190 EESOUECES OF CALIFORNIA. 



The nectarine is affected by the curl, and is not much culti 

 vated. 



If the cnrculio should not be introduced, the plum will oc 

 cupy a very prominent place in the horticulture of the state. 

 The tree is healthy ; and the fruit is large, finely-flavored, and 

 abundant. The climate is very favorable to drying fruit, and 

 prunes might be made here with a profit. 



The cherry and the soft-shell almond thrive in all the valleys 

 of the state. 



The fig-tree is cultivated from Shasta to San Diego, but 

 does not produce abundantly north of latitude 35°. In the 

 vicinity of Los Angeles it is a very thrifty and productive tree. 

 It produces two crops of fruit annually. North of 37° the sec- 

 ond crop is usually killed by the frost or stunted by the cold. 



The almond and the English walnut both grow Avell and 

 l^roduce abundantly about Los Angeles, but do not thrive so 

 well north of Santa Barbara. The almond suffers, and loses 

 its fruit, with a slight touch of frost. 



Tlie pomegranate is a healthy and productive bush in Cali- 

 fornia, but its fruit is not profitable. It is cultivated to a 

 small extent in all the large fruit-gardens, 



§ 149. Olives. — For the cultivation of the olive, California 

 has great advantages. The tree is very healthy, and always 

 bears abundantly ; whereas in Italy and Greece, whence most 

 of our olive-oil comes, the crop is frequently destroyed by sum- 

 mer rains, blight, and insects, all of which causes of trouble are 

 unknown here. There it is expected that the crop will fail 

 one year in three, whereas here no failure has ever been known. 

 The number of our olive-trees is small, most of those in bear- 

 ing having been planted half a century ago. Nor is it likely 

 that there will be a rapid increase. The tree does not come 

 into bearing until ten years of age, at least not in Europe ; and 

 although it may live and continue in bearing for five or six 

 centuries, the possibility of a steady income to our remote 

 posterity will not j^ay Californians for investing their money 

 in a business that will yield no income for a decade of years. 



