other semi-tropical fruits may be found in the districts which grow citrus fruits.

Old fig trees of the Mission variety attain the dimensions and aspects of oaks and bear so much fruit that it becomes of some importance in swine feeding. The fig is hardy in all central and southern coast and interior situations (Regions 2, 3 and 4), except in a few places where the temperature falls ten or twelve degrees below freezing. This naturally suggested the fig as a great commercial fruit but production has been restricted by the fact that fresh figs are just beginning in long shipment and because until recently California dried figs have not compared well with the product of Smyrna. This condition has, however, been completely changed by the experience of the last decade. The fig industry comes on a new basis through the successful introduction of the pollination insect essential to the success of the Smyrna fig which is now being produced in considerable quantities and the percentage of current increase in fig acreage is greater than that of any other fruit except the grape.

The olive has been successfully grown in California for more than a century, but its handling since the American occupation has been attended by many vicissitudes. Recently, however, the pure food laws have prevented the use of the word olive in connection with substitute oils for salad purposes. Canning and bottling hermetically, with adequate sterilization, have made it possible to produce pickled ripe olives of suitable varieties with good keeping

qualities, and California is now producing largely and profitably good olives and olive products. Practically all the counties of the State except those on the high mountains and on the upper northwest coast, have olive trees in bearing, the interior valleys and foothills of the Sierra Nevada leading in the production.

Imported lemons have met sharp competition in the markets of the United States by the California product. Though lemon-growing is possible in most sections where oranges are produced, the lemon does best in nearly frostless places, being more tender than the orange. For this reason the chief product is in the southern coast counties (Region 3). The lemon is more exacting in production than the orange, which is marketable fresh from the trees, while the lemon requires curing and a good part of the crop has to be held from winter maturity to be sold in the following midsummer, when the chief demand for lemons occurs.

California has accomplished more with the orange than with any other single fruit, not only largely supplying the United States but successfully selling the fruit in northern Europe. As explained in detail in Chapter I, the orange thrives in suitable situations through a north and south distance of over 600 miles and the topography of the State is such that similar winter and summer temperatures occur all through this distance. By choice of early and late varieties and by using the variation in the season of maturity in different regions, California can

furnish fresh oranges in large quantities all through the calendar year and can make the United States practically independent of importations. Another advantage peculiar to the State is that the orange grown in a dry summer is more dense in texture and has much better keeping and shipping quality than one raised in a humid summer. The fruit is also more sprightly and refreshing, and though there is some controversy over the alleged superior sweetness of the Gulf fruit, the popularity of the California orange and prices which it commands are evidence of its wide popularity.

The pomelo or grapefruit is also grown in California, but has not met the extent of demand that was anticipated.

In California the term small-fruits signifies only berries and currants, as the cherry is always classed with other great orchard fruits and the grape stands alone as the foundation of a great fruit industry, as has been indicated. Aside from supplies for home use and local markets, there is a large field for smallfruit growing for shipment. Berries are largely used by the canners. Small-fruits are also shipped to markets from one to two thousand miles distant in the interior states and territories to the north and east. The earlier ripening of these fruits gives shippers an opportunity to place the product in this vast region, where there are home-grown supplies later in the year. The growing of small-fruits is scattered over the State and the special regions are widely distant from each other.