CHAPTER XXXII 



THE ORANGE 



The orange leads all fruits of California. In Chapter VI will 

 be found the numbers of trees and value of product for 1920, and 

 the railway shipments beyond State lines for a term of years, upon 

 which the supremacy of the orange rests. In view of this leader- 

 ship it seems fitting to take a little wider range in the discussion 

 of the significance of the orange in the development of California 

 than has been indulged in the consideration of other fruits, and 

 this is justified by the fact that the orange is, in the public mind, 

 the chief exponent of the horticultural resources of the State and 

 its attributes in this direction are shared in varying degrees by the 

 other fruits. The greatness of orange growing in California be- 

 comes, then, in various ways the token of our advancement in one 

 of the highest of the agricultural arts, and in the mastery of long- 

 distance commercial distribution of fresh fruits. These achieve- 

 ments are also a demonstration of the quality of our agricultural 

 citizenship. 



THE ORANGE INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD 



From the beginning the orange has reigned as king in the inter- 

 national fruit trade of the world. The grape has always been and 

 is still, greater in the value of its contribution to commerce and in 

 the distance it safely traverses, but the grape rules not as a fruit, 

 but through its manufactured products, while the orange carries 

 its natural beauty, fragrance and flavor unchanged around the 

 world. From the earliest times the orange has not only been 

 accepted in northern climes as a symbol of tropical and sub-tropical 

 salubrity and sumptuousness, but by its own distinctive character- 

 istics as a fruit it has won recognition as befitting the highest uses 

 of mankind. By its nature too the orange ministers to its own 

 commercial popularity. It endures long shipment; it ripens slowly 

 and through a season of several months which constitute the winter 

 in northern latitudes when local fruits are scant or absent and the 

 refreshment in the citric juices is most welcome. The production of 

 such a commercial commodity has from the earliest times consti- 

 tuted an important industry. 



It is a significant fact that though the orange thrives in the 

 tropics it does not resent the slight touch of frost which character- 

 izes semi-tropical situations. It is also significant that the fruit 

 grown in semi-tropical countries, especially those which have a 

 more or less distinctly marked two-season climate, differs in 

 character from the strictly tropical orange and is firmer, heavier, 

 more sprightly in flavor and with much better keeping and carrying 

 qualities. The tropical orange has but small commercial impor- 



