MISCELLANEOUS. 



107 



Some day, as the number of the oranges i^laced on the 

 market increases, these people will be reached, and oranges 

 placed in their hands at the prices for which the more fortunate 

 citizens of our Eastern cities obtain them at present. 



It is quite true, as often stated, that thousands upon thou- 

 sands of orange trees are being planted all over Florida ; but it is 

 safe to add that fully one-third of those planted will never come 

 to bearing maturity ; many will fail from wrong treatment ; many 

 will be abandoned by non-persevering owners, and many more 

 will die because they have been planted too far north, and their 

 strength will be exhausted by too frequent frosts. 



But even supposing that every tree planted came to matu- 

 rity and bore its load of golden fruit, and that every foot of ground 

 on that one-twentieth part of Florida, which is all that can be util- 

 ized for orange culture, should bear its dozen oranges, what 

 would all that amount to when divided among the fifty-three 

 millions of inhabitants of the United States, such being the pop- 

 ulation of the past year, 1882 — a population immense now, and 

 doubling every thirty years ? The population will increase almost 

 indefinitely ; the year 1940 will witness a population in the 

 United States of more than two hundred millions. But nature 

 has fixed the limit of the orange-bearing belt in the United States, 

 and nature's laws are irrevocable. 



The vast markets of the West and the North-west have 

 never yet received an adequate supply of oranges, and it will be 

 many years before the supply will meet the demand. 



Florida oranges are admitted to be superior to any other in 

 the world, and for this reason, although their numbers are yet 

 comparatively few, they occupy the foremost place, and are 

 eagerly sought for at the highest prices. 



The genial climate of Florida, and a soil peculiarly adapted 

 to the grov/th of the orange, coupled with the long period of 

 warmth and sunshine, perfect and concentrate the juices without 

 destroying the aromatic flavor. 



These advantages, joined Avith a proximity to the great 

 markets, which allows the fruit to remain on the tree until ripe^ 



