CHAPTER XIV 

 SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS 



THE principal fruits grown in the subtropical sections of 

 the United States are members of the genus Citrus. Olives 

 and figs are produced in California and the South, and also 

 a few other semi-tropical fruits of minor importance. 



CITRUS FRUITS 



The cultivation of citrus fruits on a commercial scale is a 

 comparatively new horticultural enterprise in the United 

 States. The oranges and lemons used in this country thirty 

 years ago were imported almost entirely from Italy, Sicily, 

 and Spain. In the year 1919, the value of the citrus crop in 

 the United States was almost one hundred and fifty million 

 dollars. Of this amount, two-thirds came from California, 

 almost one-third from Florida, and a smaller amount from 

 Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. 



287. History. De Candolle writes that, at the beginning 

 of the Christian Era, the orange and its allied forms, with the 

 possible exception of the citron, were unknown. These fruits 

 grow wild in southeastern and southern Asia and were intro- 

 duced to America by way of the Mediterranean. A few 

 plants in America are related to the genus Citrus, but one 

 must travel to the other side of the world to find the fruit in 

 its native habitat. 



From its original home it was carried first to India, and 

 thence to Italy and Spain, where it is today grown in large 

 quantities. From Europe it was brought to the West Indies, 

 to South America and to Florida, forming the basis of 



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