Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1923-11-07
VALLEY CITRUS.
Will MAKE Big.
GAIN This Year.
Experts Estimate Paintings
This Season VIII Exceed
Half a Million Trees, Civ
ing Valley 2,500,000

Betwtvn 100000 and 100000 citrus
trees viii be set out in the Rio Grand
Valley this season, is the preclSt on o.
experts and growers who are thoroughly
familiar with the development OF the in
du-try, and hy next June the orchards
Of the Valley will contain az least two
and q half million. tress.
There has never bcen a greater de-
mand for citrus stock than there is this
season. nurz-rymen report. and several
Of the nurseries have already contracted
for their entire supplies. The bulk of the
plastings will b. in the early spring.
they state, az time when all danger Of
frost damaging the young trees is past.
and the soil and weather conditions will
be best for the development of healthy
root systems
The Rio Grande Valley now has ap-
proxim1tely two million trees ira its or
chads." an expert stated yesterday,
''and with the paintings Of the coming
sea on this will be increased TO at least
a million and a half have made a care
ful survey Of the Valley. and in my
judgment the paintings this year will
be closer to 100000 than half a million.
The Brownsville district will rnques-
tioklAutl pl4AL more lftto bLsAl UHt
other section Of the Valley. though the
pls-sings in the Mission, Mercedes and
Har!ineen districts viii also b.. Il .avy.
exceeding those Of any previous year.
Planting Lower River Lands
I'm the Brownsville district tn haavi-
est paintings will be in the lower river
country. the rich. well-draiacd river
lands below Brownsville being ideal for
citrus culture. II j. difficult at the
present time to make IN accurats xsti
mate. but ! you'd judge that several
hundred acres Of citrus tree swill b.. ST
out in this section. understand that
some Of the larger plar tations are con- |.
te.npiating the planting Of large acre
ages. and have already secured part o.
their stock. Within five years Browns I
vile will be the shipping point for one
Of the most productive citrus sections in I
the United States. and If the rate Of 4
planting is kept Up in the years TO fol- /
low, il will eventually &c the largest pri /
mary shipping point There are thou
sands Of acres available for citrus in
this section. and balieve il will soon be |
Developed"
Increase 100 Per Cent Per Year.
The total citrus shipment from the I
Valley this year will be approximately I
400 cars. an increase OF more than 100 /
per cent over the shipments last sea
son. Experts estimate that shipm ents I
will be doubled each succeeding ysar for ,
Mt least three yasrs, and that Valley
shipments will reach a total Of $500
cars by 1926. Th1 ratio Of increase Will
probably be lower after that season, but
with tn. old trees bearing more prolif-
ically and rev ones contantly coming IN
TO bearing, the increase will continue 70
be heavy.
1T is impossible TO even approximate
the amount Of citrus the Valley will
ship when the industry reaches its max
imum devclopm .nt," was the comment q
Valley nurseryman who has already
contracted practically all stock avail
ahle for the season. The Valley ms
thousands of acres suitable for tne
growing Of citrus, and in the event gray
Stv irrigation IS secured or other means
devised for getting irrigation 10 the dry
lands OF the Valley. there will be many
additional thousards apvailable Tor the
growing Of citrus crops. In fact the
greater part Of the Valleys acreage VIII
some day be growing citrus and Calf
fornia and Florida will have in tn Val
lev a competitor which will be an i'm
portant factor in the markets.
Need Marketing System.
zone thsrg the Valley citrus grower
should build right now j. an effective
marketing system, and the Texas CT
rue Exchange, which has organized sew
e,nl units in the Valley, Is apparently
the foundation for a marketing system
which will prove Of material a1sistanee
TO the vallty growers.
.The truck growers Of the VALLEY
have already demonstrated the fallacy Of
;ndependt nj marketing, and their loss-
es should be sufficient 20 convince the
mos: skeptical that the citrus industry
il due to follow the same routs unless
the growers are organized and place
their fruit on the market. well graded
and packed. thu entire Valley coopera-
ting to give the Vallry product a pre-