State Agricultural Society. 51 



to make the business satisfactorily remunerative. The fact that fruits 

 in many portions of our State mature from three to four weeks earlier 

 than the same kinds do in the Atlantic States, the acknowledged supe- 

 riority of the California fruits over those of the East, and the improved 

 facilities lately introduced for shipping fruits a great distance by rail, 

 are affecting most favorably this industry in our State. 



Again, our growers are learning by experience the varieties best 

 adapted to the different localities and climates of our State, and to the 

 markets upon which they depend for sales, and are grafting and bud- 

 ding and improving their orchards and fruit accordingly. They are also 

 learning and adopting a better system of economy in management. Less 

 fruit is now allowed to go to waste in the orchards than formerly. It 

 is either dried or fed to stock or made into vinegar, and thus in one way 

 or another made to swell the profits of the year's operations. 



FRUITS IN THE MOUNTAINS. 



The display of fruits at the last State Fair from our mountain coun- 

 ties made one of the most valuable and interesting features of the exhi- 

 bition. A comparison of the same varieties with those raised in the 

 valleys, illustrated very strikingly the superiority of the former in many 

 respects over the latter. The mountain fruit is more highly flavored, 

 more compact and finer grained, and more tart and juicy. The moun- 

 tain fruit ripens much later, and is also much superior to that of the 

 valley in keeping qualities. The same varieties of apples, for instance, 

 that ripen in the valleys in September, when raised in the mountains as 

 high up as Placerville, will keep well until February or March and even 

 later, before becoming mellow and good for eating purposes. This 

 latter fact is one of immense value to our State as a fruit growing 

 country, and will in time drive the Oregon winter apples entirely out of 

 our markets. It will enable us to enjoy a plentiful supply of green 

 apples through the entire year. The imperfect means at the command 

 of the Board for collecting reliable statistics of many of our products, 

 render it impossible for us to report even approximately as to the 

 quantity or value of the fruit raised in the State. As an illustration of 

 the adaptability of the foothills and mountains to this industry, and the 

 proportions it is assuming in these districts, we are assured that during 

 the months of August, September, and October last, from the orchards 

 and vineyards within a radius of six miles about the City of Placerville, 

 there was picked and marketed over one hundred thousand dollars 

 worth of fruits. The value of the dried and winter fruits produced 

 within the same districts, it is said will probably equal this amount. 

 Add to this the value of the wines and brandy made within this same 

 radius, and from grapes sold and shipped to Sacramento for manufac- 

 ture, estimated at fifty thousand dollars more, and we have the sum of 

 two hundred and fifty thousand dollars as the value of the product of 

 fruit culture in a small section of one of our mountain counties which 

 but a few years ago contained not a fruit tree or a vine, and was con- 

 sidered worthless except for the gold that could be mined from its soil. 

 When we state that a very large proportion of the land embraced 

 within this same section is still unoccupied and subject to be purchased 

 at government rates, and that not one out of twenty of the occupied 

 places contains bearing orchards or vineyards, some idea of the vast 

 agricultural and horticultural resources of the mountain districts of our 

 State may be formed. It is a remarkable fact that the owners of nearly 



