The herald., 1898-01-15
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10. 1898.
THAT POMoLoGICAL REPORT

W. H. Mills is the first person to defend
the extraordinary report, with a list of
fruits succeeding in California, pub
lished at public expense by the depart
ment of agriculture.
The secretary of agriculture has
blamed the division of pomology for its
misstatements. The division of pomol-
ogy has apologized in numerous letters
to local fruit growers and associations
and blames the American Pathological
society. This society, by it's secretary,
Mr.. Lyon, apologies in letter to the
secretary of the union meeting of farm
ers and horticultural clubs and societies
recently held in Los Angeles, and blames
the sins of omission and commission in
the list on the neglect of Californian
fruit growers to send returns of their
work to him. 1t seems that he especially
expected such reports from a professor
of our state agricultural college. This
transfer of responsibility is a pretty
lame affair, but, In any case, all con-
cerned admit the unreliability of the
fruit report More than that, the secre-
tary of agriculture. through the chief of
the division of pomology, has promised
TO issue special bulletin on California
fruits to correct the gross misinforma-
tion of the criticised report.
Now comes Mr.. Mills to tell us that the
report is all right and that its critics do
Lrn hot TO
in fact, mistook report on Oregon, Ida
no and Washington for the report on
California and Arizona. 1t is true that
one criticism-that of Mr.. Lelong-did
make an exaggerated statement of the
report on citrus fruits, but his statement
was substantially correct. The Herald
was the first to call attention to the dam
aging misstatements of this report. Let
us re-examine a few of its defects.
California, except a mountainous part
of no fruit growing Importance in the
north, is united in the report to all of
Arizona south of latitude So.
This is not homogeneous fruit grow
ing region. The conditions within its
limits affecting fruit growing vary enor-
mously. Contrast, for instance, Los An
geles with Mono and Inyo counties, or
Yuma with Santa Cruz. No list of fruits
for guidance could be reliable for any
section of this territory when spoken of
for the whole. This alone is a fatal de-
feet.
In citrus fruits, which Mr.. Mills and the
San Francisco Chronicle think the re-
port does US full justice on, we are IL
beled.
1t is necessary to state the system Of
marking in this fruit report so that the
injustice can be understood
The sign - is used for tried and failed
The sign plus is used for under trial.
The sign is used for success.
The sign ~ for specially desirable.
No sign is an absence of the fruit on
species in the district.
Now follows the report in full on
citrus fruits: Not one of the six vari-
eties of bitter orange is grown in Cali
fornia. All of them are grown
III lOilud NO CllTOH is grown IN
California. Three varieties are named in
Florida with double stars. Two species
of citrus japonica are grown in Califor-
MIA marked with one star. Both have
two stars in Florida. Three varieties of
lemons are grown in California, two of
which have two stars. In Florida there
are five, four of which have double stars.
In mandarins, six varieties have double
stars in Florida. One kind only has sue
ceeded in California to the extent of one
star and that one is the Satsuma. Our
great mandarin, the Dancy-tangarine
and its sports, it seems, do not grow
grown in California, according to the
report, although we have near Los An
geles one plantation of 100 acres of this
fruit, and there are others. In Florida
eight varieties of this fruit are double
starred. In sweet oranges the report
admits that we grow thirty varieties
only one of which, however, is double
starred-the Bahia navel. We, however
do not grow some of our best known or.
anges, such as the Ruby Blood and Va
lencia. Contrast this with the report on
Florida. There sixty-seven varieties
were found, nineteen of which are dou-
BILE starred. Florida has by this nineteen
times the best of California on orange
growing. This may suit Mr.. Mills and