188 EESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA. 



here than in the Eastern states. Great variations are observed 

 in different parts of the state ; an apple may be excellent when 

 the tree grows in the hot summer and cold winter high up on 

 the Sierra Nevada ; and be of poor quality if grown in the 

 equable temperature of the coast. 



The best varieties, so far as ascertained, about the bay of 

 San Francisco, are the Summer Pearmain, Red Astrakhan, Red 

 June, and Early Harvest, for early apples ; the Porter, Graven- 

 stein, and Summer Queen, for late summer apples ; the Bald- 

 win, Roxbury Russet, and Rhode Island Greening, for fall 

 apples; the Golden Russet, the Northern Spy, the Yellow 

 Kewtown Pippin, the White Winter Pearmain, and the Spitz- 

 enberg, for winter apples. The best cider apple is the Smith's 

 Cider. 



The leading counties in the production of apples are Santa 

 Clara, Sacramento, Alameda, Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Yolo, Yuba, 

 and El Dorado. 



The trees grow so rapidly and bear so abundantly, that some 

 persons suppose our orchards must be short-lived ; and the old- 

 est American orchard in the state — at the Mission of San Jose 

 — is cited as proof of this theory. That orchard is evidently 

 dying, though only eleven years old ; but its unhealthiness is 

 owing to some influences peculiar to that spot. It has been 

 gradually dying for four or five years, while other orchards six 

 and eight years old are in perfect health. Besides, the fruit- 

 trees of the old missions, many of them thirty years old, are 

 still in excellent health and full bearing, and have not failed at 

 any season during the last score of years to produce a good 

 crop. The indigenous trees in our valleys have a thriftiness 

 of growth and a precocity of development similar to our cul- 

 tivated fruit-trees, and yet have a longevity equal to that of 

 the similar species east of the Mississippi, where the summers 

 are shorter, the winters colder, the annual growth less, and 

 the development of tlie reproductive power later. 



§ 146. Peaches. — ^The peach-tree grows very rapidly, comes 

 into bearing very early, and produces abundantly, in California; 



