5 C's - Citrus

Photo by Thomas Schmied

Photos by Lisa E White

I began the 5 C's of Arizona's economy with Cotton in this blog October 29th and will continue with the other four this week.  Anyone who attended school in Arizona, especially fourth grade, learned the 5 C's.  Citrus has been an important part in the history of Scottsdale (See Orangedale, Dec. 13) especially seen now in the orange grove neighborhoods of Arcadia and Lafayette, shown here, with houses barely visible from the street.  Arizona citrus in the 1930's was primarily grapefruit, but the orange took over during WWII.  Arizona's citrus acreage has gone from nearly 53,000 acres in the 1970's down to about 13,000 now, primarily in Yuma where the remaining packing plant is located.  Now, lemons and tangerines have overtaken orange production in Arizona as they net higher profits.  In the orchards, sweet orange roots are grafted onto sour orange roots because they are more pest and disease resistant.  However, sour ornamental orange trees, whose oranges are only good for orange marmalade, are frequently used in Scottsdale landscaping. The well-trimmed trees with white trunks, green year-round foliage, sweet spring blossoms, bear beautiful orange fruit in the winter.  In 2013, when land and water are so valuable, orange trees may be a landscaping feature, but the citrus industry is a small fraction of the Arizona economy.  Can you name the other three C's?