The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1920-03-16
. TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC y. HAskIN. Director.
Washington, d. c.
ORANGE TOWN.


markets in the world. All of the Flor
that are sold outside ehe state pass
brokers. To find an equally large
business in oranges you must travel
clear across the continent to Cali
fornia-
In this, as in various other ways,
Florida and California are sharp riv
ais. 1t is curious how these two far
separated states are doomed by cir
cumstances to fight each other. They
are antagonists in the orange market.
as winter resorts. and as winter homes
Of the moving picture industry
AS soon as you begin to talk to
Florida orange man, he begins ex
planning to you the great advantages
of the Florida orange over the Cali
fornia variety. He admits that Cali
fornia produces more oranges and
bigger ones, but there his concessions
end.
I'm California" he tells you. they
We produce quality and flavor
The California orange is a Brazilian
fruit, the naval orange, and is dis
tinguished by the fact that it has no
orange is planted in Florida. the tree
will flourish, but will not produce
1 enough fruit to make it pay. The
| Florida orange is said to be of Span
ish origin, and while full of seeds and
! harder to peel than the California
variety, > is admittedly sweeter and
/ juicier.
! Florida produces one variety of
! orange, however, which is as large and
easy to PEEL as the California fruit,
and even juicier and better Favored
than the other Florida varieties. 1t is
appropriately named the king orange.
This orange is raised only in small
quantities, and altho sold everywhere
within the state, where it is the favor
lite citrus fruit, it is seldom seen out
side of Florida: Why this should be
| is a mystery. After eating one king
orange the visitor to Florida will have
no other kind. He is inclined to call
the king orange the best thing in
| Florida. Its delicious flavor and
wealth of juice must be experienced
| to be appreciated. The only thing
which can be urged against it is. that
the initiated person almost needs
raincoat in order to eat one and come
thru the experience dry.
Repeated inquiry fails to discover
any good reason why the country at
large should be deprived of king
| oranges. Some retailers say it does
not keep well. and is therefore not
! shipped. But others deny this, and IL
appears that few king oranges are
shipped to New York, where they
bring high prices from the few per-
sons who are familiar with them. The
brokers say that if shipped to other
places these oranges will not sell.
Their appearance is against them
They are great. warty-looking fruits
Very different in appearance from the
ordinary orange, and looking rather
as tho they had something the matter
with them. The average customer,
being used to a smooth golden orange
will not buy these dark rough-look-
ing ones. Hence few of them get
more than a hundred miles from the
trees on which they grow.
Oranges just now are fetching very
high prices. while the market for
grapefruit is little dull. All sorts of
factors enter into the market. For
example, the influenza epidemic has
boosted orange prices. because a good
many doctors said that oranges were
valuable both rs a cure and as a pre-
ventive of the disease. Grapefruit,
on the other hand. were less in de-
mand than usual this winter, because
of the sugar shortage. Many persons
who could afford grapefruit could not
= afford the sugar with which to sweet
en- them. The Florida growers and
dealers are zealously preaching that
sugar should not be used on their
January 1 Florida grapefruit is SO
! sweet that it needs no sugar, and they
also say that at any time it is better
with salt than with sugar. They say
grapefruit with salt is steadily grow
ing. They especially decry what they
term the old-fashioned notion that q
grapefruit should be buried under SUI
gar over night before 1t is eaten. This
they say masks the natural flavor and
|, spoils the fruit OF course. their ar
guments are to be taken, as they
would have you take your grapefruit,
with grain of salt.
A statistical comparison shows that
California is still far in the lead as q
producer of citrus fruit. Last year
California put nearly sixteen million
boxes of oranges on the market, while
} Florida sold only about half that
many. Florida produces no lemons
|. to speak of, but California sold some
nine thousand carloads of them last
! year. On the other hand, Florida
grapefruit has a strong lead in the
market. Indeed, grapefruit is Flor
ida's strongest asset in the citrus line
1.-THE state produced nearly three mil
? lion boxes last year, and despite the
sugar shortage, the acreage in grape
fruit is reported to be growing much
: faster than that in oranges. The tan
? gerine is a small factor, only about
100000 boxes being shipped annually
A new variety of citrus fruit, the tan
5 gelo, is still in the experimental stages
I - IN local OedleTS DeSln SHIPPING
grapefruit in September and oranges
in October, while the last shipment:
of the two varieties are made in MAY
and April, respectively Very little Of
the fruit is kept in storage. The tree
is the storage plant for citrus fruit
: 1t is said that a grapefruit will hans
2 on the tree for a year and still bt
q sweet and edible. while an orange
may be left there for months.
Each broker here is usually th'
I agent for certain growers. and he or
= ders the fruit from them as he finds g
market for it. From the broker here
I. the fruit usually goes to a wholesaler
[ in some northern city, and by him i!
= sold to retailers, and by them per
, haps to peddlers. There are at leas
three and sometimes four middlemer
Z between the producer and the MAJ
dc. The rarica VII 81