Within about 30 years — that is, since 1885, — the general character of California farming has changed to small holdings, occupied not by tenants but by American owners, with fam ilies, with diversified crops, and obliged to purchase only the luxuries of life; with inten sive methods and certainty (by irrigation) of crops. California has now more than one fourth of all the irrigators in the United States. The average size of irrigated farms is in southern California 21% acres; in rest of State about 82 acres. The typical California farm under the modern regime is perhaps 10 acres; irrigated either by its own pumping plant or from a community ditch, and yielding an annual income of not less than $200 per acre and some times $900.
Perhaps the greatest single factor in bring ing about this structural change was the orange. In 1862 there were 25,000 orange trees in the State, all seedlings, and deriving from Mexico, where the fruit was introduced by the Span iards nearly three and a half centuries earlier. In 1873 two seedless orange trees from Brazil were sent from the Department of Agriculture in Washington to Riverside, Cal. From these two parent trees has sprung the modern orange industry of California — and practically of the United States; as Florida, the only other orange State in the Union, yields only one • box of oranges to California's two. Mil lions of trees grafted from their allude' are now bearing in this State, and the hereditary fruit, seedless and delicious, leads the American market. This crop, highly remunerative, and practically continuous (shipments being made every month in the year) has been for these reasons, and aesthetic ones, a large attraction to high-class immigration, and an important factor in shaping agricultural methods. For develop ment of the industry, see statistics below.
In deciduous fruits, totalproduction, ship ments fresh, canned and dried, California has within a generation come to lead the Union; as it leads in all tropical fruits.
Beet Sugar.—California was the first success ful grower of sugar beets, and has by far the lar gest factories. In 1909 it was second to Colorado in the value of its beet-sugar output($11,981, 000), or 25 per cent of the total. The beet sugar industry of the United States originated at Alvarado, Alvarado County, Cal. In 1916 the output of its 11 beet-sugar factories was 472,770,100 pounds of sugar; value, $30,800,000. In 1917 the number of beet-sugar factories and acreage planted to beets had increased in one year over 26 per cent. California beets aver age 7 per cent higher in sugar than those of other States. The effect of the great war and government control on agriculture in California (as elsewhere) is not yet to be prophesied; particularly as to beet sugar, wheat, beans and live-stock. In 1917 the production of sugar
beets was 2,636,800,000 pounds. Within a dec ade California has become the greatest pro ducer of beans (navy and frijol, but princi pally lima). In 1916 the yield of beans was 5,047,082 bushels, valued at $19,144,000. In 1917 there were 8,035,000 bushels at double the value per bushel. This industry is practically confined to Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. Within less than a decade, also, cotton has come to count in the agricultural resources of California. Im perial County, organized 1907 (a recently claimed desert, often compared with the valley of the Nile), now produces annually 65,000 bales of cotton (40 per cent Durango or long staple) worth $9,380,000, besides a great variety of other vegetable products. It lies along the Colorado River, just north of the Mexican line. Ten years ago a desert, it has now a population of 50,000, with several small cities and tens of thousands of acres under cultivation by a huge irrigating system from the river.
With modern refrigerator freight cars, a vast quantity not only of citrus and deciduous fruits, but even of fresh vegetables, is now shipped from California, 2,000 to 3,000 miles to the Eastern States, including some 800 carloads of celery annually from one small town. Straw berries are in the Los Angeles market every month of the year, but are shipped (as are blackberries, raspberries, loganberries, etc.) to Arizona and New Mexico only in summer; as are also the famous canteloupes and water melons. California is foremost producer of the most extraordinary of forage plants, the Ara bian-Spanish-Mexican alfalfa. This produces, under irrigation, about one ton per acre for each of four to eight cuttings per annum. In 1917 it sold at $26 per ton. In 1910 there were 487,134 acres planted to alfalfa; in 1916, 862, 534 acres.
Up to 1808 the hop industry of the United States was all in Maine, Vermont and Massa chusetts. Soon New York, with better soil, had a monopoly; then Wisconsin and Michigan be came important hop-growers. In 1916 five counties of California produced more hops than all the rest of the United States. In 1916 the live-stock in the State consisted of 468,000 horses, valued at $45,396,000; 70,000 mules, valued at $8,120,000; 591,030 mulch cows, valued at $39,597,000; 1,636,000 other cattle, valued at $62,332,000; 2,524,000 sheep, valued at $16,911,000; 994,000 hogs, valued at and poultry valued at $19,000,000, making a total value of $201,395,000.