Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-01
A New Fruit
BY Frederic j. Haskin

! After twenty wears at experiment, the
! tangelo, n new fruit with the good points
of both the tanFerinc and grapefruit, l9
ON the market. Florida and cast coast
hotels arc now serving this fruit as a
special novelty. and jaded cpcurcans
speak favornbly Of the latest fashion in
| breakfast appctzers
lust now the supply 81 tangclos s dc
cldedly limited, bat the Department of
| Agriculture ia working on the Introduction
of the product and We shall soOu find the
| tangelo for salc at orr nearest fruit stand
About 1907. tho Bureau of Plant In
dustry dcrlded that a fruit with the
easily removable md of thc tangerine
and the tang ~ the grapefruit, slightly
| modified would bo dcc,ded addition To
| the fruit list With the and of several
! growers and scientists experiments we're
E, started in Florida, and various comhina-
J iions of citrus fruits were tested, at first
with Indifferent su~cess I nfiring study
finally yielded some fifty-seven varieties,
/ nll successful though not all suited for
corr~nercial production Two hyhrids
+, promising enough for extensive raising
were lntensively tested and improved and
arc now being raised commercially IN
! south Dadc county, Florida Others are
still being developed N this country and
IN the Philippines.
TWO VARIETIES.
/ Tho two varieties especially approved
! hy tho Department of Agriculture arc
! the Thornton and the Sampson, both
I named for the men who mad the sue
/ ecssful tests resulting IN those types. In
! appearance these hybrlds are q cross be
tween the tangerlnc and grapefruit from
! which they were evolved. They have the
! coioring of an orange and the o-cailed
KID glove skin of the tangennc, rntfrcr too
thin for preserving In size, "a N appear
ance. the tangelo is a hctwixt and hetween,
reaching under favorable conditions the
proportions of an unusually large orange
lts flavor can best be described as mat OF
n grapefruit without its bitterness, but
! still retaining lts pungcnt tang. nc
Thornton IS Of particularly good flavor
and ha. the additional recommendation
that It has not the grapefruit tendency
10 squirt lulcc IN the eve ID the cater ii
attacked suddenly
The Thornton rpens IN late winter and
the Sampson in spring and early summer.
Long before II IS ripe for picking he trust
takes on its golden color. his feature IS
causing the department some anxiety. as
inexperienced growers are liable 10 ship
| the fruit prematurelv Ii then reaches the
| market still unrpe and produces bad
impression at time when particularly
| good ono is needed, # the trult IS 10 be
used generally
NOT CONFINED II LOCALE.
The tangclo has been tested chiefly IN
| Florida but il Is believed that It may be
grown IN any State producing grapefruit
! Experimental growers are hopeful that IT
viii be adaptable to Alabama planting
conditions, as 50 far il IS not easily
susceptible TO the citrus canker. disease
| that has threatened citrus fruit produC-
tion In Alabama in recent years. 1t IS
doubtful if it would be successful III our
| western States The dryness Of climate Of
the west, especially in California, is a
bar 10 grapefruit culture. and the similar
ty of the tangelo to the grapefruit IS
noticeable in climate and soil required.
The fruit is grown by budding stock OBJ
tanned from a nurseryman. About three
years after budding the trees bear but
! not commercially for sin or seven wears.
The Young trees demand steady care and
attention 70 protect them from frost,
fungus and INSECT pests The fact that the
fruit now brings a good price in the market
and the demand for high grade Weld
offset the amount of trouble taken TO pro-
duce perfect fruit
One OF the grave dangers 10 citrus
culture is frost Statistics show that
1000, 900 600 boxes Of grapefruit and
! 3,000.00 boxes of oranges have been
shipped from Florida this year This IS
only fifty per cent Of the normal produc-
ton because Of the heavy frosts which
for two seasons have made serious n
roads into the fruit crops
Besides this reduction of our domestic
! supply. our market will be further de-
tad hx-t he rf
tion of fruits from Cuba However, an
acute shortage of southern fruits is not
! imminent as some can still be brought BY
! ferry and railway and on certain steam
| ships, and citrus fruit production in the
| United States is on the increase in spite
| of set backs The new fruit will take the
| place of some fancy Cuban fruits which
have been displayed in our high priced
| fruit stores.
TuE NAME s~oRlGIN
The origin of the name tangco is not
! at first apparent to many persons accus.
toned to call the pomelo by the popular
| name of grapefruit or shaddock The new
fruit was given a shortened combination
of the names of the parent trees -tanger-
| inc and ponelo.
The Department of Agriculture be-
| leves that the tangelo will make a name
for itself if properly grown and marketed
and that il will be a household breakfast
fruit when once it is being produced ex-
| tensively enough to be sold cheaply Just
now, the amateur is not being urged to
] invest in tangelo grove. One, or several
! of the new trees might advisedly be plant
ed and studied by individuals with a view
toward commercial culture when the
peculiarities and requirements are under
stood This is the method adopted BY
both amateur and professional growers.
! Often professional grower will expert