XXIV 
AN UNSOLVED ORCHARD MYSTERY 
I SN’T IT ODD that that master product of the orchard, 
the grapefruit, has emerged from the West Indies in 
this generation and has attained its commanding position 
among breakfast table dishes, and yet its origin has re¬ 
mained an unsolved mystery of the vegetable world! 
Grapefruit is not native to the West Indies. It has 
been introduced into those islands. It has come to be 
cultivated in gardens since the white man came to know 
the islands. Its quality has been gradually improved, and 
it has come to be a dooryard fruit on many plantations. 
Finally, toward the end of the last century, it crossed over 
and gained a similar position in Florida. There, under 
the eye of scientific growers, superior varieties were se¬ 
lected, bred up, and grown in quantity. There, also, they 
were distributed to tourists from the North, a demand for 
them being thus started. 
In the nineties of the last century orange culture grew 
to be an extensive industry in Florida. It was profitable, 
and more and more people went into it. In fact, so many 
oranges were grown that, on account of the lack of refrig¬ 
eration and transportation facilities at that time, there 
was a threat of overproduction. Then, in 1894, Florida 
suffered a blightingly cold winter that killed her orange 
trees to the ground. Their stumps lived, however, and 
on these the planters grafted many acres of grapefruit for 
supplying an increasing demand. 
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