The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1892-10-09
At HIGH ATTITUDES.
Fine Fruit Grown in the
Mountains.
THE SIERRA FRUIT BELT.
Apples and Peers Raised on Land Over Six
Thousand Fest Above the Level
of the Sea.
THE SIERRA FRUIT BELT
Written for the MORNING CALL.

Few readers realize az what high attitudes
fruit can be successfully grown in Califor-
MIA, and 1t would astOnish Eastern readers
to know that apples, pears, plumS, cherries
and even peaches ere grown in the Sierra
Nevada Mountains at attitudes greater than
the Hottest SUBMITS of the Green Mountains
of Vermont, the White Mountains of New
Hampshire or the Adirondaeks of New
York. Indeed, Black Dome, in North Caro-
lima, 6707 feet, and ClingmaEs Peak, in the
same State, are the only two points of our
country east Of the Rocky Mountains that
overtop the high fruit belt of the Sierras.
Some facts upon this point may be of in
teiest to the general reader.
At Julian, in san Diego County, are
grown some of the finest grapes Of Southern
California, yet the altitude there is 4000
feet
Susanvllle, in Honey Lake Valley Las
sen County. is the center of one of the finest
apple districts in California, vet the alii-
tude of that town is 4195 feet Is. Newhaus,
at Willow Creek. in the same county, grows
very choice apples al an altitude OF 5ll5
feet.
j. II. EOad. at Merrimac. in Butte County,
in reply TO some questions asked him upon
this point said my trees are from
seven 70 twenty-five years old, and as a rule
they have a crop each season. The trees
are not protected, though the snow some
times falls here TO depth of nine feet, but
the average IS not over five or six IN winter.
L grow APPLES. pears and plums. blackbeT-
Ties, raspberries, straw berries, and red and
black currants. The altitude of my place is
400 feet"
j. A. Waugh, the editor of the Mountain
Messenger of DOwnieyille Sierra County,
irFp haG
never been an entire failure OF the fruit
crop, though the altitude is 1900 feet. He
says that > W. Shafer, whose orchard Is
600 feet higher than Downieyille, grows
excellent apples, pears, peaches, plums and
cherries.
In Sierra Valley are grown superior APP
ples at an altitude of 5000 feet. At Sierra
City apples, plums and peaches are grown
at an altitude of 1900 feet. William NJ.
Baker OF ColfaX said in reply TO questions
that apples we're grown in that vicinity at a
height Of 1000 feet, particularly fine ones
being raised at Alta and TowleS. Pears.
peaches, plums and pruneS are grown sue
cesstully at COlfaX at an altitude OF 400
feet. The fig and the olive are both grown
at the same altitude, but the olive trees are
too young 10 bear fruit.
Andrew Robinson, whose pOst0ffice Is
Bucks ranch, In Plumas County, wrote TO
me in reply 10 questions about his fruit as
follows: The peach, apple, pear. plum,
cherry, nectaTine and ounce all flourish
here. though the altitude is 1925 feet and
snow falls from four TO six feet in depth.
My oldest trees are thirty years old and are
still bearing fruit. My trees are not pro-
tected in any manner, yet during one winter
the snow fell 10 depth OF fifteen feet. The
coolest weather we have ever eXpeTien ced
was one night when the thermometer got as
low as seven degrees below zero. All the
berries ana such vegetables as beans and
Inn ufs flor rfc nall fa tara
In winter than In the mountain valleys
1000 feet less in altitude and the fruit crop
is less liable to damage from frost"
1t is Of Importance TO ascertain at what
attitudes the fig aud olive can be successfully
grown 10 this State, and the following letter
from Felix Gillet to the writer upon this
question will be read with interest. He
writes from Nevada City and SAYS
"A 1000 feet altitude, apples, pears, piums,
cheStuuts and even walnuts are success
fully grown, and even higher ND in the pro-
tected places such fruit and nut trees viii.
thrive. My own place IS 2G00 feet high and
at that altitude all fruit AID nut trees and /,
grapes do very well, but hardy kinds Of
walnuis-th0se rot injured by spring frOstS- |
do still better. The mountains is the very
home Of the chestnut which bears splen-
didly here. Filberts, when trained as trees
and irrigated, bear tremendous crops.
Almonds (the Languedoc) do as we'll as any,
where else IN the mountains or IN the foot
hills. Figs and olives Will live, but that is
all | have seen very fine olives near Col
lax at an altitude OF 2000 feet. 1t Is true
they will not grow as fast as in San Diego
Comfy, but the oil Will be superior The
same is true Of grapes, aud wine made in
our mountains IS superior 10 wine made |
from grapes grown in the valleys. When |
chestnuts are grown at very high altitude !
only early varieties should be panted-that |
is varieties which will ripen their nuts |
through a short or cool summer
At FOrbestoSn in Butte County the ap-
Pile, cherry and pear bear heavily at an
altitude Of 5000 feet, while the ig also
thTiyes.
At Paradise. in the same county the
orange is growing at an altitude of 1917 feet.
while at Nmshew, few miles distant. at
an altitude of 1900 feet, Mr.. NJ. V. Roe has
apple, prune, cherry, pear. peach, plum, hg
aud English walnut trees In bearing
W. L. Leland OF SissOn writes: ION the
line of Shasta and SIskiyou counties Will
liam Hanlon has a fine apple orchard at an
altitude OF 2000 feet. In Shasta Valley, alti-
tude 5000 feet, there are numerous ranches
where cherries plums, peaches and other
fruits are grown. In Scott Valley. which
has an altitude of $500 feet, they claim 10
raise the finest apples in the State. In the
neighbOrhOOd of the town OF Ssson, which
has an altitude of $3.50 feet, there are num-
Der Of small orchards that bear excellent
fruit Of different varieties
Last year there were some fifty carloads
of apples shipped from this (Siskyou)
county. / do not think there is an orange
or an olive tree growing in the county, and
do not know OF any in the State further
north than Redding in Shasta County |
have seen growing at Sky high in Butte
County, at an altitude OF 1900 feet, as fine
peaches as i have ever eaten in the State"
A letter from II. A. Frost of Dutch Flat
says: Apples do very we'll at Shady Run,
where the altitude is little over 1000 feet
The snow falls from four TO six feet deep.
Apples. pears, plums and rrunes succeed
well at Dutch Fiat-altitude 3400 feet Some
of the finest Bartlett pears grown in the
State are produced in these high attitudes,
while the apple orchards yield superior
fruit, and the trees have been in bearing for
fully thirty years in some Of the older Or
cbard :"
The grapes grown at ColfaX-aliitude 2450
feet-are among the finest In California. and
won prizes for the best fruit shown at the
State Fair. 1t is very probable that hun
dreds Of instances might he collected Of ex-
cellent fruit grown high in the Sierras
Enough has been shown, however, to indi-
cate at what high attitudes nearly all fruits
can be successfully raised in the mountains
of California.
The fact that fruit can be grown at un-
usual attitudes is demonstrated In Pumas
County, where apple trees WELD at La Porte
at an altitude Of over 5000 feet. and for
many years a peach tree has borne fruit at
Gibsonville, in Sierra County. at an alt-
tude of 6000 feet. These two localities are
remarkable for the enormous fall of snow
twenty feet not being unusual at La Porte
and twenty-five feet in depth has been re-
corded at Gibsonville. The Gibsonvlle
peach tree was raised from the seed by Mrs.
Taber of that place and 1t is now Is years
old.
The highest point at which fruit is known
20 grow In this State is believed to be on the
divide between Inyo and Mono ouniies.
Mr.. J. l.. c. Sherwin exhibited at the Inyo
County Fair excellent apples and pears
grown on the divide just named at an al;i-
tude of 6640 feet.
| have not been able to find any other
point in the United States as high as this
where fruit is successfully raised.
There is an enormous extent Of land AL
most unsettled and uncultivated In the