Proceedings of the Farmer^ Club. 3X7 



adapted to their growth extends from Port a la Hoche to Fort 

 Jackson, on both sides of the Mississippi, and is confined to a nar- 

 row strip of land perhaps half a mile wide, along the river bank 

 or " coast " as it is there called. Oranges are also produced in the 

 Attokapos region, near Berwick Bay. The entire orange country 

 of Louisiana, does not exceed in extent a couple of counties in New 

 York. 



The fruit cannot be produced successfully on the Gulf coast, 

 from Florida to the Mississippi. The same is true of the Western 

 Louisiana and Texas coast. The region along the lower Mississippi 

 is projected like a peninsula into the Gulf of Mexico. Hence, its 

 atmosphere is modified by the breezes from the salt water of the 

 gulf. The same is true of the Attokapos region, the climate of 

 which is also influenced by the adjacent lakes. 



Near Fort Jackson, twenty-two different kinds of fruit, many of 

 them tropical, including the orange, banana, mango, fig, lemon, 

 pomegranate, can be produced. Gardens can be cultivated all 

 winter. The cultivation of the orange is, however, most reliable 

 and remunerative. The groves, or orchards, as they are called, 

 extend many miles along the river. There are about a hundred 

 trees to the acre, grown from the seed, and requiring to be neither 

 grafted nor budded. The trees begin to bear when five or six years 

 old; are at the highest point of productiveness in twelve years, and 

 outlive even the hardy apple tree. 



The land now occupied by orange groves in Plaquemines parish, 

 formerly belonged mainly to the " poor whites." Those who had 

 sufficient energy to plant a few trees ten years ago, are now sur- 

 prised to find themselves rich. The fruit is sold, on the tree gene- 

 rally, in February, when the groves are in full blossom. The money 

 is paid in advance. The purchaser, usually a Sicilian or French- 

 man, picking the crop and assuming all risks. The fruit can be 

 gathered any time from October to the next May. There are some 

 times two crops on the same tree. The region indicated must have 

 a monopoly of the orange market in the Mississippi valley. In 

 the course of two or three days, oranges can be shipped from New 

 Orleans to any place on the Upper Mississippi, to Chicago, St. Louis, 

 Cincinnati, or any other central point. 



Rice is produced in the bed of the orange plantations. It is 

 sown broadcast in March or April, the ground being plowed but 

 once, and the seed put in with a common harrow. The irrigation 

 is effected by digging a sluice through the levee of the river, and 



