Citrus fruits

Front matter

Class _SE^

Book

Copyright^ .

Preface

The citrusjndustry has now reached a high state of development in both California and Florida. Furthermore, it is progressing with rapid strides. Old World practices and precedents have been largely ignored in the development of an industry characteristically American in spirit and new in methods. The readiness with which the growers adopt new and better methods is an indication of the virility and youthful vigor of this new industry.

The literature has hardly kept pace with the industry and is scattered through a large number of periodicals and reports. On this account, it is largely unavailable to those who need it most. The last comprehensive work published in California was that of Lelong in 1902. This quickly ran out of print and for the last six years has been rare.

The present volume represents an attempt to discuss underlying principles in such a way as to emphasize the importance of certain stable fundamentals upon which the rapidly changing superstructure is built. It has also been the aim to describe the industry as it exists to-day, and bring together in orderly arrangement all the information available at this time which is worth while.

vi Preface

The author has enjoyed the cooperation and assistance of many friends. The chapter on History and Development has been read and criticised by J. M. Guinn of Los Angeles. Professors E. J. Wickson, E. B. Babcock, B. A. Etcheverry, W. T. Home, and H. J. Quayle, together with Messrs. W. S. Reed and E. O. Essig, have kindly read and criticised parts of the manuscript. E. G. Dezell of the California Fruit Growers' Exchange read the chapter on Marketing. I am indebted to my co-worker, I. J. Condit, for contributing parts of the chapters on insects and fumigation. For cordial cooperation in taking the atmometer records reported on in Chapter XII, I am under obligation to W. M. Mertz of the Citrus Experiment Station. Some historical and other data used in Chapter XIV on " Frosts and Orchard Heating " has been taken from the excellent graduating thesis of Carl Nichols.

For the use of certain illustrations I am indebted as follows: to Carl Nichols for Nos. 10, 14, 15, 64, 65, and 86; to W. I. Jones for Nos. 57 and 58; to the Roeding & Wood Nursery Company for Nos. 110, 111, & 119 ; to L. H. Moore for Nos. 113 and 120 ; to Professor H. S. Fawcett for No. 128 ; to Professor H. J. Quayle for Nos. 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, and 147 ; and to Professor C. W. Woodvvorth for No. 151.

J. ELIOT COIT.

Berkeley, California, February 17, 1915.

Chapter I Pages

History and Development 1-24

First planting of orange seeds in California, 1 — first commercial orchard, 2 — other pioneer plantings, 3 — early citrus fairs, 5 — the panic of 1884-1886, 6 — the cottony cushion scale, organization of cooperative marketing, 8 — California citrus shipments, 9 — other factors which have made for progress, 10 — history of the Washington Navel orange, 13 — the citrus industry in Arizona and Sonora, 23

Chapter II

Geography and Climatology of California . . . 25-39 Classification of citrus areas, 26 — southern coast, 28 — interior valley, 30 — northern coast, 31 — the frost hazard, 33 — atmospheric humidity, 34 — winds, 36 — sunlight, 38

' CHAPTER III

Botany, Gross Structure, and Habits of Growth . 40-64 Classification, 42 — conspectus, 43 — structure of the citrus plant, 45 — roots, 45 — wood, 46 — leaves, 49 — thorns, 51 — flowers, 52 — pollination and seed formation, 55 — polyembryony, 59 — structure and composition of the fruit, 60 — seasons of blossoming and harvest, 63 — longevity, 64

vii viii Contents

Chapter IV Pages

Seedling trees no longer planted, 65 — the struggle between many varieties, 65 — the survivors few in number, 66 — the orange, description of varieties, 66 — the lemon, description of varieties, 72 — the pomelo, description of varieties, 75 — the mandarin, description of varieties, 78 — the Swingle- Webber hybrids, description of varieties, 79 — the citron, 80 — the shaddock, 81 — the lime, 81 — the kumquat, 83 — the sweet lemon, 83 — the trifoliata, 83

Chapter V

The seed-bed, 84 — source and cost of seed, 86 — preparation and planting of seed-bed, 87 — eradication of scale from nursery trees, 90 — planting seed-bed stock, 91 — propagation, 92 — cutting bud-wood, 93 — storing bud-wood, 94 — time of budding, 95 — method of budding, 95 — training the nursery tree, 100 — balling and shipping, 102

CHAPTER VI Horticultural Inspection and Quarantine Service . 106-113 The California State Commission of Horticulture, 106 — inspection of interstate shipments, 107 — quarantine orders, 109 — State Fruit Growers' Conventions, 109 — the County Commissioners of Horticulture, 110 — duties of county commissioners, 110 — compulsory fumigation, 110 — the necessity for inspection, 111

CHAPTER VII Improvement of Citrus Fruits by Breeding . . . 114-131 Hybridization, 115 — structure of citrus flower, 1 15 — cross-pollination, 116 — improvements most needed, 118

Contents

— vegetative mutations or bud-sports, 118 — kinds of variations, 119 — fluctuations, 119 — mutations, 120 — sectorial chimeras or mixed plants, 121 — performance records needed, 124 — record of West Highland Grove, 125 — selection of bud-wood, 128 — pedigreed stock7l30

CHAPTER VIII Judging Citrds Fruits ....... 132-138

Orange score-card, 133 — orange standards, 133 — lemon score-card, 134 — lemon standards, 135 — pomelo score-card, 136 — pomelo standards, 136 — packed box score-card, 137 — packed box standards, 137 — exhibit score-card, 138

CHAPTER IX Selection of Site and Preparation for Planting . 130-146 Selection of site, 139 — score-card for citrus lands, 139

— the frost question, 140 — water supply, 141 — soil adaptations, 142 — clearing and leveling land, 145 — amelioration of hardpan by the use of dynamite, 146

CHAPTER X

Orchard plans, 147 — number of trees per acre, 149 — distance of planting, 149 — contour planting, 151 — time of planting, 151 — root-stocks, 151 — digging the holes, 155 — setting the trees, 156 — intercropping, 159 — the cost of planting, 160

CHAPTER XI

Cultivation, Fertilization, Cover-crops . . . 165-186 Plowing, 165 — cultivating, 168 — mulching, 173 — orchard tractors, 174 — fertilizing, 175 — humus, 178 — green manure crops, 181 — summary of soil management, 184

Contents

CHAPTER XII

Irrigation ..........

Amount of water needed, 188 — atmometer records, 189 — sources and cost of water, 192 — methods of distribution, 193 — time of application, 195 — methods of application, 198

CHAPTER XIII

Pruning and Topworking .......

Pruning trees in the nursery row, 205 — pruning * oranges, 207 — suckers versus fruit wood, 209 — pruning lemons, 213 — disposition of prunings, '217 — pruning frosted trees, 217 — reheading young trees, 218 — reheading mature trees, 220 — topworking old trees, 223 — pruning tools, 225 — wounds and dressings, 226

PAGES

187-203

204-229

CHAPTER XIV Frost and Orchard Heating ......

Historical cold periods, 230 — season of frost in California, 231 — forecasting frosts, 233 — factors influencing the occurrence of frost, 234 — local conditions affecting frost, 236 — conditions indicating frost in California, 237 — how plants are injured by cold, 239 — prevention of frost injury, 243 — orchard heating with oil, 252 — requirements of orchard heaters, 253 — types of oil heaters, 257 — installation of heaters, 259 — properties of fuel oils, 260 — storage for oil, 262 — oil heating operations, 264 — care of heaters, 267 — cost of oil heating, 268 — separation of frosted from sound fruit, 270 — cooperation in frost fighting, 274

230-276

CHAPTER XV

Importance of careful handling, 277 — causes of decays, 278 — clippers, 279 — picking bags, 280 — methods of

277-301

Contents xi picking, 281 — the sweating of green fruit, 285 — the acid-sugar ratio, 289 — brushing and washing, 291 — grading and sizing, 292 — packing and loading, 295 — precooling, 297 — shipping, 298

CHAPTER XVI

Season of maturity, 303 — market demands, 302 — sweating autumn lemons, 305 — storage of winter lemons, 306 — packing and shipping, 309 — grading and sizing, 310 — picking pomelos and tangerines, 312 — packing-houses, 314

CHAPTER XVII Blemishes of the Fruit and their Prevention . . 318-330 Insect blemishes, 319 — fungus blemishes, 319 — mechanical blemishes, 321 — bruises, 321 — thorn-stabs, 321 — cultivator scars, 321 — clipper cuts, 321 — stem punctures, 321 — machine injuries, 322 — fumigation scars, 322 — shoulder spots, 323 — hail scars, 323 — soil scars, 323 — windfalls, 324 — cement dust, 324 — physiological blemishes, 324 — sunburn, 324 — frost, 325 — off-bloom, 325 — mottled-leaf, 325 — exanthema, 325 — malformations, 326 — brown spot, 326 — splits and cracks, 326 — puffing, 329 — peteca, 329 — dry center of lemon, 329

CHAPTER XVIII By-products .... .... 331-343

United States importations of citrus by-products, 332

— commercial by-products, 333 — citric acid, 333 — lemon and other oils, 334 — unfermented orange juice, 335

— orange vinegar, 336 — orange wine, 337 — candied citron, 337 — oil of neroli, 338 — petit grain oil, 338 — xii Contents tincture of orange flowers, 338 — essence of orange flowers, 338 — dried and candied peel, 339 — lime juice, 339 — orange paste, 340 — crystallized baby oranges, 340

— glaced kumquats,341 — domestic recipes, 341 — orange or lemon jelly, 341 — orange marmalade, 342 — pomelo marmalade, 342 — citrus-rhubarb marmalade, 343

CHAPTER XIX

Methods of selling fruit, 344 — independent growers, 344 — independent associations, 345 — California Fruit Growers' Exchange, 345 — the local association, 346 — the district exchange, 347 — the central exchange, 348 — collecting and handling money, 350 — exchange advertising, 351 — method of organizing cooperation associations, 351 — Florida Citrus Exchange, 353 — Citrus Protective League of California, 353

CHAPTER XX Profit and Loss ......... 355-363

Average returns, 355 — over-capitalization, 356 — eight requirements for success, 357 — capital required, 358 — cultural costs itemized, 361 — average yields, 362

— average prices received, 362 — judging orchards and lands, 362 — score-card for citrus land, 363

CHAPTER XXI Diseases and their Control ...... 364-402

Brown rot gum disease, 364 — botrytis gumming, 366

— scaly-bark, 367 — twig gumming, 367 — leaf gumming, 368 — gumming of seed-bed stock, 368 — exanthema or die-back, 369 — mal-di-gomma or foot-rot, 372 — toadstool root-rot, 373 — mottled-leaf, 374 — wither-tip, 380

Contents xiii

— twig blight, 382 — cottony niold, 383 — brown ro't fruit decay, 386 — blue mold and green mold, 387 — gray mold, 388 — black rot of Navel orange, 388 — brown spot, 389 — damping off, 391 — citrus canker, 392_r^- melanose and stem end rot, 394 — nail-head rust, 395 — scab or verrucosis, 395 — diplodia rot of oranges, 397

— red blotch of lemon, 398 — yellow spotting of oranges, 398 — stem end spot, 399 — trunk rot, 399 — galls and knots, 401 — black pit of lemons, 401

CHAPTER XXII Citrus Ixsects and their Control ..... 403-430 Black scale, 405 — red or orange scale, 411 — yellow scale, 414 — purple scale, 414 — cottony cushion scale, 417 — soft brown scale, 418 — citricola scale, 419 — hemispherical scale, 420 — greedy scale, 420 — oleander scale, 420 — citrus mealy bug, 421 — citrus red spiders, 423 — silver mite, 424 — orange thrips, 425 — aphis or plant louse, 427 — orange tortrix, 428 — Fuller's rose beetle, 429 — western twelve-spotted cucumber beetle, 430

CHAPTER XXIII Insect Control by Fumigation ..... 431-452

History of fumigation, 431 — fumigation by hydrocyanic acid gas, 435 — tents, 435 — equipment of tents, 437 — generators, 437 — cyanide, 438 — acid, 439 — operation, 440 — season of fumigation, 443 — dosages, 449 — dosage schedule for sodium cyanide, 446 — new Woodworth dosage table, 450 — cost of fumigation, 452

CHAPTER XXIV

Various Orchard Pests and their Control . . . 453-459 Citrus nematode, 453 — the pocket gopher, 456 — ground squirrels, 468 — poisons, 459 xiv Contents

CHAPTER XXV

PAGES

Other bibliographies, 461 — references to literature dealing with particular fruits, 461 — orange growing in United States, 461 — growing in other countries, 463 — varieties, 464 — breeding, 467 — insects, 467 — diseases, 468 — lemon, 469 — lime, 471 — mandarin, 471 — pomelo, 472 — kumquat, 471 — citron, 473 — references to literature dealing with citrus fruits in general, 473 — miscellaneous references, 473 — propagation, stocks, scions, 478 — breeding, 479 — soils, roots, 481 — irrigation, 482 — fertilization, 483 — cover-crops and green manuring, 484 — varieties, botany, 485 — chemistry, judging, 486 — pruning, 487 — curing, storing, sweating, packing, 489 — marketing, organization, statistics, tariff, 490 — by-products, 492 — frost fighting, frost injured fruit, 494 — insect pests, 496 — fumigation, 497 — diseases, 499

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Washington Navel orange Frontispiece

FIG. PAGE

1. Thomas A. Garey, a pioneer citrus nurseryman . . .4

2. The passing of the old seedling orange groves . . .12 '?,. Mrs. L. C. Tibbet, who first brought the true Navel orange

to California . . . . . . . ... 18

4. One of the two original Washington Navel orange trees

brought to California . . . . . . .21

5. California citrus areas ........ 27

6. Four-year-old Valencia orange grove in Los Angeles County 28

7. Typical scene in Los Angeles County. Windbreak of Gre-

villea robusta on right 35

8. Pinus radiata, a native pine, used as a windbreak . . 30

9. Orange tree denuded of foliage on windward side by three

days of desert wind 37

10. Growth rings in a flattened brace-limb of lemon ... 47

11. Result of experiment which shows that a girdled orange tree

may grow new bark. A. Untreated ; B. Treated . 48

12. Valencia orange blossoms . . . . . . .53

13. Lemon blossoms showing perfect, partly aborted and aborted

pistils. Stamens removed in latter case ... 54

14. Orange flower x 2. p, pistil ; a, stigma ; c, style ; o, ovary ;

s, stamen ; ft, anther ; e, filament ; d, nectary ; g, sepal ;

/, petal 57

15. Polyembryony. Two orange seedlings from one seed . . 00 10. The earliest known illustration of a Navel orange. From

Ferrarius' " Hesperides," 1040 07

17. One type of Australian Navel orange 09

18. Eureka lemon, uncured . 73

19. Lisbon lemon, uncured ........ 75

xv

XVI

List of Illustrations

FIG.

41. 42.

45. 46.

stakes

Seedless pomelo, flowers and fruit. From Volckamer's " Hesperides,' 1 1708

Dancy Mandarin orange

Satsuma Mandarin orange

Nagami kumquat .

Citrus seed-bed under lath

Citrus seed-bed in the open

Bench-rooted orange seedling

Orange bud-wood .

Cutting a bud

Making incision in stock

Inserting bud

Tying inserted bud

Orange buds in nursery row tied to lath

Healing of the bud union

Balling orange trees in the nursery

A shipment of defoliated balled orange trees

Two-year-old orange trees, balled, ready for market

Type of standard Washington Navel orange

Washington Navel oi'anges showing fluctuations in the navel Such variations cannot be preserved by budding .

Variegated sport. Note white areas in leaves. From Volck amer's "Hesperides," 1695

A variegated sport of Valencia orange. Notice white margin of leaves

Sectorial chimera of Valencia orange ....

Orange showing sectorial chimera. From Ferrarius' " Hes perides," 1646

What is known as the "Wrinkled" sport of Eureka lemon compared with normal fruit. Both from same tree

Chart showing by dotted line the small proportion of profitable trees, and by heavy line the large proportion of trees which only pay for their care. West Highlands Orchard. (Adapted from Norton) ....

Cow peas as an intercrop in young lemon orchard

Breaking a layer of hardpan by means of a stick of dynamite discharged in each tree hole

122 124

129 153

List of Illustrations xvii

FIG. PAGE

47. Newly set tree properly protected from sun .... 158

48. Cultivating newly set orange trees with eight-chisel cultivator 16b"

49. Cloddy condition due to land being worked while too wet . 167

50. Ground under trees worked with ease by means of orchard

tractor 169

51. Orchard tractor doing the work of eight mules in a hot

desert valley 171

52. Heavy plowing with an orchard tractor of the caterpillar

type 173

53. Substituting baled lima bean straw for manure in lemon

orchard near Whittier, California ..... 176

54. Cull oranges used as a humus-forming fertilizer . . . 180

55. Canal lined with cement. Transformation of desert hills

into orange groves ........ 187

56. Preparing the ground for furrow irrigation. (From U. S.

D. A. Farmers' Bui. No. 404) 190

57. Irrigating stands in operation 194

58. Zigzag furrows for wetting the ground between the trees . 197

59. Overhead irrigation system in old orange orchard near

Covina, California ....... 199

60. King soil sampler. Of use when irrigating .... 202

61. A well pruned Eureka lemon orchard. Photographed,

August 10th, near Alhambra, California . . . 205

62. Prototype of California pruning saw. From Volckamer's

"Hesperides," 1708 207

63. " California " pruning saw, used throughout southwest . 208

64. Good type of pruning saw above ; poor type below . . 210

65. One of the best types of pruning shears . . . .211

66. Vigorous fruiting brush growing in the place of suckers . 212

67. This extra vigorous shoot terminated at six inches with a

fruit showing that excess of food did not change it into

a sucker 214

68. A sixty -acre three-year-old Valencia orchard top-worked to

lemons. The paper bags protect the buds from rose

beetles 215

69. Fifteen months' growth on stocks shown at Fig. 68 . . 210

70. Three-year-old Navel head on top-worked sweet seedling . 221 xvm

List of Illustrations

71. Pruning a frosted lemon orchard

72. A. Normal vesicles of lemon. B. Enlarged vesicles from

frosted fruit six months after injury

73. Frost splitting of bark on fruiting brush of lemon

74. Three-year-old trees protected with cornstalks

75. Screen of tobacco cloth as a frost protection

76. Big six

77. Eichhoff coal burner .

78. Hamilton down-draught

79. Bolton .

80. Coe

81. Pomona pipe-line heater

83. Canco

84. Rayo

86. Hamilton reservoir

87. Troutman ....

88. Adamson torch .

89. Coal-burning orchard heaters.

trees ....

90. Orchard heaters ready for lightin^

91. Orchard heaters in old Valencia grove

92. Placement of orchard heaters. Extra fuel in

93. The perforated stack gives good combustion but

rainwater . . . . .

94. The water separator for frosted fruit .

95. Thermometer station of the Pomona Valley < >r

tective Association

96. Tuttle fruit clippers with rounded points

97. Dashboard picking bag ....

98. Covina picking bag

99. Woodward picking bag

100. The Wiss clipper now being superseded by

shown at Pig. 96 .

101. Metal attachment for propping up limbs

Fuel stored in b may hard the '

under

under admit

Pro-

"uttlt

List of Illustrations xix

FIG. PAGE

102. Worm brushes used for polishing oranges .... 284

103. Rope feed hopper 285

104. Orange sizing machine ....... 286

105. Box press and nailing machine 287

106. Citrus fruit truck 288

107. Packing stand ' . .289

108. Box-squeeze, small size 290

109. Car-squeeze, large size 291

110. Interior view of the Pioneer Fruit Co.'s orange packing

house at Lindsay, California 294

111. Orange packers at work 296

112. A typical orange box label 299

113. General arrangement of orange packing house . . . 300

115. Two-story lemon packing house, Glendora, California . 304

116. Lemon washing machine and sorting table .... 307

117. Lemon curing tents in packing house near the coast . . 309

118. Truck for handling trays of ungraded lemons . . . 310

119. Packing lemons from sorting trays 311

120. Lemon packing house, second floor and elevation . . 314

121. Typical lemon box label 315

122. Combination box label . . 316

123. Fumigation scars . . . . . . . . 322

124. Scar caused by rubbing on the ground .... 323

125. Orange splits. Side splits above and Navel end splits below 327

126. Horizontal cracks are very different from splits . . . 328

127. Peteca of lemon 329

128. The Fawcett method of treating gum disease. Note types

129. Reddish gum areas on under side of leaves caused by

130. Exanthema pustules on Valencia orange twigs . . . 370

131. Mottled-leaf disease on Eureka lemon .... 375

132. Advanced stage of mottled-leaf disease showing multiple

buds 377

133. Spot caused by wither-tip 380

134. A ".nest " of cottony fungus 384

XX

List of Illustrations

FIG. PAGE

135. Black rot of Navel ... .... 388

136. Brown spot of Navel orange ...... 390

137. Stem-end spot of orange 399

138. Pruning stub on orange tree infected with schizophyllum . 400

139. Black scale on orange twig 406

140. The red scale on orange . . . . . . .411

141. Work of red scale on orange tree . . . . . 413

142. The purple scale enlarged ....... 416

143. Cottony cushion scale 417

144. Citrus mealy-bug 422

145. Scars due to citrus thrips . . . . . . . 426

146. Fuller's rose beetle 429

147. The work of Fuller's rose beetle ...... 429

148. Scars on rind of orange caused by katydid .... 430

149. A fumigation demonstration ...... 432

150. Method of marking fumigating tent 436

151. Flashlight picture of marked fumigating tents . . . 442

Chapter I History And Development Of The Citrus

INDUSTRY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED

STATES

Citrus seeds were first brought into California from the peninsula of Lower California, where peoples of Spanish descent have cultivated various kinds of European fruit trees and vines since the year 1701. In 1768 the Jesuit missionaries were supplanted by the Franciscans, some of whom under the leadership of Junipero Serra pushed northward into the territory which is now the state of California. These hardy pioneers founded the first mission in Upper California at San Diego in 1769, and proceeding northward established a chain of missions extending four hundred miles along the coast, the last being established at Somoma in 1823.

At a number of these missions, vineyards and orchards were planted. Cuttings of grapes and figs, and seeds of oranges, pomegranates, citrons, olives, pears, dates, and other fruits were brought from the older missions on the peninsula. At several missions the remnants of the old orchards may still be seen, partly inclosed by the adobe walls which were built to protect the trees from wandering herds of cattle.

b 1

The San Gabriel Mission near the present city of Los Angeles, by reason of the abundance of water and the large number of neophytes brought into service, gained rapidly in wealth and productiveness. The exact date when orange seed were first planted at this mission is not known, as the archives of the mission church are lost. It is certain, however, that the first California orange orchard of any size occurred at San Gabriel, and various writers agree that this orchard must have been planted in 1804 or the following year. This first orchard covered about six acres of ground and was composed of about four hundred seedling trees, a few of which were still bearing in 1885.

Although this orchard was not planted for financial gain, and it is doubtful if any fruit was ever sold from it, the success of this pioneer planting established the fact that the climate and soil conditions were quite favorable to the production of citrus fruits.

Soon orange trees distributed from the missions began to be planted in court-yards and gardens in various places, the fruits being either all consumed at home or given away to friends. Perhaps the largest number of trees in any private garden were the thirty-five trees transplanted from San Gabriel about the year 1834 to Aliso Street in Los Angeles, by Don Louis Vignes. It remained, however, for William Wolfskill, a Kentucky trapper of German blood, who had come to Los Angeles overland in 1831, to forecast the commercial possibilities of this fruit. Wolfskill secured orange trees from the San Gabriel Mission in 1841 and planted a two-acre orchard in what is now the city of Los Angeles, on the spot now occupied by the Arcade passenger station of the Southern Pacific Railroad. The fruit from this orchard sold to such advantage that it was increased in size to about twenty-eight and finally to seventy acres. It is said that Wolfskill was the first to ship a full car of oranges to Eastern markets. They were sent to St. Louis in 1877 and arrived in good condition after having been a month in transit. The freight charge is said to have been $500. The last crop disposed of in his lifetime sold on the trees for $25,000.

The success of the Wolfskill orchard stimulated others, and in 1853 Matthew Keller secured orange seeds from Central America and also from Hawaii. From these he raised young trees with which he planted an orchard opposite that of W T olfskill. In 1857 L. Van Leuven planted orange trees at Old San Bernardino, and in the same year L. F. Cram planted a small orchard at Highlands. Myron H. Crafts planted two hundred orange trees at ■Crafton in 1865.

In September, 1870, J. W. North of Knoxville, Tennessee, bought four thousand acres of desert land which is now occupied by the city of Riverside. Judge North carried on an advertising campaign in the Eastern states to attract colonists to this land. Settlers began to arrive the following winter, and in the spring of 1871 the first orange seeds were planted.

This means of settling the country was used in various parts of California. Pasadena was first known as the Indiana Colony, the lands being purchased in 1873, distributed in 1874, and orange orchards planted as soon as the ground was leveled and irrigation water provided.

Frank A. Kimball planted orange and lemon trees at National City in San Diego County about 1870.

A large proportion of the trees planted at this time were purchased from the nursery of T. A. Garey in Los Angeles (Fig. 1). Garey imported a large number of varieties

from various places during the years 1868 to 1875. He is said to have received shipments of trees from Australia, southern Europe, and Florida, as well as from the nurseries of Ellwanger and Barry of Rochester, N. Y., and Sir Thomas Rivers of Sawbridgeworth, England.

The fruit from these primitive orchards was either consumed in the neighborhood of its production or hauled to Los Angeles and there shipped to northern ports by water. Southern California still lacked railroad connection with the Eastern markets and there was no incentive to grow more oranges than sufficed for local consumption. Orange trees were first planted in the central and northern part of California in the early sixties. The first

Fie

1. — Thomas A. Garey, a pioneer citrus nurseryman.

planting of which we have record was at Bidwell in Butte County in 1859. In a great many cases these early plantings proved successful, and it was soon apparent that areas of greater or less extent, suitable for the growth of citrus fruits, existed in many scattered locations all the way from San Diego in the south to Shasta County in the north.

The commercial development of citrus culture may be said to have begun with the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad's connections with the East. The Valley line was completed in 1876 and the Southern line to New Orleans in 1881. The exhibition of the first fruits of the Washington Navel orange at Riverside gave another impetus to citrus planting, but the greatest development came with the completion of the Santa Fe's competing line of railroad, which was opened up about 1885. The first special train loaded exclusively with oranges left the River Station, Los Angeles, February 14, 1886, for the East via the Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads.

In February ,1879, what was probably the first of a series of annual citrus fairs was held at Riverside. The different citrus-growing communities of southern California took great interest in these fairs, and the prizes together with the prestige which they carried were vigorously competed for. It was at these early citrus fairs that the great superiority of the Washington Navel orange, the history of which is given on another page, became apparent. The climate and soil conditions in California proved eminently suited to this variety of orange, which here attained a perfection truly marvelous. The strong demand for these oranges in the Eastern markets and the high prices received by some brought on a period of frenzied planting and speculation. A great deal of worthless nursery stock, quickly and cheaply grown on Chinese lemon roots, was planted, and many orchards were set out on lands more or less unsuited to citrus culture. This wave of rapid expansion culminated in 1885-86, when drouth, frosts, scale insects, and the lack of a coherent marketing organization conspired to rudely awaken from their golden dreams many who had rushed into the business with insufficient knowledge and capital to weather a period of depression.

In 1884, at the Cotton Exposition held in New Orleans, the twenty varieties of oranges grown and exhibited by Riverside took first premium in competition with the world. This fact was heralded far and wide and proved of great value in advertising the California citrus business in general and Riverside in particular.