The Four Liars Meet

"All tli is talk about the Florida range being the finestand best Flavor(1 iu the wdrld is doggoned noneense," nid iln' tall eomplexioned man, s he lit a írcsli palmeteo clgar and ípped hle beer coniïdentially. "Why, lie Dakotla iwange can beat M all 0 pleces wlth both hands tled beïiiul ïts back and tlicn not half try. Thf i)aku,i brange is nxuch largr than the Florida and has no thorne. Vhy, I have peen oranges out thcre hat would weigh two pounds each. 'hoy are Oí B lighter color than the 'iorida orange, and the skin is as aft and smootii as silk. T'nere ia 'i ii in it and eoneequently nothing ■o dirty your hands whea you are leeling -llicm. And as for flavor, vhy, the Ftorld'a orange is not a cirumstance fco it. It is the most exjuisite and delicate sweetness yon ever aw and tastes llke a combinación )i ranilla, erawberry and pineapile with a whíff of chocolate thrown n to wake vrelght. "When 1 wae living in Dakota I .ad one of the fineert oíanse groves n tht' terrltory. ïhat was way back 1 the sixtirs. and 1 was a ricii man lK'ii. My grove was located about en jnilcs BOuth of Fargo and eomprieed ten acres, fifty trees to the acre. The trees -were so large that twentyeven inen could stand arouml one ui ihem, and 80 tall that you couldn't ee the leaves at the top. My erop vas lniinen.se, as the trees averaged 17,000 oranges to a tree. "Where did I sell them ! Why, I hipped them direct by steamship frorn lisma-rck to England." "I tliought liismai'ck was an inand town," said the bald-headed man müdly. "Oh, you thought, did you ? Yes, you tlhought. Don't your head feel a ií k was splitting right open and "The Dakota orange is a right Rood fouit," said the red-headed min, nterrupting any furthér irrelevant disussion, "lor I've eatea 'em myself, buE I believe the AVisconsin orange s 1t superior. This orange grows on a small tn-ee, that is in height, but it is ii spreading tree, and I've een iour of them cover an entire latre of ground. The oraiige iteeJl is square and of a palé brovvn color. t ís the largeet probably ever grown nywhere, Bometimes 'attaining to the ize of a Georgia wateranelon. It tas but one Beed, a diamond-shaped lue one, that grows right in the cener ot the frilit, and is used in the nanufacture of a brandy that will lnake hair grow on a solé leather trunk. The ilavor of this orange is lailmost exactly like poa-t wine, and very tew of them are exported, as there are only ten groves In the state, only the climate around Portage being suitable for them. "My mother-in-law - the first one - had a Uve-acre grove there that brouglit her in an income of $10,000 ft year, and was a beautiful one, too. The tirees had overhung each ut her clear to the ground and made the prettiest home you ever saw. Xo toeed of doors or Windows, there was just one gate that let us all in and otit, and here we lived in Arcadian ♦iimplicity, until one day mother-inlaw took a notion to go to Milwaukee. Whlle 'there, some bunco men got hold of her and persuaded her to nade the grove for an old well hol' '228 ïeet deep. There was no water 'in the well, but they told her she could s'U the hole to some porties d New York City -vlio were about :8tablihing another daily newspaper to ïHl ia long feit want." ■'I 'don't iknow is I liave any prelerence rruai-ding Oranges," remarked the nan witih a bad eye, "but i( I liave, vhy, give me the Pentwater Early National, which grows at Pentwater, Oceana county, 'Mich., and ripens in December. It gets its name from the act that lts Hkin i.s a deep bright ved, te ïneat u olear transparent white, und Ite weds, of which it has four, blue. It han no inner skin, and when yoti peel dt there lies the pulp just ike ■water ice but more delicious, the lavor being that of crushed viólete, tind champagne mixed with pineaple Bherbet ind Hltered honey. "The trees groAv very high and have thorns cm íthem a foot long and as lshaa-p as ibayoncts. The only way you can iiick the (ruit is to climb the :iree ïivet ti.nd gather the oranges as you are coming down. "The vliole of that península is eo-vered wfrfch theee orange gro-ree, :m next to lumbar it is the principal isource of wealrth. The tri'cs don't fruit very proüfically, and I oan'1 Pemember ever having seen one that bare more than 10,762 oranee. "Most oï the fruit is sold in Chicago, being taken there in ice boat.s, and suM :ii !■[. iil at $1 a dozen. I had a nursery of 120 acres, and u.sed to scll lot.s of ilie young stock to Florida omiige growera. Tliey liked to bud on it becauee t was su much hardier than own." "Talk as you pleaee, gentlemen," s.i'ul the bald-headed man, "the best 'place ín the unión for tropical fruits is New Jersey. It beats Florida and the Betrmudas all hollow and I've got money to back my opinión. Why, in Ocean county, New Jei'sey, oranges ■are as plentiful as hickory nuts. Near ly every farmer has a grove and fchej a;re uscd as ornaanental shade trees in ■every village and town there. Sweet ? AVliy, that ain't no name for it. The New Jersey orange ís sweeter thai Condeneed eweetness itself and th l'la Is like niacerated rainbows dis feölved in maplc Migar. "I idon't wippose ,aiiy of you fel lows ever eaw a crantierry bog ' I thought not. Weül, in New Jersey there are plenty, of them, and they Gre lined on either bank witn pineapple plant.s that rtow eeventeen ieet igh and be&r live applee toa plant. nú guavns V 'W'hy, Ixxi bless your oul. cannlng guavas is one of the principal Industries at New Jersey, nd wliere can yon find larger and finer and juicier lemone and limes han right in old Monmouth county ? "Why, I teil you as a tropical ruit raising coxmtry New Jersey takes he calce. Thcrc s one thing, liowever bout the state that I don't like, liere are too many cocoanut trees there. Mercer county ds íull oí them. Thiey used t use them for hitching osts in Tli-enton, the nuts, falling town, killed so'ine valuable horses, ïind tilu'ii the council ordered the trees ut down. Japan pe-rshnmons grow vild In Catnden ounty and in the vintcr tliey burst and spread all over ihe snow, making it a sort of shert as it wre and people carne from niles around to eat that hiiow, bring rug theiir spooais with them. As for amanas and pawpawe, people don't taike. the trouble to piek them up and " Hea-e the öther three solemnly and nourniully luuided him their hats and