Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-12-01

AIC irrigation 20. uoILn OF Ae1-
cedes, comprising owe loo acres
north Of the highway on the White
Ranch road in the La Feria district.
Thirty acres will be added to the
headquarters on Stuart Place. Huge
half shades and other facilities have
been erected at the headquarters and
Mercedes nurseries.
Planters Demand Grapefruit
approximately so per cent OF the
Valley paintings arc grapefruit, with
about 10 per cent oranges and ; per
cent lemons, lines, kumquats. tan
gerines and other varieties Of citrus.
the records Of the firm show. The
Narsh ~Seedless, long recognized as
the standard grapefruit for the Val
ley, is the favorite, fully rs per cent
OF the paintings being Of this variety.
Some Duncan and Connors Prolific
are planted for the early markets.
but the Marsh holds the place Of
high favor with both the
and growers.
Orange paintings are evenly dis
tributed among several varieties.
The Parson Brown or Norris are gen.
orally planted for the early markets,
Pineapple and Washington Navel for
the m~id-scason markets, and Yalen-
cias and LII Gin Gong for the late
season. There has been a steady in
crease in the demand for Washing
ton Nayels, and practically AL the
recent paintings in the Valley have
been Of the true variety. Unlike
the California product. the Wash
ington Navel in the Valley has a
thin rind. grows large and u Of ex-
c~eptionally fine flavor. the latter be-
ing an attribute Of all Valley citrus
fruit. However. as n rule the Wash
ington Navel is too large 70 be han
died conveniently lis a straight com
mercial proposition. but finds a
ready sale rs special fruit. generally
commanding a high premium when n
market has been established. IL Is
in great demand during the Christ
mas season In the northern market
centers. but the sale is slow in Other
seasons.
Developing Marsh Pink
Approximately 5000 trees Of the
Marsh PINK. a distinctly new variety,
viii be planted IN orchards this year
% the hakeT-Polts Nurseries. The
variety is distinct from the Foster
PINK, the latter having a pink ex-
terror and the color decreasing to-
ward the heart Of The fruit. Ihc
Marsh PINK has the exterior appear
ance OF any other Marsh grapefruit.
but the entire interior is a dark
pink. IN the Foster Pink the pulp
contains the ~coioring matter, hut Ia
the Marsh Pink IL d the juice that
IS colored.
The Marsh Pink, like practically
all other citrus varieties. was de-
vcloped from a sport" branch. A
Florida grower discovered that the
meat Of the fruit from q certain
branch on one OF his Marsh trees was
pink IN color. Buds were secured
and tests made. and all trees devel-
0ped from the buds had the same
Characteristic. All buds from the
first trees. sufficient 10 bud 5000
seedlings. were secured By the Baker
Potts nursery, and the trees Will be
ready for planting this year. One
81 the original trees was secured and
planted in the headquarters nursery
AZ Stuart Place. 1t is three years
old and bore its first fruit this year.
Make Many Experiments
@fAAAAANA9 NANhA +AAA1AAAA ANA LNtAA-
carried or 10 the headquarters nur-
seTy under the direction VI N. ii.
Baker and A. I. Potts. By main
tanning close contact with the II. s.
Department Of Agriculture they have
been enabled 20 take advantage OF
an discoveries ~ the departments
experts and also maintain contact
with progress IN foreign citrus pro
ducing sections. New varieties are
supplied by the department for ex-
perimental purposes, and many in
teresting features relative TO Valley
adaptabllity 10 the various varieties
are being worked out.
The Meyers lemon. buds of which
were supplied by the u. s. Depart
ment, will prove well adapted 70
Valley conditions, the experiments
carried on at the nursery indicate.
This variety viii stand more cold.
having originally been developed IN
china. and is an early producer.
The nursery has only four trees, two
IN our orange roose one on trifoli-
ate and the other the natural root.
One Of the trees on sour oranE root.
budded IN March. 1896. IA producing
twenty lemons this year. The nat
ural root and trifoliate root stock
are not giving satisfactory results.
indicating that the sour orange is the
proper DOT system for this variety
as well as practically all other va
ricties Of citrus produced in the Val
ley.
Features az the Meyers lemon arc
that lt Is Of proper commercial size,
nall AAAHmAI MMA A.
aromatic udor. The latter was a fea-
ture that led tho Department Of Arri-
culture 10 suggest experiments with
have demonstrated that ID retains
this characteristic under the condi-
tions obtaining here. The nursery
pove az "a resist cold ~ a factor that
viii make il valuable for Valley
growers.
Future for the Industry
The lower Rio Grande Valley will
eventually become the most import
p citrus producing section Of the
world. W. the opinion on Mr.. Baker.
who ASSERTS that climatic and soil
conditions IN the Valley far surpass
those of any other citrus growing
section az the Inuited States.
"Ihc Valley has a greater acreage
adapted % citrus production than
either California or Florida Mr..
Baker said. I'VE are producing fruit
of surprising flavor. and each year
we are making Improvements. The
demand for grapefruit Il increasing
throughout the United States and Is
rrp'&ly extending 20 Europe. and the
Valley is the only section that can
produce grapefruit Of she highest
quality. California has created a de-
mand for oranges. and the Valley
can Greats a greater demand for its
rranefruit. This demand viii event
uallv result in practically every
available aero IN the Valley being
planted TO citrus.
IN recent years the Valley growers
have come 70 realize the advantage