CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA 



It is unnecessary to go into detail 

 regarding the early introduction of 

 citrus fruits in California, as all are 

 more or less familiar with the early 

 history o the industry in this State. 

 Our purpose is to treat of conditions 

 as they appear at this time. 



Citrus fruits are grown commer- 

 cially, from the extreme southern end 

 of the State to as far north as Butte 

 County. Recent statistics show that 

 there were growing in the State in 

 the spring of 191C nearly eleven mil- 

 lion bearing trees and nearly two mil- 

 lion not yet in bearing. 



The greater percentage of these 

 trees are growing in the southern 

 part of the State, there being over ten 

 million in the four counties of Los 

 Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside 

 and Orange, and nearly another mil- 

 lion in the counties of Santa Barbara, 

 Ventura and San Diego, leaving but 

 two million for the balance of the cit- 

 rus producing part of the state. Of 

 this amount Tulare County claims 

 over a million trees. 



This by no means indicates that the 

 territory adapted to citrus culture is 

 limited, or that these sections are 

 more desirable than others for the 

 production of citrus fruits. Like other 

 horticultural enterprises, the citrus in- 

 dustry has been confined to sections 

 where success was first achieved; new 

 sections being opened up only when 

 the older ones had all been planted or 

 when prices of land, as a result of the 

 successful growing of citrus fruits, 

 had passed the limit of the planter's 

 pocketbook, or where the adventurous 

 spirit of some pioneer prompted him 

 to try the experiment of growing cit- 

 rus fruits where they had never be- 

 fore been tried. 



Even with the great acreage of cit- 

 rus fruits now growing in the State, 

 not half of the land suitable for their 

 culture has yet been utilized. The 

 planted area in the San Joaquin Val- 

 ley is merely a speck compared to the 

 vast acreage yet unplanted, the most 

 of which is equally as good as any 

 that has come under cultivation. 



Thus it will be seen that citrus cul- 

 ture is practically unlimited in this 

 State, and it is gratifying to know 

 that even though the industry has ex- 

 panded by leaps and bounds during 

 the last ten years, yet with all the 

 citrus fruits produced (nearly 50,000 

 cars the past season) the demand is 

 keeping pace with the production and 

 will no doubt continue to do so for 

 years to come. Nor is this to be won- 

 dered at when we take into considera- 

 tion that the one variety, the Wash- 

 ington Navel, the orange that has 

 made California famous, has never 

 been successfully produced in any 

 other part of the world, excepting in 

 California and parts of Arizona, while 

 in these sections it grows to perfec- 

 tion. The dry hot summers of the 

 San Joaquin Valley are particularly 

 favorable for the growing of the 

 Washington Navel; there it attains 

 the highest degree of perfection. The 

 warm summers seem to have a tend- 

 ency to mature the fruit much earlier 

 than in other parts of the state; much 

 of it being sufficiently well matured in 

 time for the holiday trade, thereby 

 realizing the best market prices. For 

 this reason we advise those contem- 

 plating the planting of citrus fruits in 

 the San Joaquin Valley, to plant the 

 Washington Navel. 



Of all the varieties of oranges 

 grown in the state, the Washington 



