FRUITS 245 



latitude they are frequently injured by cold, and 

 every few winters the trees are frozen to the ground. 

 Sometimes in such cases they sprout again from the 

 roots, but often they are killed outright. Even in 

 northern peninsular Florida the orange industry, 

 which was once so important, has been ruined by 

 occasional severe winters, so that at the present time 

 commercial orange growing in the southern United 

 States is principally confined to the southern third 

 of the Florida peninsula. Here it is a very impor- 

 tant and growing industry, but the total output 

 from the state is now less than it was before the 

 disastrous freeze of 1894, and it is far less than from 

 the great orange-growing district of California. 

 The orange is at home in tropical countries, and 

 it occurs abundantly in a half-wild state in all parts 

 of the West Indies and Central America. Until 

 recently, however, its commercial importance has 

 not been realized in these countries, and its cultiva- 

 tion has received but little attention. Since the 

 great freeze in Florida, and especially since the 

 Spanish-American war, the possibilities of the busi- 

 ness in regions absolutely free from frost has begun 

 to attract the attention of enterprising Americans, 

 and there are now considerable commercial plant- 

 ings in Cuba, Porto Rico, and Jamaica. 



The orange will grow and thrive on a great va- 

 riety of soils and under most diverse climatic condi- 

 tions. To secure a fruit that will keep and carry 

 well, however, fairly dry weather is necessary dur- 

 ing the ripening season, and it is the general consen- 

 sus of opinion that fruit grown on rather light, 



