In Cooperation with the Florida State College of Agriculture 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1435 
Washington, D. C. November, 1926 
. ieee 
ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF CITRUS-FRUIT GROWING IN POLK COUNTY, FLA. 
By Cart R. Swinson, Associate Agricultural Economist, and W.C. Funk, Associate 
Agricultural Economist, Bureau of Agricultural Economics } 
CONTENTS 
Page Page 
TIbLOCU COM pea nes ee 1 | Cost of developing a citrus grove__-________- 12 
The citrus-fruit situation in the United States- 2 Cost of caring for young groves_-_________ 13 
Section Shll dle deees to8 ee ee ee 6 | Organization of citrus-fruit farms___________- 15 
Meention® 2-2 see ee ae so Se 6 Distribution of the farm acreage________- 16 
@Popographiy: ——-=- acs er 32 Ase 7 Distribution of crop acreage_____________ 17 
ID Raim ag 6 nee es ae ee re ee 7 Number of trees to the acre______________ 18 
Sous? 22 bes Liisa is ee LEER TEM oa 7 Warietiesof-citrusdruit_ 12. 2h 32 siitrss 19 
Iaimiall csc to ase pe a Ee 8 Machinery and equipment-______________ 20 
WinldsS: aNG:StOrnse: == eas oene ee ee 8 SWiOrkdStOC Kite a arte Se eee 20 
Temperature: 2223 = srt eee re 9 Capitalization of fruit farms____________- 21 
Roads and other facilities_______-_----___- 10 | Grove operations and practices_____________- 23 
Selection of a grove site and varieties---_-___- 10 | Cost of production of citrus fruit_____________ 29 
Li sail enol eet i ate eo ete cee Saas, ae 10 | Incomes from citrus-fruit farms___-___._____- 33 
Facilities for handling and shipping fruit- Pies Pe OUI Aye oe ee ee ee ee 5 Ue ee 39 
Kinds and varieties of fruit to grow___-_- 11 
Number of trees to the acre....--.------- 12 
INTRODUCTION 
Polk County is an area which at the present time represents the 
most highly developed and intensive citrus-fruit industry in Florida. 
It possesses a climate, soil, and topography which have been conducive 
to a remarkable development i in a comparatively few years. 
It took several hundred years for the orange, after its importation 
from Spain, to rise to a place of importance in commerce. It was 
about the year 1884 that shipments of any size began to move out 
of Florida. Two great obstacles stood in the way of progress in the 
earlier commercial developments: (1) Lack of transportation facil- 
ities and (2) lack of experience in the management of groves in the 
event of freezes. 
1 Acknowledgment is due E. S. Haskell, C. E. Hope, R. J. Leth, Bruce McKinley, H. A. Miller, Frank 
Montgomery, J. M. Purdom, jr., F. H. Shelledy, C. C. Taylor, of the United States Department of Agricul- 
ture, and H. G. Hamilton, of the Florida State College of Agriculture, who assisted in collecting the field 
data, and to the growers who so generously cooperated in making the study possible. 
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