244 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



tree for a windbreak for the protection of other trees. The trees 

 may be planted near together in strong land and make a windbreak 

 that will pay its way without regard to such fruit as it may inci- 

 dentally produce. 



Apricots are chiefly marketed as a dried fruit and the operation 

 of drying will be described in the chapter devoted to such pro- 

 cesses. The amount used in canning is, in a year of full production, 

 about one-quarter of that for drying, while the weight of fruit sold 

 fresh to consumers, near and far, is about one-quarter of that used 

 by the canners. The total product of apricots in 1905 was approx- 

 imately 175,000,000 pounds, fresh weight. 



LOCALITIES FOR THE APRICOT 



In discussing localities for the apricot, reference is, of course, 

 only made to its growth as a standard orchard tree without pro- 

 tection of any kind. It shows even in California that it does not 

 forget the conditions which destroy its thrift elsewhere, for late 

 frosts in our upper coast counties render it, as a rule, unprofitable. 

 Speaking broadly, the quarter of the State lying northward of the 

 Bay of San Francisco and westward of the high ridge of the Coast 

 Range is not suited for commercial apricot growing, though here 

 and there are places where bearing may be regular and abundant 

 enough to make trees satisfactory for home gardens. The moun- 

 tain regions everywhere in the State above an elevation of about 

 1200 feet are also to be excluded. The lowest lands of the great 

 interior valleys, except here and there, where frosts are prevented 

 by proximity of broad, streams or by favoring air currents, are 

 unsuited for apricots, and the bottoms of small valleys whence cold 

 air can not find drainage outlet, are also treacherous. It is evident, 

 then, that even in regions of general adaptation to the fruit, local 

 discrimination must be exercised in selecting lands for apricots, 

 and the occurrence of spring frosts, which are usually governed 

 by topography, must be guarded against. This is not the same 

 problem, which arises in the selection of land for citrus fruits, 

 because apricots are not open to injury during December, January 

 and February, and consequently they may be successfully grown 

 in places where winter temperatures might injure the evergreen 

 trees of the citrus family. Still, next to the almond, the apricot 

 is most liable to frost injury of all our deciduous tree fruits, and 

 commercial success depends largely upon the selection of a proper 

 place for them. The occurrence of even light frosts during the 

 blooming and setting, or soon after, may strip the tree of its bur- 

 den of fruit without injury to even the softest tissues of twig and 

 leaf; consequently, regular bearing of the apricot can not be 

 expected wliere the temperature is apt to fall four or five degrees 

 below freezing point during the months of March and April, even 



