Russian Introductions. 47 
minister to the great demand for fruit which sprang up among 
the gold seekers. The trees richly reciprocated the care and 
attention given them. The first fruits offered for sale in the San 
Francisco markets were from the pear trees of Santa Clara and 
San Jose Missions, and from the mission grape-vines of the same 
localities, and of Los Angeles County. These grapes, packed 
in sawdust, came up the coast by steamer, and were then re- 
shipped to the mining camps, arriving for the most part in good 
condition, and were very popular. It is recorded that one thou- 
sand five hundred tons of these grapes were sent from Los An- 
geles County to San Francisco and the mines in 1852. Another 
instance in which thrift followed neglect is seen in the fact that, 
in 1858, Don Andres Pico, who succeeded to possession of the 
orchard at the San Fernando Mission, did a considerable busi- 
ness in drying pears and other fruits, using the labor of the 
Indians. 
At the present time vestiges of the old mission orchards 
still remain, the pears and olives still bearing, and in some cases 
the old date palms guarding the desolate scenes, or standing as 
reminders of the old regime, while the new life of California is 
surging up around them. 
RUSSIAN FRUITS. 
The second introduction of cultivated fruits to California 
was by the Russians. The exact date of their planting at Fort 
Ross on the ocean side in Mendocino County is not known, but 
is believed to have been as early as 1812. The present owner 
of the property is Mr. G. W. Call, who says the survivors of the 
original Russian planting look “very old and mossy, and are not 
very thrifty, but still bear some fruit every year.” They were 
planted too closely, and have undergone periods of neglect, no 
doubt. The trees are apple for the most part, but there were also 
cherries, and some of both fruits survive. The trees are all be- 
lieved to have been grown from seed, and if this be true some 
fortunate results were obtained, for there is still grown in Green 
Valley, Sonoma County, a medium-sized, bell-shaped apple, 
lightly striped with red, which is called the Fort Ross or Rus- 
sian apple, and was probably propagated by grafts from the Fort 
Ross orchard. Seeds were also secured from this source for 
propagation of apple trees in early days in that section of the 
State. 
