LUTHER BURBANK 
in this way. But the chief demand, and the one 
that gives the apricot its real economic importance 
is based on the exceptional qualities of the fruit 
when dried. 
Something like three-quarters of the entire 
output of the California orchards is preserved in 
this way and shipped as dried fruit to all parts of 
the world, and brings about the highest price of 
any tree fruit under cultivation. 
A perhaps clearer estimate of the value of the 
industry may be gained if we recall that there are 
nearly three million apricot trees in California 
orchards. Indeed, this state has a practical mo- 
nopoly of commercial apricot growing. 
Nowhere else in the world is the fruit of cor- 
responding economic importance. 
The apricot has been cultivated from an early 
period of history, like the allied orchard fruits, 
and it has been grown more or less extensively in 
America for many years. But it is a fruit that is 
greatly restricted as to the regions in which it can 
advantageously be cultivated. The fact that there 
are very large areas of California where it thrives, 
sufficiently explains the virtual monopoly in the 
growth of this fruit that the Pacific Coast enjoys. 
Why Apricot Cutture Is DiFFicuLT 
The difficulty that the apricot grower en- 
counters may be said to center on a single char- 
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