Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-03-19
PLANTING TREES.
The Great Basis of Los
Angeles Wealth.
A LARGE YEARS BUSINESS.
The Nurseries All Sold 0ut-Pears,
Peaches, Apricots and Citrus
Trees in Demand.
A LARGE YEARS BUSINESS

genitOr, More and more frut growing
is becoming the distinctive pursuit Of
rural Californians. The United States
is rapidly developing into one of the
most populous nations of the earth. She
has long been the most prosperous and
will always continue such. A people of
60, 900. 900 souls, who all do as well as
the citizens OF the great model republic
do, and of their intelligence in hygienic
as in all other branches, will consume a
vast amount of fruit as staple articles OF
diet. The Pacific Coast is the one part
of the broad domain thoroughly adapt
ed to the culture of fruits. The whole
coast is more or less fruit region from
San Diego to Victoria. Each section
has certain peculiar advantages for
specific pomological products. Vi them
all South California is the richest sec
tion, whether looked at from the stand
point of the value of her peculiar fruit
production, or from that of her approx
imation to a general fruit-producing dis
triet. Here is the only natural home
in the United States Of the whole citrus
family of fruits, the most profitable and
the most poetic. AT the same time it
would he very hard to name any OF the
gifts of the goddess Pomona which will
not flourish with more or less luxuriance
in this phenomenal region.
Fruit culture has been marked in-
dustry in Los Angeles and her favored
sister counties for some twenty years
past. Indeed ten years earlier than the
beginning of that period, Hon. Il. d..
Wilson and Mr.. l.. j. Rose had already
begun their operations which soon devel-
oped to gigantic scale. Within the
past six pears this industry has been
pushed ahead with great energy, and
now there is no section of the country so
widely known for its fruit products as
Southern California, This enterprise
has built up in population and affluence
some hundred places, some OF whose
names are already household words in
all parts of the Union, owing to the
choice fruits, fresh or cured in some
way which are shipped from their or
chards. People come from all parts of
the country to look at the orange groves
and wine and raisin vineyards OF this
section. Great trains hauled by two or
three engines daily cross the Continental
Divide laden with wines, brandies, fruit,
dried or fresh, including the orange,
lemon and raisin-all the richest OF all
the products of the soil.
When this great development began
some half dozen years ago great atten-
ton was attracted to what was going on
in this respect. For couple of years
the achievements of this enterprise were
carefully chronioled for each center OF
development. Each of them WED with
the others to see which would make the
best record for the season. People have
become used to this thing as they be-
come to everything. Now even the
newspapers pay much less attention to
the planting of big orchard than was
customary three or four years ago. 1t
is n common, every day story here now
to set out fifty acres of pears, peaches
or apples. So generally true is this that
a good many people now and then wake
up to a consideration of this subject,
and because there is not the same old
noise making about the development OF
the country they think it is not going
forward at all, or, if at all, then with
much less yigor than formerly. With
these thoughts fresh in mind, yesterday
a HERALD reporter determined to go the
rounds of the nursery yards and
make an investigation OF
THE SEASONS PLANTING.
The news gathered up in the after
Moons trip was news even to the pencil
propeller. He had not entertained the
views of the pessimists who thought
halt had been called in the development
of the country. He was on the other
hand not quite prepared to believe that
the spring of 1886 was to be one OF the
markedly active seasons in the matter
of planting new orchards. Such, how
ever. seems to be the fact. There is
hardly a nursery in Southern California
but is "cleaned out" OF nearly all kinds
of fruit trees AS the reporter made
his rounds among the several yards here
il was all the same story--"tree selling
is very quiet now, 1T could hardly he
very brisk, we arc all but sold out OF
most kinds; it has been one of the best
seasons in the history OF the country.
The demand has been for all kinds of
deciduous and citrus trees. The aggre-
gate amounts sold are remarkably large.
To quote again from the statesmen the
story ran about like this:
"oh, they are buying nearly all kinds
of trees. All the orange trees in our
nursery are sold out. Of course they
are budded trees. Out OF every
one hundred trees sold ninety-nine
were Washington navels. Yes, l think
the season s plant of oranges will run up
to 100000 trees. OF other fruit, the
largest run has been on Bartlett pears.
There are no trees of this variety LETT In
the county. Peaches come next. There
have been great many of the good can
ming varieties planted. OF apples a
good many have been sold-all of the
best shipping varieties. The same is
true of apricuts, for which the call has
been on the favorte canning varieties.
There is scarcely any kind of fruit tree
of which there has not been some
planted The demand is for the very
best varieties of each kind. These selec-
tions include cherries, pomegranates,
loquats, Japanese persimmons, guavas,
ali sorts of berries nameable. A good
many olives have been planted. The
number OF figs comes to quite handsome
sum.
Such is about the general account. As
to quantities, the agents report sale OF
so 600, 70, 600, and up to 100, 900 trees
each. As there are at least half hun.
dred nurseries in the county, there have
been planted during the season over
| 900, 900 trees. One-tenth of these are
oranges. Probably twice as many more
are Bartlett pears. Peaches would fall
but little below that sum. Apples
would follow with something like half
the amount, and apricots would keep up
neck and neck with these.
The planting has been very wide
spread all over Los Angeles and San
Bernardiuo counties. There have not
been so many large orchards set as in
former years, but nearly all the people
are planting smaller orchards. lu some
cases wide areas have been set. The
new Ontario Colony are planting 100
acres solid Pomona takes the lead in
the planting of orange trees. Orange
follows her, and these two localities will
far outstrip all Others in the two coun-
ties.
San Gabriel falls off to almost total
cessation of tree planting. The Alham-
bra is doing something and Pasadena is
active, the planting here going up to-
wards the foot of the mountains.
Santa Ana is devotiug great attention
to raisin grapes and Riverside is with
her in this respect. OF wine grapes
there are few cuttings being set any
where in these counties.
A curious phase of the season is that
all the tree sellers are "stuok" on prunes.
There have been scarcely any of these
trees sold. Last year there was great
call for these and no demand for the
apricot trees. Orchardists in some cases
cut back their apricot trees and budded
them to prunes Now the tickle granger
comes in clamoring for the apricot he
has spoiled and rejecting the prune pre-
pared for him. The rural part of the
community is very intelligent in the
main. They are learning rapidly the
Ii. e A l..