8 CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



disadvantages they make Citrus Culture pay, then we look to 

 California's immense capabilities, where the trees bear unpro- 

 tected and without care the year round, where diseases among 

 them are but little known, and how remunerative they are to 

 the owner, then we glance back to those who have preached 

 overproduction, who have spent their lives with their faces 

 turned back, lamenting the good old days. 



We may safely say that in this State Citrus Culture is yet" 

 in its infancy, and look hopefully to its promising future. 

 Only in the past few years did we know what were the best 

 varieties to grow, such as would be profitable, and would bear 

 transportation, manner of packing, curing, etc., but through 

 energy, persistency, and hard work we have accomplished that 

 end, and to the world we have made known the quality of our 

 fruits, which cannot be surpassed. The awarding of GOLD 

 MEDALS to California at the "NEW ORLEANS WORLD'S FAIR" 

 for the best twenty varieties against the World, is conclusive 

 evidence of this fact. 



MR. L. M. HOLT, of Riverside, in his essay on "The Future 

 of Citrus Culture in California," read before the Ninth Fruit 

 Growers' Convention, said : 



The cultivation of the orange in favorable localities, is probably the most profit- 

 able business to which an acre of ground can be devoted for horticultural and agri- 

 cultural purposes. It takes time to develop an orange grove, and this fact taken in 

 connection with the fear of overproduction, keeps the masses from going into the 

 industry, and hence, the time when overproduction will come, if ever, is pushed 

 far into the future. 



The question of raising a superior orange in California is now settled. This State 

 not only raises a superior orange, an orange that is king among oranges, but that 

 fact is recognized by the markets of the United States, and there is no probability 

 that the present century will see enough oranges produced in California to supply 

 the spring markets of the Atlantic States. The Mediterranean oranges are being 

 practically driven from the market, while the Florida orange cuts no figure, as it is 

 not a competitor. The California crop comes upon the market in the spiing when 

 the system demands an acid fruit, and at a time when there is practically no other 

 fruit in the market with which it is brought into competition. 



The time is coming when train loads of oranges from California will be shipped 

 across the Rocky Mountains, where now only carloads are sent. It is only about 

 three years since oranges were first successfully shipped from Southern California to 

 Chicago. It was then an experiment; a market had to be made in the Western 

 States. It took time to make it, and yet the market has extended more rapidly 



