Millions of acres of the best land in Florida are covered with groves of the wild orange. How these groves originated is a mooted question. Some suppose that the tree is indigenous on the peninsula; but as no mention is made of it by the narrators of the early Spanish exploring expeditions, and as it is a matter of history that the orange was introduced by the first colonists nearly three hundred years ago, it seems probable that it is of foreign origin, especially as the fruit is known to deteriorate very rapidly and to return readily to its natural wildness, seedlings of the best varieties generally proving worthless. Be their origin what it may, the present existence of these groves has an important bearing upon the prosperity of the State, as we shall see.

The wild orange of Florida is of two kinds - the sour and the bitter sweet.

Neither of them is palatable. The tree is very beautiful - far more beautiful than the cultivated varieties - and exceedingly productive. A grove loaded with its golden fruit is a sight one may afford to travel hundreds of miles to see.