72 



OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



AFTEKNOON SESSION-THIKD DAY. 



Thursday, December 14, 1899. 



At 2:30 o'clock p. m. the convention reassembled. President Cooper 

 in the chair. 



NEW FRUIT CREATIONS. 



Essay by LUTHER BTJRBANK, of Santa Rosa. 



The time is not far back when perseverance was the usual price of 

 success, but we now live in a time of great activity and with rapid and 

 astonishing changes in every department of life, which makes adaptability 

 of even more importance than perseverance. No one can doubt that 

 these facts apply to horticulture, and especially to fruit-growing, for in 

 these employments most rapid strides have been made during the last 

 ten years of the passing century. The fruit-grower of to-day must have 

 the ability to adapt himself to new methods, new fruits, and new mar- 

 kets. By means of cold storage and rapid transit, the finest fruit from 

 every land can be found in any large market both in and out of sea- 

 son, for while the fruits of one hemisphere are first waking from their 

 winter sleep, in the other the summer sun has done its work and the 

 ripened fruits are on their way to distant markets. 



With the world as a market, competition is keen, and only the best 

 fruits in the best condition will pay; fortunately, it generally costs much 

 less per ton to produce large, first-class fruit than to produce the poorest 

 and meanest specimens that are ever offered. Small fruit exhausts the 

 tree much more rapidly than large fruit, as one pound of skin, stones, 

 and seeds represents at least ten or twelve pounds of fruit pulp; it will 

 thus readily be seen that improved varieties, which produce uniformly 

 large, fine fruit, are more economical manufacturers of fruit, and also 

 that the product is always more salable; the difference in many cases 

 will decide between success and failure. 



The tree which needs a great deal of pruning to keep it in proper form 

 or vigorous health should be replaced by one which has a better habit 

 of growth, for every ton of wood taken unnecessarily from an orchard 

 represents at least as much in weight of fruit. What a fearful tax this 

 alone is on the fruit-grower — enough wasted here also to make the 

 difference between success and failure. 



