SETTING THE GROVE. 249 



planters immediately following the disastrous freeze in 

 Florida 1894-95. The demand for pomelos could not 

 be supplied and the price increased enormously, which 

 led many in the western State to plant heavily. In 1900 

 Professor Wickson said, "The results of these attempts 

 were not satisfactory, and unless some new conditions 

 should arise, it is possible that the California pomelo 

 passion may subside as rapidly as it uprose." Florida 

 varieties were the ones planted, but Lelong points out 

 that some varieties of California origin have been more 

 successful since. 



Another problem, one which frequently arises, is that 

 concerning the relative number of each citrus group which 

 should be planted. In most groves there are to be found 

 a number of pomelos, mandarin oranges and sweet 

 oranges. How many of each group would it be well to 

 set out? No one can say but the man who is going to 

 set them. He should know best what his aims and objects 

 are. The mandarin orange is a fancy fruit of exquisite 

 quality, but is a fancy fruit; the sweet orange is a staple 

 commodity, always in demand and never out of season; 

 the pomelo has become a staple fruit and all markets 

 have not been reached yet. It is a new fruit commercially, 

 but it has come to stay. The writer once said, "The sweet 

 orange must, however, be considered the staple product, 

 and it would probably be best to make three-quarters of 

 the planting from this group, leaving the remaining one- 

 fourth to be divided between the pomelos and mandarin 

 oranges," but now he is prepared to place the pomelos 

 with the sweet orange in a commercial venture, in sections 

 where both will grow and fruit equally well. 



