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Lui Gim Gong: Chinese “Citrus Wizard” in USA |
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Lui Gim Gong, a famous horticulturist developed varieties of oranges and other citrus fruits suited to Florida’s climate. He was born in a village near Canton, China in the year 1859. At the age of 12, he accompanied his uncle to San Francisco. After a short stay there, he moved to North Adams, Massachusetts where he worked in a shoe factory. He fell ill there and was nursed back to health by Fanny Burlingame, daughter of a local farmer. Soon after, he accepted Christianity and American citizenship. He went back to China in 1884 to meet his mother. On his return to the States he moved to Florida along with Fanny as the winter of Massachusetts was too severe for him to cope after his illness. Fanny and her sister owned a farm in Florida where Lui began to experiment with citrus fruits assisted by William Dumville, Fanny’s brother in law. But most of the trees succumbed to the frost in the first year. But Lui continued with his experiments. He had some knowledge of pollination techniques which he had learnt from his family in China. In Florida he also learnt the technique of cross pollination in Citrus sp. by observing bees. By 1888, Lui had produced a new orange variety by crossing “Harts late” Valencia and “Mediterranean Sweet” orange varieties, which was sweet, frost-tolerant and the ripened early too. Four years later, he developed a variety of grapefruit that grew singly on a branch rather than in a clump and also another which had a rich aroma but did not have much juice. “When Fanny died in 1903, she left her property in Florida to Lui.” He was awarded the Silver Wilder Medal from the USDA for his orange (which is still grown in Florida). Though he was a dexterous plant breeder, he lacked business sense and his friends had to help him always to pay his taxes. He died in 1925 and is buried in Oakdale Cemetery. People erected a bust in his memory in 2000. This bust is now in a gazebo in the DeLand House garden. There is also a mural painted in the town to commemorate his memory.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8461255
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/orange.html
http://www.volusia.org/history/luegimgong.htm |
