Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-01-01
SEMl-TROPICAL AND OTHER FRUITS.
The Capabilities Of Los Angeles County
for Their PrOductiOn-The Present
and Prospective supply ana DE.
mand.

The cultivation of fruit in Los An
geles county is subject matter elicit
ing at this time no little consideration
by the agriculturists of this county.
The books of the County Assessor, for
the year now closed, give 1l4,9 963 acres
of medium and good grain and farm
ing land; and 25,75S acres of orchard
and vineyard land, with water for ir-
rigation. They also give 4,250,OO0 of
bearing grape vines. Of fruit-bearing
trees, the books give 35,7O0 orange
trees, 1900 apple trees, 5000 pear
trees, 1890 peach trees, $500 lemon
trees, 5000 walnut trees, $500 fig
trees, 1900 apricot trees, 1,lOO ounce
trees, 1000 olive trees, 900 almond
trees, 500 nectarine trees, and about
600 of various other fruit trees.
The grape vines occupy about 1880
acres, and the fruit trees, trife over
$4,000 in number, occupy about 5000
acres, making total of less than
$4,000 acres devoted to fruit culture.
Deducting this quantity from the
25, 75S acres of irrigable vineyard and
orchard land, of Los Angeles county,
as reported by the Assessor, and their
remains 12,753 acres of orchard land
in the county. 1t is probable that
the number of acres of irrigable vine
yard and orchard land, as well as the
number Of bearing vines and fruit
trees in the county, is considerably
greater than that which is returned
by the Assessor; and it is undoubt-
edly true that considerable proper
ton Of the ia, 1853 acres, returned as
grain land, is as well adapted to the
production of the orange, and other
fruits, as that which is classed as ir-
rigable orchard land. An acre of
land will contain about so orange or
lemon trees, or about 125 lime trees.
The yearly product of an orange or
lemon orchard, after it has been ten
years in fruit, may be safely esti-
mated at $500 per tree. While it is
popular opinion that the northern
ATTITUDES of the northern temperate
zone are better adapted to the pro-
duction of the best quality Of the ap-
pie, pear and peach, than the more
southern ones, yet experience thus far
in Los Angeles county, indicates
while the oranges of this county are
unsurpassed by those of any other
country, in deliciousness and good
keeping qualities, the best varieties of
the apple, pear and peach, attain to as
high degree of excellence here as in
more northern locations. The number
of orange, lime and lemon trees now
in the nurseries of the county, many
of which are of suitable age to be
transplanted into the orchards, can.
not be estimated at less than 100000,
and it is not improbable that the
quantity may be nearly double that
number. The number of orange,
lemon and lime trees, which have
been planted in orchards during the
past few years, and which are not yet
bearing, and the increasing annual
product of all those now in fruit, will
probably more than quadruple the
crop before the advent of 1880. From
the preceding figures and estimates it
will be seen that the prospective
yearly orange crop of this county will
not be an item of insignificant inn
pOrtance. The question now being
considered by some of the most
thoughtful and prudent agriculturists
of this county is whether it is good
policy for them to invest their means
and labor in the rearing of orange,
lemon and lime orchards. Some be-
lieve and others fear that within few
years the orange crop of Los Angeles
county and the product of other parts
of California will exceed the demand
and as consequence oranges in a few
years will be valueless in this county.
If these premises are true the conclu-
sion is unassailable. The question to
be considered, then, is, can this coun-
ty, together with the other portions of