2374 



ORANGE 



ORANGE 



more interest taken in the merits of different varieties. 

 Formerly a great many different sorts were planted, but 

 gradually the most of these have been eliminated until 

 only a few remain. Of these the most important, 

 arranged according to season of ripening, are, Parson 

 Brown, Homosassa, Pineapple, Ruby, Valencia Late 



2621. A sizer or grader for oranges. (Wester.) 



(Hart's Tardiff, Hart's Late), and a recent introduction, 

 Lue Gim-Gong, remarkable because of its late-keeping 

 qualities. Of this list, all originated in Florida except 

 Ruby and Valencia. These are introductions from 

 Europe. H. HAROLD HUME. 



Orange-culture in Louisiana. 



From the early settlement of Louisiana to the present 

 day, orange-culture has received most attention in the 

 lower Mississippi delta, but for several years past, the 

 other coastal lands have produced fruit in some quan- 

 tity, and more recently, plantings of the hardy Satsuma 

 variety in particular have been made in the interior 

 sections of the southern half of the state. Originally, 

 the seeds of sweet oranges were planted and the young 

 trees transplanted in and around the home yards and 

 gardens; and, to a slight extent, this method of grow- 

 ing trees is practised yet by individuals. No extensive 

 groves were grown until after the close of the Civil War. 

 At first, groves of these seedling trees only were planted 

 and they proved exceedingly profitable up to the very- 

 cold spell of 1895, which destroyed nearly every one in 

 the state. Another freezing calamity, occurring in 

 February, 1899, utterly killed every tree to the ground. 



In the meantime, extensive experiments had been 

 made in budding the choice varieties of sweet oranges 

 on various kinds of stocks, and many of the trials 

 demonstrated the power of resisting moderate freezes by 

 certain kinds of root-growth, notably the Poncirus 

 trifoliate. Accordingly, many of the old groves and 

 numbers of new ones were planted in budded stocks, 

 using the buds of selected trees of sweet oranges and 

 establishing them upon the Poncirus trifoliata. The 

 success of this method also led to the growing of grape- 

 fruit or pomelo, mandarin or tangerine, and Satsuma 

 and kumquat upon the trifoliata stock. 



Budded stock has thus almost entirely superseded 

 sweet seedlings. The sour orange, the bitter-sweet 

 orange, the rough lemons, the grapefruit or pomelo, 

 and the Poncirus trifoliata have all been used success- 

 fully as stock for the sweet orange. Meanwhile, with 

 the introduction of the hardy Japanese varieties, 



including the Satsuma, mandarin or tangerine, these 

 were also budded upon various kinds of stock. In 1895, 

 when the temperature fell to 15 F. in New Orleans, the 

 only trees able to survive this cold were found to con- 

 sist of the combination of the hardy Japanese varieties 

 budded upon the Poncirus trifoliata. This experience 

 caused the adoption of the trifoliata as the chief stock 

 for future groves. Therefore, nearly all of the groves 

 planted since that tune have been made with this 

 stock. 



Account must be taken of a frost limit beyond which 

 this combination succumbs to the effects. Such results 

 were evidenced by the unprecedented freeze of Feb- 

 ruary, 1899, which practically wiped out every kind 

 of citrous growth. Since that time, orange-growing 

 made very slow progress for a long tune, but gradually 

 the ground was replanted and the industry expanded 

 until plantings are now scattered over most of the 

 southern half of the state, and, at present, many large 

 groves are to be found. Under suitable attention, the 

 industry has brought profitable returns, and the fame 

 of the Louisiana Sweet, also called "creole orange," is 

 widely known for its excellence. These names apply to 

 a great variety of strains, but all are of a type originally 

 introduced from southern Europe and developed by 

 select cultivation. The budded trees bear early and 

 yield in three to five years after being transplanted in 

 the grove. The city of New Orleans furnishes a home 

 market for most of the crop that is raised in the delta, 

 although large shipments are made to northern points. 

 Local consumption generally absorbs the supply grown 

 in other sections. 



The Louisiana orange matures ahead of the Florida 

 fruit and is also ready before the California crop ripens, 

 and, therefore, reaches the market when, on account 

 of scarcity, good prices prevail. These facts, coupled 

 with the readily productive soil, seldom requiring any 

 fertilizer, and the abundant rainfall, dispensing with 

 irrigation, make orange-culture attractive in Louisiana. 



Frost protection. 



The most serious drawback is an occasional cold 

 blast from the North in winter or early spring, which 

 drives Gulfward, overcoming the usually balmy weather 

 and temporarily chilling the growth. At rare intervals, 

 such as have been mentioned, a blizzard occurs so 

 intense as to kill the trees outright. How to protect 

 groves against these destructive frosts is an important 

 matter with the orange-growers. Flooding the orchard 

 with water drawn from the adjacent river or bayou, 

 upon the approach of a freeze, has been practised upon 

 a large scale without complete success. The use of oil- 

 burning orchard-heaters, or smudge-pots, comes near- 

 est to solving the problem, and some enterprising 

 growers are equipped with outfits. Other producers 

 sometimes resort to building smudge-fires on the ground. 

 The practice of banking the trees by piling the soil 

 around the trunk to a height of a few feet more or less 

 (Fig. 2622), on the approach of a freezing spell whose 

 intensity and time of coming are usually predicted by 

 the government weather service, is very largely 

 adopted as the next best economical protection against 

 excessive cold. This banking retains vitality in the 

 main trunk, and while the outer limbs may be killed, 

 young shoots will start from the tree when the soil is 

 removed and spring advances. This practice, there- 

 fore, gives only partial protection. Should the tree be 

 frozen so as virtually to cause the death of the growth, 

 new shoots from the protected trunk will soon appear, 

 and in a year o two the tree resumes shape and becomes 

 ready to bear a crop. Although the yield is lost for the 

 ensuing interval, yet, by skilful care, the grower is 

 enabled to secure a renewed orchard quickly. A trial 

 with shelters built to cover the trees has shown them 

 to be very expensive and, further, caused shortage of 

 yield by shading the growth in summer. 



