WHY CALIFORNIA LEADS IN ORANGES 423 



As to the difference in oranges grown under humid and arid 

 conditions, the moisture being supplied by rainfall in one case 

 and by irrigation in the other, there has been shown in the arid 

 region* orange a superior density, thinness and texture of rind, 

 higher sugar and higher acid percentages and a more sprightly 

 or vinous flavor. The popular conception of the superior sweet- 

 ness of the orange grown in humid countries is due not to a greater 

 amount of sugar in the juice, but to less amount of acid. The fol- 

 lowing are the determinations of sugar and acid of fully ripe 

 Southern California and Florida navel oranges: 



Of course, the quality of an orange is largely inherent in the 

 variety, but all varieties are similarly changed by growth under 

 humid or arid conditions of climate and soil, and this modifica- 

 tion becomes a factor of much industrial importance. This fact 

 is strikingly illustrated by the standing of the Navel orange in 

 California. This variety has been grown for a century or more 

 as the chief orange in Bahia, Brazil, whence it was taken to Cali- 

 fornia. In Brazil it demonstrated no shipping qualities, and 

 according to Burke ( U. S. Special Consular Reports, Vol 1, page 

 411) would need to be picked before maturity if to be shipped, 

 while as grown in California and Arizona it is picked at full 

 maturity and is successfully shipped all over the United States 

 and to Europe. 



Orange growing in Florida is recovering from serious reverses. 

 The product of 1894 was about 6,000,000 boxes. Then came the 

 disastrous freezing in December of 1894 and February, 1895, with 

 a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit at Jacksonville, and in the 

 latter year only 75,000 boxes were shipped. In 1907 the product 

 was about 3,000,000 boxes, produced in the central and southern 

 parts of the State. In Louisiana the freezing of 1895 nearly anni- 

 hilated the citrus fruit interest and there is thus far no disposition 

 to resume production on a commercial scale. In the southwestern 

 corner of Arizona there is a small orange industry which is suc- 

 cessfully shipping Navel oranges to distant markets. Conditions 

 favor early ripening and an advantage is secured by sale in advance 

 of the main California product. From California the shipments 

 of oranges beyond State lines in 1907 were about 30,000 carloads 

 or 12,000,000 boxes. The orange industry of the United States is 

 now largely supplying the home demand for the fruit. Imports of 

 oranges reached their highest value in 1883 at $3,010,662, and have 



