[E ORANGE OUTLOOK 



433 



trees in northern and southern California are therefore quite dif- 

 ferent : in the north, the dark green of dormancy ; in the south, the 

 gold of the fruit and the oft-protuding light green of the winter 

 wood growth. In both regions all growth conditions seem good : 

 each after its own kind, and the two, in a sense, complementary. 



In 1910 the outlook is for rapid extension of the orange product, 

 particularly in the suitable lands on the eastern rims of the San 

 Joaquin and Sacramento valleys. The orange product of the north- 

 ern district is about one-eighth of the southern and will increase 

 rapidly, for of about tw r o million trees now growing, only half 

 have attained bearing age and planting is still being freely under- 

 taken. Three-quarters of all the trees north of the Tehachipi 

 mountains are in the citrus districts of eastern Tulare county. 



THE GENERAL OUTLOOK FOR THE ORANGE 



At the present time orange growing has a very promising out- 

 look. The prospect for much larger consumption, at the east and 

 abroad, is very encouraging. The orange is passing from its old 

 status as a luxury to its proper recognition as a staple winter fruit 

 for dwellers in cold climates. For such use the agreeable acid 

 and sprightly flavor of the California fruit especially commend it. 

 The consumption of the fruit per capita, away from California, 

 is still small and will be greatly increased when people know 

 better its desirability and the reasonable prices at which it can 

 be secured. This wider distribution is to be confidently expected 

 and the rapid increase in population through the great west and 

 north is each year giving California growers nearer markets of 

 growing consumptive capacity. It will be of great advantage tc 

 the whole country, as well as to California, to have production 

 steadily increased. 



The development of the orange industry in California to utilize 

 the splendid natural adaptations which have been discussed, to 

 make good the large investments which have been made, and to 

 afford a field for the profitable employment of the high quality of 

 American citizenship which has entered the list of producers, sev- 

 eral things are essential. First, the advancement of horticultural 

 art and science. Second, the maintenance of the protective tariff, 

 as has already been suggested. Third, the extension of co-opera- 

 tive handling and distribution of the product as now embodied 

 in the successful operation of the California Fruit Growers' Ex- 

 change and its auxiliaries in all the producing districts. Fourth, 

 the pursuit of systematic and intelligent inquiry and experiments 

 into the durability of the fruit in transit as affected by cultural 

 and commercial practices, and the reformation of policies and 

 methods in accordance with the results of such investigation as 



