6 PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRUIT-GROWERs' CONVENTION. 



River, near Santa Cruz, as the most eligible location. San Francisco 

 was justly condemned then as having no tillable land. The Mission 

 fathers cultivated gardens, and had cattle and sheep grazing on our hill 

 sides; but, apart from that, we have ever since remained, with respect 

 to the great productive possibilities of the State, a neutral land, where, 

 at any rate, the growers can meet on common ground without fear of 

 rivalry. 



San Francisco, without her great facilities for trade and transporta- 

 tion, would be of little value to the State. Fortunately, we are located 

 on a superb bay and harbor, and the volume of freight by sea and by 

 rail has proven us to be a shipping point for every form of productive 

 industry. 



San Francisco occupies a central position; it is a great business 

 emporium, and we regard ourselves as in duty bound to care for the 

 productive enterprises of California, the great sources of its wealth — 

 horticulture, agriculture, and mining. 



Recently a meeting of the California miners was held in this city, 

 just as you meet to-day. Our city is always willing to extend every 

 possible assistance in enlarging the markets for California products. 

 We are aggressive and active in helping the producers who stand back 

 of our great city and whose industry has made it great. 



I was in Paris at the exposition last year, and I thought I saw there 

 a certain market for California fruit. At the breakfast table, I ordered 

 peaches; it was at the Hotel Reitz; and they were brought to me served 

 on a small board with velvet pockets, and in each pocket was a peach. 

 I ate four peaches; the bill rendered was one dollar and twenty cents. 

 I was shown on the menu that their price was marked at a franc and a 

 half each. Now, if it is possible to create a market in Europe for Cali- 

 fornia fruits, when the prices obtained there are so very extraordinary, 

 I am sure that the fruit industry would surpass every other industry in 

 California. It certainly would resemble a gold mine in productiveness. 

 There, fruit is served as jewelers display jewels, in velvet boxes! 



In reading the consular reports last July, I was rather confirmed in 

 my impression that there is a great European market for California 

 fruits. The following translation from a Valencia paper has been 

 received from Consul Bartleman, of that city, under date of April 10, 1901 : 



Spanish products are rapidly losing ground, and, unless our methods be brought into 

 line with those of progressive nations, our wines, our oil, our fruits, and our vegetables 

 will be condemned to home consumption. We have been astonished at the falling off 

 in our exports of fruit and fresh vegetables to France, England, and Germany, The 

 decrease for France, notwithstanding the enormously enlarged consumption created by 

 the Paris exposition, was erroneously attributed to Italian competition. The rivalry 

 really comes from the United States. California is now supplying the French, English, 

 and German markets with fresh fruits and vegetables. The fruits are not offered at 

 lower prices than our own, but they are presented neatly packed and in splendid 

 condition. 



