OUTLOOK OF FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA 55 



kets before and after the short ripening season of the Eastern States 

 for her early and late fruits, and can use her own midseason fruits in 

 the drying- and canning industries, though it is a fact that in the height 

 of the Eastern fruit season a considerable quantity of California^ fruit 

 will command the highest prices because of its exceptional size, beauty 

 and keeping qualities. The citrus fruits, so long as they are allowed 

 to remain under the favoring tariff which now exists, will continue to 

 supply an American product of exceptional quality and freshness, while 

 prunes, nuts, raisins and wines will not only do this, but will push 

 forward into the trade of Europe, as they are now beginning to do in 

 a most vigorous manner. A very significant report was made by one 

 of the United States Consuls in France recently that our canned and 

 dried fruits were appearing on the shelves of all the provision shops of 

 the smaller French towns and were being freely sold without reducing 

 the prices of the locally grown fruit. Practically the same thing could 

 be said of points in Germany and other European countries. The fact 

 is that European countries can not grow fruit enough to supply their 

 own people and fruit has been largely a luxury. California dried fruits 

 are being welcomed by the great middle classes and are likely to become 

 a staple of their diet. This explains the ultimate disposition of the 

 large amounts now going direct from California to Europe. 



California's exports of high-class food supplies to European coun- 

 tries are likely to reach values like those of the wheat and barley which 

 we are now sending to that part of the world. The development of 

 adjacent territory on the American continent and other Pacific countries 

 may shape the future of California as a fruit producing State in a way 

 which can at present only be dreamed about. It should be remembered 

 that California has a unique character from a horticultural point of 

 view. Not only does the State have a monopoly of semi-tropical condi- 

 tions of the United States (excepting small parts of the Gulf States 

 and Arizona), but California has command of the whole of northwest 

 America and the whole of northeast Asia, not only in the supply of 

 semi-tropical fruits, but in early ripening of hardy fruits as well. 



California does not grow tropical fruits, as has already been con- 

 ceded in Chapter I. They must come from the islands and the tropical 

 south coast countries. Semi-tropical fruits are, however, vastly more 

 important in commerce than tropical, and a region which successfully 

 combines northern orchard fruits with the whole semi-tropical class 

 commands the fruit trade of all accessible populous regions which have 

 limited fruit capabilities. There are now four such regions with the 

 kind of population which makes for industrial advancement Southern 

 Europe, South Africa, parts of Australia and California. As already 

 shown, we are competing successfully with South Europe in the capa- 

 cious markets of North Europe. South Africa and Australia are unfor- 

 tunate in lying in the southern hemisphere, which is mostly ocean 

 wastes, and they are handicapped by tropic crossing in their northern 

 shipments, although the fact of opposite seasons may help them, and 

 also us, in avoiding competition of trade which both desire. California 

 will soon be less than half as far by sea from European and Atlantic 

 coast ports as at present, but California in the future will have less 



