The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1922-10-19
Most Remarkable Satsun,a
=. GYOUe In Vest Florida

nero are QOuDIIeSS not n dozen
readers OF The Journal. outside Of a
limited area in Santa Rosa county, who
ever heard of Fritz Hentzelmann's citrus
fruit grove and nursery.
And yet it is a fact that Fritz Hentzel-
mann. an obscure young German
learned in the lore of the horticulturist
| emigrated from Chicago. where he had
been n stock yard worker for several
| years, to Santa Rosa county some
twelve years ago, selected a tract OF
eighty acres of land on the peninsular
lying between Escambia and Blackwater
bays and some six miles south Of
Milton, upon which he has developed
and now operates really athe most re-
markable grove of Satsun1a oranges in
| West Florida. And in conjunction
with his Satsumas he also has several
acres in sweet oranges and grapefruit
! in full and as prolific bearing as any
groves Of these latter fruits to be
found in the peninsular of Florida.
! The Satsuma, however. is the main
| objective of Hentzelmann's operations
and his grove of this fruit comprises;
twelve acres, from which a car and a
half of oranges will be marketed between
now and December Is, the proceeds of
which will run into several thousand
dollars.
as it promises to be- isn't it's chief fea-
ture by any means; 1t is the size and
excellent character of the fruit which
first attracts the attention of the visi-
tor. because nowhere in the Satsuma
belt. comprising the territory along tho
Gulf coast from the Chattahoochee river
to the Mississippi line are there to be
found any Satsumas comparable III size,
appearance Of rind and texture and
flavor of pulp. to the Satsumas which
are being produced by HentzeIrnann.
But there is a reason for this, which
lies in the fact that the Hentzelmann
grove is the offspring of an entirely diff
ferent variety Of the Satsuma to any
other grove now bearing within the
Satsuma belt referred to above. Indeed.
the parent stock from which the grove
has been developed consisted of fifty
trees imported from Japan during the
first year of Hentzelmann's residence in
Santa Rosa county. And these fifty
parent trees are all still living and are
annually bearing thousands Of oranges.
In fact, one of these trees yielded $500
era nges in 1921, which incidentally |
yielded in money to its owner. S45. And |
this year the same tree is so heavily |
loaded with fruit that it has become !
tect the fruit from spoilage on the |
ground.
A fortune in a satsuma grove?
Aye, and more.
Hentzelmann comes from race |
famed, not alone for the very com
mendable characteristics Of industry |
and frugality, but also for an abnormal |
versatility. Hence he has not been
content merely to develop a twelve acre
Satsuma grove, supplemented by fe"
additional acres cultivated to the less
hardy Valencia orange and grapefruit.
But the while that he has been thus
he has been developing citrus
fruit and pecan nursery, together with
the culture of grove Of twenty-efght
acres of the very finest varieties of
the paper shell pecan. And he has al
ready sold every sprig Of his nursery
stock which will be ready for planting
next February. In addition to this, he
has sold this year to one concern. $3.50
worth Of Satsuma buds.
For his twelve acre Satsuna grove.
has several times refused
oona-fide offers Of 81, 900 per acre-Sl2.-
300 for twelve acres of Santa Rosa
dirt which fifteen years ago
could have been bought for five per cent
If it's present value.
Industrious and versatile as he is,
however, Fritz Hentzelmann isn't SUI
GERMAN by any means. Nor is it a fact
hat the location of his grove Of Sat
,umas is the only location in West Flor
da where the same results as Hentzel-
mann has attained are possible. There
ire thousands Of men in West Florida
lust as capable as he. if they will but
apply themselves, and there - hum
lreds of thousands of acres and i'll
Iscanbia and Santa Rosa counties as :
we'll adapted to Satsuma culture as any
lcre in Hentzelmann's. grove.
But it Is fact that what Fritz
the obscure German
,migrant, has done has so impressed
tself upon men of capital in Santa
Rosa county and out in the body Of the
country at large. that every acre Of the {
and on the Escambia- Blackwater pen /
nsular has enhanced in value and with I
n the coming decade promises to be- /
,ome a continuous orchard of Satsuma f
ranges interspersed with pecan groves. {
indeed the movement is already under {
yay on large scale. through an or t
,anization Of northern capital. which IS S
,utting in this year a large acreage OF
satsumas but a few miles south OF .