362 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



As to the difference in oranges grown under humid and arid 

 conditions, the moisture being supplied by rainfall in one case and 

 by irrigation in the other, there has been shown in the arid region 

 orange a superior density, thinness and texture of rind, higher 

 sugar and higher acid percentages and a more sprightly or vinous 

 flavor. The popular conception of the superior sweetness of the 

 orange grown in humid countries is due not to a greater amount 

 of sugar in the juice, but to less amount of acid. The following 

 are the determinations of sugar and acid of fully ripe Southern 

 California and Florida navel oranges : 



Total sugar, Citric acid, 

 per cent. per cent. 



California Navel 9.99 1.45 



Florida Navel 7.46 0.95 



Of course, the quality of an orange is largely inherent in the 

 variety, but all varieties are similarly changed by growth under 

 humid or arid conditions of climate and soil, and this modification 

 becomes a factor of much industrial importance. This fact is strik- 

 ingly illustrated by the standing of the navel orange in California. 

 This variety has been grown for a century or more as the chief 

 orange in Bahia, Brazil, whence it came to California. In Brazil it 

 demonstrated no shipping qualities, and according to Burke (U. S. 

 Special Consular Reports, Vol. 1, page 411) would need to be picked 

 before maturity if to be shipped, while as grown in California and 

 Arizona it is picked at full maturity and is successfully shipped all 

 over the United States and to Europe. An examination of the Bahia 

 district in 1913, by A. D. Shamel and associates, showed that the 

 orange which is the foundation of the export industry of California 

 is, in its home, only an article of local trade. 



Orange growing in Florida is recovering from serious reverses. 

 The product of 1894 was about 4,000,000 boxes. Then came the 

 disastrous freezing in December of 1894 and February, 1895, with 

 a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit at Jacksonville, and in the 

 latter year only 75,000 boxes were shipped. In 1920 the orange 

 product of California and Florida compared as follows :* 



Boxes. Farm Value. 



California 18,700,000 $51,425,000 



Florida 8,500,000 18,700,000 



In Louisiana the freezing of 1895 nearly annihiliated the citrus 

 fruit interest and only recently has there been any disposition to 

 resume production on a commercial scale. In Texas there is an 

 experimental orange industry on the basis of hardy Japanese 

 varieties, largely. Its future is a matter of conjecture. In the south- 

 western corner of Arizona there is a small orange industry which is 

 successfully shipping navel oranges to distant markets. Conditions 

 tavor early ripening and an advantage is secured by sale in advance 

 e mam California product. The orange industry of the United 

 now largely supplying the home demand for the fruit. 



Yearbook 1920. U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



