CITRUS THE GOLDEN FRUI

over a century ago nuggets in the beds of mountain streams made California famous as the Golden State today more than two hundred years after the mission fathers first brought oranges and lemons to the west colorful harvests of citrus fruits carry on the golden tradition citrus trees have replaced cactus and sagebrush and their blossoms fill the air with unsurpassed fragrance oranges lemons and grapefruit thrive on the slopes which have been changed from semi-desert into a fast garden by waters channeled from mountain streams today Western citrus brings both health and fun all wrapped up by Nature herself in the soft but strong packages which preserve the freshness and health giving elements of oranges lemons and grapefruit until they reach our homes good to look at good to eat though a warm climate is necessary to citrus growth it takes the special combination of sunny days and crisp cool nights of the Western mountain region the fruit it's golden color and rich flavor thousands of acres of groves make citrus a very important part of Western agriculture just look at this the city is moving right into a fine old grove and the orange grower has to move himself and his family out where he has room for today and tomorrow and a lot of tomorrow's to come these groves are located on the foothills of the Sierras which border California's great San Joaquin Valley for many years one of the world's rich citrus areas are two major kinds of oranges in the West so ripe oranges are ready the year round this is summer Valencia's are ripe on the trees believe it or not this is winter the navel crop is ready for market and this is spring Valencia oranges take more than a year to ripen so blossoms and fruit share the same branches and now these two kinds of Western oranges the Valencia which ripens in the summer and the navel which is picked during winter months both get their completely natural brightness from ripening right on the trees it takes from four to five years to bring an orange grove into production just getting the land ready for planting is a big undertaking carried out with large equipment band is cleared and leveled high places are cut down and low places are filled in so that irrigation water will flow evenly all through the Grove in California and Arizona if you waited for rain new young trees would die of thirst before they even got started this is the Ripper with its giant tooth the earth below needs to be loosened so the young tree roots can spread and grow one monster pulls the other pushes a giant tooth breaks the hard ground [Music] young citrus trees start their lives in nurseries where they get a lot of special attention part of this special attention is budding a tiny creative center is hidden in the bud at the base of each leaf these buds are selected from the best branches of the finest trees because the buds determine the quality and quantity of future harvests the bud is placed inside the bark of a young tree called a rootstock seedling itself grown from seed selected to grow strong healthy roots this will be an orange tree by a similar operation we could bud the root stock seedling to produce either lemons or grapefruit a pocket like a kangaroo's pouch already for the new baby their nature takes over from here and in a few weeks see this this fresh green sprig will become the trunk of the full-grown tree the top of the root stock is broken so that the growth energy goes up into the new chute the young trees are finally ready to be set out in new groves this machine was specially designed for the job of handling the young trees so that the soil which protects and feeds the roots will remain firmly in place the burlap sack will decay after the tree is placed in the ground trees are spaced to give each one plenty of room to grow and spread these are much finer trees than those grown in California in the early days they will grow more fruit and better fruit these have been raised with scientific care just as important are the advances in irrigation except for occasional fall and winter rains water comes to the Groves from the winter snows and summer rains which fall upon the West's great mountain ranges the canal supplies the outlets at the upper corner of each grove then the water flows in underground pipes to smaller outlets along the Groves edge water anytime no need to wait for rain the grower can flood these furrows whenever the roots below need moisture sometimes in winter the growers use wind machines to stir up the cold air which might settle in low spots and damage the crop if temperatures fall to lows heaters are lighted to reduce the possibility of injury on the coldest nights the growers work all night snow on the mountains flowers around the ranch house and a Golden Harvest ripe on the trees all at the same time oranges are picked only after they are tree right unlike most other fruit they can remain on the trees in perfect condition for a long time after they are ripe so picking goes on during every season of the year after picking the big job is to get the oranges from the Grove to the market quickly first they go to the packing house with its railroad siding but there's a lot to be done before the cars are loaded these oranges are about to get the bath of their lives warm sudsy water scrub till they Sparkle as they move over spinning brushes now a clear cool shower brass rollers drain off the water and warm air dryers finish the job but being clean and bright still isn't enough sharp-eyed experts look at each orange to make sure that only the best move along to the cartons which will hold the finest grade on their way automatically separated according to size as you see getting oranges to market is much more than hauling them from the Groves to the neighborhood store these are skilled workers and this is typical working speed a packing house turns out thousands of cartons a day and now let's take a look at the lemons lemons are a very important part of a citrus industry the groves protected by wind breaks of taller trees stretch from the shores of the Pacific to the mountain slopes in the mild climate near the coast the lemons grow and ripen the year round so the trees at any time carry lemons in all stages of growth almost every fresh lemon that goes to market comes from California or Arizona in general lemon groves and orange groves are planted and cared for in the same way winter spring summer fall any season is harvest time for lemons lemons increase in juice and flavor after they are picked so when they leave the tree they are hauled to special Lemon packing houses for storage this lemon packing house has three storage floors for the lemons will pass their ripening period in fresh coolness each floor is larger than a football field when ready for market the lemons are brought out to be graded stamped and packed these girls work like a baseball umpire if a lemon can't pass inspection he's out just like that and he might as well not argue after the lemons are separated according to size soft moving belts carry them to the packing cartons this machine automatically counts the lemons which go into each carton now back at the railroad siding we're ready to fill the shipping orders these come in carload Lots the special refrigerated cars each carry about a thousand cartons the cars have ice compartments at each end the fruit stays fresh and cool all the way to market these cars will travel the long steel rails to Eastern markets the tsipras Express will have a special right of way on its cross-country journey throughout the western states big powerful refrigerated trucks go directly from the packing houses to markets in large and small communities but trains and trucks cannot reach the many important overseas markets this is Los Angeles Harbor where each year hundreds of thousands of cartons are loaded into ships which travel the sea ways to ports all over the world this ship is taking on enough lemons to fill a freight train 40 cars long this of course is an American supermarket this is where most of the Western citrus harvest is sold store displays attract the shoppers brother sister mother all with the same idea into the bag next stop will be home and that will be close to the end of the journey for this orange this is the end but this is what oranges were grown for full of flavor and full of vitamin C and full of proto pectins and bioflavonoids these are very big names for very tiny but very valuable health Guardians which are abundant in the meat of fresh citrus fruits health from nature's own attractive and delicious foods and drinks freshly squeezed fruit juices are a delight summer or winter but there are dozens of other ways to use fresh lemons a little lemon adds a lot of flavor to many foods oranges and lemons are like sunshine and winter they make any time fun time all through the year and they are always as close as your neighborhood store in the West oranges lemons and grapefruit ripen in the all year Sun and the fragrance of the groves reminds us of the days when the Spaniards first brought lemons and oranges to California citrus growing and marketing has become a big industry citrus production will continue to increase because more and more millions need more and more fresh healthful fruit everywhere the growers plant thousands of acres of new groves each year they will continue to ship their harvests across the land and across the seven seas beauty and health from a land of sunshine and golden fruit [Music]