208 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



The Citrus Fair held in December, 1888, in Oroville, was the fourth fair 

 of the same kind held in Northern California, the first being at Sacramento, 

 in January, 1886; the second at the same city, in December, 1886; the 

 third at Oroville, in December, 1887; and the fourth being the one just 

 held. The latter was the most remarkable of the four in several respects. 

 At the first fair, ten or twelve counties were represented and exhibited 

 their products; at the second, twenty -two counties displayed their citrus 

 and other productions; at the third, all of Butte County was represented, 

 while at the fourth less than half the territory of Butte sent any products, 

 so that while the fair possessed no less merit than either of the others, 

 it demonstrated that in this vicinity all the varied productions of all 

 Northern California are produced. That this maybe the more apparent, 

 Ave add a list of the various exhibits. 



Exhibits at the last Oroville Citrus Fair. Oranges: Seedling, Naval, St. 

 Michael, Konah, Mediterranean Sweet, Malta Blood, Tangerine. Lemons: 

 China, Eureka, Sicily, Lisbon. Olives, olive oil, tobacco. The olives were 

 shown on branch and loose; the tobacco in its green or growing state and 

 when dried. Potatoes, fifteen exhibitors; melons, five exhibitors; cotton, 

 seven exhibitors; raisins, sixteen exhibitors; prunes, seven exhibitors; figs, 

 eighteen exhibitors; both the White Adriatic and the common varieties 

 being shown. Bleached fruits, six exhibitors; sun dried fruits, twenty-four 

 exhibitors; almonds, fifteen exhibitors; many varieties being shown. Wal- 

 nuts, twelve exhibitors; chestnuts, four exhibitors; quinces, eight exhib- 

 itors; grapes, five exhibitors; apples, forty-four exhibitors; pears, seventeen 

 exhibitors; pomegranates, seven exhibitors; persimmons, twelve exhib- 

 itors; while in addition there were shown pumpkins, popcorn, hops, beans, 

 strawberries, sugar beets, peanuts, green tomatoes, the latter from ten 

 localities; egg plant; oils and extracts from the citrus fruits; seedling date 

 trees, honey, licorice, celery, lettuce, onions, blackberries, raspberries, shad- 

 docks, citrons, flax, banana plants, green peas, and green peppers. 



The pavilion in which the fair was held was, to a certain degree, emblem- 

 atical, for nowhere on the Atlantic Coast could a Citrus Fair have been 

 held in December, with no other protection but a canvas covering. This 

 pavilion was a mammoth structure, one hundred and sixty feet long by 

 sixty-four feet wide, with arches sprung from side to side so as to leave the 

 whole space beneath clear of all posts or pillars. The center of the build- 

 ing was thirty-four feet in height, thus making a magnificent building for 

 the display of fruits. The area of the floor was over ten thousand square 

 feet; nearly forty thousand feet of lumber, and forty-two thousand square 

 feet of canvas were used in making and covering the pavilion. Owing to 

 the material of which it was formed, the interior was almost as light as 

 though covered with glass, while at night it was brilliantly lighted with a 

 large number of electric lights. The space inclosed was nearly three hun- 

 dred thousand cubic feet. Within this grand temple of Pomona, the god- 

 dess of fruits, there were six large, fine orange trees, loaded down with their 

 rich golden fruit. One writer, in describing this scene, says: There were 

 grottoes, cottages, and great whirling wheels covered with oranges, and pro- 

 pelled by motor power that left great orange ribbons in the track of their 

 revolutions, and all so perfect and beautiful that they would have excited 

 the admiration of an artist. Great crates of oranges, as large as header 

 beds, and all so clean, large, bright, sweet, and delicious, as to cause visit- 

 ors from snow-clad countries to stop and gaze in wonder at what has been 

 here accomplished. We saw ears of corn, fifteen inches long; great pump- 

 kins and squashes as large as washtubs, turnips as large as peck measures, 

 and great streaked rosy apples the size of sugar bowls. The exhibition 



