IN THE CITRUS INDUSTRY 25 



The children throughout the citrus belt, with very few ex- 

 ceptions, receive a high school education, and the percentage 

 of college students is large. 



Corresponding with the fact that citrus growing is con- 

 ducted on business principles much more than most farming 

 we find that the whok life and arrangements of the orange 

 grower resemble those of the business man much more than 

 they do the accepted picture of farm life. Ordinarily the 

 citrus grower produces nothing but citrus fruits. He must 

 buy hay and grain for his horses, vegetables, fruit and meat 

 for his table. Frequently he has to buy his milk, butter 

 and eggs. The baker's wagon and laundry wagon are 

 familiar sights in the citrus area, while they would be 

 strange sights indeed in a large part of our agricultural 

 territory. Homes among the orange groves average con- 

 siderably better in respect to comfort and convenience than 

 those on United States farms as a whole. In fact, it is 

 far from uncommon for a business man of the cities to 

 own an orange ranch primarily as a home site rather than 

 as a commercial enterprise. Many homes are not only 

 comfortable but pretentious, and are supplied with all of 

 the modern urban conveniences. Since the average citrus 

 holding is only about fifteen acres, "farm loneliness," which 

 Professor Carver has pronounced one of the most difficult 

 rural problems, is in large measure non-existent. More- 

 over, the magnificent system of California boulevards, com- 

 bined with the fact that a large percentage of growers own 

 automobiles, gives easy access to the cities with their ad- 

 vantages. Few groves are more than five miles distant 

 from some kind of town. 



Finally, the orchardist is accessible to the superb grade 

 and high school system of which California is justly proud. 

 By no means to be neglected in an enumeration of the 

 motives which lead high grade men to enter orange grow- 



