NORTH AMERICAN STATES 



NORTH AMERICAN STATES 2285 



SAN 



Lastly, the state entered upon a magnificant and still- 

 continuing period of horticultural developments, which 

 well deserves to be written down in history as one of 

 the most important facts of modern material rogress. 



Horticulture in California naturally -divides itself 

 into several distinct historical periods, such as: (1) 

 The pre-American era, which ended with the gold dis- 

 covery; (2) the pre-railroad period, when only Calif- 

 ornia and to a small extent the Hawaiian Islands, the 

 Orient and South America, were supplied with local 

 products; (3) the period of expansion due to the 

 opening of eastern and European markets by the rail- 

 road; (4) the modern period, since 1904, when the 

 National Forest System, the conservation of water- 

 supply, the rapid development of hydro-electric power 

 all over the mountain regions of Cali- 

 fornia, the extension of markets, rapid 

 increase in population, and broader horti- 

 cultural education, have united to estab- 

 lish every industry connected with 

 plant life upon a more solid foundation. 



Because of these recent developments 

 in California, forests, pastures, farms, 

 gardens, so suggestively occupy the land 

 that, although there is room for many 

 more, it is difficult to call anything 

 horticulturally worthless except the great 

 heights that shelter and water the 

 valleys below. Even the deserts have 

 underlying streams, and blossom with 

 trees and vines as men sink artesian 

 wells there; and on the unirrigated 

 deserts the spineless cacti begin to create 

 a new industry. The miracles of Italy, 

 ancient Palestine, modern India, are 

 being repeated over large districts of 

 California. 



The great valleys and nearly level lands 

 of California, subject to frosts, comprise 

 about 40,000,000 acres of land; the foot- 

 hill fruit-belts, of Coast Range and 

 Sierra, hardly as yet one-fifth occupied, 

 comprise fully 25,000,000 acres; in 

 timber and fine grazing land, capable of 

 perpetual renewals, are 15,000,000 acres; high moun- 

 tains cover some 10,000,000 acres; arid lands, often 

 yielding enormously under irrigation, or slowly con- 

 quered by neutralizing their superabundant alkali, 

 occupy about 8,000,000 acres. Over these great areas 

 every wind current, every mountain spur, every alter- 

 ation in slope or altitude, helps to make a local climate. 

 The complicated geological development of Cali- 

 fornia has produced soils almost as varied as its local 

 climates. The state has been divided into five character- 

 istic climate-zones: in the high Sierras the "mean annual 

 temperature" is from 30 to 44; in the lower Sierras it 

 is from 44 to 52; near the Pacific Ocean it is from 52 

 67; in the central valleys of Sacramento and San 

 Joaquin it is from 60 to 68, and in the southern coun- 

 ties from 68 to 72. But every part of California shows 

 very sharp horticultural contrasts upon farms not a 

 mile apart. Local climate is the true keynote of Cali- 

 fornia life. Placer County, for example, extends from the 

 center of the Sacramento Valley east to the summit of 

 the Sierras. It has upland Canadian valleys, pines and 

 snow-blockades at one end; groves of oranges and lem- 

 ons m the Sierra foothills, and rich alfalfa and rice fields 

 along the "bottoms" of the Sacramento Valley rivers. 

 Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon this local 

 variation. For California no reliable horticultural map 

 can yet be made. Citrous fruits, for example, are found 

 to thrive wonderfully along the foothills of the Sacra- 

 mento and the San Joaquin valleys, and far up in many 

 a mountain valley. The most careful experimenting 

 with each location, and indeed with all parts of each 

 separate farm, are the keynotes of success in California. 



"Mean annual temperature" is a comparatively small 

 factor in the California climate; winds, fogs, rainfall, 

 frosts, and the daily variations of temperature are the 

 all-important items. 



It is now evident (1915) that the growth of citrous 

 fruits, European grapes, olives, walnuts, chestnuts, and 

 the finer deciduous fruits, will be leading industries 

 over three-fourths of California; that large portions of 

 the valleys of the Coast Range and some of the Sierra 

 foothills will increasingly produce winter vegetables, 

 small-fruits, the finer seeds, bulbs, cut-flowers, and the 

 like; that the hotter, more arid districts will grow date 

 palms, spineless cacti, the earliest melons, and many 

 tropical fruits. In these respects Imperial Valley has 

 been a revelation of immense possibilities. 



Statistics are often dull reading, 

 but are necessary if one would com- 

 prehend the growth of horticulture, 

 especially fruit products, in Cali- 

 fornia. The raisin industry, which 

 began in Yola County with the 

 Blowers' experiments, grew by 1873 

 to a yield of 120,000 pounds, now 

 centers in Fresno, Tulare, Kings, 

 and Madera counties, and supplies 

 from 60,000 to 80,000 tons per 

 annum. The wine industry now 

 markets annually about 45,000,000 

 gallons (1910). The shipment of 



SCALE: OF MILES 



2534. California, to show 

 the leading horticultural 

 parts. 1, North coast; 2, 

 central coast and coast val- 

 leys; 3, great interior val- 

 leys and lower foothills; 4, higher foothills and mountains; 5, 

 arid plateaus and mountains; 6, southern coast; 7, southern foot- 

 hills; 8, irrigated desert areas; 9, southern desert. 



fresh deciduous fruits in 1911 above the supply of local 

 demand, approximated 13,000 carloads; the shipments 

 of curea fruits in 1911 were nearly 190,000 tons; the 

 citrous fruit crop of that year was 14,000,000 boxes. 

 The annual pack of canned fruits and vegetables is not 

 less than 5,000,000 cases. Shipments of 1910 were 

 73,745 tons of canned fruits and vegetables and 78,829 

 tons of green vegetables, besides local consumption. 

 The growth of these interests can also be illustrated 

 by the census reports on trees and vines. The first 

 assessor's tabulations in 1850 showed a few dozen 

 grape-vines, orange trees, and the like, about the old 

 missions. In 1893, these reports showed that nearly 

 half a million acres were in vineyards and orchards; 

 seventeen years later (1910) the State Board of Equali- 

 zation report of vines was as follows: 



