At this day thousands of acres of seedless oranges are in full bearing
and no one buys the old kinds. Hundreds of car-loads of the seedlings
are not even picked, and ninety per cent of the eighteen thousand
car-loads which make the season's orange crop are navel oranges. Over
forty-five millions of dollars are now invested in the growing and
marketing of this remarkable fruit.
At Riverside, the home of the orange, the two original Washington
navel trees still stand. Mr. Tibbets guarded them for years, had them
fenced with high latticework, and seldom allowed any one to touch
them. He refused ten thousand dollars for them, since for months he
sold hundreds of dollars' worth of buds from these parent trees. These
two trees and their large family have caused thousands of people to
come to the state, and have built up Southern California wonderfully.
THE LEMON
For many years people who use that sour but necessary fruit, the
lemon, thought that only the little yellow ones which came from the
far-away island of Sicily were good. The men who import foreign fruits
always said so; and in spite of the fact that the larger California
lemon was more acid, of as good flavor, smooth skinned, and golden,
people believed the Mediterranean groves produced the best. But, at
last, our warm, dry air, good soil, and plenty of water, together with
care and skill while growing and packing, have made California lemons
the most in demand. These lemons keep well, and bear shipping and long
journeys better than the imported fruit.
Citrus fruits, as the orange and lemon are called, do well in all the
southern counties, and San Diego County boasts of not only the largest
lemon grove in California, but in the world. This is a thousand-acre
tract overlooking San Diego Bay and cultivated by the Chula Vista
colony. It was once a pasture given up to wandering bands of cattle
and sheep. There was little water, and no one ever thought these dry
mesa lands would one day be a beautiful garden spot, green with the
shining lemon leaves, and golden with fruit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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