The apricot is one of the most profitable and reliable of fruits in California. In its culture there is this advantage, it is a practical monopoly of Middle and Southern California, for it does not succeed as an orchard fruit in any other part of the United States, nor in any part of Europe. It may be safely said that there is no fruit cultivated in semi-tropic California that pays better during the early years of the orchard, nor one with which the grower is more independent of the market for fresh fruits. It is a favorite fruit with the dryers and canners, and if from any cause there is not a ready sale for the fresh fruit, he can purchase a dryer and evaporate the fruit, producing an article that will command ready sale at the highest market price. The trees do best near the coast, where the foliage can inhale the moisture of the daily breeze. The leading varieties are Moorpark, Golden and Royal.

The profits from apricots are shown as follows :

The aim should be to have the fruit weigh eight or ten to the pound. Smaller than this are not used in canning.

Other Fruits

Apples, cherries, peaches and plums may be treated like apricots and yield large returns, but are not so profitable as those named before. Many other fruits are grown in Southern California, but not enough is known about them to warrant any positive statements. Figs, walnuts, Maderia nuts, almonds and bananas have all been planted and fruited with great success. But they are too much of an experiment as yet, and beginners in fruit culture should confine themselves to the staple products, oranges, olives, grapes and apricots.

General Orchard

With a capital of $10,000, an orchard of forty acres can be planted and cared for until it is bearing enough to take care of itself. The best arrangement of such an orchard would be ten acres in oranges, ten acres in olives, eight acres in grapes for raisins, five acres in " grapes for wine, five acres in apricots and two acres for house, barn and garden. The profits of such an orchard for five years would be as follows:

As a general rule it would be better to divide an orchard of the above kind, and raise the oranges and grapes in the interior, and olives and apricots near the seacoast.