California from an Eastern Viewpoint— By Charles E. Jenney, 



Cali- 

 fornia 



STRIKING DIFFERENCES IN THE KINDS OF FRUIT THAT ARE GROWN— WHAT IS MOST MISSED AND 

 THE COMPENSATIONS — THE NEW USES TO WHICH SOME OF THE FAVORITES OF THE EAST ARE PUT 



WHEN you go to California for the 

 winter and gradually realize that 

 you are settling there for life, you retain 

 many of the old homing instincts, and fam- 

 iliar landscapes take on ideal beauties when 

 contrasted with the rugged mountains or 

 barren plains of nearer view. "They do 

 these things better in the East" is the phrase 

 you are constantly using, till some newer 

 arrival takes up the tune and harps upon it 

 too. 



The climatic conditions of California are 

 similar to the desert regions of Asiatic Tur- 

 key, Arabia, and sections of the Sahara. It 

 is this that has brought the section into 

 prominence as the greatest natural fruit- 

 drying country in the world. All kinds of 

 fruit dry naturally in the sun without artificial 



quin- — ^good apples are not in evidence. I 

 have raised some of those AustraHan apples 

 — the Bismarck — on dwarf trees, that 

 would weigh two pounds each, but they were 

 more of a curiosity than a delicacy. So 

 the would-be horticulturist of this section 

 might as well at once cut out apples. 



The feature of New England States is the 

 simultaneous spring blossoming and the 

 rush of luxuriant verdure that summer brings. 

 The trees know that they must hurry to 

 consummate their Hfe-work before the frost 

 comes back again. Out here it is different; 

 one month is apparently as good as another 

 for growing and blossoming and fruiting. 

 In the extreme heat of midsummer, no 

 degrees in the shade and half a hundred 

 more in the sun, it is well to go a little slow, 



A city lot garden where ripe fruit may be picked every day in tlie year 



means, and the grapes turn to raisins. Arti- 

 licial irrigation has made this one-time desert 

 the world's vineyard and orchard, and miles 

 of canals and ditches carry the snow waters 

 from the eternal snow-line of the Sierras to 

 the waiting plains. 



But, as I watch here, a row of apple-trees 

 grows up, smooth-barked and symmetrical, 

 untouched by a single natural hardship or 

 by any ravaging insect enemy, yet bearing 

 but the most insignificant, withered, taste- 

 less fruit, and I am forced to say "they raise 

 better apples in the East." I will acknowl- 

 edge that in a limited coast section a splen- 

 did crop of Bellflower apples is produced, 

 and that in the mountain districts other good 

 varieties may be grown; but in the great 

 interior valley of California — the San Joa- 



and the sap is chilled a little in December 

 and January, when the mercury drops to 

 but a few degrees above freezing; but other- 

 wise a tree may leaf, blossom, and bear fruit 

 at its pleasure, taking a short rest between 

 spells. As a result, we have a continuity of 

 fruit that laughs at the makeshift of canned 

 goods. 



The citrus fruits tide over that period of 

 unproductiveness of the East, December to 

 May. The Washington Navel orange and 

 the Marsh pomelo make ideal Christmas 

 trees, self-adorned with a hundred torches 

 and loaded with goodies that last half the 

 year. The lemon will do better still; as 

 fast as you pick one a blossom starts to 

 replace it, and the whole process of develop- 

 ment from bud to ripened fruit is constantly 



displayed. The next most enduring crop 

 is figs. Three crops cover the period from 

 June until October. 



This is the land of the apricot and peach. 

 The former rarely reaches Eastern markets 

 in a condition to be appreciated. It must be 

 picked from the trees to be enjoyed, when 

 it has all the qualities of the best peach and 

 something additional of its own. Blossom- 

 ing slightly earlier than the peach, it is less 

 hardy, so that Eastern conditions almost for- 

 bid its successful culture there, although 

 isolated trees yield heavy crops. Moorpark 

 and Royal are the favorite varieties, the 

 former being larger and bringing a higher 

 price when dried; the latter of richer color 

 and flavor, but not so good a shipper. 



The peculiar notions of the average 

 Western orchardist that every tree must be 

 pruned squarely across the top in January or 

 February accounts for many light crops, for 

 this tree bears its best crop on the tips of the 

 branches of last fall's growth. It can be 

 made, by severe pruning, to bear on the 

 short, interior spurs, but the crop then is 

 never large. 



The peaches of California are a failure 

 for fresh eating, any of the smaller Eastern 

 varieties far exceeding them in delicacy of 

 flavor. The peach crop is raised almost 

 entirely for canning and drying purposes, and 

 those qualities that go to make marketable 

 canned or dried fruit are sought to the 

 exclusion of fine flavor in the fresh fruit. 

 Large quantities are shipped to Eastern 

 markets, tempting the buyer by large size and 

 fine appearance. 



Because no white-meated variety is accept- 

 able to the dried fruit trade, the yellow- 

 fleshed peach is generally grown. The only 

 exception is in some of the cling varieties, 

 used solely for canning. The varieties most 

 grown, in order of their value, are Elberta, 

 Muir, Susquehanna, Crawford, White Heath 

 and Orange Cling. 



But as if to make up for the deficiency in 

 flavor of our peaches, the nectarine attains 

 high quality. This is a variation from the 

 peach, smooth-skinned instead of fuzzy. 

 The tree closely resembles the peach and 

 cannot be distinguished by amateurs. It 

 yields better crops than the peach, and 

 indeed is so likely to over-bear as to be in 

 danger of breaking down with a consequent 

 light crop or none the succeeding year. 

 Stanwick is by far the best variety, white- 

 fleshed with a red centre. There is a white 

 variety much grown and also the yellow 

 variety known as the Boston, both inferior 

 to the Stanwick. 



Most delicate of the peach family, yet 

 not a peach at all, is the almond, classed 

 usually with the nuts. It is the earliest 

 blooming of all fruit trees, February frosts 

 often curtailing its usefulness. The more 

 common varieties grown are the Nonpareil, 



