CALIFORNIA FRUITS 



PART ONE: GENERAL 

 CHAPTER I 



THE CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ITS LOCAL 

 MODIFICATIONS 



In climatic conditions affecting horticulture we have in Cali- 

 fornia almost an epitome of the whole United States, with added 

 climatic characters peculiarly our own. We have high mountain 

 valleys with wintry temperature-conditions, where only hardy 

 northern fruits can be grown ; we have hot valleys where the date 

 palm confidently lifts its head to the fiery sunshine, while its feet 

 are deeply planted in moist substrata beneath the sandy surface; 

 but we can not claim tropical conditions, because our dry air denies 

 us many strictly tropical growths, although we have frostless sites 

 for them. Intermediate between the cold and snow of the moun- 

 tains and the heat and sand of the desert, we have every describable 

 modification and gradation, and, naturally, it is between these 

 extremes that our richest inheritance of horticultural adaptation lies. 



When this breadth and scope of our horticultural adaptations 

 is realized, it becomes apparent that an enumeration of the fruits 

 we can grow successfully would be, in fact, a catalogue of the 

 known fruits of the world, except those which are strictly tropical. 

 Wherever there is a northern or southern departure from the 

 equator sufficient to bring energy to mankind, or where the same 

 is accomplished by elevation upon tropical mountainside or plateau, 

 there also are fruits which find a welcoming home in California, 

 and are improved by the intelligent cultivation and selection which 

 here prevail. On the other hand, it has been abundantly demon- 

 strated, during recent years, by official awards at great exhibitions 

 and by the sharp criteria of the markets as well, that the fruits of 

 wintry regions are quite as much benefited by transfer to proper 1 

 locations in California as are the people who come to grow them. 

 From north and south alike, then, California makes grand acquisi- 



