FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 
39 
I suppose there are few of our northern 
friends, or southern either, for that mat¬ 
ter, who would think of planting citrus, 
mangos, or avocados in either Michigan 
or New York, yet each of these are fa¬ 
mous fruit producing states. So why 
waste time with fruits peculiarly adapted 
to our northern climate here in the South 
when we have so many at home that can 
be readily utilized. 
For the home, lack of space is no valid 
excuse for not having a liberal supply of 
fruit. The ordinary building lot or door- 
yard will supply space enough for a suf¬ 
ficient variety of trees to keep the family 
in fruit. Our tropical fruit trees do not 
object to crowded conditions, as this is 
more nearly their natural environment. 
A single citrus tree, by the simple process 
of budding, can be made to carry early, 
mid-season and late oranges in addition 
to grapefruit, and on three trees the entire 
list of citrus fruits of economic value may 
be had. These should supply the ordinary 
family with citrus fruits in season. A 
seedling mango tree can be made to bear, 
by top working, four or five of the choice 
varieties, and the avocado can be treated 
in a similar way. Guavas, papayas, ba¬ 
nanas and other fruits can be added to the 
list until the home planting is made com¬ 
plete and sufficient to meet the needs of 
the family. 
It appears to me that we have neglected 
the home planting sadly in many cases, 
and that we are not utilizing the fruit 
trees we have at hand to the best advan- 
tage. 
The home planting can be made the 
means of stimulating a wider use and de¬ 
mand for a number of the tropical fruits 
which are now grown as occasional speci¬ 
mens. By using more of these fruits our¬ 
selves and by preparing them in a variety 
of ways, a greater demand can be created 
for them. 
Many of us may not care particularly 
for some of these fruits in their raw state, 
but, if they are cooked, preserved, made 
into jelly or conserve, a pleasing and ap¬ 
petizing product is produced. In this con¬ 
nection the ladies of the State, the Home 
Demonstration Clubs, and the Home Eco¬ 
nomics Department of our Extension 
Service can aid materially in creating a 
demand for these fruits, by finding new 
ways for serving them or new uses to 
which they may be put. 
If you will pardon a local reference I 
would like to cite one illustration along 
this line which brings out the point I have 
tried to make. The ladies of the Home 
Demonstration Council of Lee county, re¬ 
cently published a cook book. This cook 
book is rather unique in that the recipes 
were furnished by various ladies of the 
county, and they applied chiefly to the use 
of the local grown products. Many of 
them were new and original. Some fifty 
or sixty of these recipes apply to the use 
of the fruits grown in Lee county. So if 
the ladies interested in our home fruits 
will exercise their ingenuity a little further 
on some of our lesser known tropical 
fruits, I feel sure that a greater demand 
will be created for these fruits and their 
products. If we use these more extensive¬ 
ly among ourselves, it will not be long be¬ 
fore our tourist friends become acquaint- 
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