THIRTY-FOURTH FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



93 



dition of the soil that causes the trouble. There are two trees with us 

 which have been diseased for twenty years, and they are no worse than 

 they were then. There are orchards in our neighborhood that have 

 twenty per cent disease. I think it is a treatment of the soil, especially 

 the application of plenty of manure. 



PRESIDENT JEFFREY. Address on the ' ' California Lemon, ' by 

 C. C. Teague, and discussion by R. C. Allen. 



THE CALIFORNIA LEMON. 



By C. C. teague, of Santa Paula. 



Perhaps no horticultural business in the State has made such 

 advances during the past few years as has the lemon business. Only a 

 few years ago the California lemon was in bad repute in the markets 

 of the country on account of its poor keeping quality. This was largely 

 due to ignorance on the part of the grower and shipper as to methods 

 of growing, handling, curing, and packing, but as greater knowledge 

 has come, the reputation of California lemons has steadily grown, until 

 now the established brands are sought after in the markets where they 

 are known, at prices considerably better than the best grades of foreigns. 

 As the supply of good California lemons has increased, the Mediter- 

 ranean lemon has been forced out of the West and ^Middle West markets, 

 and its market is gradually narrowing in the Eastern and Atlantic 

 States. 



The question that many growers are asking themselves is, "Is there 

 danger of overproduction on account of the stimulus given to planting 

 caused by the high prices of 1905, 1906, "and 1907?" I think not. 

 Why ? Because the foreign lemon is the controlling factor in the lemon 

 business. California produced about forty per cent of the lemons 

 consumed in the United States during 1907. The balance came from 

 Mediterranean countries. I am of the opinion that the larger the 

 percentage of lemons produced in the United States is to the lemons 

 consumed in the United States, the steadier will be the market and the 

 better will be the average price. I believe that if ninety per cent of the 

 lemons consumed in the United States came from California, instead 

 of forty per cent or fifty per cent, that the average price to the average 

 grower would be better. This conviction is based on the fact that Medi- 

 terranean countries always seem to have plenty of lemons to supply 

 our markets, and New York always has had speculators ready to gamble 

 on the chance of high prices, and always will have, so long as California 

 can supply so little of the demand. But it seems to me obvious that 

 if California produced nearly enough lemons to supply the market, 

 that it would be evident to the importer and speculator that the lemons 

 produced here would have to be sold here, and he would see that any 

 lemons that he brought here that would cause an oversupply would 

 mean a loss to him. 



Under present conditions, all of the foreigns, representing sixty per 

 cent of the consumption, are sold at auction at seaboard points, prin- 

 cipally Xew York. This means that these auction sales absolutely 

 regulate the price of lemons in the United States, as California lemons 



