Texas Times Weekly - Growing Rubies in Texas

Statement

Texas Times Weekly - Growing Rubies in Texas

By: Sen. John Cornyn

Across America, "Season's Greetings" from Texas often means the arrival of the incomparable Ruby Red grapefruit grown in the Rio Grande Valley. This time of year gift boxes of these beauties appear on doorsteps and mounds of them begin filling grocery store displays and farmers markets.

They are labeled with trademarked names like Ruby-Sweet or Rio Star. There are other names as well, but most people simply call them Texas Ruby Reds. No other brand can duplicate the fresh, sweet flavor and juiciness of this seedless grapefruit with deep red color inside.

Citrus agriculture and South Texas were meant for one another. The Valley's subtropical climate with hot days and warm nights, along with well-drained loamy soil, makes it perfect for growing grapefruit and oranges.

But the future of the industry didn't seem so bright at first. In 1904, a respected Florida botanist predicted that citrus growing would never prosper in South Texas because of freezes. That was before the arrival of such citrus pioneers as John H. Shary, who became known as "The Father of the Texas Citrus Industry."

Shary is credited with planting the first large-scale citrus orchard in the Valley in 1915. His irrigation systems turned brush land into viable citrus orchards. He studied citrus packing and marketing, built the first citrus packing plant in the area, and organized the Texas Citrus Fruit Growers Exchange.

The vision of Shary found its destiny with the sharp eye of A. E. Henninger of McAllen. He spotted something new in 1929 - a limb of red grapefruit growing on a pink grapefruit tree. Before then, grapefruit in Texas and elsewhere were either white or pink inside. Five years later, his "Ruby Red" received the first U.S. patent awarded to a grapefruit.

Ruby Reds would revolutionize the citrus industry and put Texas squarely in the middle of it. They became a national success. Today, Texas grows about 200 tons of red grapefruit annually, 15 percent of America's crop. Most of this comes from three counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of Texas - Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy counties.

As the popularity of Ruby Reds skyrocketed, Texas growers and horticulturists continued to perfect the Ruby Red and introduced improved and redder varieties. They also turned to cutting-edge research to help develop hardier trees, thwart pests and tree diseases, and modernize operations. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Citrus Center. It operates in Weslaco, alongside the Texas AgriLIFE Research facility and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Kika de la Garza Research Center.

Prime time for harvesting Texas grapefruit extends from October to May. The Texas Citrus Festival comes at the end of January in Mission. February is National Grapefruit Month.

Grapefruit represent about 70 percent of Texas's citrus crop, most of the rest coming from oranges. Grapefruit juice is an important part of the picture. The economic impact of the citrus industry on the Texas economy totals as high as $150 million to $200 million a year.

The Florida botanist was not completely wrong. South Texas occasionally gets a freeze, plus hurricanes, including Hurricane Dolly earlier this year, but none could end this Texas success story.

Rich color, exceptional flavor, and important health benefits are the hallmarks of Texas red grapefruit. That is why it was officially declared the State Fruit of Texas in 1993. But long before that, everyone who had eaten a Ruby Red already made it the "people's choice" - a taste of Texas to enjoy time and time again.

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