264 PROCEEDINGS OP THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



section of country is as admirably adapted for the culture of citrus 

 fruits as is the land at Palermo and Oroville, and to give you an idea 

 of what could be accomplished there I will state that last year from 

 two thousand acres of orange orchard at Palermo there were 300 

 cars of oranges shipped. The value of these cars will average about 

 $600, take it good and bad years, which would give a gross value of 

 $180,000 for two thousand acres of land, or $90 per acre. Now we all 

 know that the Palermo and Oroville orange business is conducted in 

 more or less of a large way, and that yields are not generally so great 

 from farming operations that are conducted upon a large scale as they 

 are from the smaller farms, because the man who has twenty acres or 

 less does a great deal of his work himself and gives to his trees and to 

 his land that particular personal touch which is not embraced in the 

 service which is given by hired help, and it is safe to say that with 

 these two thousand acres in the hands of two hundred holders the 

 products would be a great deal larger. 



I understand also that the value of the Thompson Seedless grape is 

 much in excess of these figures which I have quoted from the citrus 

 belt. I can not be considered authority upon this subject, however, 

 and simply make the statement in relation to the oranges, because this 

 culture is very attractive to many Eastern people; it is a fine advertis- 

 ing feature for a country, and I do not think that the people in this 

 vicinity give quite enough prominence to it. I do not think that they 

 quite realize the value of the citrus feature, or they would make more 

 of it in their advertising. 



The Northern Electric Company has recently put in a siding at 

 Thermalito and we have hauled away a great many cars of oranges 

 this year that have heretofore had to be delivered in wagons to the 

 Southern Pacific station several miles away, and manifestly it has 

 made a considerable saving to the grower. I do not sight this par 

 ular section which I have mentioned, between here and Biggs, with t 

 idea of accentuating it in any way to the detriment of any of the other 

 sections of the Sacramento Valley, all of which are equally as advav* 

 tageous and equally as extensive. The acreage is sufficiently vast + ^ 

 dazzle one's imagination and it is difficult to realize what the ultimo 

 destiny of this valley will be when all of these broad acres are brought, 

 as they will be, under the guiding hand of intelligent growers. It is 

 the aim of the Northern Electric Company at present to keep pace 

 with the development that .is going to take place in these various sec- 

 tions, and as rapidly as we can obtain the money, to build the requisite 

 branches in order that the people may get the full benefit of the best 

 facilities which can be afforded by man for the transportation of tb 

 products. This fact alone should give to this section of the coum v* 

 a tremendous fillip and be a great incentive to the inauguration 



