This fruit does
not need so much heat as does the orange, but neither can it stand so
much cold. It needs more water, but it bears more fruit and can be
marketed the year round. The lemons not sold as fresh fruit are made to
yield such products as citric acid, oil of lemon, from which cooking
essences are made, and candied lemon peel. In this latter branch of the
trade, however, the citron is more generally used, though it is not of
so delicate a flavor.
The pomelo, or grape fruit, is fast gaining in favor and increasing in
value.
To the stranger who visits California the orange is the most interesting
of trees. To pick an orange with her own hands, and to pin on her breast
a bunch of the fragrant blossoms, is to an Eastern woman one of the most
pleasant experiences of her visit to the Golden State.
In the history of the growth of southern California, and especially of
its orange culture, the use of water on the soil plays a prominent part.
It was the discovery that the most sandy and unpromising-looking land
became a miracle of fertility when subjected to the irrigating stream,
that caused the wonderful prosperity of the dry portions of the state.
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