The morning call., 1893-05-28


miiy can produce more In pounds and In value
on ten acres Of fruit than on one hundred and
flfiy scr In wheat. That is easily demon
Strable.
acre, or $3.50 pounds of dried. is a couselya-
tive estimate. Twenty bushels OF wheat, or
1900 pounds, is a large estimate per acre for
1882. The farm value OF The. lrunes was 1880.
Tie fam value of the wheat is Sl5 5. Our peach
orchards Will show as many pounds e. cen as OF
prunes. with half the dried product of piunes
woith this year $500 per acre.
We have low prices for iuit at times, but
never down TO cost OF production. There mas
never been time when good fruit, well
handled aud cured, did not hing a good profit
There Is, In fact, but our question That admits
of discussion bearing upon the fuit industry
Of California. We have advanced beyond the
experimental stage IN all irut products of the
Sale fIom Shasta TO San Diego. Oranges,
lemons. figs, almonds and other nuts, primes,
cheiiies, apples. peaches, apricos, pears,
plums, nectarineS olives and foreign grapes
are all grown In conmeI clai quantities for 700
miles nOIti aud south. Our tees come into
beating quickly. are prolific bearers, are long
llved and healthy. The fruit is large and bears
shipment green for long distances, and retains
much OF its lusciousness and flavor aud atrac-
tive appearance.
The sole factor that has not passed beyond
DISPUTE elates 10 the question of over -produc-
ton ana consequent loss of market. We bad
this confronting Us in 1880, when We exported
bv rail only $40 carloads, aud we had Ii In
1891, when sDipped 2o.706 carloads ln-
cluding shipments by Sxl. Strangely enough,
there are fewer persons who doubt the market
than there were in 1880, although we export
40 pounds now where we shipped one then.
There Is one Very convincing fact 10 my
mind that the danger of over production Is
imaginary Ii is lhis Our bOrliculturistS are
deeply Interested In The question ; they are,
Il Class. reflective aud lntelli9ent-I think !
may iTuthiully say. very superior body OF
men. Their interest aud success are deeply
involved In knowing The truth Of the ma tet;
they are not land agents ana few OF them have
land for sale. Every personal consideration
would lead them TO discourage planting If they
thought there was any danger of over -prOduc.
tion. But they not only DO not discourage, but
aie doing all they can 10 encourage 1t, and
are extending their own paintings where They
can.
". Fl. Mills, a high authority upon the ques.
tion Of distribution, has recently pointed out
the fact that our fruits do not reach over
o,OOO 600 OF our citizens out OF the 60,OO0,0U
who VIII buy them II they can get them.
We shipped by rail 10 the East In 1891 of
green fruit not less than three pounds per
capita Of our population, OF dried fruit one
pound rer Capita OF raisins abont wo-thrus of
pound per capita, and OF canned fruits aoont
thlee-feuiths OF a bound Der caplta-about hYe
and oue-half pounds per capita OF ali kinds.
1t must be obvious TO all that this only
tasting fruit, not eating II. But our POPULATION
IS increasing al the late of over one and d half
million people annually. 1t Will take thou
sand acres OF new Orchards every year 10 keep
pace with THIS increase alone at the present
small per capita consumption. II. however,
our FRUIT Is consumed by {, 1000 00U people they
must buy 100 pounds per capita. which shows
our utter Inability to oyerrr0duee when we
shall have reached all the consumers.
President Andrews. already quoted, says:
"Our own country. adding 10 its numbers by
nearly three per cent a yea, bids fair 10 ap-
proach 9O,0OU,000 by 1900"
Think OF 3ooU0,o0O people TO be added in
eight years; II Is simply appalling; and Cafor
MIA must supply Inem with fruit. Does 1t not
seem more OF Il problem whether We can do It
even by our rapid planting, than whether We
can tind purchasers?
But we must not overlook another Important
fact that this Increase of human beings Will
not gather aiong the Atlantic cOasi. They will
push into the gteal West. The center of popu-
latlon Is moving steadily westward. The cen
sus OF 1880 shows that nearly unrhalf of the
inc' ease since 1880 has been west OF the Mis-.
slSStppi RIVER We read the large figures OF
shlpmentS of our green fruits aud think them
| phenomenal. aud hence conclude that we must
cessaiily glut the market shortly. You Will be
| surprised tU know now small figure our green
! frut GUS at The East. A copy of the proceed
ngs of The Western New York horticultural
Society for 1886 came into my hands. Nine
| Teen counties were Represented, but only uIue
gave data from which could calculate ship
meHtS OF irIij for 1855.
! found. however that the nine counties had
! shipped 387. .55S. $40 pounds Of apples that
| year 10 mar ket near home.
Now, Caliolna has never sent cut in any
one y at more Than half this number OF pounds
! OF green deciduouS fruits and oranges: indeed
| our entire export of green, dried ana canned
| fruit by rail and by sea in 1891 fell short cf
| The number OF pounds shipned from min conn
| lies III tDe Stale OF New YORK In 1885. The
| 10 al yield Of apples from this region In a good
year would probably reach 10000 carloads.
| Let me tell you another thing which may
| comic those who doubt the profifableuess of
| fruil growing. OreharCt>ts in We-tern New
| York claim 10 make a net rrotit OF $500 10000
! per acre. A iour-acre orchard plan ed In 1888
was reported as yielding S4U0 per acre. An.
| other orchard bore its first good crop after
! twenty years. In Monroe County an orchard
! nineteen years old reported S400 to The acre.
And yet our Eastern brethren accuse US OF yio-
pt1I.t M 1rnan ,bnn faII
Them We get two or three hundred d0lars per
acre from our orchards, while the fact is we
suppress the nth, which Is that we often get
twice that; and we don't have 10 wait twenty,
ten. six