Dr. Hughes and his wife were Citrus Research Pioneers.
Hall Of Fame Inductee Orlando Citrus Research Pioneer 1st Woman To Be Honored
February 03, 1986
By Jerry Jackson of The Sentinel Staff
Lena Smithers Hughes of Orlando, a citrus grower who helped develop one of the most widely used Florida citrus strains, will become the first woman to be named to the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame. She will be inducted Feb. 10 at the Hall of Fame banquet during the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Three other citrus research pioneers and a prominent cattle breeder, all from Polk County, also will be inducted.
Mrs. Hughes and her late husband, agriculture research chemist Ausker E. Hughes, developed several varieties of orange seedlings in the 1930s and early 1940s, including a Valencia strain destined to become the most popular source of Valencia budwood.
When Hughes died in 1944, Mrs. Hughes continued the work. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, the Hughes Nucellar Valencia budline would account for 60 percent of all Valencias propagated in Florida by the 1982-83 citrus season.
In his history book Countdown for Agriculture in Orange County Florida, author Henry Swanson wrote that the Valencia seedlings developed by the Hughes family ''would become world-famous in the late 1950s as virus-free sources of budwood'' under the state's citrus budwood certification program.
Mrs. Hughes used money from the sale of budwood from her trees to establish the Hughes Memorial Foundation, which has provided scholarships since 1960 for more than 20 citrus students at Florida Southern College and the University of Florida.
The Hughes family groves at Plymouth, near the Errol Estate development, were killed by the recent freezes that devastated about 200,000 acres in Florida. Mrs. Hughes said she has no plans to replant.
''I can't think of replanting at my age,'' she said.
The citrus business will never be the same in Central Florida, she said, not only because of the freezes, but also because of the growing urban pressures. Land is too expensive for would-be growers, and those who are still in the business can't afford land to expand, so they preside over a steadily shrinking number of acres.
Hall Of Fame Inductee Orlando Citrus Research Pioneer 1st Woman To Be Honored
February 03, 1986
By Jerry Jackson of The Sentinel Staff
Lena Smithers Hughes of Orlando, a citrus grower who helped develop one of the most widely used Florida citrus strains, will become the first woman to be named to the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame. She will be inducted Feb. 10 at the Hall of Fame banquet during the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Three other citrus research pioneers and a prominent cattle breeder, all from Polk County, also will be inducted.
Mrs. Hughes and her late husband, agriculture research chemist Ausker E. Hughes, developed several varieties of orange seedlings in the 1930s and early 1940s, including a Valencia strain destined to become the most popular source of Valencia budwood.
When Hughes died in 1944, Mrs. Hughes continued the work. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, the Hughes Nucellar Valencia budline would account for 60 percent of all Valencias propagated in Florida by the 1982-83 citrus season.
In his history book Countdown for Agriculture in Orange County Florida, author Henry Swanson wrote that the Valencia seedlings developed by the Hughes family ''would become world-famous in the late 1950s as virus-free sources of budwood'' under the state's citrus budwood certification program.
Mrs. Hughes used money from the sale of budwood from her trees to establish the Hughes Memorial Foundation, which has provided scholarships since 1960 for more than 20 citrus students at Florida Southern College and the University of Florida.
The Hughes family groves at Plymouth, near the Errol Estate development, were killed by the recent freezes that devastated about 200,000 acres in Florida. Mrs. Hughes said she has no plans to replant.
''I can't think of replanting at my age,'' she said.
The citrus business will never be the same in Central Florida, she said, not only because of the freezes, but also because of the growing urban pressures. Land is too expensive for would-be growers, and those who are still in the business can't afford land to expand, so they preside over a steadily shrinking number of acres.
Dr. Hughes and his wife were Citrus Research Pioneers.
Hall Of Fame Inductee Orlando Citrus Research Pioneer 1st Woman To Be Honored
February 03, 1986
By Jerry Jackson of The Sentinel Staff
Lena Smithers Hughes of Orlando, a citrus grower who helped develop one of the most widely used Florida citrus strains, will become the first woman to be named to the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame. She will be inducted Feb. 10 at the Hall of Fame banquet during the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Three other citrus research pioneers and a prominent cattle breeder, all from Polk County, also will be inducted.
Mrs. Hughes and her late husband, agriculture research chemist Ausker E. Hughes, developed several varieties of orange seedlings in the 1930s and early 1940s, including a Valencia strain destined to become the most popular source of Valencia budwood.
When Hughes died in 1944, Mrs. Hughes continued the work. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, the Hughes Nucellar Valencia budline would account for 60 percent of all Valencias propagated in Florida by the 1982-83 citrus season.
In his history book Countdown for Agriculture in Orange County Florida, author Henry Swanson wrote that the Valencia seedlings developed by the Hughes family ''would become world-famous in the late 1950s as virus-free sources of budwood'' under the state's citrus budwood certification program.
Mrs. Hughes used money from the sale of budwood from her trees to establish the Hughes Memorial Foundation, which has provided scholarships since 1960 for more than 20 citrus students at Florida Southern College and the University of Florida.
The Hughes family groves at Plymouth, near the Errol Estate development, were killed by the recent freezes that devastated about 200,000 acres in Florida. Mrs. Hughes said she has no plans to replant.
''I can't think of replanting at my age,'' she said.
The citrus business will never be the same in Central Florida, she said, not only because of the freezes, but also because of the growing urban pressures. Land is too expensive for would-be growers, and those who are still in the business can't afford land to expand, so they preside over a steadily shrinking number of acres.
Hall Of Fame Inductee Orlando Citrus Research Pioneer 1st Woman To Be Honored
February 03, 1986
By Jerry Jackson of The Sentinel Staff
Lena Smithers Hughes of Orlando, a citrus grower who helped develop one of the most widely used Florida citrus strains, will become the first woman to be named to the Florida Agriculture Hall of Fame. She will be inducted Feb. 10 at the Hall of Fame banquet during the Florida State Fair in Tampa.
Three other citrus research pioneers and a prominent cattle breeder, all from Polk County, also will be inducted.
Mrs. Hughes and her late husband, agriculture research chemist Ausker E. Hughes, developed several varieties of orange seedlings in the 1930s and early 1940s, including a Valencia strain destined to become the most popular source of Valencia budwood.
When Hughes died in 1944, Mrs. Hughes continued the work. According to the Florida Department of Agriculture, the Hughes Nucellar Valencia budline would account for 60 percent of all Valencias propagated in Florida by the 1982-83 citrus season.
In his history book Countdown for Agriculture in Orange County Florida, author Henry Swanson wrote that the Valencia seedlings developed by the Hughes family ''would become world-famous in the late 1950s as virus-free sources of budwood'' under the state's citrus budwood certification program.
Mrs. Hughes used money from the sale of budwood from her trees to establish the Hughes Memorial Foundation, which has provided scholarships since 1960 for more than 20 citrus students at Florida Southern College and the University of Florida.
The Hughes family groves at Plymouth, near the Errol Estate development, were killed by the recent freezes that devastated about 200,000 acres in Florida. Mrs. Hughes said she has no plans to replant.
''I can't think of replanting at my age,'' she said.
The citrus business will never be the same in Central Florida, she said, not only because of the freezes, but also because of the growing urban pressures. Land is too expensive for would-be growers, and those who are still in the business can't afford land to expand, so they preside over a steadily shrinking number of acres.
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