FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
19 
absorbed in measuring ourselves by standards in vogue on 
the other side of the continent, we have overlooked, lit¬ 
erally overlooked, a rival near at hand; a real rival of our 
own size and make-up; a rival about to finish training and 
likely to give us a serious contest for horticultural honors 
and preferment in the near future. 
Part of our own coast country; at the other end of this 
sub-tropical crescent; just across the Gulf; I refer to coast¬ 
wise Texas. The surface of the country, the soil, the cli¬ 
mate and the horticultural productions of coastwise Texas 
are like those of Florida. The products of her market gar¬ 
dens are already well known in the great markets of the 
Mississippi valley; she produces the small fruits we do; 
the figs, pomegranates, grapes and miscellaneous fruits that 
we grow, succeed there; during the past few years thousands 
of acres of peaches, plums and pears have been planted in 
this Texas coast country, oriental varieties, the same as our 
own, from China, Japan, and the East Indies; as in Florida 
most of the varieties of these and similar fruits from Europe 
as well as those from the north, do not succeed. 
Put, we say complacently, “this is not an orange country.” 
Let us not be too sure of this. Coastwise Texas reaches far¬ 
ther south than Lake Worth or Punia Gorda, and its horti¬ 
cultural records not only report oranges yielding abun¬ 
dantly, but also limes, while banana culture is laid down as 
having already attained a commercial success. It is, in fact, 
a question whether in citrus culture in one respect at least, 
they are not in advance of us; for they are planting their or¬ 
ange groves on hardy, dormant-in-winter stocks, which their 
growers claim mature the fruit before frost, ripening it for 
the high prices of the early market, and rendering the trees 
resistant to the lowest degree of cold to which that region 
is liable. Their trees are reported uninjured by the un¬ 
usually severe cold of the past winter. 
This region across the Gulf is by no means of limited ex¬ 
tent. The sub-tropical coast country of Texas embraces an 
area equal to the entire peninsula of Florida. Old residenters 
have been developing its horticulture for years. Mr. G. 
Onderdonk, one of the pioneers, who began before the war, 
speaking way back in the eighties of Southeastern Texas, 
says: “Starting with only a few dimly lighted landmarks, 
she has beaten her toilsome way until she has a well defined 
horticulture.” In 1891, speaking before the Texas State 
Horticultural Society, he says: “Many have presumed that 
Southeastern Texas could produce only cacti, mesquite and 
thorny chaparral, but, with the array of fruit we have here, 
none can speak lightly of the pomology of this large area. 
