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Florida Sketches

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Parent Issue
Day
26
Month
March
Year
1884
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Since iny return from the Summer land of rlowers and orangcs nearly everyonc ask.s how orangcs are grown, and indeed it is s-ucli an interesting subject that I had much rallii-r talk of it tlian even of the Mardl Gras it New Orleans. For the orunge tree is itself, 1 think, more wondert ui than any of its brothers and sister of the vegetable kingdom. It 8 of a dark green color in its foliage, and it retains its leaves all the year rouni This leafage on a thrifty tree is so dens that you cannot see bej'ond to the othe other side, and oftcu times the golden fruit alone seems almost to hide the trunk Then, too, is it notstrauge that at one tira upon the same tree you can see blossoms ripe fruit, and green fruit? The blossoms are coming now at thi season, and from November to March tli fruit is ripening. Moreovcr, anothe singular point In orange culture is that even after the fruit gets ripe it can remaii for some time upon thé tree without in jury. By this property dauger of a glu on tlie market is pretty surely a verted Thereln it diftersfrom the apple or peach whieh must be taken off at the exact tim whether there be a demand and a goo( price or an over-supply and consequen loss. The young tree is tender of cold anc susceptible to frosts, although wben i gets old the changing seasons of a hundred years do not wear it out. Then, In its own soil it will stand neglect and even considerable abuse, yet through it all hearing lieavily for a century. To sustain such vitality one would expect rieh, heavy soil, frequent rains and great care. Yet it is content to get a living in white santl, with long periods of drouth and not so much care as u peich orchard demands; for. the soil bcing light it is easily cultivated with one horse and a cultivator, white no watch or precaution lias to be taken to keep away worms or destroying insects. Beginuing to bear within five years of its being set out, in ten or twelve years it will yield a thousand or more oranges, bringing always more than a centapiece. I am told there are older trees the fruit of which has brought a huudred dollars each . On account of the trees not being able well to stand the cold, they are not safe to grow uorth of the 30th degree of latitude. So for the whole United States there can be only one Florida for oranges. No competition need be, for Califoruia's fruit is not so good ind is later in season. Further, it is noticcable that the people are getting more fond of oranges, and consume theni to a grreater

Article

Subjects
Ann Arbor Courier
Old News