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World of CitrusWorld of CitrusWillits Citrange
Herbert J. Webber; Walter T. Swingle · U.S. Department of Agriculture · 1905 (reprint from the Yearbook of the Department of Agriculture for 1904)
https://archive.org/details/newcitruscreatio00webb (opens in a new tab)
Willits account, printed pp. 229–233; physical scans 23–24 and 31–33, with plate XVI on scan 29. Describes its cross, fruit, and tree and reports historical performance at several sites, including freeze observations. These are source-reported historical observations, not modern replicated trials.
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William S. Castle · American Society for Horticultural Science · January 2010
https://journals.ashs.org/view/journals/hortsci/45/1/article-p11.xml (opens in a new tab)
Castle’s retrospective notes that the 1904 USDA Yearbook described Willits among 40 citranges grown from seed of one fruit, ranked it second for potential value, and initially favored Morton. It later says Willits may merit consideration as a size-controlling rootstock. Printed pp. 12 and 14 (PDF pp. 2 and 4). Publisher endpoint returned 403; full text was inspected in the author-uploaded ResearchGate copy. Historical perspective, not a Willits-specific trial.
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Herbert J. Webber · United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Seed and Plant Introduction and Distribution · 1907-04-18
https://archive.org/details/CAT31443114 (opens in a new tab)
Webber's 1907 Colman description explicitly says Colman fruit color is lighter than Willits. This is a historical comparative statement from the Colman description, not an independent Willits fruit measurement.
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Herbert J. Webber · U.S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry · 1905
https://archive.org/details/CAT31443123 (opens in a new tab)
USDA circular dated February 25, 1905. The text says Webber prepared the circular to accompany trees distributed for preliminary trial; it documents a 1905 distribution notice, not the first shipment date or the later 1906–1907 distributions.
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W. C. Cooper; P. C. Reece; J. R. Furr · Proceedings of the Florida State Horticultural Society · 1962
https://journals.flvc.org/fshs/article/view/100828 (opens in a new tab)
The official proceedings page identifies the article and its 1962 publication. The relevant p. 7 passage was checked in a third-party transcription because the official PDF was inaccessible. Cooper, Reece, and Furr attribute an 1897 cross series to Webber and Swingle and list Willitts among citranges grown from seed of a single Poncirus fruit pollinated by a single Ruby sweet-orange flower. This is a retrospective account, not evidence that one individual made the Willitts cross.
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Herbert J. Webber · United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Plant Life History Investigations · 1909 (reissue of 1905 account)
https://archive.org/details/CAT31443127/page/n1/mode/2up (opens in a new tab)
The 1909 reissue says Morton hybrid No. 771 developed from another seed of the same hybrid fruit as Willits No. 777. It identifies the original fruit as a Trifoliate orange × sweet-orange cross pollinated by Walter T. Swingle at Col. G. H. Norton’s grove in Eustis. This supports the reported pollination of the shared fruit; it does not describe a separate cross for each seedling.
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