THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 115 



CROP REPORT AND STATISTICS. 



THE ACREAGE OF FRUITS, BEARING AND NONBEARING, BY 



COUNTIES, IN 1916. 



By Gko. P. Weldon. 



Accurate figures on the acreage of our frail trees are in great demand 

 and arc exceedingly hard to get. In 1910, when the last census was 

 taken, such figures were included in the data gathered by the census 

 takers. In many cases these figures proved to be quite accurate, but 

 as wmdd naturally be expected, in others the} were misleading. How- 

 ever, this source of information on acreage has on the whole been the 

 very besl that was available. Another source of information on this 

 subject is the county assessor's office in each county. Here, again, 

 we are able to secure figures that in some <-;ises are very reliable, and 

 in others nothing more than rough estimates. Some of the fruit 

 growers organizations in the state have compiled statistics on the acreage 

 of fruits which they handle. As a general rule these figures have been 

 found quite reliable, but in most cases cover only a small percentage 

 of the total acreage of the state. Such figures have, therefore, only aided 

 in ;i small decree in the compilation of the comprehensive tables which 

 this office prepared for the years 1914 and 1915. The county horticul- 

 tural commissioners, of whom there are now forty-seven serving in as 

 many differeni counties of the state, are the crop reporters for our 

 office. These i fficials are required by law to make reports to the State 

 Commissioner of Horticulture, and being in the closest possible touch 

 witli the fruit industry of their respective counties, the figures which 

 they secure are in the main very reliable. These officials have been 

 urged to exhaust every source of information in a county, as well as 

 to make a careful orchard census wherever such has been possible. In 

 the ease of a number of the Larger counties of the south, the inspectors 

 in each district have been able to make practically an exact count of 

 the trees so thai we do not hesitate in saying that the acreage figures 

 from these counties are by far the most accurate figures available. 



It is disappointing to he forced to .slate again this year that the 

 figures from Fresno and Solano counties have not been revised since 

 1IU4. An effort is being made to have the supervisors of Fresno County 

 appropriate sufficient funds and allow the county horticultural com- 

 missioner sufficient help to make an orchard survey of the county 

 in the near future, so that in 1917 revised figures may be available. 

 In the case of Solano County there is no horticultural commissioner at 

 present, due to a disinterested board of supervisors and a fruit growing 

 population which have not attempted to force the appointment of such 

 Mil official. This is an exceedingly unfortunate case of carelessness and 

 neglect on the part of an important fruit county which can not well 

 afford to be without the services of a horticultural commissioner, who 

 should be one of the most valuable officials of ,-i county. The opportuni- 

 ties for aiding the fruit growers in a county like Solano are unlimited, 

 and to invite the unreliable class of nurserymen to unload their unde- 

 sirable stock in the county; to open Hie doors of the county to the 

 entrance of pests and diseases that could be detected by inspection, or 

 that are barred by quarantine orders, laws and regulations, is. to say 

 the least, a most short-sighted and narrow-minded policy. 



