Oranges were first planted in Los Angeles, and up to about 1872 the production was con fined principally to that region. A large part of the long interior valley has since been found to be adapted to citrus-culture, and the citrus belt now extends along the foot-hills from Shas ta to San Diego. a distance of over 700 miles. Owing to the dry warmth of the inner valleys and to the longer days in summer, the fruit ripens at Oroville, Newcastle. etc., six weeks earlier than at Riverside or Pasadena. In south ern California oranges are gathered fresh from Christmas to .July, and lemons and Hates all the year. Nine or more varieties of oranges are grown, and from the sweet navel, or seedless orange. a non-alcoholic wine is made.
In the year over 17.000 cars of cit rus fruit were shipped from the State, the value of which exceeded M,000,000. The production of prunes is greatest in the Middle Coast counties. The State produces about half of the total crop of the United States, and has outstripped even France. The production of apples, peaches, pears, and cherries is also enormous. but the output for each of these is at least equaled by other States. Berries grow luxuriantly, and in the southern part of the State stra wherries are gathered al mo.t throughout the year. The success attend ing the production of apricots, almonds, olives, figs, and walnuts is of especial interest, inas much as the experimental stage has now been Thus it will be seen that the horticultural development in California has been rapid and continuous. For certain products, however. fur ther immediate extension seems improbable, as the supply now equals the demand. Such prod ucts as can find a foreign market may and do continue to develop.
The equable climate greatly favors stock - raising. By shifting the stock from the foothills in the summer to the valleys in the winter, pasturage is afforded for the greater part of the year. The increased produc tion of alfalfa has greatly advanced stock-rais ing. The State was formerly one of the fore most sheep and wool producers, but for twenty five years the number of sheep has constantly decreased, and at the close of the Nineteenth Century was less than one-half its former size, being about 2,000,000. Large numbers of cattle are shipped into the State from Arizona to be fattened for market. Dairying has but little de veloped. The general breed of horses is not of a high grade, but there are a. number of large horse-raising farms which are noted for their superior breeds, and their trotters. especially, are in great demand in the eastern markets. Ostrich farming, is limited to a few ranches.
California has been subject to a variety of conditions, the effect of which has been to guarantee a steady development of the manufacturing industry, hut within very definitely restricted limits. The State's compar ative isolation and remoteness from other cen tres of population, and the heavy freight charges necessarily incurred in transportation to and from the State, have given a field free from com petition. At the same time. these very condi tions have denied entrance into the more exten sive market of the world. except with those manufaetures for the production of which the State's superior resources give a decided advan tage. California is further held back by the high price of labor and the scarcity and consequent ly high price of fuel. Aloreover, the superior
advantages offered in milling and agriculture have tended to divert capital from manufactur ing. Nevertheless, the value of manufactured products has reached a high figure, being exceed ed in but few States. The exceptional resources of field and forest account chiefly for this but the relation of the State to Hawaii has given rime to a large sugar-retining industry, while mining has created a demand for quantities of machinery and explosive materials.
The total value of manufactured products in creased from $66.000.000 in 1870 to $213,000,000 in 1890 and $302,000,000 in 1000. In the latter year there were over 71,000 men. 17,000 women, and 2000 children under 16 years of age em ployed in manufacturing. constituting in all 6.1 per cent. of the population. Of the fourteen leading branches of manufacture, five were de pendent upon agriculture or horticulture. As a wheat-growing State, California early became an important flour-producer, shipping considerable quantities to China and other foreign countries; but with the change of interest from wheat to fruit, the production of flour has slightly de creased, as will be seen from the table appended. The canning and preserving of fruit has now become of equal importance, having almost doubled its value during the decade, and plac ing, California. first among the fruit-producing States. In the above, some vegetables are also included, such as tomatoes and peas. The manu facture of liquors, also dependent upon agricul ture, is developing at an almost equally rapid rate. The high grade of grapes grown has given rise to the manufacture of wines, whose out put now exceeds the total of all the other States, being estimated at $3,000,000. But the malt liquors are as yet of greater value, being esti mated at over ;35,000,000, the large supply of grain and hops giving a special advantage to this industry. Slaughtering is another thriv ing industry, especially the branch of it whieh is concerned with meat-packing. this having increased in value from $2.-100.000 to $8,200,000. The production of factory butter, etc., although having practically begun during the decade, has already become important. The State ranks second in the production of beet-sugar, the prod uct for 1000 being valued at $3,500,000. Be sides this, San Francisco, being the nearest port of entry, secures raw sugar from Hawaii for refining. The total value of the amount refined in 1900 was estimated at $15,900,000. Hides were formerly exported. but are now manufac tured into leather within the State, and this industry has grown until the local supply of hides no longer equals the demand. The manu facturing interests originally developed in re sponse to the demands of local mining concerns are now beginning to enter other markets. Ship building is also developing. The United States battle-ship Oregon was constructed by a Cali fornia establishment. Over two-fifths of the total product of manufactures was accredited to San Francisco: but the city had no gain during the decade. Los Angeles was the only large city that enjoyed any considerable increase, the prod uct of that city more than doubling in value. This was partially due to the recent discovery of petroleum there, and the use of it as fuel. The foregoing table is a summary for the fourteen most important manufacturing industries in the State.