48 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



These grapes, packed in sawdust, came up the coast by steamer, 

 and were then re-shipped to the mining camps, arriving for the 

 most part in good condition, and were very popular. It is recorded 

 that one thousand five hundred tons of these grapes were sent from 

 Los Angeles county to San Francisco and the mines in 1852. An- 

 other instance in which thrift followed neglect is seen in the fact 

 that, in 1858, Don Andres Pico, who succeeded to possession of the 

 orchard at the San Fernando Mission, did a considerable business 

 in drying pears and other fruits, using the labor of the Indians. 



At the present time vestiges of the old mission orchards still 

 remain, the pears and olives still bearing, and in some cases the old 

 date palms guarding the desolate scenes, or standing as reminders 

 of the old regime, while the new life of California is surging up 

 around them. 



RUSSIAN FRUITS 



The second introduction of cultivated fruits to California was 

 by the Russians. The exact date of their planting at Fort Ross on 

 the ocean side in Mendocino county, is not known, but is believed 

 to have been as early as 1812. The survivors of the original 

 Russian planting look "very old and mossy, and are not very 

 thrifty, but still bear some fruit every year." They were planted 

 too closely, and have undergone periods of neglect, no doubt. The 

 trees are apple for the most part, but there were also cherries, and 

 some of both fruits survive. The trees are all believed to have been 

 grown from seed, and if this be true some fortunate results were 

 obtained, for there is still grown in Green Valley, Sonoma county, 

 a medium-sized, bell-shaped apple, lightly striped with red, which is 

 called the Fort Ross or Russian apple, and was probably propagated 

 by grafts from the Fort Ross orchard. Seeds were also secured 

 from this source for propagation of apple trees in early days in that 

 section of the State. 



