Orange Blossoms and Fruit, Los Angeles, California

Here you are standing within a few feet of an orange tree. It is impossible for you to tell whether it is midsummer, midwinter, spring, or autumn. You are used to seeing blooms early in the spring. You do not expect to see fruit on the trees you know, until midsummer or autumn. But here we have fruit and flowers on the same tree at the same time. Observe how thickly the oranges grow. What blossoms do you know that most resemble these? The orange is probably a native of Indo-China. Its cultivation spread westward into Syria and Palestine. From there it was taken to the countries of southern Europe. Finally the Spanish missionaries brought it to Florida, and later to California. The fruit of the wild orange is sour and small. Long years of cultivation and selection have produced the fine large varieties we know. Oranges are now grown in Asia Minor, Italy, Spain, northern Africa, the West Indies, Brazil, Paraguay, Florida, and California. Florida and California perhaps produce the highest type of fruit. Oranges rank third in importance among our tree fruits. The orange crop according to the census of 1910, amounted to $17,566,464. After the trees are set out, it is from 5 to 10 years before they begin to bear. They produce fruit, however, until they are about a century old. There is considerable risk in raising oranges. Even in the sheltered valleys of southern California and on the coast of Florida, frosts occasionally come. To safeguard against such danger, most orchards are equipped with heating systems. Sometimes these consist of hot water pipes; and in others, petroleum is burned. Keystone ID: 4300 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.