AN OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPMENT 53 



THE OUTLOOK OF THE INDUSTRY 



The outlook for California fruits and fruit products involves con- 

 siderations of much economic interest. Though the volume is already 

 large and there may be experienced now and then temporary dull- 

 ness or depression in this line or that, the business is, on the whole, 

 brisk and profitable. There is such a wide range in the fruits grown 

 and the products made from them, and such changes in local con- 

 ditions in the many purchasing States and foreign countries with 

 which Californians deal, that there must be some fluctuations in the 

 values of some of the supplies offered in distant market. The result 

 is that first one fruit and then another one seems to be more or less 

 profitable. The fact, however, that all are increasing in volume and 

 the total traffic brings each year more money to the State, is a 

 demonstration of the standing of the collective output. Each year 

 new markets are found, both at home and abroad, and the capacity 

 of old centers of distribution is shown to be greater than anticipated. 

 There is every reason to expect that the products can be profitably 

 multiplied. There have been secured, largely through co-operative 

 efforts of growers, so many improvements in handling and trans- 

 portation that distant shipment has become more safe and profitable 

 and distribution far wider. Jt is reasonable to believe that further 

 improvement in movement and reduction of cost will be realized 

 and the per capita consumption in the populous parts of our own 

 country proportionately advanced. In spite of all that wintry States 

 can do for local supplies, California can find open markets 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 will continue to 

 supply an American product of exceptional quality and freshness, 

 while prunes and other cured fruits and nuts and raisins will not 

 only do this, but will push forward into larger trade abroad. The 

 patriotic service rendered by California fruit producers during the 

 last war, in supplying wholesome foods to the allied armies, has re- 

 turned an appreciative publicity which will be of incalculable trade 

 advantage in the future. The fact is that European countries can 

 not grow fruit enough to supply their own people, and fruit has been 

 largely a luxury. California canned and dried fruits are being wel- 

 comed by the great middle classes and are likely to become a staple 

 of their diet. 



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 char- 

 acter from a horticultural point of view. Not only does the State 

 have a monopoly of semi-tropical conditions of the United States 

 (excepting small parts of the Gulf States and Arizona), but Cali- 

 fornia has command of the whole of northwest America and the 



