SB 369 .W3 Copy 1 ESTIMATES WASHINGTON i. JL Li. "jti 1 ll m m ALSO, Extracts from Florida Newspapers CULTIVATION OF THE ORANGE. WINTER IN FLORIDA. Henry Ward Beecher says : " Letters have just come in from Florida. They are picking flowers — there is no cold in their sky — the gardens are all asprout, the air is fragrant Avith bursting orange buds and new leaves, birds shower the air with delicious notes ! Yes, I do love the winter dearly, but had rather take it in Florida." Judd & Detweiler, Printers. / ESTIMATES. Estimate of total cost to plant, and put into growing condition, the one hundred acres of Orange Grove for the Washington Orange Grove Association, to wit : 200 acres of choice land @ $15 , $3,000 6,000 seedling orange trees @ $1 6,000 Clearing 100 acres @ $20 2,000 Fencing, plowing, and harrowing @ $9 900 Transporting and planting trees at @ lOcts 600 For manures, guano, &c 500 Total $13,000 For t l, or ten acres 1,300 After the first year, the expenses can be reduced by careful management on the part of the superintendent. The only expenditures will then be for labor and fertilizing manures, so as to keep the grove in the highest state of growth and cultivation. It will be safe to suppose that during the sixth, seventh, and eighth years of the Association the grove will produce sufficient fruit to pay for all expenses of care and cultivation. Those who know the orange only as it appears for sale in our Northern markets, picked when green, in order to remain undecayed through a long voyage, perhaps to be unsold for many weeks after reaching its destination, can form little conception of the exquisite flavor, sweetness, and juiciness of the orange, when gathered directly from the tree, and at its full maturity. Those persons who have visited the different orange-producing countries of the globe are unanimous in their verdict, that, in quality, the Florida orange cannot be surpassed Mrs. Stowesays, in " Palmetto Leaves :"' " The things that fill the New York market, called by courtesy ' oranges ' — pithy, wilted, and sour — have not even a suggestion of what those golden balls are that weigh down the great, glossy, green branches of yonder tree." W. J. PURMAN. John A. Macdonald. From the report of Hon. D. Eagan, Commissioner of Lands and Immigration, State of Florida : ORANGE COUNTY. This county is bounded on the south by Brevard, on the west by Polk, Sumter, and Marion, and on the east and north by Volusia county. Concerning its soil and resources a correspondent of the Jacksonville Republican of a recent date furnishes the following particulars, which we have taken pains to verify as correct: " This section is now universally recognized as the best in Florida for the cultivation of the orange, in view of exemp- tion from injurious frosts, accessibility to market, and facili- ties of transportation ; the county is more rapidly filling up with settlers from the north and west than any in the State, and is destined to be the great source of supply for this de- licious fruit, which commands now three-fold the price of the Havana orange. "The population of Orange county is about 3,000, nearly all white. The neighborhood is composed mainly of settlers from Northern and Southern States, and a hearty and kindly welcome is extended to new-comers. Touching its health- fulness, Col. B. F. Whitner, a near resident, and an author- ity on the subject, in a recent letter to the Cincinnati Com- meicial, says : ' People from your country, or any other, can move to the healthy portions of Orange county with perfect safety, at any season, if they do not contract disease on the route. There is no healthier region on the face of the earth than the more salubrious portions of Orange county — spring, summer, autumn, or winter, and no country can boast of a superior climate the year round. * * * It is elevated, healthy, and beautiful. Hundreds of deep, pure, clear, health-restoring lakes of all sizes, from a few rods to several miles in diameter, embellish the scene,'" &c, &c. Extracts from Florida Newspapers in Relation to Orange Culture. From " Jacksonville Tri- Weekly Union." But here in Florida we have the "Mandarin"" quite near, if not in perfection. My friend from Messeua said: "You have a finer garden for oranges than there is in all Italy. You have no more cold; you have all conditions of success that the Italians have, and you have all the ingredients handy to make just the soil the orange likes. All you want to do is to use the same care the Italians do, and your State will grow rich in ten years out of its fruits alone." From " South Florida Journal." I have said that in this country fortunes — princely estates — may be realized. Let us see how this is. Suppose not more than 1,000 oranges per tree may be counted on. Now, if there are even no more than fifty-six trees to the acre, then we will have at least 56,000 oranges, or (at two cents apiece, which is the price paid for them at the wharf in Mellonville,) the sum of $1,120 per acre. But, to he absolutely within limits, beyond any doubts whatever, suppose again this sum be halved; this gives $560 p er aC re. A grove, then, say of five acres, may be relied upon for au income of, at least, $2,- 800 ; one of ten acres — a very pretty and the usual size — for an income of §5,600 per annum. A grove of fifteen acres would, of course, pay proportionately more. But if attention and cultivation be faithful, the grove of five acres will, in all probability, yield yearly $5,600; that often $11,- 200! And groves thus tended, will bear such crops for a century at least, if not longer! Can there be any sounder, safer, surer investment in the world ? Include, in addition to this, two or three thousand bananas, bearing bunches worth usually $1, certainly fifty cents, per bunch, and it is easy to see how profits would increase, as both bananas and oranges grew older and multiplied. The expense of starting a grove is not very great. To clear and plant out a place of five acres would cost something like this : Five acres of land, at from $25 to $100 per acre, from $125 to $500 Grubbing and clearing 250 to 250 280 trees, three to four years old 280 to 560 Setting out trees 140 to 210 One mule 150 to 175 One cart 50 to 50 Utensils, say 50 to 75 Palings, enclosing place 200 to 200 Provender for mule, 1 year 100 to 100 This gives a total of from $1,345 to 2,120 I think the figures may be relied upon. A grove of ten or fifteen acres would cost proportionately more to start. A plain and neat, but comfortable dwelling and stable, iuclud- ing kitchen, &c, may be built for from $800 to $2,000. Living here is cheap, notwithstanding good health and tre- mendous appetites, and labor may be obtained on reasonable terms. From "jPalatka Herald.' 1 ' 1 Hart's grove, just opposite Palatka, has only four hundred trees, sweet seedling, occupying four acres, produces an av- erage of two thousand per tree, and brought Mr. Hart every year from $9,000 to $12,000. But persons planting the seed for seedling trees should be careful in selecting the seed from seedling and not budded trees, for the latter is not reliable, often producing sour oranges. From "Jacksonville Union." The orange grove at Welaka, belonging to Fenwick & Hale, shows conclusively that an investment in an orange grove is profitable. Many seem to think it useless to plant a grove, believing it requires at least eight years to obtain fruit therefrom. This is an error. They have trees bearing, three years budded, with full crops, and others bearing from two years' buds. It has also been demonstrated, by Mrs. Crolly, of this city, and by Mr. Hendricks, across the river, that seedlings will bear fruit at the age of four years. Many persons have held to the opinion that they must go at least as far South as Enterprise, New Smyrna, or to Indian River, in order to escape frost; but any person who will start from Mrs. Mitchell's grove, near this city, and follow up the east side of the river, see the groves at Mandarin, Dr. Moore's at Julington, estate of Patterson opposite Green Cove Springs, the grove at old Picolata, the Orange Mill groves, and smaller groves through to Lake George, will be convinced that they are a success on the Lower St. Johns. From " St. Augustine Examiner.'' 1 Again, " I am convinced the seedling makes the most durable tree, and the most luscious fruit. It is true fruit may be had from the budded tree in from two to four years, when it requires from four to six for the seedling to bear. A grove of seedling trees fifteen years old should average 1,500 to 2,000 oranges to each tree, and these sell readily from one and a half to two cents each, purchaser paying for picking and packing. This would give from twenty-two and a half to forty dollars per tree per annum. 1 have seen trees said to have been one hundred years old that yielded annually from 7,000 to 10,000 marketable oranges. Can the same space be made to give a greater return in money value for the same outlay of capital and labor?" From report of the Commissioner of Lands and Immi- gration : Figs, olives, bananas, plantains, guavas, grow with little care. The pine apple requires nursing in Orange, but its high rate in the market would more than repay the thrift. Chinese tea might be introduced on hammock land and would do well. Limes, lemons, shaddocks, grape fruit, all the citrus family grow vigorously and without care. Orange. — The Florida orange is the finest as well as the largest fruit of the orange species. One who has not tasted it ripe from its native tree does not properly know the true spicy flavor of the fruit. Sweet seedlings cost from 25 cents at two year to $2 at five; they can be set out in lake-margin muck in the pine forest, for this tree loves a little shade, and requires attention when young. At seven years they begin to bear; at twelve or thirteen they are in maturity, but go on increasing in fruitfulness for a hundred years. Sour stocks bought at fifteen cents and budded begin to bear in three years. Major Whitner, of Mellon ville, has au orchard five years old which yields an income of $1,500 to $2,000 annually. An acre in bearing yields a net revenue of $1,000 to $2,000 per annum. Dealers pay at Christmas $2 per box of 100, and a tree yields from 1,000 to 2,000; some times old trees as high as 10,000. The profit of orange growing is easily seen, for the market is iuexhaustible. * * # # One tree alone is quite a fortune to the simple herdsman, bearing as it does 3,000 to 4,000 oranges. The best fruit is there. The shaddock attains great size, and the lemons as large as pippins. From " Occda Banner." The Ocala Banner has been informed that "from fifteen trees, which have hitherto been prized almost solely as orna- ments to his grounds, Rev. James B. Owens estimates his crop of oranges this season at thirty thousand, and he has already shipped a large quantity to Jacksonville and other markets. These trees were grown on open pine land, remote from either water or forest protection." Mr. J. W. Jeffords, of Clear Water Harbor, formerly a resident of this county, has sold his crop of oranges, which comprise less than an acre, for $1,500. A geutleman living near there tells us that from a single tree he gathered 6,500 oranges and from his small grove of less than three-quarters of an acre he gathered over 60,000 last season. From "Jacksonville Republican. " Large Oranges. — Florida has been prolific in large oranges this season. We have noted several specimens in these col- umns. On Tuesday some were on sale in a market-boat, sent in by Mr. John R. Geiger, from his place, near Manda- rin. Many of them measured fifteen inches in circumference, weighing one and a quarter pounds. Mr. Geiger has sent a line lot of oranges to market, grown on his own place. We have received from Mr. J. L. Colee, some of the finest specimens of oranges that we have seen anywhere in this vicinity. They come from his grove, four miles from Pico- lata, on the St. John's. They average twelve inches in cir- cumference, the trees only six years old. Mr. Colee has paid great attention to the propagation of the orange, and we doubt if there can be fouud anywhere in this vicinity a finer grove, for its size and the age of the trees. From " Jacksonville Republican." " Thursday morning opened balmy and delicious, and an hour's run of the steamer carried the party to Major Rem- bert's orange grove, on Drayton island, at the entrance to Lake George, in olden time the property of John C. Calhoun. "The party were welcomed with true old-time hospitality by the proprietor, who at once gave a cordial invitation to all to partake of the tempting golden fruit, which caught the eye in every direction. Several varieties of oranges — notably the ' Golden Angel' — were pronounced the finest of the season, and incapable of being surpassed anywhere. "A number of lemon trees, the especial glory of the place, were loaded with fruit of wonderful size and beauty, from which the Major kindly selected some of the finest specimens for the ladies." * * * ■ , * " The signs of recent improvements became more frequent, and, pleasantly located on a gradual ascent, the homestead of Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher was pointed out, with a thrifty grove of young orange trees along its front. Tropical Fruit Culture. — The Augusta Constitutionalist says: " We understand that a company has been formed in this city for the cultivation of tropical fruit, and is in treaty 9 for a tract of six hundred and forty acres of land at Biscayne Bay, at the southeastern extremity of Florida. This tract was a military post during the Florida war, and has now growing on it a large number of fruit trees, viz: Banana, plantain, cocoanut, orange, lime, lemon, bread fruit, date, guava, mango, and others too numerous to mention. Among the most prominent persons who have engaged in Orange culture in Florida, are: Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Rev Charles Beecher. Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. H. S. Sandford, late Minister to Belgium. Gen. Van Valkenburg, of N. Y. Ingram Fletcher, Esq., of Indianapolis, Ind. Hon. Charles St. John, M. C, of N. Y. Dr. Schenek, of Philadelphia. A. J. French, Esq., of Wisconsin. George W. Wylly, of Savannah, Ga. J. G. Morris, of Ohio. Win. B. Randolph, Esq., of N. 0. Geo. W. Weiser, of Steubenville, Ohio. Frederick De Bary, of New York City. Aud many others. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS """'""'"■ hi >l I III I ,' | III |l 000 917 820 ft Q