At the Close of the Century. 55 
The Fru Interest aw 1899.—The fruit interests of California 
have reached the calm, deep waters which lie below the rapids. 
Notable progress has been secured in planting, in the growth, 
preparation and marketing of the product, in the contest with 
injurious insects and plant diseases, and, in fact, in all things 
which contribute to success. It is true that there are problems 
still unsolved; and there have been grevious losses to individ- 
tals who have proceeded upon too great expectations or have 
erred in location for various fruits. Such mishaps will be less 
frequent in the future. At present there is a disposition to pro- 
ceed more cautiously and to profit by the lessons which have 
been learned, many of which will be mentioned in their proper 
places in later chapters. 
Some dimensions of the present fruit interests may be sug- 
gested by the following summaries and estimates based upon 
the returns of the County Assessors to the State Board of Equal- 
ization of the latest available date:— 
NUMBER AND ACREAGE OF FRuIT TREES AND VINES IN CALIFORNIA 
MaRrcH 1, 1898. 
FRvit. Bearing Non-bearing. Total. Acreage. 
Apples enact: 1,068, 362 532,067 1,600,429 21,339 
ADPHCots. icctieceiersgeoce:| “15279;510 835,691 2,135,201 28, 202 
Cherry... 303,923 122,467 426,390 5,685 
Figyssessesies is as 143,331 63,619 206,950 2,759 
Lemon .... 488,885 865,044 1,353,925 18,052 
Orange ... suncnusaneaes 2,318,481 1,608, 202 3,926, 083 52,355 
LIF cavessecciess scareas aasaniie 250 100 350 3 
POMElO™., sscdicnescaecen dase 2,233 22,227 24,460 326 
Olive. ..... waveeviceriaated 420,791 782,570 1,203,361 16,044 
Peach cise cas orertectitantesvesss 3,514,429 1,695,124 5 209)553 69,454 
Nectarine sc2.csiveciessccee 15,025 - 257 15,882 212 
QUINCE iecossexssvcsesmne canine 4,988 692 5,680 56 
Peaiiceeevet-ceteeen teenies thee 1,086, 194 487,984 1,574,178 20,989 
Prune, French ...........06 4,612,293 2,295,633 6,907,926 92,105 
Prunes, other....... re 573,729 400,649 974,478 12,993 
Bef (9 eee sole 7,632 4,406 12,038 160 
Almond see eaeeeeens 9595179 538,378 | 1,497,557 19,967 
Weal nutvscccscnwstes toads: desea 282,381 257,733 540,114 19,289 
Unclassified *. s 123,284 133,243 256,527 |. 2,565 
Grapes, acres. st 144,070 Te 7 A | ccoetiesins caslsest 159,844 
TLOtal ss ..secesaesiioneniesses 17,205,500 10,646,086 | 27,851,586 542,399 
* From the records of March 1, 1897. 
It is customary to add about 20 per cent to the summaries 
from the assessors’ reports, because their figures are likely to 
be below the facts. There have been, however, so many reduc- 
tions of area during the last two years, either from natural 
