The record-union., 1899-10-04
Santa Barbara County.


ticulture - Gentlemen: We have the
honor Of submitting our anua1 report
of the condition of the fruit interests
of Santa Barbara County, for the year
ending September 80, 1899.
The condition of crops, as compared
with the same last year at close OF Sep
tember shows a great dimlnuuon potn
as to size, quantity and quality or
fruit This results due, in our opln-
ion, to the long succession of light Win
ter rains, and the severe frosts OF last
winter; and, in some localities, we must
add the high winds through the spring.
The apple crop of Lompoc will be,
perhaps, three-fifths to three-fourtns
that of 1898: in Santa Maria still less;
while in the southern end of the county
it is almost a. failure. Other decidu-
Gus fruits give a less yield than the
apple with perhaps the exception OF
walnuts; these are promising at the
present date The prices for all the
aboYe named fruits are above the aver
age.
Citrus fruits were abundant during
the spring and summer but have fallen
off through August and September.
The condition of trees and vines. as af-
fected by lack Of moisture, is very
noticeable Their growth has been ex-
tremely curtailed and shows very
much weakened appearance, giving
small amount of wood for next years
supply. We predicted this state of
things a year ago, from the fact of
light rainy seasons for three or four
years; yet we feel thankful that we
have had much continuous cloudy
weather a great part of the summer,
and thereby our trees have maintained
their verdure remarkably we'll. Our
fruit trees, of all kinds have withstood
the attacks of pests beyond expecta-
ton; for a cloudy season is favorable
to the increase of injurious insects,
fungoids, smut and blemishes while
beneficial insects, such as ladybirds
and chalcid flies are delayed in their
propagation. This is we'll shown in the
citrus trees and very strongly in the
olive groves. The latter will be an al
most entire failure in crop this year.
The olive trees bloomed profusely in
the spring, the blooms remained on an
unusually long time, but dropped with
out setting much fruit. This was prob
ably due to the amount of rain last win
ter being sufficient to start the trees
into bloom; but the subsoil not being
we'll soaked soon absorbed the moisture
leaving the soil too dry to develop the
fruit It is estimated that the Fithian
ranch will produce forty tons of olives
this year, which is far below the aver
age crop. Those that are too small for
pickles will be pressed for oil. The
ranch of Mrs. McCurdy-Hart, as re-
CARDS olives, is somewhat similar to
the Fithian, but the crop will be con-
siderably less. Ellwood Cooper esti
mates his crop of olives at one-fourth
the usual amount. From all other parts
Of the county reports give us almost
entire failure Of olives. The varieties
grown are very largely Mission, with
an interspersion of Queen, Pleureur de
Crosse, broad -leayed Mission, Manza-
nilla and SeivlIano Cordial.
The Rhizobiids have been plentiful
during the summer, and through Sep
tember, and their work in eradicating
scale insects has been very satisfactory
in most cases. Spraying Of trees has
been continued by those who believe in
that process and a, few growers for the
first time have experimental with FUN
igation, but the result has been very
unsatisfactory. The orchards that have
have been colonized with Rhizobiids
and other parasitic insects, have, as
rule, been in a better condition than
those treated with spray or gas. This
Commission has been favored, through
the kindness of Alexander CraW, State
Quarantine officer at San Francisco,
with several importantions of new par
aSlteS for destroying our insect pests
and obtained from the Hawaiian ISL
ands. These are the Chilocorus cir
cumdatus, for the purple scale; the
Coleophera bi-plagiata, for the aphides,
and the New Chalcid fly, a voracious
and close feeder on the larvae of the
black scale
The popularity of all our beneficial in
sects is shown by the multitudes of ap-
plications for them from the fruit
growers not only in our county, but
outside as we'll. But our honse demand
is SO great that we have allowed only
two or three colonies to go abroad.
This Commission is pleased to be able
to report that the present appearance
of the fruit industry of this county is
far better than the most sanguine could
predict last spring. Respectfully sub
mitted. tSigned), c.. ID. Doris, Presi-
dent; G. j. Russell, Z. N. Snow, Secre-
tary Santa Barbara County Board of
Horticultural Commissioners.
Santa Barbara, September 20, 1899.
San Bernardino County.
| To the Honorable State Board of