Orange : Fruit of Life

once upon a time long long ago on the South it was a little patch of ground no bigger than this this small patch of ground was blessed with rain and bright sunshine one day a miracle occurred the first orange was born while the Sun smiled gently down the little orange tree grew and its seeds were carried far and wide thus the orange tree multiplied and spread throughout the land and before you can say Marco Polo the orange had become a part of life and the fame of this delicious health-giving fruit spread throughout all Asia with the help of trading caravans Phoenician sailors roman soldiers and the Crusaders 5,000 years passed as this wonderful was carried from the Orient to Indian to Persia to northern Africa and finally to Spain in 1493 on his second trip to the New World Columbus brought several varieties of citrus to Hispaniola and the Spanish who like sweet things spread its glory around the Caribbean in 1579 the good ship Clementina sailed into st. Augustine Florida bearing proudly to our shores that golden treasure the re here in this historic setting is the oldest buttered orange grove in America it was here in and around st. Augustine Florida during the days of Spanish rule but the orange had its beginning on this continent the 16th century is remembered for many gifts to the new world but few can compare with the enjoyment and good health this golden fruit has passed on from generation to generation since its original planting here in the year of 1579 nurtured by the rich Florida sunshine and pampered by her gentle winters these first plantings prospered and spread following the Sun into the nearby wilderness all of our first Americans the Indian proud master of the wilderness the original played us throughout the land which was to become the state of indeed the Indian whose reber son is legend honored the orange with the supreme compliment of his race bestowing upon at the title Sundrop believing that as the Sun was the giver of life the orange was the fruit of life and therefore a part of the glorious Sun itself a Sun Drop years passed taking with the glory of the Florida red man leaving wild orange groves as his living monuments by 1800 these plantings centered around st. Augustine Tampa Bay and along the st. Johns River 18-21 saw the end of Spanish rule in the New World when Florida was annexed by the young United States settlers from the North began the rapid expansion of citrus culture before the Civil War these early growers first shipped fruit by boats for sale in northern cities the close of the Civil War marked the beginning of a rapid development for Florida citrus in 1886 the crop reached for the first time a volume of 1 million boxes production had reached 5 million boxes when the great freeze of 1895 wrecked the industry by the next year production had dropped back to only 150 thousand boxes it looked as though the orange was not to bless the young nation the gay 90's was a decade of despair for the orange the northern section of Florida was finished as a major citrus area the industry moved to Central Florida it was not until nineteen ten that the Florida crop again reached five million boxes from there it continued to grow until in nineteen twenty more than ten million boxes were harvested nevertheless only with the birth of the 20th century did it appear the industry might permanently recover yes the orange has come a long long way since its birth on that plane in eight so many centuries ago in the 30s the orange was becoming an accepted part of the American Way of life but it was not until nineteen forty-five that the orange industry broke loose from the restraint imposed by seasons and perishability the development of frozen our aims concentrate I Minute Maid overnight captured the Sun God contained in this nerve throughout the year with the advent of modern times the Florida source industry had become a giant producing over One X's of fruit each year the red man Sundrop was now the fruit of health to the millions who had inherited his land these are the finest groves in the world Florida orange groves millions upon millions of glorious trees billions of golden oranges beautiful delicious oranges laden with vitamin C another vital health giving error are 12 fresh oranges yes the juice of a dozen oranges in our little frozen block only two inches wide nothing is that only the natural water is removed you just put the water back to get all the fresh flavor all the vitamins and nourishing food value of freshly picked oranges beans to this is something that has to be seen to be believed let's find out how it's done come with me and see how Minute Maid the world's largest producer of frozen orange concentrate transforms those 12 golden spheres into one little six ounce can of concentrated health and energy after passing maturity tests to ensure high quality the fruit is unloaded onto the conveyor belts which carry it into the plant anyone for a bath I can assure you there never was a cleaner mother's darling and away they go skipping along on their way to the graters only premium oranges get past these graders who's experienced eyes see them my nudist flaw high speed extractors have the oranges and gently remove the rich vitamin pack juice here's the process of concentration where only water is removed juice leaving all the vital health benefits intact this is the basic step which emphasizes the Grove fresh taste of frozen concentrate unprocessed freshly extracted juice is blended with golden syrupy concentrate in these huge tanks liquid with all the bouquet of the freshly squeezed juice flows through special refrigeration equipments and is cooled by quick freezing z of sherbet just prior to packaging and now the final step when the rich golden magic liquid is poured into the millions of steam sterilized cans eventually to find their way to you and to millions of others in homes throughout the nation the orange because of its delicate and health-giving contents is always pampered and treated in a manner worthy of its star billing evilman of the United States plays a part in assuring the capture of the sun-god inspectors from the US Department of Agriculture take samples of the freshly made concentrate every hour for careful analysis citrus scientists play their part to assuring your wealth of vitamin C the year-round miracle vitamin is essential for strong healthy for sturdy bones healthy tissue and for proper growth