ORANGE CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 109 



NEW YORK, May 26, 1881. 



DEAR GEORGE: The barrel of oranges you shipped me on 

 March 25th arrived here to-day. Owing to delays caused by 

 the recent floods in the West, the fruit has been sixty-one days 

 coming here. Of course I expected to find the oranges all 

 rotten after such an exceptional long journey, but I was agree- 

 ably surprised to find that out of the three hundred and twenty- 

 six oranges which the barrel contained only nineteen were partly 

 decayed. I carefully examined the fruit in the presence of sev- 

 eral gentlemen, who can testify to the above. The fruit has a 

 fine flavor, and many of our friends and others to whom I have 

 given some of the oranges have pronounced them the finest they 

 ever tasted. I was myself much surprised to see so fine large 

 fruit. As to the 'keeping qualities' of California oranges, I am 

 convinced by this experiment that your fruit can be successfully 

 shipped to all parts of the world. Your Brother, 



HERMAN. 



These oranges were exhibited at our Citrus Fair, March i8th, 

 by George Muller, of Pasadena, and after being on exhibition 

 for more than a week were shipped to his brother in New York, 

 who sends the above letter. It may be said farther that the 

 oranges were very poorly packed ; they were quite loose in the 

 barrel, which probably accounts for the few rotten ones. ED. 



ORANGES IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



A gentleman writing from Massachusetts, June 4th, says: 

 The oranges you gave us in Los Angeles were just splendid ; 

 lasted us clear through, and I have some now to see how long 

 they will keep. The clusters hung to the limbs nearly all the 

 way home, and I think they would all the way if I had not taken 

 them out so many times to show them. They are nearly as fresh 

 as they were the day you gave them to me, which was the 28th 

 of March. Taking into consideration the length of time they 

 have been picked (over two months), and the way in which I 

 brought them home, in a valise, knocking around everywhere, I 

 think this settles the question about shipping oranges from your' 

 valley. Mr. H. kept some of them in a window on Merrimack 

 street over two months, and several persons tested them and 

 pronounced them superior to Florida oranges. 



