Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1921-07-29
FLA'S ORANCE-CROvES.
JAMES rAULk. .

! 7
at it in 1915 when over to the great
Expositions. The trees, we are sur
prised to learn are-nearly all grated
or buddted stock and do not grow to
such. great sizes. TheysseeAre them
from nurseries like we do the satsu-
mas in this country. They claim
they get more vigorous tree inthat
way and better fruit. There are a
plumber of specially developed kind
OF oranges from this method of
breeding and cross breeding and
Florida now is producing some of
the choicest oranges of the world.
And they have a number of these
highly developed varieties that sell
at special fancy prices for their
known and proven fine qualities
which have made them a reputation
on the market. The grapefruit is
also produced by grating and is a
mixture of about three kind of trees
through process of crossing and
developing which is too complex and
leuthy to here describe. That fruit
derives its name more from the way
that they hang in clusters on the
tree, like real grapeclusters than
from the flavor and character OF the
meat of its fruit. They can be seen
hanging in such clusters sometimes
all told big enough if the limb which
they weigh down is cut off. they
make a small armful of fruit. The
oranges and grapefruit trees look
very much similar both having the
dark tropical color deep green leaves
and smooth barked wood. The ma
tives tell us how to distinguish the
two trees by forked leave which
characterizes the grapefruit tree.
The oranges and grapefruit are both
green, and so green before they
begin to ripen that one has to look
closely to tell them from the foliage
of the tree so complete is the color
scheme of nature for their protection
but when they begin to ripen and
yellow with such ripeness they are
a lovely an tempting sight to see.
Think of them, acres with long row
after row OF such fruit. trees with
the yellow scattered all over them
far as the eye can range and you
have an idea of how this fruit belt
looks to ono riding through it If
you ever could be tempted by the
sight and smell of oranges its here.
The odor ravished your mind with
the ,allurements of the fruit. The
blooms are white and strange to say
| they come ou the tree Just as the
matured fruit ripens. Tt takes them
twelve months to grow into the ripe
ned fruit, both oranges and grape
fruit. We are looking at the crop
which is near it's tail-end for most of
the classes of oranges, In the month
of March. and along in December
these blooms that we see will have
grown into nearly fnll-deyeloped
new oranges. Then in January and
along at that time they will begin to
ripen and be ready for shipment
| They give the orchards an intense
and high degree of cultivation and
special fertilization. This being
studied by experts and just such
fertilizers each year applied as the
individual condition of the grove
then indicates. Tractors as we'll as
mules are used in the blowing. They
also spray some. There are some
old type of trees which grow taller
than the improved budded stock and
do not have as shapely appearance
and the bark is not so smooth being
knarled and knobbed, some of which
| y
is due to the great freeze which
they passed through and survived
when multitudes of the groves went
down. Some of them have as good
fruit as most any, but it does not run
so true to type all along and its rare
that its regarded as so desirable by
the shippers.
4 Thew have large hampers shaped
somewhat like Shipping crates, thai
i are used by trucks which come init
the groves and load the Truit ane
n haul it direct to the factories where
its inspected, washed. graded and
wrapped and packed into crates, nail
|, n mn and loadad into rafr,uara ar