The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1872-11-21
Fruit.Growing in California.


which has been attended with degree
of success that seems almost incredible.
The orange. almond. olive, lemon, citron,
lime, and English walnut are the fruits
to which attention has been specially di-
rected for some years in the southern
counties, although they grow in many
other parts of the State.
The almond begins to bear ct three
years from the bud, and at five years will
yield twelve pounds to the tree, or 1900
pounds to the acre, which at twents
cents pound would give $240 an acre.
They bear for several years, and at eight
years may be reckoned on for twenty
pounds to the tree, which would give
$400 to the acre. The almonds fall to
the ground when they are ripe the husk
is easily picked off and as the harvest.
time is dry, the shells are bright and
clean.
The olive grows slowly at first, be-
ginning to bear at four years, but does
not yield a full crop until the tenth or
twelfth year. 1t then returns on an
average for the orchard about twenty
five gallons of olives for each tree. 1t is
more profitable to make the fruit into
oil than to pickle it. From five to sew
en- gallons of ripe olives go to one gallon
of oil.
The citron, which bears in four or five
years, is also o profitable crop. 1t is a
struggling, tall shrub three of them in
Los Angeles bore, at four years, without
special care, this year, forty-fve dollars
worth Of fruit.
The lemon, which becomes stately
far-spreading tree, bears in ten years g
valuable crop. 1t is not yet planted in
orchards to great extent; one tree, ter
years DID, which saw IN Los Angeles
yielded 600 lemons one, fifteen years
old, bore two thousand lemons. They
fetch in San Francisco thirty dollars pei
1000.
Last, I come to the orange. "Al
these trees do well, and are profitable,
said an orange cultivator to me- "bu
they don't compare with the orange
when you have a bearing orange orch
ard, it is like finding money in thu
street.
Los Angeles is, at present, the cente
of the orange culture in this State. Th,
tree grows we'll in all Southern Cali
fornia, where water can be had for irri
cation.
Sixty orange trees are commonly
planted to the acre. They may be safel,
transplanted at three or even four years
if care is used to keep the air from tn
roots. They grow from seed and it i
believed in California that grating doe
not change or improve the fruit. 1t be
gins to bear ia from six to eight year
from the seed, and yields crop for mar
ket at ten years.
It is in California, as elsewhere, tire
mendous bearer. At Los Angeles I sa,
two trees in an orchard, one seventee
years old, from which $500 oranges ba
been picked, and it still contained few
another, three years younger, had yield
ed 1000 oranges.
At from ten to twelve years from th
seed the tree usually bears 1000 orange:
and they are selling now in San Fran
cisco for from ten dollars to thirty-fiv
dollars per thousand.
have satisfied myself, by examins
ton of nearly all the bearing orchard
in the southern counties, and by compar
ing the evidence of their owners, that a
fifteen years from the seed or twelv
years from the planting of three-yea
old trees, an orange orchard which ha
been faithfully cared for, and is favor
ably situated, will bear an average {
1000 oranges to the tree. This woul
give, at $40 per 1,000-a low average
product of $1,000 per acre.
One man can cara for 20 acres of sue
an orchard; and every other expens
including picking, boxes, shipping, an
: commissions in San Francisco is covere
by S. per acre. The net profit per acl
would, therefore, be a trit1e less tina
: 5000.
Mr.. Rose has 1000 acres of fine, fai
lying land, well watered, so that he ca
irrigate the whole of it. Twelve hundre
|, acres are under fence, and in cultivatio
and pasture. He raises, as field crop
; barley, wheat, and oats, and keeps
large range for valuable herd of mar
and colts, the latter from three stallion
which he has imported from the Eas
His orchard consists of 400 young bl
bearing orange-trees, 1000 not bearin
. and 2,Oe0 more now being planted; 81
1. lemons, of which so are in bearing
$4,000 vines, from which he made 10C
600 gallons of white wine, and 5000 ga
Ions of brandy, last year; $50 Engli,
walnuts, $50 almonds; and the pla
contains besides, in considerable quaint
= ties, apples, pears, peaches, apricots, ne
: tarines, pomegranates, figs, Spani
S chestnuts and olives.
g He mentioned to me, as part of b
e last years crop, 100000 oranges, 500
: lemons. $4,000 pounds of walnuts, ct
: etc. ...
e He thinks his success due to deep al
l. thorough cultivation, and regular irl
/ CATION. He irrigates all his trees on
a in six weeks, and plows or hoes aft
IS every irrigation. I did not see sing
s. weed or bunch of grass in all his orc
e ards, and such clean culture is We
" pleasant to the eye. He has on his pla
q wine-presses, and still-fouse for ma
70 ing brandy. One man on his place, al
'e with his system, can care for TWEEN
u acres of orchard, and one man can pi
a 5000 oranges in day. He buys t
n shocks and makes his own boxes, a
y also makes his own wine-casks. His re
le ular force consists of fifteen men,
II whom the plowmen are Indians; sol
others are Chinese.