14 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



been regarded as worthless rapidly advanced in value as the 

 industry grew, and as its possibilities began to dawn upon 

 the knowledge of the grower, its value continued to increase. 

 Cities, towns, and villages sprang up, whose birth, existence, 

 and future depended upon the condition of the orange market. 

 Extensive systems of irrigation were developed, and a large 

 extent of territory which had at the commencement of this 

 growth been regarded as a desert was converted into a vast 

 orchard, filled with pleasant homes and a prosperous popula- 

 tion. 



While orange trees were among the earliest introduced into 

 our State, having been brought here by the Mission Fathers, it 

 may be said that orange culture is of very modern origin, and 

 the industry has assumed commercial importance only since 

 1880. 



The so-called citrus region is one of indefinite boundaries, 

 and the question of where oranges would or would not grow 

 has given rise to much acrimonious discussion between various 

 sections of the State. It may be set down as a fact that the 

 orange will flourish in spots over the greater part of the State, 

 the exceptions being in the extreme northern counties and the 

 higher altitudes of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Range. The 

 cultivation of citrus fruits has formed the chief horticultural 

 industry of the extreme southern counties, and from this fact 

 an impression has gone abroad that they would not flourish 

 elsewhere. They are found in places along the entire length 

 of the San Joaquin and Sacramento valleys, and very excellent 

 fruit is grown as far north as Shasta. Of course this vast area 

 is not all adapted to the culture of citrus fruits, in fact but a 

 small proportion of it is so adapted, but enough has been done 

 to prove that the climatic conditions required by the orange 

 and lemon are to be found over a large part of California. 

 While, too, the citrus fruit industry is the principal one of the 

 southern counties, not all of the land in that section is suit- 

 able for the growth of citrus fruits. 



Outside of the southern counties citrus fruits of exceedingly 

 good quality are grown in the foothills of Kern County. In 

 Tulare County there is a strip of land along the base of the 

 foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains where oranges have 

 been planted on a large scale, and they are grown very suc- 

 cessfully both at the north and south ends of the belt. Citrus 



