viii PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION. 



hurry peculiar to Americans. The fruit was gath- 

 ered green, carelessly handled, packed without 

 being properly cured, much of it infested with 

 fungi, and then gathered, packed, and shipped 

 through all sorts of weather. Such fruit rapidly 

 spoiled. Careless handling of transportation com- 

 panies added to the disaster, and hence the 

 merchants had to sell what sound fruit might reach 

 them at low prices or throw it away. 



Orange culture will pay beyond any other agricul- 

 tural pursuit, even should the price fall to seventy- 

 five cents per box. When reduced to that price fifty 

 million boxes would not over-supply the present 

 population of the United States and Canada. There 

 are thirty States producing apples and peaches, and 

 yet both these crops, which have to be marketed 

 within a few weeks or months, are grown with 

 profit. With such facts before us we have no fear 

 as to the over-production of the orange. 



A FASCINATING VOCATION. 



To those engaged in the business, orange-growing 

 is truly fascinating. The beauty of the tree, the 

 beauty and fragrance of the flower, challenge all 

 rivalry among ornamental trees and beautiful 

 flowers. The aesthetic cultivator becomes a true 

 lover of his sweet and beautiful pet, which he looks 

 upon as a relic and reminder of Paradise. But 

 when this beauty is accompanied with useful, 

 golden, and gold-bearing fruit, affording a living, 

 and promising all other material luxuries, then the 

 lover appreciates his orange-grove only less than he 



