PROCEEDINGS OF TWENTY-SIXTH FRQIT-GROWERS' CONVENTION. 7 



It is ridiculous to think that fruits and vegetables raised on the slopes of the distant 

 Pacific should compete at the very doors of Spain with those produced in this country, 

 yet the fact is undeniable. How is the mystery explained? It is simply this : Spain 

 sends her fruits and vegetables in the worst possible condition, so far as packing and 

 transportation are concerned; piled on wretched railway cars, exposed to sun and rain, 

 and reaching Paris from fourteen to seventeen days after their departure from Valencia ; 

 while the Californians offer their fruit in the same fine condition in which it is picked 

 from the trees. Their oranges, apples, peaches, and pears reach Paris, after traversing 

 6,000 miles, in a more attractive and appetizing condition than ours after a journey of 

 only 490 miles. 



We can compete with America only by employing her methods — improved cultiva- 

 tion, harvesting, and packing, cold storage, and rapid, safe transportation. Otherwise, 

 our exports will decline every day. Castile was once called the granary of Europe ; yet 

 we have lived to see foreign wheat, after paying heavy transportation taxes, protective 

 duties, and an adverse premium of thirty-five per cent in exchange, competing with our 

 home-grown cereals. Shall we live to see American oranges competing with ours on 

 the Valencia market itself? 



Now, that is very interesting if you are not already familiar with it, 

 because it shows the possibility of enlarging the markets for our fruit, 

 which, of course, determines the prices of fruit. 



By the construction of the Nicaragua Canal, some seriously contend 

 that the trade of the Orient would pass by San Francisco and that 

 possibly we would suffer, but California's resources will be increased 

 when the market facilities are increased. In using the Nicaragua Canal, 

 by which a distance pf 10,000 miles will be saved in reaching remote 

 markets, transportation charges will certainly fall, and we can send 

 shiploads of our products to the great markets of the world. The people 

 in the oriental lands will also independently be brought to appreciate 

 our products. Together with this, on the eastern coast and in northern 

 Europe, dwell great populations, and they can be more easily reached 

 by a facilitation of the transportation offered by the completion of this 

 canal. 



California has that of which Spain, Italy, or France can not boast — 

 variety of products. This is an element of safety, for if one fails, an- 

 other will yield. Considering the State collectively, we are thus always 

 protected, though here and there an individual may suffer. We must 

 not lose courage on account of frost or scale, because those ills will find 

 their remedies. Science will devise means, as it has for protecting the 

 vine in France. 



A former Mayor of this city, Frank McCoppin, as United States Com- 

 missioner to Australia, introduced the Vedalia cardinalis, or ladybird, 

 which has done so much in California to destroy insect pests. Now, it 

 is proposed to turn our cannon against Jack Frost. 



I have a report from the United States Consul at Lyons, in which he 

 says that they have discovered in France how to prevent frost by the 

 discharge of cannon. If we can use our army and its great guns for 

 the purpose of preventing frosts, it, I am sure, would appeal very strongly 



