CITRUS CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 19 



growers. It was not, however, until the opening of the Atchi- 

 son, Topeka & Santa Fe line that the highest development 

 took place. From this time on there was a veritable boom in 

 orange planting. Home of the returns from these orchards 

 were almost incredible, as much as .l!3,000 from one acre having 

 been reported, and $800 to $1,000 being no uncommon yield. 

 Of course, an industry that would pa}' such profits was eagerly 

 sought. Land suitable for orchards advanced rapidly in value; 

 other lands advanced collaterally, and it became profitable to 

 subdue them to this purpose. Land companies, irrigation 

 companies, and planting companies were organized with sufE- 

 cient capiital to carry out their schemes, and the whole extent 

 of a country which had been a forbidding waste was soon 

 converted into a fruitful orchard. The verv face of nature was 

 changed, and in a few years Southern California became one 

 of the most important sections of the State. 



In 1862, H. M. White planted two orange trees in Frazier 

 Valley, east of Porterville, Tulare County, which are still 

 bearing and which formed the nucleus of a forty-acre orchard 

 that now surrounds the original tree. At Piano, in the same 

 county, Mrs. Gibbons, in 1863, planted some orange seed as an 

 experiment, which proved successful. Other plantings followed, 

 until the present citrus district of Porterville developed. The 

 first orchard was planted in Porterville in 1883, by A. R. Henry. 

 About the same date a small planting was made at Centerville, 

 Fresno County. A few trees were planted by the agent of the 

 Marysville and Oroville railroad as early as 1868, in his garden 

 at Oroville, Butte County. 



A small orange grove was planted by Nicholas Carriger in 

 1871, about two and a half miles west of the town of Sonoma. 

 Mr. L. L. Lewis, the present owner, says: "These trees are now 

 over three feet in circumference, and some of them will yield 

 this season as high as twenty-five boxes of oranges." 



Thus we find that, as early as 1870, small orange groves had 

 been planted all along the foothills from Ban Diego to Butte 

 County. Plantings in many of the valley counties had also 

 been made up to this date. These latter have served to prove 

 the inadaptability of the valleys to the growth of the industry, 

 while along the foothills the small beginnings have developed 

 into one of the most permanent and profitable branches of 

 horticulture in the State. 



