care be taken to avoid bruising or injuring the fruit in any way while handling. Oranges thus harvested and wrapped in paper and kept at a low temperature will keep for weeks and even months, and still be edible and nourishing. This property of the orange makes it possible to supply the markets of the world practically throughout the entire year with one of the most delicious and nutritious of fruits. In former years the orange was regarded as a luxury, but at the present time it is a staple article of diet even for people in moderate circumstances, and is often eaten by those who are poor. In Fig. 53 is given a typical illustration of a California orange grove.
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Fig. 53.—An Edge of a California Orange Grove.—(Bureau of Plant Industry.)
The culture of the orange has demanded the highest agricultural and scientific skill, and perhaps there is no crop produced to which greater attention has been paid. In Florida, especially, the oranges are grown on soil which is not much more than poor sand, and hence the scientific feeding of the trees, that is, the fertilization of the soil in which they grow, is necessary to success. As a result of this application of science luxuriant crops of oranges are found growing upon sandy soil which without scientific treatment would be almost barren. The soils in southern California, on the other hand, are very rich in natural plant food, but this does not obviate the necessity of scientific manuring. Oranges grow throughout the year in tropical and semi-tropical regions. It is considered by connoisseurs, however, that the oranges grown in the semi-tropical regions, that is far enough north for a little frost to come during the winter, but without a sufficient degree of cold to injure the trees, are of better quality than those grown in tropical regions where frost is unknown.
