The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1904-09-26

of the Tulare County Board Of Trade
deals are the sudden transformations
that attend agricultural conditions in
California One picture shows how
wheat fields have been converted into
orange groves in five years. 1t is due
TO the county to give some account of
those industries with which it has been
less credited than the counties south
Of Tehachapi- Concerning its raisins
and raisin growing it is said that some
Of the largest raisin vineyards in the
world are in Tulare County, the indus
try of raisin making being especially
strong in the vicinity Of Dinuba,' Orosi
and Sultana- Here a ton and a half per
acre is reported to be the average crop
Of raisins- Sometimes the raisin crop
VIII go as high as two and a half tons
All varieties Of wine grapes thrive in
Tulare County, yielding from eight to
twelve tons an acre. The acreage Of
table grapes is increasing. More than
twenty-five varieties Of table grapes
grow to perfection
RAISES CITRUS FRUITS.
Even TO many in California the facts
related concerning the rise and extern
EADn Va AilG I'LL I'd ~ III
lare County viii be surprising. In the
last few years, it is asserted, the grow
ing Of citrus fruits, especially the pro-
duction Of the navel orange, has out
stripped other industries. A little more
than a decade ago it was generally &C
cepted as a fact that the southern part
Of the State was exclusively the orange
section, and that north of the Tehach-
api Mountains oranges could not be
grown prOfitably.
The people Of Tulare County, in
common with others, held this belief
until about sixteen years ago, when
orange groves were planted by men
of independent thinking along the
western slope Of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains. In Porterville. in the foot
hills. the first experiment was made.
All old theories were disproved. The
groves 1ourished and the fruit proved
to be of excellent quality. The fruit
ripened one month to six weeks ear
lier than the orange Of Southern Cal
ifornia. As soon as it had been dem
onstrated that Tulare could produce
Washington navel oranges in time to
find the Eastern markets bare at
Thanksgiving and Christmas time the
orange industry in the county received
a great impetus. There are now more
than 1000 acres in orange and lemon
groves in Tulare.
"Tulare County," so it IS said, will
this year ship more than two-thirds
of the citrus fruits shipped from the
combined central and northern por-
tons of California The output will
be 1900 carloads. The first carload of
1903 was shipped November l."
The citrus section of Tulare County
lies along the foothills on the western
slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains
and includes Lindsay, Exeter, Naranjo,
Plano, South Tule. Worth and Lemon
cove. and is paralleled by a branch Of
the Southern Pacific railroad. The
boast of Tulare County in this connec-
lion is that the black scale will not live
in the county; that smut on the fruit Is
unknown, and that the fruit goes from
the trees to the boxes in its natural
condition. without washing.
SCENIC ATTRACTIONS.
A rare attraction is claimed in that
.t,. bnp,hlest dweller in Tulare County
can during the summer months, load
his family and camp outfit into
wagon and. "in from twenty-one TO
fortv-eight hours, be in mountain
FARMLAND, there being good wagon
roads TO an elevation of 1000 feet.
The Seouoia National Park, containing
more than 5000 giant sequoias, IN
Guiding the General Sherman tnat Is
supposed to be the tallest tree IN tne
world. is in Tulare County. Benlno
the Sequoia Park is the General Grant