Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-11-20
Citrus Fruits OF
PyoSemtReSMHO Of
Years Research

rious competitor TO the grapefruit
on the American breakfast table.
Freeze Aids Evolution
The great freeze which killed
thousands of citrus groves in Florida
in 1895 was really q blessing in dis
guise. From this freeze the fact
was developed that harder stock
was necessary. Slowly but surely the
harder types were developed, and
today even the limes which is more
susceptible TO cold than any other
citrus, is being grown in large guam
titles in the United States. Prior 20
the Florida freeze all lines we're Sc
cured from the West Indies and
ether tropical regions.
One Of the early citrus hybrids
threw an interesting light on the
problem Of evolving hardy citrus va
rieties and also yielded a new fruit.
The tropical lime was mated with
that peculiar Oriental citrus. the
kumquat, n Of the hardest OF the
citrus family. A careful selection OF
the plants that resulted from the
union of the lime and kumquat
brought about the development Of a
fruit fully equal to the West In
diam lime-the Unequal. This fruit,
however. has possibilities that the
lime does not possess. Its skin has
the sweetness Of that Of the kumquat
and il lends itself TO candying or
capitalization as does its northern
parent.
Trifoliate Used Extensively
The tr~ifoliate. or japanese orange,
which locke about rs much like cit
49, - AZ - mwITA1 NnmA~a ~am~.nn
Of the Northern hedgerows, has
played an important part in the
evolution OF hardy citrus. The tri-
foliate Is a true citrus, notwith-
standing the fact that il looks like
anything else, and will grow as far
north as Maryland or Missouri,
where /. bears an inedible fruit,
which resembles a small orange.
The scientists considered the pos
sibility Of mating the trifoliate with
the sweet orange with the object Of
extending the citrus belt northward-
They succeeded in producing a fruit
which. while IL can never compare
with the orange, may be grown IN
section where freezing temperatures
are common during the winter sea-
son.
many OF the lTulLc resulting Aloft
this union were too bitter; they had
too much of the trifoliate parent.
Two or three bore fruit that tended
toward the orange parent; yet they
never became oranges. Some OF
them were excellent for making cit
rus drinks; better than the sour
oranges Of Florida wilds. But what
was deemed of most Importance was
the fact that they would grow hun
dreds of miles from the Gulf coast.
The scientists dubbed this new
fruit the cftrage. and the u. s. De-
partment of Agriculture distributed
thousands Of cuttings throughout
the Southwest. The mature trees
are handsome evergreens. and the
fruit, when ripe, Is q bright orange
red.
Evolve the Citrangequat
The scientists we're not satisfied
with the citrage. The skin was ex-
tremely bitter, and IL a piece of il
got into a pitcher Of citrangade IL
spoiled il. The tree also refused 70
become properly dormant in winter.
and the new shoots were constantly
being nipped by frost. They remem-
bered what they had accomplished In
crossing the lime and kumquat, and
concluded that a cross between the
kumquat and citranke might re-
move many Of the Objectionable fea-
lures.
The results OF this cross were