Appendix. 273 



bearer, however, that keeps up a good average of 500 a 

 year. 



NOTE. If the writer lumps the Mediterranean oranges 

 into one set of "coarse-grained, spongy, bitter-sweet" things, 

 it is evident that either he has never been there in the orange 

 season, or he must have tasted only inferior varieties. 

 Another mistake he makes is that " in tropical countries, the 

 winter is generally the wet season." 



No. 29. 



In Chamber Js Journal fa January, 1885, p. 797, on " Orange 

 culture in, Florida." It says : 



" The orange tree will bear in five years from the bud, or 

 ten years from the seed ; but a man left in charge say the 

 son of the owner would have no difficulty in supporting 

 himself by the sale of small fruit, which coming to perfection 

 in the middle of winter, commands the best prices in New 

 York, and other northern markets. In ten years, oranges 

 are handsomely remunerative, and the crop steadily increases 

 in value with every succeeding year. For those who cannot 

 wait so long, the lemon and lime may prove more attractive, 

 as they bear much sooner. They are almost as profitable, 

 though not quite so hardy. 



" The old cry ' go West J is now changed to ' go South,' 

 and thousands of families from the Northern States are 

 there, having orange and lemon groves." 



Another correspondent in the same article says : " The 

 most absorbing question of interest to the greatest number 

 now, however, is the great money-making business of orange- 

 growing, which is peculiarly adapted to the Florida soil and 

 climate. Since I first visited Florida in 1873, this industry 

 has gone far beyond the commercially experimental stage, 

 and I have been an eye-witness to its undoubted success.* 

 It is particularly interesting and instructive to travel over 

 districts now, and observe bearing orange groves, the owners 

 of which are securing handsome incomes, where ten years 



* Vide Appendix, Nos. 30 and 31. 



