Los Angeles herald., 1890-07-14
MONDAY, JULY G4, 1890.
CALIFORNIA AGAINST THE FIELD.


papers in the state in calling attention
to the fact that the current year
afforded California the opportunity
of a generation to put herself
well to the fore in the eyes of the
whole country in the matter of fruit
growing. This was Gone in an editorial
article under the headline, "California's s
Opportunity" in which attention was
directed to the failure of the fruit crops
of the east, and the consequent demand
that must arise for our products. That
and other utterances in these columns
were largely instrumental in bringing
about the universal activity prevailing
hereabouts in the curing of all sorts of
fruits. Several establishments have
been set up and means provided to cure
every pound of fruit in the section. The
apricot crop has up to this date been the
one mainly to handle, and it will be fol-
lowed by peaches, plums and other vari-
.eties of fruit. The practical results to the
producers are ready market at paying
prices for all they can gather from their
trees. Apricots are bringing $25 a ton
at the canning establishments, and as
good orchards readily yield five tons to
z the acre the growers are getting $125
and upwards for each acre of this fruit.
And the dryers can well afford to pay
the price. The five tons of green fruit
make one of the dried article. The cost
is SIPS and it sells for about $240. The
profit to the handlers is very satisfac-
{ tory. Peaches will do quite as we'll
when their turn comes, while prunes
are as good as oranges. Petit French
prunes are held for $55 a ton, and
those who cannot get that price
say they will do their own curing
and make money by the operation.
The prune is as prolific bearer as the
apricot, or better, and five tons at $55
ton comes to the snug sum of 1915 an
acre. There are many acres of this
fruit here that will pay as we'll as that.
The walnut crop will not be available
for shipment for months to come, but it
rs nearly all purchased at this very early
date. The prices are kept rather secret
thus far, but prime nuts are easily worth
8 cents or better. This crop, in many
instances, will pay as high as $500 an
acre this year.
Looking back, the orange crop was
abundant, aggregatirg some $500 cars,
and the prices were good, ranging at 81
to So box. Good orchards paid readily
$500 an acre, and there are instances on
record where small orchards we'll kept
paid as high as 1896 and $940 an acre.
Looking ahead again, there is an ex-
cellent prospect for raisins. The market
promises to be good, and the crop will
be the best gathered for several years.
The total pack of this section will be not
far from 100000 boxes. Ready for
market they ought to be worth 81 $780,
600 or better.
Sub-sections of this lower country
gathered in $1,000 for their berry crops.
That statement is quite true OF Azusa.
The strawberries of that valley were
peculiarly early even for this favored
semi-tropic land, and some of them were
shipped as far east as Denver, where
they sold at fabulous figures. To get
$500 for the fruit from an acre was not
ut all remarkable.
Here are only a few of the fruit pro-
ducts of the sect ion, and only one or
two methods of disposing of them re-
viewed. The same opportunities exist
here to make money hand over fist in a
dozen other lines of the same fascinating
industry. The olive, the fig, the guava
berry, other varieties of nuts than the
walnut and many other fruits, do as
well as the apricot and prune. Besides
there is crying need for facilities to
handle the fruits of the section in the
way of making jams, jellies, conserves
and such dainty luxuries of the surplus
age that cannot be sold at extravagant
prices.
Note now that nearly all the fruits
here named are peculiarly the products
of this state, and that many OF them are
peculiar to Southern California, while
they all do better here than even in our
own northern counties. Again, even
those fruits that do grow in the east suf-
fer eclipse SO often that the growers of
that section cannot long compete with
ours. Peach orchards do not live on an
average five years in Michigan and not
much longer in Delaware. They do not
average in either state more than three
good crops in their lifetime.
Here then is our advantage IN flavor,
in facility of production, and in an abso-
lutte monopoly of the finer sorts of fruit
California wins against the field. The
other sections of the country must go
out of the industry for the reason that
they cannot compete with us, but they
must leave the fruit business to US alone.
II il the mission of California to delight
the palate and minister to the health of