IN THE CITRUS INDUSTRY 21 



Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside 

 counties, is situated 68 per cent, of the citrus acreage. 

 Next in importance is the area lying in the lower foot hills 

 of the eastern side of the southern end of the San Joaquin 

 Valley. Centring at Porterville and Lindsay in Tulare 

 county and extending south into Kern and north into 

 Fresno county is a district including 24 per cent, of the 

 citrus area. Of minor significance as compared with the 

 two former areas are that having San Diego as its com- 

 mercial centre and that located in Ventura and Santa Bar- 

 bara counties. 



Another classification would divide the producing area 

 into the coastal and the inland districts. San Diego, 

 Orange, Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties 

 fall within the coastal division. Here an unusually equable 

 climate obtains, with warm winters and cool summers. The 

 prevailing winds are from the Pacific, hence the air is far 

 more moist than is the case in the interior valleys. Dif- 

 ferences in temperature between day and night, -^while 

 marked throughout California, are relatively less than 

 farther inland. This division produces the bulk of the 

 lemons and Valencia Late oranges. While for the industry 

 as a whole lemons represent only about 15 per cent., in 

 some of the coastal counties, such as San Diego, Ventura 

 and Santa Barbara, there are twice as many acres in lemons 

 as in oranges, and even in Los Angeles county lemons con- 

 stitute 23 per cent, of the total citrus acreage. 



Marked differences occur in the interior valleys, where 

 lie Riverside, San Bernardino and Tulare counties. Sum- 

 mers are hotter and winters colder than along the coast. 

 Dry air and abundant sunshine are the rule. These condi- 

 tions seem to be ideally suited to the needs of the Wash- 

 ington navel orange. The fruit is highly colored, of fine 

 texture, and ripens from four to six weeks earlier than 



