24 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



OTHER FRUITS. 



We have considered very briefly a few of the most important of the 

 tropical fruits for this State, but there are many more which deserve 

 more than mere mention. Dates are surely a commercial success here 

 and are destined to a very important place in our horticulture. These 

 trees are best adapted to regions with a very long, dry and hot summer 

 season, for they recpiire much heat for ripening their fruit. 



The edible passion fruits (Passi/?ora spp.) may become of some impor- 

 tance in a limited and local way, for in addition to furnishing a pro- 

 fusion of acid fruits with the flavor of apricots, the vines are very useful 

 as ornaments. They are good climbers and make an excellent porch or 

 arbor plant. In tropical countries the fruits are much used for flavor- 

 ing soft drinks and sherbets and desserts. IMost species of this genus 

 of plants thrive excellently in this State. 



The eherimoya (Ahona cJierimoya) , and several related anonas, grow 

 well here and fruit moderately well. The eherimoya is a fruit which, in 

 tlie tropics, thrives to better advantage in the cooler highlands than in 

 the lowlands, so it is not remarkable that it should do so well here. The 

 fruit has a very peculiar flavor, by some considered delicious but by 

 many others quite the contrary. Probably the best place the fruit will 

 ever have in our commerce will be as an oddity and luxury, to be seen 

 comparatively rarely on the table of the man of moderate means. 



Several sapotes — especially the white variety — give promise of being 

 about as prominent commercially as the eherimoya. This, also, is a fruit 

 of peculiar flavor not always relished by an American, but is valuable 

 as an oddity. The tree of the white sapote, when it is properly shaped 

 and headed up in its younger stages of growth, makes a first-class orna- 

 ment for gardens or parks, and for this object it is well worth growing. 



The papaya {Carica papaya) is too much a tropical tree to be suc- 

 cessful here. To fruit well and ripen its fruits properly it requires 

 tropical w^armth and humidity, and uniformity of temperature not 

 prevalent in this State. However, as an ornamental plant it is highly 

 valuable because of its tropical foliage and it luis been found to grow 

 moderately well in protected places here. 



CONCLUSION. 



In conclusion, let me emphasize again the fact that there are two types 

 of tropical fruits, namely: those that can fill both an important and an 

 unfilled need in our diet, and those that correspond in the tropical man's 

 diet to our common northern fruits, such as apples, peaches, plums, etc. 

 The latter type gives little promise of commercial success here, because 

 such fruits can not displace our northern fruits ; but the former type 

 gives much promise of large success as a California industry, provided 

 the problem of introduction and establishment in the markets is attacked 

 in the right way. To place these fruits on the market as a luxury at a 

 high price is a mistake, and if this is continued it will strangle the 

 coming industry in its infancy. 



We need enthusiasm in the spreading of this industry among the fruit 

 growers of the State, but the enthusiasm must not be misdirected. We 

 need, most of all, men who have enough foresight to cut off some of their 

 present gain in order to establish the industrj'^ firmly and widely, and 

 who will offer good nursery trees reasonably cheap, and good fruit to 

 the consumer at a reasonably low price — to make these fruits an integral 

 part of our diet. 



