42 CITRUS FRUITS AND THEIR CULTURE. 



conservatively increased. Plantings should not be made 

 out of all proportion to the plantings of other citrus trees, 

 and the object of every grower should be, not so much to 

 increase the output, as to produce a fruit of high quality, 

 else there is no room for the fruit on the market. A good 

 mandarin orange is an excellent fruit, a poor one is worth- 

 less. It should be in all respects a fancy fruit. 



There is another matter which must not be overlooked 

 in considering the horticultural status of this group. At 

 present it contains the hardiest known, large fruited, edi- 

 ble variety of citrus, the Satsuma. This variety extends 

 the culture of citrus fruits on a safe basis far into the more 

 exposed sections of the country. In northern Florida and 

 California it withstands frost well and a considerable 

 amount of this fruit (four or five hundred straps) was 

 shipped from the extreme northern portion of Florida 

 during the season of 1902, the price realized being from 

 $4.00 to |5.00 per strap. The tree is hardy, the fruit ma- 

 tures early and is very desirable for shipment during the 

 months of October and November. 



Along the coast of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana 

 and Texas and in southeastern Texas, the Satsuma on 

 Citrus trifoliata stock has been planted to a considerable 

 extent. In Texas particularly, a large share of attention 

 is being given to its culture and the industry gives prom- 

 ise of assuming large proportions. If the trees are banked 

 each winter while young (young trees are more likely to 

 be injured by cold) and allowed to branch low, they will, 

 when they have increased in age and size sufficiently, 

 stand a great deal of cold. For a number of years, this 

 orange was known in the markets under the names Man- 

 darin and Tangierine. Recently, however, it has been 

 quoted in market reports under its own name Satsuma. 



