'Next to the apple, the peach and nectarine rank in importance in deciduous fruits. Pro duction is variable, ranging from 15,000,000 to 65,000,000 bushels annually. Except in the State of California, the peach, probably more than any other tree fruit. is subject to the vicissi tudes of climate. The trees in even the most favored regions are subject to winterkilling. If they survive the winter, the crops may be greatly curtailed or entirely destroyed by late spring frosts. Most of our valuable varieties, of peaches owe their parentage to natives of warm climates. The peach, therefore, is prone to respond quickly to a few warm, sunny days,• only to be injured. When severe cold follows, as is likely to be the case in many parts of our country. The principal peach producing States are California, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Arkansas and Missouri, in about the order named. The yield of peaches, as given for the last census year (1909), was in round numbers 35,000,000 bush els. The estimated yield for 1915, a banner year, was 64,000,000 bushels. The estimated yield for 1917 was in round numbers 45,000,000 bushels. Certain regions in the States named have become more or less centres of intensive peach production. Such regions are to be found along the southern shore of Lake On tario in New York State, on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in the southern Michigan Peninsula, in central and northern Georgia. eastern Texas, western Arkansas and the lower part of the Sacramento Valley in California_ Plums and prunes are pretty widely grown over the whole United States east of the Mis sissippi River. California, Oregon and Wash ington, however, are the great centres of production, especially of the prune. The quan tity of these fruits produced is between 15,000, 000 and 20,000,000 bushels a year, of which California produces at least one-third.
The .pear constitutes an important crop. Its production is more stable than the peach and to a certain extent pear growing as an industry may be regarded as less risky than peach grow ing. The limiting factor in pear growing is fire blight, a disease which destroys many thousands of trees annually, and which has brought about the need of a system of con tinuous planting in order to keep the orchards intact The annual production of pears during the last 10 years is close to 11,000,000 bushels. California is the leading pear-growing State, with New York a close second. Oregon and Washington are also large producers of this fruit The latest available figures, which are for 1916, give the yield of pears in California as 3,124,000 bushels; Washington. 551,000 bushels; Oregon, 555,000 bushels, and New York, 1,675,000 bushels. The estimated yield of pears for the whole of the United States for 1917 is 1.3,281,000 bushels, valued:: $15,379,000, or an average of $1.15 per bushel The production of cherries may be regara4 as a minor fruit industry in this country. Cali
fornia ranks first in quantity produced, with Pennsylvania second. Grape growing is pretty widely disseminated, although the large com mercial plantings are centred in certain regions, principally in California and New York. The annual value of the grape output of the country is in round numbers about $23,000,000. Califor nia produces between 70 and 75 per cent of the total crop. The State of New York is second in production, with something like 250,000,000 pounds to her credit. Michigan is third, with 121,000,000 pounds.
Citrus growing, especially -the orange and gr4pefruit, has become one of the most h" highly organized intensive horticultural indus tries in this country. The latest estimated figures as to the quantity of oranges produced give 12,282,000 boxes for 1917. The produc tion in 1916 is estimated at 24,433,000 boxes, valued at $61,463,000. According to the latest census figures (1909), there were produced in the United States 19,487,000 boxes of oranges, 2,770,000 boxes of lemons and 1,189,000 boxes of grapefruit. About 75 per cent of the oranges were grown in California and 25 per cent in Florida. The grapefruit industry is confined to Florida, while lemon growing is confined almost entirely to Cali fornia.
Of the small fruits produced in the United States, those leading are the strawberry and the raspberry. According to the census figures, the total production of strawberries in the United States was 256,000,000 quarts. Maryland is the leading strawberry producing State, with New Jersey second.
Fruit growing may be commercial or non commercial, with varying intermediate types involving features of both. •Commercial fruit growing has to do with all those matters of location and sites for orchards, securing of young trees, planting, cultivating, pruning, spraying and harvesting of the fruit. In keen competition all of these matters become im portant, some, of course, more important than others. The successful commercial fruit growers are those who are able by good judg ment and foresight to bring about conditions most favorable to the production of the par ticular fruit in which they are interested. Many men go into the business who are not fitted for it and who do not have the proper conception of the knowledge required to be successful. It is quite remarkable that many men who have been successful in some manu facturing or similar commercial enterprise as a result of long study and experience should become possessed of the idea that they can em bark in fruit growing and make a success of it without knowing much about the subject. It must be borne in mind that orcharding is a business that cannot be learned in a month, or a year or a series of years. There are a good many people who can never learn it. There is always room for the right man in this work. Given the right man and one who knows or can learn the methods, and success is assured.