In discussing the development of Imperial
County's horticultural interests, we must take into consideration the fact
that in 1900 the population was nothing, consequently there was nothing
produced. In 1917 the population was fifty thousand, with a production of
commodities valued at thirty-three million dollars (about the same amount as
the assessed valuation). This production consisted mostly of alfalfa,
barley, corn, cotton and cattle, not forgetting that these four hundred
thousand acres had to be reclaimed from a desert waste; all this having been
done in seventeen years, there was very little time to devote to the
planting of fruit trees. Since the year 1912 and including the year 1917,
the following fruit and other trees have been brought into the county,
according to the records of this office: 1528 almond, 4622 apple, 16,748
apricot, 130,998 berry, 68 cherry, 4702 fig, 2088 grape, 2190 lemon, 22,207
olive, 40,295 orange, 9983 peach, 8499 pear, 1485 plum, 270 prune, and
625,247 ornamental. A few imported date palms and many thousand date seeds
have been planted. This gives an idea as to the principal kinds of fruit now
growing in the country, at the same time many trees have been grown in the
Valley which will increase the number considerably. During the past years
nearly every kind of fruit and nuts grown have been planted here, and it is
possible to raise at least enough of them for family use, with the exception
of the cherry and walnut.
On account of the extremely long hot season,
fruit ripens very early, going on the market the first of the season with no
competition, the producers thereby receiving very attractive returns. Grapes
are one of the best and leading fruits of the Valley, the early varieties -
Persians - begin ripening the first of June, followed closely by the
Thompson seedless, then the Malagas, which continue through the shipping
season to about the last of July. Many other varieties do well here that
have not been successfully grown in other sections of the State. Experiments
are being made with many other varieties and there are some now very
promising that may take the place of the present commercial varieties. There
are one thousand and ten acres of old bearing vines and several hundred
acres of new plantings. About one hundred and eighty cars of the fruit crop
are shipped east each year and bring fancy prices.
It is possible to raise three crops each season.
Grapefruit has proven to be the best of the
citrus fruits, young trees three years old have the size of trees in other
localities twice their age and yield considerable fruit. There have been
more grapefruit trees planted in this county than any other variety, as will
be noted by the above record. The largest orchard of grapefruit consists of
sixty acres. The long hot summer does wonders for the quality of this fruit.
To give an uninterested person's opinion, I will quote from an expert of the
United States Department of Agriculture, who says, "The fruit which you sent
me have fine quality, very juicy and sweet, the flesh is tender and there is
little rag, the rind is thin, and as a whole I should say that the fruit is
of superior and pleasing quality." Very little sugar is needed in eating
Imperial Valley grapefruit.
Lemons do very well, growing a very juicy
fruit, with thin skin and full of acid.
Many varieties of oranges have been tried out,
the seedlings produce the best quality of fruit; however, the Washington
navels ripen the first of November and should be picked as soon as ripe for
best results.
There are many olive trees planted in
different sections of the Valley, the largest orchard consists of forty
acres. Of the deciduous fruit the apricot is in the lead. The early
varieties ripen by April the twentieth, and shipments continue until the
last of May. Newcastle and Royal are the principal varieties. It is almost
unbelievable how fast apricot trees grow in this Valley. With good care a
year old tree is the size of a tree three years old in other districts.
Nearly all varieties of peaches have been
tried and the Chinese and southern varieties have proven to be the most
profitable, however peaches are not considered commercially.
Pears are being tried out on quite a large
scale, one orchard consists of sixty acres and is reported as successful.
This is a natural country for the fig, which
produces large, firm quality fruit.
Many people predict that the date industry in
Imperial Valley will develop into one of great importance. Due to the fact
that it is impossible to obtain imported date offshoots, as there is an
embargo on account of the war, it is slow to establish the business by
planting seeds, although many promising fruits have been obtained in that
way. At the present time there are several promising gardens here, and the
fruit is as fine as that raised in Algeria, Arabia or any of the Sahara
countries. It is possible to utilize many thousand acres of land not suited
for agricultural crops for the growing of dates.
Our commercial berry is the strawberry, and
they do well, producing a fine fruit and netting the grower a handsome
profit. Last season six cars were shipped and it is estimated for 1918 that
there will be fourteen carloads. This county is noted for its rapid increase
in developments along all lines of production.
Much could be said for the cantaloupe of this
Valley, as this county produces more cantaloupes than any one State in the
Union. All the markets of the country know of the Imperial Valley
cantaloupe. In 1917 there were thirteen thousand acres planted and over five
thousand carloads shipped. The melons are marketed through a marketing
bureau of markets. Planting season begins January 1, under cover, and the
shipping season begins about the middle of May.
Asparagus is one of the products of this
Valley that brings the greatest returns to the owners of any of the present
crops. The season opens about the fifth of February and continues for a
couple of months. Early in the season it is not uncommon to receive one
dollar and twenty-five cents a pound in the East.
Insects and Other Pests Attacking Imperial
Valley Fruit Trees
Well selected, strong vigorous root stock,
properly planted, irrigated and cared for, will reduce the possible
infestation, with few exceptions, to a minimum. Insects in many instances do
their work where there has been neglect on the part of the caretaker.
Many kinds of insects are listed by
entomologists, preying on each kind of fruit trees, all the way from a few
up to seventy-seven different insects which attack certain kinds of fruit
trees. One might hesitate about going into the fruit business on account of
the vast number of insects that are seemingly waiting to destroy the trees,
but when understood and applied, perhaps one treatment will control the
situation against all comers.
So far the damage done by insects and other
pests on the apricots is limited. The most serious, some seasons, are the
linnets and sparrows eating the buds as they begin to swell early in the
spring; these pests are rather difficult to control. Thrips do some damage,
but are not of so very much importance to the early varieties. One serious
condition exists which does a lot of damage, and that is when there are
quantities enough of alkali and lack of drainage, this causes the leaves and
twigs to die back and finally the tree succumbs. This condition would be
serious for all trees.
Crown gall has made its appearance as it
always does when trees of this kind are planted. The remedy is to plant
trees known to be free from infestation.
There is a small spider which does some
damage to the date which can be controlled by the use of sulphur.
Figs are quite free from destructive
insects, birds and bees excepted. Soil conditions and humidity play
considerable part in getting large quantities of first quality fruit as in
date culture, but not to great extent.
The insect that does the most damage, and
not of very great importance to grapes in the Valley, is the grape leaf
hopper. To prevent the introduction of Phylloxera, a quarantine is placed
against all sections north of the Tehachapi Mountains, not allowing grape
vines or cuttings to enter this county from infested districts.
The insects that prey upon the grapefruit
will be the same that attack the entire citrus family. The scale insects
that are costing many thousands of dollars annually to control in the citrus
belts are not yet established in this Valley, yet we take the stand that
where the host plant lives the insects are likely to live also.
While I will admit that some of the scale
insects that are very serious in the coast region do not exist in our
Valley, due to the long seasons of hot weather, there are other scale
insects that will thrive in this climate as is already the condition in San
Joaquin Valley, to the extent that crops of oranges have been lost on
account of this scale insect, there are also other valleys in the state. I
refer to the Coccus citricola scale, which was first given the name
of gray scale. It is absolutely necessary that strict inspection of all
citrus nursery stock as well as citrus fruit be maintained. To much care can
not be taken to keep out these scale insects. To reduce the risk as much as
possible all citrus nursery stock must be defoliated and rosin washed; where
the mealy bugs are known to exist the trees should not only have the above
treatment, but should be shipped with bare roots, or not allowed to enter
the county.
An Act Relating to the County Commissioner
of Horticulture
The State of California has enacted laws for
the protection of horticultural and agricultural interests, providing for
the establishing of horticultural commissioners to enforce the laws. Sec.
232A: "It shall be the duty of the county horticultural commissioner in each
county, whenever he shall deem it necessary to cause an inspection to be
made of any premises, orchards or nurseries or trees, plants, vegetables,
vines or fruits, or any fruit-packing house, storeroom, salesroom or any
other place or article in his jurisdiction , and if found infected or
infested with infectious diseases, scale insects or coddling moth or other
insects or animal pests injurious to fruits, plants, vegetables, trees or
vines or with their eggs or larva, or if there is found growing thereon the
Russian thistle or saltwort, Johnson grass or other noxious weeds, or red
rice, water grasses or other weeds or grasses detrimental to rice culture,
he shall in writing notify the owner or owners, or person or persons in
charge, or in possession of the said places, or orchards or nurseries, or
trees or plants, vegetables, vines, or rice fields, or fields adjacent to
rice fields, or canals or ditches used for the purpose of conveying water to
rice fields for the irrigation thereof, or fruit, or article as aforesaid,
that the same are infected or infested with said diseases, insects, animals,
or other pests or any of them, or their eggs or larvae, or that the Russian
thistle or Saltwort, Johnson grass or other noxious weeds, or red rice,
water grasses or other weeds or grasses detrimental to rice culture is
growing thereon, and requires such person or persons to eradicate or destroy
or to control to the satisfaction of the county horticultural commissioner."
Sec. 232F: "Any person, persons, firm or
corporation who shall receive, bring or cause to be brought into any county
or locality of the State of California from another county or locality
within said State any nursery stock, trees, shrubs, plants, vines, cuttings,
grass, scions, buds, or fruit pits, or fruit or vegetables, or seed for the
purpose of planting or propagating the same, or any or all such shipments of
nursery stock, shrubs, trees, plants, vines, cuttings, grafts, scions, buds
or fruit pits, or fruit or vegetables, or seed or containers thereof or
other orchard appliances which the county horticultural commissioner or the
State commissioner of horticulture may consider liable to be infested or
infected with dangerous insect pests or plant diseases or noxious weed
seeds, and which if so infested or infected would constitute a dangerous
menace to the orchards, farms and gardens of the county or State, shall
immediately after the arrival thereof notify the county commissioner of
horticulture, his deputy or nearest inspector of the county in which such
nursery stock, or fruit or vegetable or seed are received of their arrival,
and hold the same without unnecessarily moving or placing such articles
where they may be harmful for immediate inspection by such county
commissioner of horticulture, his deputy, inspector, or deputy quarantine
officer or guardian."
Sec.2322J: "Any person, persons, firm or
corporation violating any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and shall be punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a
period not exceeding six months, or by a fine not exceeding five hundred
dollars or by both fine and imprisonment."