The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-12-25
Something About Oranges and
Lemons in the Land
South of the TefIac iapi.
Producers No Longer Fear Com.
petition From the Medi-
terranean Fruit in Any of
the Markets of the World.
Written for THE CALL
BY +. A. KIMBALL.


fruits, but rather to make a starting point
with the limited number of trees which
had been planted prior to 1869 in the ter
ritory under consideration.
From that date, slowly at first the
orange was distributed, and much more
slowly the lemon. through Southern Cali
fornia.
The influx of energetic and tireless hor
ticulturists soon demonstrated the pro-
ductive character and profit to be derived
from the orange, and large areas wero
planted. Other than Pacific Coast mar
kets we're demanded, and the Atlantic
coast and intermediate country was in
vaded, and the California producer found
himself confronted by competitors in the
Mediterranean country, who from long ex
perience had perfected the art of selecting
varieties, particularly of the lemon,
adapted to the geography and meteorology
of different localities, methods of produc-
ton, including fertilization, culture, pick
ing, processing, packing, shipping and
placing on the markets of the world, for
the Mediterranean country had the world
for its market.
From the first day competition was en-
tered upon we began TO learn that our
competitor will not abandon or surrender
a foot of territory SO long tributary to her
till the absolute merit of our fruits drive
them from the field; this fact we may as
we'll concede first as last.
The production of the orange developed
so much more rapidly than did that of the
lemon, and the subject has been written
up so many times, that this paper will be
in large part devoted to the lemon.
The probable reason why the lemon was
sighted al first was that it was understood
that it would be much more liable to injhry
from frost than would the orange. As an
industry the production of the lemon is in
its infancy, for tits but few years since they
were all produced from seedlings or from
cuttings taken from seedlings. The fruit
was coarse in texture of rind and pulp, its
juice deficient in quantity and proportion
of acid; its size monstrous, from the fact
that ii was left to ripen on the trees. The
rind was in most cases exceedingly bitter,
and as a rule the fiber of the pulp was
more or less bitter.
With such conditions only one result
could possibly be expected when the fruit
was put on the market, beside the shapely,
thin-s skinned lemon of the Mediterranean
country, which had been brought TO high
state of perfection during a long period OF
cultivation till its skin was thin and
smooth, it's odor aromatic and its general
condition, when put on the market, show
ing plainly that the process of curing had
been brought to practical perfection.
Such lemons were in demand at prices
ranging from So to $40 box-say about
800 fruits-while at the same time and in
the same market the California lemon had
to be forced on the market at 80 cents to
81 box.
OF course, this difference was not all in
the quality of the lemon when picked from
the tree. A large factor was in the pro-
cess of curing the fruit, by which much of
the bitterness of rind and pulp could have
been eliminated. OF this process, how
ever, nothing was then known, and grow
ers were driven to experimenting. Many
growers became disguised with the indus
try and dug up their trees. Other persons
budded theirs to varieties known to be
good, such as the Lisbon and Eureka Ga
Seeding sport originated in Los Angeles),
and later on the Agnes Originated in Ma
tional City,, the Genoa, Villa Franco and
others.
To-day the curing of high grade lemons
has reached such perfection in Southern
California that whatever the price the
Mediterranean product may bring in any
market where the California lemon, now
produced and processed, has been intro
duced. it commands price equal to that
fruit, and in some instances higher prices
have been realized.
The area now planted in lemons in
Southern California, together with the
areas known to be adapted to lemon cul-
ture, demonstrates the fact that Southern
California can produce all the lemons re-
CURED on the American continent, with a
wide margin for export to any point
where the cost of transportation is not pro-
hibitory.
Were all other things equal, the Cali
fornia lemon-growers would have an ad-
vantage OF about $4,000, 600 over the foreign
grower. for about that sum is paid in duties
annually on imported lemons. The fact of
the payment of this vast sum as duty on
one article indicates the enormous value of
the lemon industry to the State.
The fertility of the soil of Southern Cali
fornia and its wonderful adaptability to
the production OF citrus fruits are full
compensatlons for the low price of labor
and the small cost of freight from
Mediterranean ports to points of final
wholesale distribution-thatis is. Boston and
New York.
1t is not expected in the old lemon
producing districts of Europe that lemon
tree will fruit before the sixth or seventh
year, and it does we'll if it yields three boxes
of fruit the tenth year.
In Southern California the lemon tree is
expected to pay expenses the third year,
and the sixth year should yield from five
to ten boxes of fruit, and it is not an un-
common occurrence for trees ten years
from planting to produce twenty-five or
even thirty boxes of fruit during the year.
It is not generally known that the lemon
must be picked for size, that the maturity
of the fruit is not taken into account, but
that when it attains size of two and a
half inches in diameter it must be picked,
so that "crop" OF lemons Is picked every
month, thus making the lemon orchard
the most regular aid continuous produc-
tive property of the country.
With all these natural adyantaops there