156 RURAL CALIFORNIA 



Some of the above quantities constitute practically 

 the whole product of the United States and others 

 are large fractions of it. California produces 86 per 

 cent of the garden beet ; 85 of the mangel beet ; 99 of 

 carrot; 100 of celery; 100 of endive and lettuce; 

 96 6f onion; 100 of parsley; 98 of parsnip; 48 of 

 radish; 100 of salsify; also the larger part of the 

 flower seed grown in the United States. In addi- 

 tion, there is a considerable production of seed- 

 potatoes (for which the State has enacted a sys- 

 tem of certification), grains and forage plants, mainly 

 alfalfa, which is chiefly undertaken in the interior 

 valleys and foothills, but data concerning the cheaper 

 field seeds are less definitely determined. 1 It is 

 probably true that the total seed production of Cali- 

 fornia has a value of about twenty-five million dol- 

 lars annually as it passes from first hands. In 1920 

 California employed 41,562 acres of land in seed- 

 growing, a little less than in 1919 when the acreage 

 was 43,040. These figures rank California as the 

 leading state in production of vegetable seeds. 



Truck-farming is an important industry in Cali- 

 fornia and has attained very unique and profitable 

 development. A large export product is sent by 

 both rail and sea to distant markets, the total an- 

 nual exports of "green vegetables" aggregating over 

 forty thousand carloads when growing and market- 

 ing conditions are favorable. It is a striking fact 

 that storage of fresh vegetables is not necessary in 



1 The legislature of 1921 enacted a pure seed law which re- 

 quires the labeling of field seeds in containers of five pounds or 

 more to show purity and germination percentages. 



