges was 25 cents
higher than the average price obtained for
California oranges. Now there was no sen
timent about this. Most OF the ORANGES
were auctioned TO Italians, Greek AMI
other fruit dealers, as keen men with as full
and vide a knowledge of what their Gus
toners want as you will find anywhere and
they did not pay more for the Florida
oranges because they loved Florida, not a
bit Of it.. They paid more because the
fruit was better. Such are hard facts and
not sentiment"
GRAPE FRUIT IN ADDITION
"Then YOU know more grapefruit or
| pomelos are grown in Florida than in all
the rest of the world put together. Your
California grapefruit does not have the
flavor of our Florida fruit and the market
will only take il when ours l. absent or at
a much lower price. Our pomelos com
mand from p cents to a dollar more per
box and the yield is heavy and perhaps a
third Of our acreage is in grapefruit. Ii
plant half nv orchard IN grapefruit, l
can make a higher profit than on oranges
PACKING HOUSES AND PACK.
"But." spoke up one listener, I'VE have
the finest packing houses in the world ana
. ~ lo-t ax-ar0 ssN0lIT re-