188 Localities for the Apple. 
In the interior the region of adaptation to the apple lies at 
an elevation on the foot-hills on both the east and west rims of 
the great valley. Its limits are not well defined, but there are 
flourishing orchards at an elevation of about four thousand five 
hundred feet on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, 
and from two thousand to three thousand five hundred feet is 
commonly regarded the best apple region of the mountains. 
The trees attain large size and bear heavily, and the fruit, of 
well-adapted varieties, is large, crisp, and juicy, and has excep- 
tional keeping qualities. 
Along the coast the apple succeeds well from end to end of 
the State, and very close to the ocean excellent {fruit is produced 
on good soil. There is a certain advantage in elevation in the 
coast region as well as in the interior, but the advantage is not 
so marked nor is the required elevation so great. Coast valleys 
in the central and upper portion of the State, where the soil is 
suitable, produce most excellent apples, but even here the lower 
hillsides, with deep, well-drained soils, are, perhaps, preferable 
to the floors of the valley. Departing from immediate coast in- 
fluences and approaching the interior, with its gréater heat and 
aridity, the greater elevation becomes desirable. The apple, ex- 
cepting the very early varieties, does not relish the forcing heat 
which brings such perfection to the peach, but to insure late 
ripening and long keeping, with accompanying crispness, juici- 
ness, and flavor, it must have atmospheric surroundings which 
favor slower development. 
Localities for apple growing in southern California are to 
be chosen with much the same rules as in the upper parts of the 
State. As has already been said, vaileys in which coast condi- 
tions largely predominate produce good apples on suitable soils, 
but away from the coast proper, elevations must be sought, and 
they should be above the so-called thermal or frostless belts. 
Good apples are grown on low lands near the coast in Los An- 
geles and Orange Counties. Sixty miles inland, in San Ber- 
nardino County, winter apples fail in the valleys, but are most 
excellent at a sufficient elevation upon the slopes of the sur- 
rounding mountains or in elevated valleys like the Yucaipe Val- 
ley above Redlands. In the elevated interior of San Diego 
County, as in the Julian and Smith Mountain districts, excellent 
apples are produced in large quantities and profitably carried 
long distances. 
_ Second and Third-Crop Apples—There is a peculiar be- 
havior of the apple tree, most noticeable where winter temper- 
ature is mildest, and that is blooming and fruiting out of season. 
In the case of early apples the second bloom may appear about 
the time the first fruit ripens and the third bloom when the sec- 
