, 1935-10-27
ARIZONA HAS
2l,39O ACRES
IN GRAPEFRUIT
Industry More Than
20 Y e a r 0 Old In
State; Planting 8
On Decline

Tn Decline
The idea that the citrus fruit in
dustry in Arizona Is q new one is
Fefuted by a tree and acreage survey
just received here by Henry Alsmey-
er, Cameron county agricultural
agent.
This survey, made in March this
year, shows that Arizona has n 800
acres OF grapefruit, oranges and other
citrus fruits OF which 687 acres are
a years old and over. The survey
shows 439 acres 16 and 20 years old.
745 acres III to Is years old, 1904
acres seven to ten years, 1882 acres
four 70 six years and 5.283 acres less
than four years ole.
Decline Since 1881
Apparently the rate Of paintings
was not greatly In excess Of 100 acres
q year, 2 years ago but increased TO
400 Or 500 Scres a year ten years Ia
ter and reached a peak OF more than
5000 acres In 1891. Since 1891. plant
ings have declined and in 1884 less
than SOC acres we're planted
At present only half the trees are
old enough to produce fruit In COM
mercial quantities and only about
nine per cent are classified as trees
at or near full bearing capacity.
With average weather conditions pro-
Ns.mA4~~ w.~mwv - ~w~~n~4nL - fnrrmann
rapidly as more trees reach bearing
age ard as the bearing trees increase
IN size.
1hana ere 1892 06 trees on 1.557
fgrvpertieS, the survey shows with SAT
per cent grapefruit, 33.9 per cent
oranges, and Ia per cent lines. tam
kerines and lemons. Judging By the
federal census of 1880. which showed
58.7 per cent grapefruit, 39.0 per
cent oranges, and is per cent mis-
cellalseouc type, there has been q
trend toward grapefruit planting
during the last four years.
OF the 1,ia2, 287 trees shown for
grapefruit. 1,178.826 or $50 per cent
were OF seedless varieties, chiefly
Marsh. Only I3.461 trees or IL per
cent Of the total were Of other va
rieties. Most Of the grapefruit plant
ings are relatively young. Although
I53 per cent Of the trees were four
years old or over &C the time Of the
survey, only seven per cent were
more than 10 years old and only SO
per cent Of the total exceeded five
years Of age. The four and five
year old paintings comprised 422
per cent of the total trees OF all ages.
These two groups represent the peak
paintings Of 1930-31. Since the peak
Of 1891. however, paintings have de-
clined drasticalIy, the survey show
ing only 36.493 trees from paintings
made in 1884, compared 70 308,239
from paintings In 1881.
Also Grow Oranges
1t appears that Arizona grape
fruit trees come into bearing when
about four years old. On this basis,
the l934-35 production drom bloom
OF 1891 represent 589,039 bearing
trees, of which 33.1 per cent were
trees four years old. On the same
basis. the 1866 crop Urom bloom
OF 1885, will be produced from 897,-
278 bearing trees Of which 34.4 per
cent viii be classified in the four
year group. The number Of bearing
trees In the 1934-35 season repre-
sents an increase Of so per cent over
the previous season: the number for
the 1885 seaso is 50 per cent
larger than the 1934-35 season. Al
though the increases In the number
Of bearing trees for the next three
seasons viii be &C a much slower
rate. owing to curtailed paintings
since 1891. IL seems that the trend
o. grapefruit production in Arizona
VII be definitely upward for some
years. AS SIS per cent Of the pres
ent bearing trees fall within the
four TO slx-year group, the most
significant factor influencing future
production will be the increasing
bearing capacity Of these relatively
young trees.
Inc survey showed a total of 625.-
l4o orange trees Of all varieties ex-
clnolng tangerines. OF this total,
1ol 40 were classified as navel, 49,
o. as otaer early and midseason va
rieteS arc 5 2S43 as Valencia. or
late oranges Thus. sos per cent OF
4 tFees were OF early and midsea-
son NaLletleA which are usually har-
vested from Nover- Der to March, In
elusive, ano f4 per cent were Va
lencia which are harvested for the
most part In April ana Nav. Rate on
orange planting mralleled thai ~
grapefruit.
The survey report received BY Ais
meyer contains l6 pages Including
many detailed tables giving plant
mss, varieties, ages Of trees BY coun-
copy of the survey was receives hv
Alsmeyer but application mav he
made 70 the ureau of Ap~rIcultrraI
Economics, y. s. Department al Az
riculture, Washington. ID. c. bv those
desiring detailed information.