THE OEANGE; 



by whom it was carefully nurtured and 

 extended by new plantations. 



But between the planting of the ©riginal 

 orchard at the Mission San Gabriel and 

 the several groves above mentioned a long 

 period must have transpired — perhaps 

 twentj^ or twenty-five years, during which 

 the Mission orchard was the sole repre- 

 sentative of this fruit in California. Even 

 after the extension of the industry, for 

 many years oranges held no place among 

 the recognized products of the country. 

 Mr. Alexander Forbes, who wrote one of 

 the earliest works on California— a book 

 printed in England in 1835 — cites wheat, 

 maize, barley, pease, beans, potatoes, 

 hemp, grapes, olives and grasses as the 

 principal crops, but makes no mention of 

 oi-anges. 



Ex-Governor John G. Downey, writing 

 of the early cultivation of the orange, says: 



" In those days, though there was plen- 

 ty of energy and intelligence among the 

 Spanish pioneers, it was a difficult under- 

 taking for the ranchero to build a fence to 

 protect his orchard from the multitude of 

 wild stock that surrounded him, even to 

 the door of his pueblo home. * * * 



** The orchard of orange trees at San Ga- 

 briel was scarcely in bearing when Don 

 Luis Vignes planted his orchard in Los 

 Angeles. Next followed that of William 

 Wolfskin, and next, that of Don Manuel 

 Requena. These little orchards were en- 

 closed by an adobe wall, as were those of 

 the Missions of San Gabriel and San Fer- 

 nando. Many of the old families followed 

 these examples by planting a few trees in 

 their respective court-yards. I can safely 

 say there was not a tree planted with a 

 view to profit, and not an orange sold 

 until long after the advent of the Ameri- 

 cans. The fruit was cultivated for home 

 use, and for the use of friends less fortu- 

 nately situated. 



*'Inthe year 1853 Matthew Keller and 

 Dr. Ilalsey obtained seeds from Central 

 America and Hawaii, and planted nur- 

 series. Dr. Halsey^'s nursery was the 

 most extensive. While this plantation 

 was very young, the doctor was crossed in 

 some love matters, studied Andrew Jack- 

 son Davis more thoroughly than he did 

 Downing, and went off on a spiritual mis- 

 sion East, leaving his nursery in care of 



Judge I. S. K. Ogier. The latter sold the 

 nursery for a song to William Wolfskill, 

 whose place was adjoining, and the or- 

 chard now the property of Miss Francisca 

 Wolfskill is the result. It is a very pretty 

 property — perhaps the largest bearing or- 

 ange orchard in the United States. At 

 least I have not seen any as large in Flor- 

 ida, Louisiana or Cuba. It is a pleasure 

 to look at, is a source of great profit, and 

 could not be in better hands. 



The orchard of Mr. Wilson was once a 

 portion of the Mission of San Gabriel. In 

 the unconstitutional sale of the missions 

 this portion fell to Hugo Reed. Mr. Wil- 

 son bought it in 1852 of Reed's widow. 

 There were then on the place several 

 fruitful trees, which are still in vigorous 

 bearing, and will be for several genera- 

 tions. Mr. Wilson has industriously and 

 intelligently added to them; not at any 

 great cost, for he raised his trees in his 

 own nursery, and continues to raise them, 

 so that he has them always on hand with- 

 out expense." 



The orchard of William Wolfskill, al- 

 luded to above, was no doubt the first that 

 was planted in California with an idea of 

 profit. Mr. Wolfskin's neighbors ridi- 

 culed him, saying that he would get no 

 fruit in his lifetime. It was a severe trial 

 of patience to maintain the trees through 

 all the years requisite to bring them into 

 bearing, and all that for a mere experi- 

 ment. At the same time vineyards of 

 three or four years' growth were paying 

 handsomely, with no more labor. This 

 fact came near tipping the balance against 

 the trees, but Mr. Wolfskill's German te- 

 nacity finally pie vailed, and the trees 

 were brought to fruition. He lived to en- 

 joy his oranges for twenty years, and they 

 gave him, some years, an income of a 

 thousand dollars an acre. The last crop 

 disposed of in his lifetime from about 

 twenty-eight acres sold on the trees for 

 ^25,000. 



From 1857 to 1862 orange-growing was 

 greatly checked by the insects, which 

 caused an almost total failure of the fruit. 

 But in 1862 this pest abated, and there was 

 a good crop. There were then in the 

 whole State only about 25,000 trees, two- 

 thirds of which were in the Wolfskill or- 

 chard. 



