New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-08-02
THE SEASON OF APRICOTS.
FRUIT GROWERS IN CALIFORNIA BUSY
GATHERING A GOLDEN CROP.
A PECULIARLY PROLIFIC FRUIT. AND THE Picr
uREsouE SCENES AT IT'S HARVESTING.

these midsummer days. This Is the apricot anu
peach season OF this State and thousands OF people
busy from early dawn till dark ivestihg 'he
fruit preparing 1t for canning and drying ana
then gathering the dried and canned product Tor
! shipment the East 1t is roughly estimated that
| this apricot crop OF California Is about 4o,W"W
| pounds In its green FORM and that from IT there
will be 100000 pounds OF dried fruit and some
| 270o 900 cases Of canned fruit. heavy frost, the
| severest yet known in the season OF bossoming OF
the apricot and prune trees, went over Bood part
| Of California last March, and did damage to the
extent OF some 100000 pounds OF aprcots In all
the fruit growing districts of the State. Some we'll
posted horticultursts believe that with full yield
| OF apricots this season California would produce
| not less than 6S,0Co.00O pounds.
The growing OF this peculiar rich. golden fruit on
| an extensive scale Is limited In America to the
| Pacific Coast and especially to California lncre
are a few OF apricos here and there IN spots
| sheltered from the cold weather OF winter In the
Eastern States. but generally the Eastern apricot
| grows no larger than a common hickory nut There
| are small orchards OF apricots In the south OF
| France in Italy and In Turkey and larger ones In
| Japan; but nowhere In the world are apricots
| grown on the wholesale plan OF California the
| product Of this fruit in California IL more than
treble that Of all the rest OF the world In nve or
six years more. when the thousands OF young april
cot growing IN this State come into fun
bearing It is likely that the annual yield OF april
N California will be upward Of 1Co,TOGD
| pounds, and that the product Of the rest OF the
world will be insignificant by the side OF It, The
growth of the horticultural interests in California
In the last decade is most wonderful. and the in
crease in the Of apricot orchards has kept
pace with that of prune, peach and orange or
| chards In 1870 there but 1900 apricot trees
! In the whole State. In 1885 the peach, prune and
| apricot crops worth to the orchardists Of
! California about s27OOOO In 1895 they worth
over s.2OOOOo In 1855 the total apricot yield In this
Ctn o do md In
100000 pounds. The State Board Of Horticulture
| for California reports the acreage Of apricot
chards about $500 acres. and 1t IS roughly esti-
mated that 100000 Is invested in apricot
chards the drying houses and all the appurte-
to wing the fruit and getting 1t ready for
market.
THE LARGEST APRICOT ORCHARDS.
The apricot orchards in Santa Clara County in
| the vicinity of San Jose. tho largest In the
world. Several orchards there over 100 acres in
extent. and many cover fifty and seventy acres.
The total acreage Of apricot orchards In Santa
! Clara County is 5000 Then there
large orchards In the Sacramento Valley. and
through Sonoma and MERGED counties. In South
ern California Ventura County produces the most
aprlcots and this season has some 100000 pounds
of this fruit in preparation for market. Pomona
Valley is another important producer of apricots.
and last year had some 100000 pounds of the
fruit or $50 carloads In California the apricot
/ grows with good care ana plenty OF moisture IN
the ground, TO the size of hens eggs The Royal
and Moorpark varieties grow large the com
Crawford peach. and three of them commonly
weigh pound. The apricots Of all other parts Of
the world seldom larger than English wanuts
and have an acid flavor that Is not known In the
California product. The fruit Is smooth skinned,
has free stone and the flesh is Of deep salmon
tint. Apricot shy bearers. and with all
that science and the arts OF horticulture may do
they cannot make an apricot a steady bearer year
after year. like the fig. the orange lemon or plum.
one year the apricot trees will produce heavily
that the orchardst must early In June begin daily
to put props under the overburdened limbs Of his
trees the trees will be asunder by the limbs
tearing away from the parent trunk. The next
year. in spite of extraordinary care and ample
fertilization and pruning the same tree will yield
very scantily be followed the succeeding year by
another enormous crop. This is the or year for
aprcots In this State.
The gathering OF the apricot Is the first work Of
the grower Of deciduous fruits toward his sum-
mer harvests in the orchards Along about
July the Orchard.st in California and his will
get from the storehouse hundreds OF fruit trays,
each yard square. inch deep and made of thin
Stats nailed to a strong frame The trays are re-
paired and lie ready for another season Of drying
service beginning with the apricots and ending
with raisins in late September and early October.
The public schools close in June boys and girls
+ by the thousand ready for the fruit har
vest when the apricots have turned to butter yell
low at about the middle of July. Men women and
children look forward from the orange picking and
packing season to the time when they
money in the apricot harvest.
There are lively in the orchards when the
pickers begin their work Apricot picking is easy;
the trees are comparatively low and symmetrical,
and the picker. standing stcp-ladder, with
basket suspended from his neck. has much time for
conversation reflection he pulls away the
fruit at arms length. The pckers have their
jokes and their fun They tell stories while they
work and they sing songs in chorus by the hour.
There is never n cloudy day the faintest sugges
ton Of rain. Each day is like another. When the
picker has filled his basket he goes down his lad
der and empties the load In huge boxes and bins
placed conveniently near at hand At regular in
tervals the ranchman comes with horse and
wagon and carries the fruit TO the drying house,
n corner of his ranch Here Is the liveliest scene
of all II il is the property Of a man who grows
aprcots on a large scale-that is. in orchard Of
forty or fifty acres-there are several hundred
women and children working like beavers at long
rows of tables beneath the shade of a shed pos
sibly a of gaunt eucalyptus trees The apricots
are run down the middle Of each table in chutes
by the CARLOAD 50 that the fruit Ia easily reached
by all of the workers at the tables. An observer
recently from the Eastern States. who has often
paid dime for a handful Of fresh apricots. gen.
orally stands in wonder at the prodiga way that
the hundreds of boy and girl cutters handle what
seems to have priceless value to the Fastener.
DExTEROUs LITTLE HANDS
By practice and because all this work is done by
tho piece the cutters on the tables have acquired
extraordinary dexterity The hundreds Of busy
little hands never rest a minute. Each apricot Is
snatched up from the chute and In a twinkng Is
sliced in exact halves. The pit is dropped in box
at the workers feet. while the little hands. quick
as a flash lay the two halves on drying tray.
! often a girl or boy Will slice and lay on trays
! over "A ton of apricots In day. In nearly every
fruit growing community the orchardists nave CO.
/ operative organizations. and In their drying yards
often AS many CO.. and 700 women and children
are busy Ut the slicing tables for weeks at time.
and the money paid at these concerns for labor Is
an important element in the commercial prosperity
OF the village every summer. 49,
From the silcing tables the trays. covered with
ruch turned skin down. piled