GIGANTIC FRUIT CROPS.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9441, 11 May 1909, Page 6

GIGANTIC FRUIT CROPS.

A good idea of the ’size and importance of the fruit crops of California is given by a correspondent of the Times. The orange crop of California is the greatest in the world. This year it amounted to 25,000 car-loads, and was worth approximately £6,000,000. The lemon orup was estimated at 5000 car-loads. There are now in California 100,000 acres of orange trees. The returns from a citrus orchard, well cultivated properly cared for, often exceed £IOO per acre. One ten-acre orchard, planted with the most valuable variety of oranges has for years yielded a return of £l2O per acre. When great care and skill are exercised, lemons are even more profitable. A 20 acre lemon orchard in one year returned gross receipts of £8740, from which a profit of £2300 was obtained. The best citrus lands readily sell at from £IOO to £4OO an acre. The old methods of packing fruit roughly in oases, barrels, an sacks are gone for ever, and the beet; packing houses take great oare to make the fruit as clean and presentable as possible. In one of those establishments the fruit goes through a series of machines before it is nailed up by an automatic nailer in. the box wherein it is to make its journey to - the consumer. It is cleaned by brushes, sorted according to weight and size, and wrapped in tissue paper bearing the name of the house. Even greater care is taken; with lemons, owing to their susceptibility to decay if they are injured in fcl;p slightest in handling. In some orchards gloves are used in handling loraons, and the fruit is always cut, and never pulled. The harvesting of these huge crops is the greatest industrial* event of California, tens of thousands of people be>ng required to handle the immense quantities.