AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES 179 



production which may lead toward a general under- 

 standing of the producing situation of each fruit 

 will be briefly indicated. 



The apple industry of California has two distinct 

 branches : one is the growing of early varieties for 

 sale in the northern parts of the Pacific Coast and 

 the interior mountain states before the earliest ap- 

 ples can be ripened in those parts. The localities 

 where early varieties are chiefly grown for such ship- 

 ment are in the Sacramento Valley and the foothills 

 surrounding it. The forcing heat of the spring and 

 early summer brings early varieties quickly to nota- 

 ble size, crispness and flavor. This heat, however, 

 continued into the summer and autumn, makes the 

 same districts quite ill-suited for the growth of win- 

 ter apples which are prematurely ripened and lack 

 quality and keeping power. The second branch of the 

 apple industry then, the production of winter apples, 

 is undertaken in parts of the State quite different 

 in climate from that of the early apple regions. The 

 requirements of a winter apple are fully met by two 

 main divisions of the State, viz., the smaller valleys 

 close to the coast; in fact, in some cases, the coast 

 flats, where the exposure is directly toward the cool- 

 ing breezes of the ocean which produce a cool sum- 

 mer, a long slow-growing season which develops the 

 greatest beauty and highest quality in a winter ap- 

 ple. Similar results are also produced by the climate 

 at an elevation of 2500 to 5000 feet on the interior 

 plateaux and in the mountain valleys. The coast 

 district has developed a greater commercial apple 



