The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-03-25
FRUIT NOW AND HEREAFTER.

IHe census bulletin On troplc and SEMI
tropic fruits and nuts deserves attentive
perusal. Its results are summed up in the
sentence that by the time the next census
is taken the value Of these fruits should be
more than 500, COO. coo a year and that the
United States will not only supply their
own wants but will be exporters OF all
kinds OF fruir. Tie fifty millions do not
embrace the fruits of the temperate zone
the apple. pear, plum, peach, cherry. or
small berries. The calculation refers eXclu-
sivefy to tropic and semi-tropie fruits-the
orange, the almond, the banana. citron,
cocoanut fig, guava, kski, lemon. lime.
olive. pineapple. pomalo and pecan and
madeira nuts. OF these fruits the product
IN 1890 was valued at S14. 116. 226, and only
one-third of the trees planted are in bearing.
They are found in ell the States and
Territories bordering on Mexico and the
Mexican Gulf and to a limited amount in
States north of these. as in Georgia, South
Carolina, Colorado, Utah and Nevada, but
the cultivation of tropical and semi-trepical
fruit-as commercial proposltiOn-iS con-
fined to California and Florida. Even in
ending these two States the tropical fruit
area does not at present produce sufficient
quantity of bananas, or pineapples. or
Cocoauuts, or guava, or kaki TO cut any
figure in fruit statistics. The tropical fruit
with which the census concerns itself con-
sists mainly of oranges, lemons, citrons,
figs, almonds, lines, olives and various
kinds of nuts. And the interesting portion
Of the bulletin is the comparison between
California and Florida as producers OF these
fruits.
Florida has twice as many acres In fruit
as California; the figures are 16S 754 against
1876 1t has nearly four times the orange
acreage of this State; the figures are IA, 759
acres against IS, 367. Its lemon acreage is
40C2 acres as against 324S in this State 1t
may be noticed, parenthetically, that
neither California nor Florida has as
yet grown and cured demons to much ex-
tent, which will sell in competition with the
lemon of Sicily. and that the Florida orange
is classed with all California oranges, ex-
cept the Washington navels, which are con-
siderabiy fellow the orange of Havana and
Messina. Florida does not grow the olive
nor the almond; we have 1000 acres planted
with the one and Is. 43S planted with the
other. On the other hand we do not grow
the pineapple or the cocoanut. while Florida
has 2160 acres planted with the former and
nearly 10000 planted with the latter. We
have seven times as large a fig acreage as
Florida; the figures are 500 acres against
4S7. We have $4,000 acres planted with the
madeira nut. commonly known AS the
English walnut, valuable commercial
product; Florida has none.
Passing from acreage to trees we find
that Florida has about ten times as many
bearing trees as California - the figures
being %. 81. $50 as against 2,652, 021-and
twice as many trees planted, but not yet
bearing-the figures being $3.50. 764 as
against 4,2f7, 1S9. Florida has 7.40S, 543
young orange trees which will presently be
in bearing; California only 2. 223. 40. On
the other hand California has 79l 65S young
almond trees and 396. 254 madeira nut trees,
which will soon begin to bear; Florida has
none of either variety. The census reporter
states that while California contains IL, 265,-
493 acres of land suitable for growing trop-
zeal CT semi-tropical fruits, Florida has
Is. 1856 acres of similar land.
The moral of these statistics IS easy to
read. As the quantity of hand planted in
tropical fruit in this State is only 1866
acres, while there are Il 265, 493 acres suit
able for such use, il is apparent that we
may and should go on increasing our acre
age for many years to come especially as
the worlds capacity to consume fruit is
substantially unlimited, and modern pro-
cesses facilitate the transmission of fruit
for great distances without decay With
out institutiGg comparisons with Florida,
and merely assuming that half the Ameri-
can product Of tropical and semi-rropical
fruit in the future will be grown in this
State, e may reckon that at the end Of the
century California will realize S25 600. 600
year out of her fruit industry, without
counting the pear, the peach. the plum, the
cherry or the small berries. In other words.
by the end of the decade our fruit will be
worth to the State as much as our wheat,
twice as much as our mines, and more than
twice as much as our wine.
This agreeable result. however, can only
be realized If as much attention is paid TO
the quality as to the quantity Of the fruit
raised. Land devoted to growing poor fruit
is land wasted. 1t might almost as well be
in pasture. People will have the best fruit
whatever it costs. They are now paying So
box in Chicago for Messina oranges and
refusing to pay 81 box for the common
orange. The great trouble in this State
has been that ranchers have planted any
kind Of fruitstock which they could find
easily; to them an orange was an orange
whether or not 1t had rind like rhinoes-
ros hide and whether or not it had no more
juice than chip. Better counsels are
now prevailing. The new plantations are
being set out with the best stock that is
suited to the soil. II fruit-growers adhere
to this rule they need give themselves net
much concern about the future.