LUTHER BURBANK 



in this way. But the chief demand, and the one 

 that gives the apricot its real economic importance 

 is based on the exceptional qualities of the fruit 

 when dried. 



Something like three-quarters of the entire 

 output of the California orchards is preserved in 

 this way and shipped as dried fruit to all parts of 

 the world, and brings about the highest price of 

 any tree fruit under cultivation. 



A perhaps clearer estimate of the value of the 

 industry may be gained if we recall that there are 

 nearly three million apricot trees in California 

 orchards. Indeed, this state has a practical mo- 

 nopoly of commercial apricot growing. 



Nowhere else in the world is the fruit of cor- 

 responding economic importance. 



The apricot has been cultivated from an early 

 period of history, like the allied orchard fruits, 

 and it has been grown more or less extensively in 

 America for many years. But it is a fruit that is 

 greatly restricted as to the regions in which it can 

 advantageously be cultivated. The fact that there 

 are very large areas of California where it thrives, 

 sufficiently explains the virtual monopoly in the 

 growth of this fruit that the Pacific <;;oast enjoys. 

 Why Apricot Culture Is Difficult 



The difficulty that the apricot grower en- 

 counters may be said to center on a single char- 



[242] 



