The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1919-01-17
EXTRACTS from an Address by DR.. J.
H. Ross, President Of the Florida
Citrus Exchange)

1
: shadow of the Himalaya mountains
In the valley of the Ganges.
AS compared with some others tn
Grange may be considered somethin
OF a modern fruit, its development be
ing traced only during the Christian
era.
The grape, olive, fig and pomegrar
ate are frequently spoken of in tn
Bible, but the orange is not men
J toned.
Tradition has it that the natives o
India brought the orange out into tn
open from the dense tropical Jungle
and under care and sunshine it de
veloped. The tree grew in size ant
the branches spread, the buds devel
oped, and the roots went deeper; ant
the golden fruit we know began tt
take an important place in the re
quirements of mankinds.
The present perfection of the or
ange has been reached only aftel
centuries of study and experiment
tation by people of many nations
The fifth century finds the first rec
ORD OF the orange in Europe A little
later writer's mention it in central
China and Java. From there it was
carried to Spain, doubtless by the
Spanish adventures whose ships ex
plored the East Indies.
There is no historical record of the
fact, but 1t is presumed that the or.
ange was first brought to America by
Pedro Mendendez de Aviles, who
founded st. Augustine, Fla, 1865.
Following an exploration of a nor.
ton OF Florida by Juan Ponce de
Leon, the Spaniards sailed away,
leaving it to Juan Ribaut and Rene de
Laudonniere to found French COLONY
in 1864 upan Anastasia island. direct.
ly opposite the present town of st.
Augustine.
In 1865 Phillip II. Of Spain gave the
title of Governor Of Florida to Pedro
Menendez de Aviles, whom history Of
the time records as being ian admir-.
able soldier and a matchless liar.
brave as mastiff and savage as
wolf" Pedro proved his savagery by
massacreing some four hundred and
fifty of the five hundred French col.
onists on Anastasia island and set IN
the town Of st. Augustine upon the
mainland, from which the present
town OF st. Augustine 1.-THE Oldest
town in the United States) survives
Menendez brought with him a large
BODY OF colonists-artisans, farmers
priests and soldiers, and DEVELOPMENT
work was commenced at once.
The orange industry Of Florida
doubtless, had its beginning at this
time, though when Florida was taken
over from the Spaniards, something
like two hundred and fifty years later
the orange groves Of St. Augustine
had not made very remarkable nro.
mt
gress. The Spaniards of the time
were rather prone to beat their
plough-shares and pruning hooks in.
to swords, and agricultural and hor.
ticultural pursuits suffered in conso
quence.
After all these centuries came the
discovery that the best oranges can.
not be reproduced from the planting
Oh their own seeds. 1t took manv
hundreds Of years to learn that in or.
der to obtain oranges of best ona,itv
the seed of the sour orange and lem.
on and grapefruit must be planted
and permitted to take root for two or
.hree years, when the top may be emf
BACK and the bud stock of a perfect
orange tree budded into the
'ia' vigorous roots. Following two
more years growth in the nursery ~
ne new top, the perfected tree then
rom four to six feet in height is
'eady from transplating into the
,rove. I
The climate of Florida In combina.
Ion with the sandy soil, enables tba
PRODUCTION Of citrus fruits of yery
highest quality. The Florida orange
noted for its sweetness. AS mat.
er OF fact, its sugar content is nre, i
isely the same as in other orangas
rown elsewhere on the continent
'ue to climatic and other conditions
owever' the Florida orange does NOT
eVeiop as high production of acid
S is found in oranges produced ont. L
lde this state. 1t is the absence Of
n excess of acid which makes tho
lorida oranges so palatable
FLORIDA grapefruit knows no rival
the markets in the matter of flavor IL
nd quality. Several years ago the
lterstate Commerce Comn,;..,