j^ CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Late Ripening of Fruits. The late ripening of fruits west of 

 the mountains in southern California has just been mentioned. 

 Intrusion of coast influences has the same effect in more marked 

 degree at the north because the ocean winds are colder. Directly 

 on the coast, at Pescadero, San Mateo County, for example, fruits 

 ripen about a month later. than in Santa Clara Valley, which is just 

 across the Coast Range. Napa Valley, though about forty miles 

 inland and sheltered by ranges of hills, still is sufficiently affected 

 by coast influences to mature fruits considerably later than Vaca 

 Valley, ten or fifteen miles- further east, beyond a higher range, 

 which completely bars out these influences. Similar local effects 

 are found in southern California. For instance, in Ventura County, 

 in a canyon sixteen miles from the ocean, and at an elevation of 

 sixteen hundred feet, fruits ripen three weeks earlier than on the 

 coast or in the valleys opening thereon. 



Failure of Certain Fruits. Though killing frosts are few directly 

 on the coast, the deficiency in summer heat and sunshine renders 

 some fruits unsatisfactory. This is especially the case in the upper 

 coast region. Grapes and figs ripen imperfectly, while but a short 

 distance back from the coast, in situations, sheltered by ridges 

 parallel to the coast, they do well. Elevation sometimes produces 

 corresponding effects. 



Pests and Diseases. Certain blights are more prevalent under 

 coast conditions. The scab blight of the apple, the curl-leaf of 

 the peach, and some other blights, are prevalent on the coast and 

 in coast valleys, on the river bottoms in the interior, and on the 

 mountains, and less serious, or wholly absent, in the hot interior 

 valleys. Some insects prefer the coast but thrive also in the 

 interior, as hot dry wind is excluded by dense growth of the tree 

 and the included air becomes moister above irrigated soil. A 

 notable instance is the black scale, which, with the black smut 

 which attends it, has long been a grievous pest of growers of 

 olives and citrus fruits, and has recently become prevalent on 

 deciduous fruit trees in some regions. Directly under coast influ- 

 ences, moss and lichens gather quickly and should be removed. 

 Spraying with alkaline washes not only kills insects but cleans 

 the bark from parasitic vegetable growth. Although fruit trees 

 on the coast are not so subject to sunburn as in the interior, there 

 is especial value in low heading to withstand winds ; there should 

 also be plenty of room given the trees, that sunshine may have free 

 access to warm the ground all around the tree, which may be 

 undesirable in the interior. 



