🔎 UNIDENTIFIED Tampa Florida 1911 medal?

[Casey13]

Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone could figure out what these were used for. I found 5 of them last year metal detecting in the woods behind my work and found another one today on lunch. The old aerial maps show a cleared field there back in the early 50s. That's the earliest aerial I can find. I wasn't sure if they put these medals on the orange trees from a fair back then because I live an hour north of Tampa. I have found a few orange trees close to that location though.
Thanks for looking!

 

[fyrffytr1]

You might contact the society and see what they have to say. They may be tags from trees that were raised by them.

American Pomological Society – Established in 1848

www.americanpomological.org

 

[crashbandicoot]

Edible fruit from like Orange and apple trees are called pomes.Fits in with your orange tree location and fyrffytr1,s ID. Would probably have been on seedlings raised by them and planted there.

 

[Casey13]

You might contact the society and see what they have to say. They may be tags from trees that were raised by them.

American Pomological Society – Established in 1848

www.americanpomological.org

Thank you!! I will look in to that and try to reach out to them.

 

[Casey13]

Edible fruit from like Orange and apple trees are called pomes.Fits in with your orange tree location and fyrffytr1,s ID. Would probably have been on seedlings raised by them and planted there.

That's very true and what I believe!

 

[Red-Coat]

Interesting finds. Those for sure will be tags from commercially grown orange trees.

The "Lue Gim Gong" referred to on the reverse was a type of orange tree named after the Chinese-American horticulturalist of that name who first produced it. He was also known as the "The Citrus Wizard" and remembered for his contribution to the orange-growing industry in Florida. In 1888 he cross-pollinated the "Harts late" Valencia and "Mediterranean Sweet" orange varieties to create sweet fruit with frost-tolerance. The variety was awarded the Silver Wilder Medal by the American Pomological Society in 1911, so that’s what the reference on the obverse is about.

The "Lue Gim Gong" orange was originally thought to be a hybrid, but later found to be a nucellar seedling of the "Valencia" variety, properly called the "'Lue Gim Gong Strain". It’s still grown today but generally now referred to as “Valencia".

The variety was originally commercially grown and distributed by Glen St. Mary Nurseries as per the reference on the reverse. The nurseries were originally founded by George Taber Sr. in 1882 as a cattle and potato farm, but soon shifted focus to peaches and other fruits and plants. Taber then began experimenting with freeze-resistant citrus plants after the devastating freezes of 1894-95 and found the sale of surplus trees to be a profitable business, incorporating as the Glen Saint Mary Nurseries Company in 1907. The hard freezes in north Florida forced many citrus growers further south and the company gradually turned its attention to ornamental landscape plants; notably azaleas.

 

[dozer dan]

History – Glen Saint Mary Wholesale Nursery

www.gsmnurseries.com

authenticity tag for fruit trees. Jackson and Perkins aka Harry and David put a similar tag on all their rose bushes they sold.

 

[Casey13]

Interesting finds. Those for sure will be tags from commercially grown orange trees.

The "Lue Gim Gong" referred to on the reverse was a type of orange tree named after the Chinese-American horticulturalist of that name who first produced it. He was also known as the "The Citrus Wizard" and remembered for his contribution to the orange-growing industry in Florida. In 1888 he cross-pollinated the "Harts late" Valencia and "Mediterranean Sweet" orange varieties to create sweet fruit with frost-tolerance. The variety was awarded the Silver Wilder Medal by the American Pomological Society in 1911, so that’s what the reference on the obverse is about.

The "Lue Gim Gong" orange was originally thought to be a hybrid, but later found to be a nucellar seedling of the "Valencia" variety, properly called the "'Lue Gim Gong Strain". It’s still grown today but generally now referred to as “Valencia".

The variety was originally commercially grown and distributed by Glen St. Mary Nurseries as per the reference on the reverse. The nurseries were originally founded by George Taber Sr. in 1882 as a cattle and potato farm, but soon shifted focus to peaches and other fruits and plants. Taber then began experimenting with freeze-resistant citrus plants after the devastating freezes of 1894-95 and found the sale of surplus trees to be a profitable business, incorporating as the Glen Saint Mary Nurseries Company in 1907. The hard freezes in north Florida forced many citrus growers further south and the company gradually turned its attention to ornamental landscape plants; notably azaleas.

Interesting finds. Those for sure will be tags from commercially grown orange trees.

The "Lue Gim Gong" referred to on the reverse was a type of orange tree named after the Chinese-American horticulturalist of that name who first produced it. He was also known as the "The Citrus Wizard" and remembered for his contribution to the orange-growing industry in Florida. In 1888 he cross-pollinated the "Harts late" Valencia and "Mediterranean Sweet" orange varieties to create sweet fruit with frost-tolerance. The variety was awarded the Silver Wilder Medal by the American Pomological Society in 1911, so that’s what the reference on the obverse is about.

The "Lue Gim Gong" orange was originally thought to be a hybrid, but later found to be a nucellar seedling of the "Valencia" variety, properly called the "'Lue Gim Gong Strain". It’s still grown today but generally now referred to as “Valencia".

The variety was originally commercially grown and distributed by Glen St. Mary Nurseries as per the reference on the reverse. The nurseries were originally founded by George Taber Sr. in 1882 as a cattle and potato farm, but soon shifted focus to peaches and other fruits and plants. Taber then began experimenting with freeze-resistant citrus plants after the devastating freezes of 1894-95 and found the sale of surplus trees to be a profitable business, incorporating as the Glen Saint Mary Nurseries Company in 1907. The hard freezes in north Florida forced many citrus growers further south and the company gradually turned its attention to ornamental landscape plants; notably azaleas.

Thank you so much for researching all this information Red-coat!! Thats really cool they are still grown today.

 

[Casey13]

History – Glen Saint Mary Wholesale Nursery

www.gsmnurseries.com

authenticity tag for fruit trees. Jackson and Perkins aka Harry and David put a similar tag on all their rose bushes they sold.

Thank you! I wasn't sure if it was a tag for the tree or for someone to wear lol.

 

[Bramblefind]

This promotion from 1932 gives some additional history of the company and tells how they moved their operations to Winter Haven. There was also a merger with the "Buckeye Nurseries of Tampa" in 1924.

If you do a deeper dive further into the history of the location you found these I bet you could figure out why they are there

 

[crashbandicoot]

Interesting finds. Those for sure will be tags from commercially grown orange trees.

The "Lue Gim Gong" referred to on the reverse was a type of orange tree named after the Chinese-American horticulturalist of that name who first produced it. He was also known as the "The Citrus Wizard" and remembered for his contribution to the orange-growing industry in Florida. In 1888 he cross-pollinated the "Harts late" Valencia and "Mediterranean Sweet" orange varieties to create sweet fruit with frost-tolerance. The variety was awarded the Silver Wilder Medal by the American Pomological Society in 1911, so that’s what the reference on the obverse is about.

The "Lue Gim Gong" orange was originally thought to be a hybrid, but later found to be a nucellar seedling of the "Valencia" variety, properly called the "'Lue Gim Gong Strain". It’s still grown today but generally now referred to as “Valencia".

The variety was originally commercially grown and distributed by Glen St. Mary Nurseries as per the reference on the reverse. The nurseries were originally founded by George Taber Sr. in 1882 as a cattle and potato farm, but soon shifted focus to peaches and other fruits and plants. Taber then began experimenting with freeze-resistant citrus plants after the devastating freezes of 1894-95 and found the sale of surplus trees to be a profitable business, incorporating as the Glen Saint Mary Nurseries Company in 1907. The hard freezes in north Florida forced many citrus growers further south and the company gradually turned its attention to ornamental landscape plants; notably azaleas.

And there you have it! Thanks Red-Coat!

 

[Casey13]

This promotion from 1932 gives some additional history of the company and tells how they moved their operations to Winter Haven. There was also a merger with the "Buckeye Nurseries of Tampa" in 1924.

If you do a deeper dive further into the history of the location you found these I bet you could figure out why they are there

Thank you for finding this promotion!! It really gives a lot of information about what went on. I'm going to do some research and see what went on in the area. It's all woods now but at one time in was a cleared field, I also found a old peice of a plow out there yesterday.