The morning call., 1893-05-28
FRUITS OF THE LAND.

California is to-day the greatest fFnit-pro-
duciDg State in Amrrica, or In the world, ana
lis future will equal in greatness the capacity
If human intelligence for expansion.
California fruit cannot be excelled, and
while it has thr East for market it also has
the world for a market; but these markets
must be sought. Already fruit has been trans
port. TO England in good shape, and 1t Is
believed that shipments TO distant points VIII
yearly become a more important business.
For many years fruiI-growing IN California
was largely experimental While early IN
the fifiies there were numbers OF small
orchatd> 1t cannot be claimed that The fruit
industry existed as business until twenty
years afterward. he orchards were as rule
accessory to more important pursuits-nOt the
principal pursuit they are to-day; and 1t was
not until 1870 that fruit-growng in California
became establish she'd as an ndepend mt business.
The comp tIion OF the railroad 10 the East
EN- States assisted its growth. For. while there
was little fIuit shipped East for several years
af er the completion OF the road. demand for
California fruit sprang UP along its line and
gave an impetus to the new industry.
The demand has since that time continually
increased and spread. until to-day the orchard
industry Of our State leads all others, and Cali
forDia ranks first among the fruit States of the
Union.
The industry Is a rapidly growing one, too,
and the next five years will see the output OF
the State doubled. Our fruits to-day, in various
shapes-ereen, dried. canned, preserved and
manufactured into jelies, rasins. wines and
brandies-are shipped TO every corner of the
world.
There were shipped by sea in 1891, 1929
440 pounds of fruit. BY rail in the same year,
by Santa Fe and Southern Pacific sysiems:
Fresh frHit, 9S. CSC, 100; dried fruit, 65,090.
220; raisiDs, A, 954, $50; canned fruit, 49,
566, $50 pounds.
The future importance OF the Industry can be
estimated by its growth in the past. In twenty
years our shipments have grown from nothing
10 20,706 carloads in 1891. At the fresent
Ene not over 25 per cent Of the orchards
planted are in bra'ing and not over per cent
have reached their maximum.
Taxing round figures and placing the output
at The lowest figure the conclusions reached are
startling We have now in the Stare al
least 2o0, 900 acres in orchard. This will all
be In bearing 10 five years and allowing 100
pounds TO the tree-a small estimate-we get
The following figures:
Acreage now planted. zoe. 900
100 trees per acre............ 20nG0, ,OOU
100 pounds to the tree. 900 900 900
Observation-Disclosures. 1000, 900
Carloads. ........... .........-.... 100000
The advantages of California for raising
fruit are It's topography. its early season for
climatic advantages for gathering and handling
fruit.
very large portion of the entire coast range
Is admirably adapted to horticulture. 1t has
been found that tn fruit grown upon the foot
hills and mountainous is superior In flavor
and often In size TO that grown In the valleys
Through all this region the ample, the pear, the
plum. the prune, the ch rry, the olive and tile
fig are grown in great luxuriance. Except upon
the very SUBMITS, where the ocean winds in
blossomtng time may interfere, the apricot the
nectarine and the peach find congenial home
while the grape does almost equally we'll in all
parts of the State.
Toward the south the orange the lemon, the
lime, and even the banana are successfully
grown, while the nut-bearing trees thrive wher-
ever they have been planted throughout the
entire extent. Nowhere in the valley or the
western hills-not until the Upper Sierra IS
reached-is it ever cold enough tc kill peach or
aprico trees. The orange and other citrus
fruits thrive as far north as Butte County and
are grown in protected places even in Tebarna
and shasta.
Th@ two conditions of soil and climate are in
accord TO mature our fruit earlier than else
where in the same latitudes.
The superior quality of California fruit is CON.
ceded. Well grown. well and naturally ripened
fruit grown on this coast Is OF a better oualitv
making quality dependent upon texture and
f1avor-than thai raised upon the Atlantic
Coast. Our mountain apples-those from Hum
bold, Iassen, ModUc Del Norte and Siskiyou
Counties-are not to be excel d.
The advantages OF California in the line of
grape culture are even more marked. The fact
that raisins can be and are cured In the omen
afr and among The vines makes il possible for
US TO produce them at moderate cost. and the
quality has already spoken for itself. The
raisin industry can be extended to an aImost
unlimited degree. as nearly all the valley nor
tions OF The State, with the surrounding foot
hills are well ADAPTED to il. In this, as in
viticulture. there is much yet to learn.