CHAPTER XVII 



THE APPLE 



During the last decade notable progress has beer\ made in apple 

 growing in California. The old idea that our conditions did not 

 favor excellence in the apple has given away to full assurance that 

 in wisely selected elevations and exposures the very highest points 

 of size, beauty, flavor, keeping and shipping qualities are secured. 

 Even before the wonderfully satisfactory test of both Northern and 

 Southern California apples at the New Orleans World's Fair, it was 

 clear that the right variety grown in the right place yields an apple 

 in California than which a better can not be grown anywhere, and 

 during the last decade California early apples have been in sharp 

 request for shipment to all regions of the Northwest and British 

 Columbia, and California winter apples have been sold at the high- 

 est prices east of the Rocky Mountains and in Europe. 



Because of her achievements with other fruits California's stand- 

 ing in apple production is not usually considered. By the U. S. 

 Census of 1910, California ranked ninth among apple growing states 

 of the country. The crop of 1919, as reported by the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, advanced the State to fourth place, with a 

 product of 8,640,000 bushels. The Pacific Coast leads the country 

 in apples. The largest producing state is Washington and the 

 fourth California; the combined product of these two states being 

 5,000,000 bushels greater than that of New York and Virginia, 

 which rank second and third, respectively. The relative planting 

 and product-value of apples to other California fruits is shown in 

 Chapter VI. 



Localities for Apples. Speaking generally, it may be laid down 

 that the great valleys of the interior are not well suited to the apple ; 

 also, there are some situations which are much better than others. 

 In the early regions of the Sacramento Valley and foothills, how- 

 ever, excellent early apples are profitably produced. In the great 

 valley and lower foothill region of the State, the late apple usually 

 lacks character and keeping quality. On the great plains the tree 

 is liable to sunburn, or sun blight, as it is called. Some varieties, 

 because of the character of their foliage, are less liable to this injury 

 than others, and it is possible that this evil may be finally overcome 

 by the selection of varieties with blight-proof foliage, as will be 

 mentioned later. In the great valley, however, on the rich river- 

 bottom land of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin and its tribu- 

 taries, the apple roots deeply, attains good size, bears good fruit, 

 with fair keeping quality, while but a few miles away on the plains 

 it is inferior. On these deep, rich river-bank lands excellent early 

 apples are produced. 



In the interior, adaptation to the late, long-keeping apple lies at 

 an elevation on the foothills on both the east and west rims of the 

 great valley. Its limits are not well defined, but there are flourish- 



