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THE

CALIFORNIA FRUITS

AND

HOW TO GROW THEM

A MANUAL OF METHODS WHICH HAVE
YIELDED GREATEST SUCCESS, WITH THE
LISTS OF VARIETIES BEST ADAPTED TO
THE DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF THE STATE

BY
EDWARD J. WICKSON, A. M.

Professor of Horticulture in the College of Agriculture of the University of California;
Horticulturist of the Agricultural Experiment Station; Author of " California Vegetables
in Garden and Field" and "One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered";
Editor of the Pacific Rural Press; Member of the National Council of Horticulture, Etc.

The branch here bends beneath the weighty pear.
And verdant olives flourish round the yean
The balmy Spirit of the Western gale
Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail:
Each dropping pear a following pear supplies.
On apples, apples; figs on figs arise.
The same mild season gives the blooms to blow.
The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.

—Popes Horn. Odys. Bk. VII.

SEVENTH EDITION — Fully Revised

SAN FRANCISCO. CAL.

PACIFIC RURAL PRESS
NINETEEN HUNDRED FOURTEEN

Copyright, 1914.

By E. J. Wickson and Pacific Rural Press,
Published June, 1914.

i-^Va k
» 'ipt'

THE HICKS-JUDD COMPANY
PRINTERS AND BOOKBINDERS
51-65 First Street, San Francisco

PREFACE

The Sixth Edition of this treatise has shared the good
fortune of its immediate predecessors in meeting a public
demand which covered the available supply much sooner
than anticipated. Because of the desirability of keeping the
work abreast of the progress of a constantly changing and
developing industry, the publishers have assumed the bur-
den of resetting the type for each edition, resisting the
temptation of greater profit which would attend reprinting
from plates with minimum revision. Therefore this edition
is wholly set anew — the seventh opportunity for free revi-
sion which the writer has enjoyed during the publication of
the work, which has reached a total of nineteen thousand
copies since the appearance of the first edition in 1889.

Of the quality of the book, it does not become the writer
to speak, but he may express his satisfaction at its popular-
ity. Its circulation may be cited as a testimonial of its
suitability for service in the building up of the fruit indus-
tries, and the demand for it may be regarded as rather
unique, when it is remembered that the book deals exclu-
sively with the fruit growing of a single State which is only
one, although it be the greatest, of the agricultural interests
of that State. The demand for the book is an exponent of
the continued activity in California fruit planting, and its
sale abroad indicates the fact that the outside world is
watching California's fruit development, and desires to
know the methods by which such a great product as $100,-
000,000 'worth in a year is secured.

The writer repeats the request which he has made in
earlier editions that all readers whose observation and work
teach them any better way than he has described in this
book shall share with him the advantages of such greater
wisdom.

EDWARD J. WICKSON.

University of California,

Berkeley, May, 1914.

CONTENTS

Chapter.
I

II
III

IV

V

VI

PART ONE : GENERAL.

The Climate of California and Its Modifications.
Why the California Climate Favors the Growth of Fruit.
The Fruit Soils of California.
The Wild Fruits of California.
The California Mission Fruits.
Introduction of New Fruit Varieties.

PART TWO: CULTURAL.

VII Clearing the Land for Fruit.

VIII The Nursery.

IX Budding and Grafting.

X Preparation for Planting.

XI Planting of Trees.

XII Pruning Trees and Thinning Fruit.

XIII Cultivation.

XIV Fertilizers for Trees and Vines.

XV Irrigation of Fruit Trees and Vines.

PART THREE: ORCHARD FRUITS.

XVI Commercial Fruit Varieties.

XVII The Apple.

XVIII The Apricot

XIX The Cherry.

XX The Peach.

XXI The Nectarine.

XXII The Pear.

XXIII Plums and Prunes.

XXIV The Quince.

PART FOUR: THE GRAPE.
Chapter.

XXV The Grape Industry.

XXVI Propagating and Planting Vines.

XXVII Pruning and Care of the Vine.

XXVIII Grape Varieties in California.

PART FIVE: SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS.

XXIX The Date.

XXX The Fig.

XXXI The Olive.

XXXII The Orange.

XXXIII The Pomelo or Grape Fruit.

XXXIV The Lemon.

XXXV Minor Semi-Tropical Fruits.

PART SIX: SMALL FRUITS.
XXXVI Berries and Currants.

PART SEVEN: NUTS.
XXXVII Nut Growing: Almond, Walnut, etc.

PART EIGHT: FRUIT PRESERVATION.
XXXVIII Fruit Canning, Crystalizing and Preserving.

PART NINE: FRUIT PROTECTION.

XXXIX Injurious Insects.

XL Diseases of Trees and Vines.

XLI Suppression of Injurious Animals and Birds.

XLII Protection from Wind and Frost.

PART TEN: MISCELLANEOUS.

XLIII Utilization of Fruit Wastes.
Topical Index.

CALIFORNIA FRUITS

PART ONE : GENERAL

CHAPTER I

THE CLIMATE OF CALIFORNIA AND ITS LOCAL
MODIFICATIONS

In climatic conditions affecting horticulture we have in Cali-
fornia almost an epitome of all other parts of the United States,
with added climatic characters which no other part possesses. We
have high mountain valleys with wintry temperature-conditions, where
only hardy northern fruits can be grown; we have hot valleys where
the date palm confidently lifts its head to the fiery sunshine, while its
feet are deeply planted in moist substrata beneath the sandy surface;
but we can not claim tropical conditions, because our dry air denies
us many strictly tropical growths, although we have frostless sites
for them. Intermediate between the cold and snow of the moun-
tains and the heat and sand of the desert, we have every describable
modification and gradation, and, naturally, it is between these extremes
that our richest inheritance of horticultural adaptation lies.

When the breadth and scope of our horticultural adaptations
are realized, it becomes apparent that an enumeration of the fruits
we can grow successfully would be, in fact, a catalogue of the
known fruits of the world, except those which are strictly tropical.
Wherever there is a northern or southern departure from the
equator sufficient to bring energy to mankind, or where the same
is accomplished by elevation upon tropical mountainside or plateau,
there also are fruits which find a welcoming home in California,
and are improved by the intelligent cultivation and selection which
here prevail. On the other hand, it has been abundantly demon-
strated, during recent years, by official awards at great exhibitions

10 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

and by the sharp criteria of the markets as well, that the fruits of
wintry regions are quite as much benefited by transfer to proper
locations in California as are the people who come to grow them.
From north and south alike, then, California makes grand acquisi-
tions and includes within her area the adaptations of the whole
country, with some which no other State possesses.

But while this horticulutral scope is claimed for the State as a
whole, it is necessary to add that local adaptations within the State
must be very narrowly drawn. Our greatest failures have followed
ill choice of location for the purpose intended. Whenever certain
California fruits have been ill spoken of, they have been produced
in the wrong places, or by ill-advised methods. It is possible,
then, to produce both poor and perfect fruit of a given kind. It
may be said this can be done anywhere by the extremes of culture
and neglect, but to this proposition it must be added that in Cali-
fornia equally excellent methods and care may produce perfection
in one place and the opposite in another. One who seeks to know
California well must undertake to master both its horticultural
greatness and littleness; and so closely are these associated, and
so narrow the belts of special adaptations, that there are many
counties which have a range of products nearly as great as the
State itself.

It is hard for the stranger to realize this. It is difficult for
him to believe that the terms "northern" and "southern" have
almost no horticultural significance in California; that northern fruits
reach perfection, under proper conditions, at the south, and vice versa;
that some regions of greatest rainfall have to irrigate most frequently ;
that some of greatest heat have sharpest valley frosts; that some
fruits can be successfully grown through a north and south distance
of 300 miles, but can not be successfully carried a few hundred feet
of either less or greater elevation ; that on the same parallel of latitude
within a hundred miles of distance, from coast to mountainside, one
can continuously gather marketable Bartlett pears for three months —
not to mention the second crop, from belated blossoms, which is often
of account on the same trees in the same season.

Through the multitude of local observations, which seem per-
plexing and almost contradictory, it is possible to clearly discern
certain general conditions, of both nature and culture, which may
be briefly advanced as characteristically and distinctively Cali-
fornian.

The climate of the Pacific Coast is described by the meteorologist
as "insular or moderate," as contrasted with the "continental or
excessive" climate of the regions east of the Sierra Nevada. The
west coast of Europe is also insular in its climate. The northern
limit of an annual mean temperature of 50 degrees Fahr. is 50
degrees and 47 degrees of north latitude on western coasts of Europe
and America respectively. But though there is this similarity in
mean annual temperature, there is a decided advantage pertaining to
our climate over that of west Europe in that our range of temperature
is less; that is, extremes of heat and cold are nearer together, and

CALIFORNIA'S FORTUNATE SITUATION 11

changes are therefore much less excessive. This characteristic of
our local climates is due in the main to two great agencies, one active,
bringing heat, the other passive, shielding us from arctic influences.

First: Our proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Professor Alexander
G. McAdie, for twenty years in charge of the San Francisco office of
the United States Weather Bureau, and now Professor of Meteorology
at Harvard University, says of the mildness of the California
climate: "The Pacific Ocean is a great natural conservator of heat,
the mean annual temperature of which near the California Coast
ranges from 50 degrees to 60 degrees F. The strength of the westerly
winds which prevail on the California Coast for more than half the
days of the year is due to the fact that the whole drift of the atmos-
phere is prevailingly from the west to east. The climate of west
coasts is consequently less severe than the climate of east coasts."*

Second: Another agency contributing to the mild climate of
the Pacific Coast consists in the the mountain barriers upon our
northern and eastern boundaries. It was Guyot who first called
attention to the fact that the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains
reach the coast of Alaska and bend like a great arm around its
western and southern shore, thus shutting off or deflecting the polar
winds that otherwise would flow down over the Pacific Coast States,
while California has her own additional protection from the north in
the mountain arch which has its keystone in Mount Shasta.

CHIEF TOPOGRAPHICAL AND CLIMATIC DIVISIONS

OF CALIFORNIA

California is usually divided into three main areas and climates,
each distinct in typical conditions and yet separated by regions, more
or less wide, in which these conditions merge and influence each other.
Dr. Robertson says :f

Isothermal lines which normally run east and west are, as they near the
Pacific, deflected north and south, and define three distinct climatic belts. These
may be named coast, valley and mountain ; and while they resemble each other in
having only two seasons, they are dissimilar in other respects. These differences
depend upon the topography of the country, and are of degree rather than of
kind; altitude, distance from the ocean, and situation with reference to mountain
chains, giving to each region its characteristic climate.

How similar are the conditions which prevail in these belts may be
learned from the data shown in the following table, which includes
points separated by nearly the whole length of the State, the difference
in latitude of the extreme north and south points being seven or eight
degrees. Thus, through a north or south distance great as that which
separates the States of Georgia and New York, similar climatic
conditions prevail in California. In the following table the averages
are deduced from observations by the United States Weather Bureau
observers for a long series of years :

*"The Rainfall of California," University of California Publications in Geography, 1914.
tReport of State Agricultural Society, 1886, page 322.

12

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Seasonable and extreme temperatures and average rainfall in various Cali-
fornia regions from the records of the United States Weather Bureau to the
close of 1913.

STATIONS.

COUNTY.

COAST—

Eureka Humboldt

San Francisco . . San Francisco

San Jose Santa Clara . . .

King City Monterey

Santa Barbara . . Santa Barbara
Los Angeles . . . Los Angeles . .
San Diego San Diego

64 47 50 56 54 52 85 20 46.2

155 51 55 59 59 56 101 29 22.8

95 50 57 67 60 58 108 18 15.4

333 49 57 66 60 58 116 14 11.3

130 55 58 65 63 60 108 27 17.3

293 55 60 70 65 62 109 28 15.9

933 55 59 68 63 61 110 25 9.5

VALLEY—

Redding Shasta 552 47 60 80 64 63 117 18 38.7

Sacramento ....Sacramento 71 47 59 72 62 60 110 19 19.4

Merced Merced 173 49 61 79 65 63 120 16 10.6

Fresno Fresno 293 47 60 79 64 63 115 20 10.0

Visalia Tulare 334 46 59 78 62 61 113 17 10.3

FOOTHILL AND MESA—

Auburn Placer 1360 47 57 75 64 61 110 12 35.1

Redlands San Bernardino. . .1352 52 61 77 65 64 113 18 14.9

LOCATIONS FOR THE GROWTH OF DIFFERENT

FRUITS

It is intended to describe as definitely as possible the locations
suitable for the growth of different fruits in the special chapters
given to those fruits, but there are a few general conditions which
should be outlined.

In discussing the choice of location for an orchard it is not
intended to speak geographically. As has already been intimated,
latitude, which is a prime factor in geography, is of exceedingly
small account as an indication of horticultural adaptations in California.
The fact becomes strikingly apparent when it is known that the apple
and the orange, fruit kings whose kingdoms lie at opposite borders
of the temperate zone, so far distant that one may be called semi-
frigid and the other semi-tropical, have in California utter disregard
for the parallels of latitude, which set metes and bounds upon them
in other hands, and flourishes side by side, in suitable localities, from
San Diego to Shasta. Impressive as this truth may be, it is not so
startling as another fact, viz., that fruits, in suitable interior situations,
ripen earlier at the north than in coast valleys at the south.

"That almost any extreme of weather," says Professor McAdie
in his publication just cited," can be found within the limits of
California is readily comprehensible when it is considered that the
state is 800 miles in length, contains a hundred million acres, and

COAST CLIMATES OF CALIFORNIA 13

varies from deserts as much as 280 feet below the sea to Shasta, 14,380
feet, or the High Sierra, where 66 peaks exceed 10,000 feet in height,
while 40 exceed 13,000 feet, and Mount Whitney rises to 14,502 feet."

It is apparent then, in view of such diversity, that the selection of
locations for orchards must be made with a knowledge of special condi-
tions governing the distribution of equal temperatures and other natural
agencies contributing to the development of fruit. This distribution, as
has been intimated, is not by parallels of latitude, great circles which
appear as straight lines on a map, but by curves, which proceed in
various directions, governed chiefly by topography. These are curves
of temperature, of rainfall, of elevation, of soil formation and deposit.
Geography must be interpreted by topography and climatography.

Let these ruling conditions be reviewed, then, briefly: First, as
to general areas; second, with reference to special situations and
locations.

COAST CLIMATE

The chief characteristics of the coast are equable temperature,
increasing southward ; summers cool and winters warm, as compared
with the interior; abundant rainfall, decreasing considerably south-
ward; a somewhat humid atmosphere, as compared with the interior;
frequent fogs or overcast skies; prevailing westerly winds.

The extension of coast influence toward the interior is gov-
erned by local topography. Coast valleys open to ocean winds are
cooler and moister and demand hardier fruits than valleys sheltered
by intervening ranges. Gaps and passes in the ranges are subject to
winds of considerable force and low temperature, and are not generally
favorable for fruit ; on the other hand, situations sheltered on the north
and west favor growth of fruits even though quite near the coast.
Sometimes a distance of a few miles, sometimes a wind-break or
natural forest, or of planted trees, so modifies coast influences that
fruits do well. Elevation on the sides of coast valleys secures similar
results. For example, the floor of the Pajaro Valley is well suited
for apples, late pears, cherries, plums, prunes, and berries (except
gooseberries), while on adjacent hillsides peaches do well.

In southern California, coast winds are warmer than in the upper
half of the State, but coast influences intrude further, as a rule,
because the hills near the coast in Southern California are low; the
high ranges, answering to the Coast Range of the upper part of
the State, trending far into the interior. On the coast side of these
ranges fruits ripen later than in sheltered interior points in the upper
part of the State, but eastward of the mountains, where soil and
moisture favor, or irrigation is practised, extra early locations have
been found and are now being rapidly developed — in the Imperial
and adjacent valleys, for instance.

Some of the horticultural effects of the conditions prevailing on
the coast may be described as follows :

Late Ripening of Fruits. — The late ripening of fruits west of
the mountains in southern California has just been mentioned. In-
trusion of coast influences has the same effect in more marked degree

14 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

at the north because the ocean winds are colder. Directly on the
coast, at Pescadero, San Mateo County, for example, fruits ripen
about a month later than in Santa Clara Valley, which is just across
the Coast Range. Napa Valley, though about forty miles inland and
sheltered by ranges of hills, still is sufficiently affected by the coast
influences to mature fruits considerably later than Vaca Valley, ten
or fifteen miles further east, beyond a higher range, which completely
bars out these influences. Similar local effects are found in southern
California. For instance, in Ventura County in a canyon sixteen miles
from the ocean, and at an elevation of sixteen hundred feet, fruits
ripen three weeks earlier than on the coast or in the valleys opening
thereon.

Failure of Certain Fruits. — Though killing frosts are few directly
on the coast, the deficiency in summer heat and sunshine renders
some fruits unsatisfactory. This is especially the case in the upper
coast region. Grapes and figs ripen imperfectly, while but a short
distance back from the coast, in situations, sheltered by ridges parallel
to the coast, they do well. Elevation sometimes produces correspond-
ing effects.

Pests and Diseases. — Certain blights are more prevalent under
coast conditions. The scab blight of the apple, the curl-leaf of the
peach, and some other blights, are prevalent on the coast and in
coast valleys, on the river bottoms in the interior, and on the moun-
tains, and less serious, or wholly absent, in the hot interior valleys.
Some insects prefer the coast but thrive also in the interior, as hot
dry wind is excluded by dense growth of the tree* and the included
air TDecomes moister above irrigated soil. "A notable instance is the
black scale, which, with the black slnuf which attends it, has long been
a grievous pest of growers of olives and citrus fruits, and has re-
cently become prevalent on deciduous fruit trees in some regions.
On the other hand, in the face of ocean winds the codlin moth seems
to have less chance to fill pears and apples with her destructive off-
spring, than she enjoys in interior valleys and mountain regions.
Directly under coast influences, moss and lichens gather quickly and
should be removed. Spraying with alkaline washes not only kills
insects but cleans the bark from parasitic vegetable growth. Although
fruit trees on the coast are not so subject to sunburn as in the interior,
there is especial value in low heading to withstand winds ; there
should also be plenty of room given the trees, that sunshine may have
free access to warm the ground all around the tree, which may be
undesirable in the interior.

VALLEY CLIMATE

The characteristics of the interior valley climate are higher
summer and lower winter temperatures than on the coast, the range
of temperature being1 nearly the same both north and south; rainfall
abundant in the north and decreasing rapidly southward, so that as
a rule the interior valleys in the south half of the State require irriga-
tion; very dry air and almost constant sunshine, freedom from fogs

CALIFORNIA VALLEY CLIMATES 15

and from dew in summertime ; winds occasionally strong, hot, and
desiccating in summer and cold in winter.

Local Modifications. — The term "valley climate" is broad, and
includes everything, away from the coast to a certain elevation on
the slope of the mountains. Certain small valleys protected from cold
northerly winds and from fog-bearing westerly winds and open to
the spring sunshine, have a forcing climate which produces the earliest
maturing fruit of the season ; earlier not only than the coast and the
mountain, as has been stated, but also somewhat earlier than adjacent
locations in the broad, open valley. Slight elevation, even on the
sides of small valleys, frequently secures freedom from winter frosts
and ministers to early ripening. Elevation above sea-level on the
rims of great valleys also secures similar results and gives rise to
thermal belts in which semi-tropical fruits are successfully growing
even as far north as Shasta County. On the floors of great valleys
moderating influences are secured on the lee side of wide rivers and
by planting on the river bank or on slightly elevated swells rather
than on the level, open plain. The river bottom lands of the great
valleys, though subject to severe frosts, are freer from the effects
of desiccating winds than the open plains; they are, however, more
favorable to the spread of certain blights than the plains.

Some of the horticultural effects of valley conditions are as
follows : Early ripening and perfection of summer and autumn
fruits, owing to continual sunshine and dry air; forced maturity of
certain fruits, as apples for instance, which destroys character and
keeping quality; injury from sunburn and hot winds in summer,
which seriously affect both fruit and foliage of some varieties ;
occasional injury to tender fruits (semi-tropicals) and to young trees
of hardy fruits, which have been kept growing late in the season,
from low temperature, which sometimes is reached suddenly on the
floor of the valleys; freedom from some blights and insects which
are prevalent on the coast, but not from others. Many of these minor
troubles are, however, counterbalanced by the earliness, size, beauty,
and quality of certain fruits, and by the most rapid and successful
open-air drying of fruits, owing to high autumn temperature, the
freedom from summer fog, dew and generally from rain during the
drying season.

FOOTHILL CLIMATE

Foothill climate is usually considered as a modification of valley
climate. It has been shown that up to about two thousand five
hundred feet, on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, the seasonal
temperatures are quite like those of the valley, but the rainfall in-
creases about one inch for each hundred feet of elevation. There
are, however, in the foothillls, places where early spring heat and
freedom from frost give very early ripening fruits, and other places
at the same elevation where winter temperature drops below the
valley minimum, and where late frosts also prevail. This is gov-
erned by local topography. In many of the small valleys among the
foothills, both of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges, frosts

16 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

are more severe than on the hills adjacent or in the broader valleys
to which they are tributary. These small "protected valleys" are
apparently warm and cozy for early blooming deciduous and citrus
fruits, but they are really very dangerous. They frequently have
such narrow and obstructed openings that cold air is dammed up
over their lower lands and frosts are more severe and later than in
valleys which have ample and free outlets and seem less protected.

Of course the disposition of cold air to settle in low places and
to flow down canyons and creek-beds while the warm air rises and
bathes the adjacent hillsides, has much to do with frost in the hollow
and the freedom from it on the hills. The constant motion of the air
on the slopes is also a preventive of frost, providing the general
temperature is not too low. It is not uncommon to find in deeper
valleys, protected against the western wind, flakes of snow and a
wintry chill, with dormant vegetation, while one thousand feet higher
up the foliage is fast developing.

MOUNTAIN CLIMATE

Above an elevation of two thousand five hundred to three
thousand feet, conditions gradually intrude which 'resemble those
of wintry climates. The tender fruits, the apricots, peach, etc.,
become liable to winter injury and give irregular returns, or as
greater elevation is attained, become wholly untrustworthy. Early
blooming of these fruits during warm spells which are followed by
severe frosts, renders the trees unfruitful. At four thousand to four
thousand five hundred feet the hardy apple and pear flourish, ripen-
ing late, and winter varieties possessing excellent ' keeping qualities.
Here, however, winter killing of trees begins and locations even for
hardy fruits have to be choosen with circumspection.

There are elevated tracts of large extent among the Sierras
where the common wild plum, choke-cherry, gooseberry, and Cali-
fornia chestnut are produced abundantly. April frosts have killed
the fruit of those same plums, transplanted to lower ground, while
those left in their natural situation were quite unharmed. It has
been observed that these plum trees with other fruits and nuts in
their original positions, invariably occupy the broad tops of the
great ridges instead of the sides and bottoms of ravines or narrow,
pent-up valleys. Follow nature in the choice of orchard sites (with
due regard to a supply of moisture in the soil, either natural or
artificial) and little hazard attends the culture of the hardier fruits
of our latitude among the highlands of the State than is incident
to. other seemingly more favored localities. The beauty and quality
of these mountain fruits are proverbial.

A RULE OF GENERAL APPLICATION

What has been thus suggested of the great variation of tem-
perature conditions within narrow limits should lead to the conclusion
that not only must the kind of fruit to plant be determined by local

REST OF TREES NOT DUE TO FROSTS 17

observation and experience, but often varieties of these fruits must
be chosen with reference to adaptation to local environment. For
this reason it is impossible to compile tables of varieties suited for
wide areas — and yet it is true that some varieties have shown them-
selves hardy and satisfactory under all conditions. These facts will
be shown by the discussion which will be given to each of the
different fruits.

REST AND ACTIVITY OF FRUIT TREES

Indication has already been made of regions adapted to the
growth of early and of late fruits. There is, of course, difference
in time of rest and of returning activity in blooming. On the
mountains under wintry conditions the trees leaf out and bloom
late, following more or less the habit of Eastern trees. In the
foothills, the valleys, and the coast, there is less difference in time
of rest and of leaf and bloom. Even in regions where there may
be a month's difference in ripening of fruit, as, for example, in the'
Vacaville district, fifty miles inland, and in Berkeley, two miles from
the bay shore, trees bloom almost at the same date. The difference
in ripening is due to the higher temperature and fuller sunshine of
the interior situation, which have a forcing effect, while the low
temperature and dull skies of the summer on the coast retard
maturity.

The rest of the tree, in all save the mountain district, is not
dependent upon the touch of frost. It comes rather from thirst than
from cold. The immense weight of fruit, the vigorous growth of
wood, and the exhaustion of moisture from the soil by the draught
of the roots to compass this growth, are the chief causes which
bring the sere and yellow leaf in California. It is not frost, for the
petunias may be blooming and the tomato vines still green in the
fields. But the time has come for a rest. The trees sleep ; but merely
as a nap at midday ; the early rains wake them soon. The roots
are active first, then the buds swell, and the blossoms burst forth —
sometimes as early as January — the almond first heralding the advent
of California's springtime.

Sometimes this season of rest is too short for the good of the
tree or vine. The early rains, when followed by a spring-like tem-
perature, as sometimes happens, induce activity in the top as well
as the root, and the tree is not in condition to withstand cold
weather, which may follow. It is probable that such stimulated
activity, suddenly checked, is responsible for more ills to tree and
vine than are usually attributed to it. Both to insure hardiness and
fruitfulness it is important that a tree shall have summer moisture
enough to finish its late summer and early autumn growth-processes.
Reference to this 'important matter is made in the chapter on
irrigation.

CHAPTER II

WHY THE CALIFORNIA CLIMATE FAVORS THE
GROWTH OF FRUIT

It is pointed out by the earliest students of meteorology, as
related to horticulture, that perfect development of fruits depends
upon certain atmospheric conditions, which are included in the term
climate: First, temperature; second, light; third, humidity or
atmospheric moisture, — considered wholly apart from soil moisture.
It was also shown that temperature and humidity should be equable,
or as free as possible from excessive extremes or rapid changes.

Obviously, the chief characteristics of the California climate are:
First, freedom from extremes of low temperature; second, an abun-
dance of sunshine; and third, and atmosphere with a low percentage
of humidity. It will be interesting to introduce enough statistics
to demonstrate these claims, and to cite reasons why these con-
ditions are of special value to the fruit grower.

THE OFFICE OF HEAT IN FRUIT PRODUCTION

Temperature conditions may preclude the success of a fruit tree
either by destroying it outright, by dwarfing it, or by preventing
it from setting or ripening its fruit. Extremes of temperature ac-
complish the death of plants, and insufficient or excessive mean
temperatures may prevent fruition without killing the plant. The
first quality of the California climate to arrest the attention of fruit
growers in the states east of the Rocky Mountains is the freedom
from the effects of the extremely low winter temperatures, to which
is due the deplorable failure, in the eastern and western states, of
many of the fruit varieties from the west of Europe, and to escape
which such zealous efforts now being so successfully put forth to
secure hardy varieties of native and foreign origin.

How slight is the injury from low temperatures in all parts of
the State where fruit is largely grown may be seen from the follow-
ing compilation of extreme low temperatures at different points
approximately at the same latitude on the coast, in the interior valleys,
and on the foot-hills.

Lowest Temperatures at Several California Points.

Coast and Coast Deg. above Deg. above Deg. above

Valleys — zero. Interior Valleys — zero. Foothills — zero.

Eureka 20 Redding 18

Ukiah 12 Red Bluff 18

Cloverdale 17 Oroville 15 Nevada City 4

Napa 18 Marysville 19 Colfax 8

San Francisco 28 Sacramento 19 Auburn 12

San Jose 18 Merced 16 Jackson 10

Gilroy 20 Fresno 17

San Miguel 11 Tulare City 18 Porterville 18

Los Angeles 28 Colton 19 Redlands 18

San Diego 25 Imperial 20

18

IMPORTANCE OF ADEQUATE HEAT 19

These records will show any one familiar with winter killing of
the leading orchard fruits that such disasters are not to be feared
in the chief fruit regions of California. Local temperature is largely
controlled by local conditions, as has been already pointed out, and
in the districts named in the table there are special locations where
the lowest temperature probably differed a few degrees from the
figures given.

NECESSITY OF ADEQUATE SUMMER HEAT

Passing beyond the freedom from winter killing, it may be re-
marked that the influences of certain degrees of heat upon the growth
of the plant and the perfection of its fruit, has been the subject of
much close observation. Boussingault conducted careful experiments,
and showed that a temperature above a certain minimum of heat is
found necessary for germination, another for chemical modification,
and a third for flowering, a fourth for the ripening of seeds, a fifth
for the elaboration of the saccharine juices, and a sixth for the
development of aroma or bouquet.

Originally the mean annual temperature was alone observed, and
the polar limits of plants, it was presumed, could be thereby deter-
mined. More recently it was taught that the mean temperature of
seasons is of more importance than that of the year, and it is believed
that to the relative distribution of heat over the seasons rather than
to the absolute amount received during the year, we are to attribute
the fitness or unfitness of a region for the growth of certain kinds
of vegetation.

It is held in Europe that the mean heat of the cycle of vegetation
of the vine must be at least 59 degrees Fahr., and that of the summer
from 65 degrees to 66 degrees Fahr. It is stated to be impossible,
for instance, to cultivate the vine upon the temperate tablelands of
South America, where they enjoy a mean temperature of 62.6 de-
grees to 66.2 degrees Fahr., because these climates are characterized
by a constancy of temperature, never rising to the higher heats nec-
essary to the process of sugar forming, and the vine grows and
flourishes, but the grapes never become thoroughly ripe. Boussin-
gault shows that, in addition to a summer and autumn sufficiently
hot, it is indispensable that at a given period — that which follows the
appearance of seeds — there should be a month the mean temperature
of which does not fall below 66.2 degrees Fahr. As will appear
presently, this temperature test should not be taken alone, but it will
serve as a standard to show one feature of the horticultural adapta-
tion of the California climate. Boussingault claims the need of 66.2
degrees Fahr. for a single month. To be sure to include this, the
accompanying table gives the average summer temperature at the
leading fruit-growing centers named.

20 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Average Summer Temperature at Various California Points

Coast and Coast Eleva- Deg.

Valleys — Deg. F. Interior Valleys — Deg. F. Foothills — tion. F.

Upper Lake 86 Redding 80 Auburn 1,363 75

Napa 65 Oroville 79 Colfax 2,241 76

Livermore 69 Marysville 78 Georgetown 2,500 85

San Jose 67 Sacramento 72 Caliente 1,290 82

Hollister 66 Merced 79 Fall Brook 700 68

Santa Barbara ... 65 Fresno 79 Redlands 1,352 77

Los Angeles .... 70 Tulare 78

San Diego 68 Riverside 73 ,

These points are selected because the European varieties of the
grape reach perfection in their vicinity. The excess of heat above
that required, as is found at all the interior points mentioned in the table,
results in a very high sugar percentage in the grapes, and contributes
to the ripening of a second and third crop, as will be noted presently.
The superior length of the growing season in California, of course,
is an important agency toward the same end.

DIRECT SUNLIGHT ALSO A REQUISITE

Count de Gasparin was first to point out that not alone sufficient
heat, but abundance of continuous sunshine is a requisite of perfec-
tion in fruit growth and ripening, and on his authority may be based
a claim of exceptional value to the fruit grower in the months of
cloudless skies which are characteristic of the California summer.

"The solar rays," says Gasparin, "do not only produce heat, but
brings us light, and the effects of the heat and light rays differ in a
very pronounced manner. Without light there is no fructification ;
it is not necessary that the want of light should be complete that
there should be a failure of fruits. In fact, diffused light alone does
not suffice for the greater number of plants; cultivated plants will
not ripen their seed without the direct rays of sun, and the longer
they are deprived of it the smaller the quantity which they will
mature."*

Again referring to the grape, for in connection with the growth
of this fruit the most careful researches have been made, Humboldt
wrote : "If to give a potable wine the vine shuns the islands and
nearly all seacoasts, even those of the West, the cause is not only
in the moderate heat of summer upon the seashore, but it exists
more in the difference which there is between direct and diffused
light ; between a clear sky, and one veiled with clouds. "f

*Cours d' Agriculture, t. II, p. 96.
fCosmos, t. I, p. 349.

CLEAR SUNLIGHT A REQUISITE 21

Normal Cloudiness at California and Eastern Points

Avg. for

Mar. April. May. June July. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. 9 mo.
California —

Red Bluff

44

42

36

1 9

10

07

1 3

24

34

2.5

Sacramento

3Q

3.5

2.7

15

0.5

0.4

1.1

2.0

2.8

?0

San Francisco ....

48

43

42

38

43

43

35

3.3

38

40

Fresno ....

43

29

27

1 5 '

07

09

14

22

28

70

San Diego

48

44

53

48

43

39

37

38

33

42

Eastern —
Rochester, N. Y.
New York, N. Y. .
Philadelphia, Pa. ..
Baltimore, Md

.6.6

.5.5
.5.6
54

5.4
5.3
5.4
5 1

5.2
5.2
5.1
5 1

4.9
4.9
5.0
49

4.6
5.0
5.0
48

4.6
4.9
4.9
49

4.9

4.7
4.8
47

6.0
4.9
4.7
46

7.6

5:2

5.2
49

5.5
5.0
5.0
49

Cleveland, Ohio . . .
Grand Haven, Mich
Jacksonville, Fla. . .
New Orleans, La. . .

.6.4
.6.2
.4.2
.4.8

5.3

5.4
4.1
4.8

4.9
4.8
4.1
4.3

4.6
4.6
5.1
4.7

4.3
3.8
4.8
4.9

4.3
4.0
4.9
4.7

4.9
4.4
5.0
4.3

5.7
5.6
4.2
3.5

7.3
7.5
4.5
4.5

5.3
5.1
4.5

4.5

It is noticeable that at the California coast points the average
cloudiness is almost twice that of the interior valleys, while at the
East the interior fruit regions of western New York, Ohio, and
Michigan, have a greater average cloudiness than the Hudson River,
New Jersey, and Delaware regions near the Atlantic seaboard. The
average cloudiness in the Eastern fruit regions is rather more than
twice as great as in the regions of California where most fruit is
grown.

This excess of advantage, as it may be termed, in connection
with the high and protracted heat already mentioned, takes practical
form in the successful ripening of a second and sometimes a third
crop of these grapes in a season, from later bloom on younger cane
growth. This behavior is of more value as a demonstration of clim-
atic conditions than otherwise, for it is generally better to produce
the main crop alone than to undertake later ones.

Another indication of excess of advantage in the interior valley
is found in the development of high sugar contents, which is of
direct value in raisin production. The same tendency, though per-
haps of less commercial value, is seen in the fact that some grapes
which yield a good claret wine nearer the coast develop too much
alcohol when grown in the interior.

The advantage of California over Eastern and Southern fruit
regions in the abundance of clear sunshine is shown in the table
on the preceding page. Cloudiness is rated from 0 to 10, three
observations daily, and the figures in the table are the averages from
these daily observations for a series of years, compiled from the
records of the U. S. Weather Bureau.

RELATION OF ATMOSPHERIC HUMIDITY TO THE
GROWTH OF TREES

Here is another important condition of the climate of California
which is intimately related to those which have been considered,
and which is to be credited with no small influence in the perfection

22 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

of our fruits, and that is the low percentage of humidity which our
atmosphere contains. In California the percentage of humidity is
high in the winter and low in the summer ; in the East the condi-
tion is just reversed. For this reason summer heat is far more
oppressive in the East than in California, and for the same reason
certain serious fungoid diseases which prevail at the East, though
found here in less injurious degree directly on the coast, may be
wholly unknown in the interior where the air is drier. The dry air
also favors the access and action of light and heat, for Tyndall says
that a sheet of vapor acts as a screen to the earth, being in a great
measure impervious to heat.

It is not necessary, then, that there should be clouds to lessen the
chemical effects of sun heat in fruit ripening. Not only do clouds
intercept sunshine, but water vapor in the air — when to the eve the
sun is bright as ever — can absorb a large quantity of the effective
sun rays, and so retard fruit ripening. Hence an apparently sunny
country which has much invisible water vapor in the air, may prove
defective in fruit-ripening qualities.

It is true that air free from humidity allows rapid escape of heat
by radiation as well as free access of it, and in dry air frost is more
severe, but at the time of the greatest fruit growth, from June to
October, radiation down to a frost point is prevented by other natural
agencies. In the early spring and late autumn the humidity per-
centage rises again and checks radiation just at the time of the year
when it is most desirable to have it checked.

The accompanying table, compiled from the records of the United
States Weather Bureau, shows the prevailing relative humidity in the
East and South and in California.

Normal Relative Humidity at Eastern and California Points

Eastern Stations —
Jacksonville, Fla. . . .
Philadelphia, Pa.
Rochester, N. Y. ...
Grand Haven, Mich.
St. Louis, Mo
New Orleans. La. . . .

April

..72.3
. .63.4
..67.8
..70.9
. .63.7
..76.0

May

73.0
68.9
68.6
71.4
67.8
74.2

June

77.6
69.2
69.1
73.7
68.8
78.1

July

78.6
68.6
67.3
69.0
66.3
78.3

Aug.

80.9
71.2
70.7
73.1
67.3
78.8

Sept.

82.9

75.2
75.2
75.0
70.2
77.3

Oct.

79.8
70.7
75.6
75.7
65.9
74.0

Avg. for
Nov. 8. mo.

82.2 78.3
73.6 70.1
76.2 71.3
79.1 73.5
71.1 67.6
79.4 78.0

Galveston, Tex 84.6 78.0 79.3 77.4 78.1 77.2 75.6 80.4 78.5

California Stations —

Los Angeles 73.1 75.2 73.0 75.4 76.2 72.9 74.3 66.6 73.3

Fresno 59.3 52.7 42.4 " 34.7 34.7 43.6 55.1 64.1 48.3

Sacramento 67.6 67.6 66.1 59.8 59.8 59.0 62.4 66.8 63.6

Red Bluff . ..61.9 56.8 43.7 35.6 35.3 43.6 51.6 60.7 48.8

THE THREE POINTS COMBINED

The three great advantages of the California climate — abundant
heat, continuous sunshine, and dry air — taken in connection with
the fitness of the soil and the great length of the growing season,
insure the characteristic excellence of California fruit, and the early

WHY CALIFORNIA FRUIT IS LARGE AND FINE 23

maturity, great growth, and abundant fruitage of our trees and
vines. Heat, sunshine, dry air, and a rainless summer also minister
directly to the curing of fruits in the open air. All things considered,
it is doubtful whether any area in the world excels California in
possession of natural adaptation to fruit production and preservation.

A RECAPITULATION OF CALIFORNIA'S CLIMATIC

ENDOWMENT

Through the multitude of local observations, which seem per-
plexing and almost contradictory, it is possible to clearly discern
certain general conditions of both nature and culture, which may be
briefly advanced as «haracteristically and distinctively Californian.
Of these, perhaps the most striking is the length of the growing
season.

Take, for instance, the peach in a good peach region. The bloom
may appear in February, followed by the grand foliage expanding
to a leaf-size, marvelous to one unused to such peach leaves. The
shoots of new growth rush out with vigor promised by such leaf;
and yet the fruit below expands as though it would burst its skin
in rapid enlargement — and still it grows. The new shoot, apparently
weary of its several feet of extension, stops for a rest, and then,
reviving, starts out its laterals — while still below the peach is grow-
ing. The laterals push out a foot or more — all carrying large, fresh
leaves. While these are in full vigor, the fruit ripens, after having
a full year's joint work of root and foliage, if it is a late variety.
Is it any wonder it weighs a pound? But still the tree is active.
It forms its terminal buds, and then all along the new main shoots
and their laterals are formed the leaf and blossom buds for the
following year. Still the foliage holds green and active, if the
moisture below be adequate, and the leaves seem loath to fall in the
ninth month from time of blooming. Is it any wonder California
peaches are large and the trees require pruning and thinning to en-
able them to carry the weight produced in such a season of growth?
And what has been said of the peach is true of other trees, according
to their nature and habits. The trees themselves are more eloquent
of California's conditions for growth than descriptions or statistical
tables can be made.

But the quality of the light and heat, if the term is admissible,
is a factor as well as their duration. The air, free, not alone from
clouds, but from the insensible aqueous vapor which weakens sun-
shine in its effort to serve vegetation in a humid climate, has a
clearness and brilliance from its aridity which makes each day of
the long, growing season more than a day in other climates, and
thus adds to the calendar length of the growing season. The surplus
light and heat also act directly in the chemistry which proceeds in the
tissues of the plant, and we have not only size, but quality, color, aroma
— everything which makes the perfect fruit precious and beautiful
beyond words.

24 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

It is true that for commercial purposes it is not possible to allow
this process to go too far, for its later effects are higher sweetness,
accompanied by such juiciness that the fruit can not endure trans-
portation. But go to the tree to apply the only test which can fairly
be put to a juicy fruit, and the demonstration of the service of clear,
unobstructed sunshine through an adequate period is complete. But
if this can not be done, place the judgment upon the mature peach
carefully sun-dried and intelligently cooked, or upon the ripe peach
skilfully canned, and the distinctive adaptations of California for
fruit production will display themselves.

But there are other agencies involved in the perfection of fruit
than intensity and duration of light and heat. Without adequate
moisture in the soil, the air which we have credited with such benign
power in carrying heat and light for perfection of fruit would trans-
mit the same as agencies for the destruction of the tree which
bears it. If this moisture comes from rainfall, it descends at
the time of the year when the tree is least active, consequently is
least retarded by a clouded sky and moisture-laden air, and least
affected by atmospheric disturbances. Strong storm winds find
the tree with reefed sails, and able to endure pressure which would
tear it to pieces if they came upon its grand spread of foliage on
branches heavy with fruit. It is a priceless horticultural endow-
ment that no tornado can pierce our protecting mountain-barriers,
and that it is exceedingly rare that our local winds disturb the confident
swaying of the branches and leaf movement beyond the activity which
ministers to the sap flow. And if the adequate moisture is not from
rainstorm, but by irrigation, the same facts remain, for the water
reaches the tree without interrupting its aerial activity. Temperature
is maintained, light is unobstructed, and the tree is refreshed with
moisture without the chill and darkness which favor fungoid parasites.
Of all the ways by which moisture could come to soils supporting fruit
tree or vine, the natural by its time, and the artificial by its method,
endow California with the best.

The characteristics of the California climate which have been espe-
cially pointed out in this sketch are not propitious to fruit culture
when they exist to excessive degree, as in some interior or continental
climates. Local conditions of altitude, distance from the sea, and
exposure to the sweep of arctic winds, induce sudden and great weather
changes which are serious in their effects. Excessively low percentage
of atmospheric humidity, in connection with desiccating wind, often
produce greater evaporation from the leaves than the roots can supply.
Excessively dry air admits a parching sun heat at one time, and at
another facilitates radiation of heat, until the rapid decline in tempera-
ture makes killing frosts frequent. It is evident that California has
these agencies constantly held in check by her insular situation and
protecting environment, and owes her wonderful adaptation to growth
of tree and perfection of fruit not more to the possession of certain
conditions than to the fact of their existence in moderation.

CHAPTER III

THE FRUIT SOILS OF CALIFORNIA

The favoring characteristics of the California climates, which have
been described, find their fitting complement in the adaptation of the
California soils to the perfect development of fruit-bearing tree and
vine. In their wonderful variety and consequent great range of
special adaptations within narrow limits of area our soils also resemble
our climates. As a man may sometimes find within the boundaries of
an ordinary-sized farm such a difference of atmospheric conditions
that the same fruit will thrive in one spot and not in another, so he
may find differences in soil which will tend to produce the same results.
For this reason the precise spot in which to plant any given fruit must
be chosen with regard to both soil and exposure. In the chapters
devoted to the several fruits, there will be an attempt made to describe
the soil requirements of each, so that the inexperienced planter may
not err seriously in choosing the location for each kind of fruit he
desires to grow. While this is true, it will also appear in these special
chapters that the choice of roots upon which to bud or graft gives
the planter a certain latitude and independence. This is of greatest
value in the planting of home orchards, or orchards for local markets,
in regions where the soil is not what is usually preferred for fruit
production. With proper choice of stocks and wisdom and diligence
in cultivation, one need hardly despair of growing good fruit on soil
which will support any laudable plant growth. And yet in commercial
orcharding, the secret of which is producing most abundantly and
cheaply, too great attention can not be paid to choice of specially
adapted soils.

It is an interesting fact that more complete and exact knowledge
exists of the soils of California than of any other State of the Union,
and for this knowledge the public is indebted to E. W. Hilgard, Pro-
fessor Emeritus of Agriculture, and Director of the Agricultural
Experiment 'Stations of the University of California from 1875 to
1905. For the last forty years he has given all the time he could
spare from many other and pressing duties, to the examination, and,
when needed, the analysis, of representative soil specimens, and to
practical expositions of their nature, adaptations, and requirements in
the event of exhaustion from too long cropping, and he has published
a general treatise entitled, "Soils; Their Formation, Properties, Compo-
sition and Relations to Climate and Plant Growth in the Humid and
Arid Regions," which includes the results of his long study of Cali-
fornia soils and climates.

Since the honorable retirement of Professor Hilgard and of Pro-
fessor R. H. Loughridge, who was for many years closely associated
with him in soil work, the University instruction and research in soils
have been in charge of Professor C. B. Lipman, whose original work,
especially in soil bacteriology, is making notable contributions to a
25

26 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

fuller understanding of the distinctive character of California soils
and their intelligent utilization.

Veny extensive studies of California soils have been recently made
under the direction of Dr. Milton Whitney, Chief of the Bureau of
Soils of the United States Department of Agriculture, and a new
classification and nomenclature of them, from his points of view, with
extended maps of their occurrence, are to be found in the special reports
of the Bureau.

In 1913 a systematic and comprehensive study of California soils
preliminary to their mapping and an exposition of their suitabilities was
begun by Professor C. F. Shaw of the University of California.

DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF CALIFORNIA SOILS

One of the most interesting and important recent achievements in
soil investigation consists in demonstrating distinctive differences be-
tween soils formed under arid and under humid climatic conditions.
In the development of this subject certain distinctive characters of
California soils clearly appear, and they are of direct relation to the
thrift, productiveness, treatment and longevity of fruit trees. These
characters are: (a) lightness and consequent permeability and ease
of cultivation; (b) depth, admitting exceptional root extension and
penetration; and (c) richness, containing some kinds of plant food
in considerably greater amounts than are found in the soils of humid
regions. These characteristics, as demonstrated by Prof. Hilgard,
may be outlined in this way with special reference to their relations
to fruit growing.

Lightness. — California soils predominately exhibit the sandy,
silty or pulverulent nature of all soils formed under arid conditions,
save in case of pre-existing clay formations of former geological epochs,
as well as slack-water deposts of the present epoch, all of which are
substantially independent of climate. While "sand" in the humid
regions means virtually quartz grains only, in the arid country it means
very largely grains and powder of the other soil-forming minerals as
well. While, therefore, in the humid region sandy land as a rule
means poor land, in the arid, on the contrary, sandy lands are at
least as desirable as heavier ones, both on the score of high productive-
ness, durability, and ease of cultivation, together with ready resistance
to drouth.

Depth. — Another point of great importance is that the difference
between soil and subsoil, which is so striking and important in regions
of abundant rainfall, is largely obliterated in arid climates. Very com-
monly hardly a perceptible change of tint or texture is found for depths
of several feet; and what is more important, material from such
depths, when thrown on the surface oftentimes subserves the agricul-
tural uses of a soil nearly or quite as well as the original surface soil.
The unconcern with which irrigators proceed to level or otherwise
grade their land, even though this may involve covering up large
areas of surface soil with subsoil from several feet depth ; the rapidity

CALIFORNIA SOIL CHARACTERS 27

with which the red loam of the placer mines of the Sierra Nevada
foothills is re-covered with the natural forest growth of the region,
etc., are examples familiar to the residents but surprising to new-
comers, who are accustomed to dread the upturning of the subsoil as
likely to deprive them of remunerative crops for several years, until
the "raw" subsoil has had time to be "vitalized" by the fallowing effect
of the atmosphere, and to acquire the needful amounts of humus or
vegetable mold. Thus the surface soil, which in the humid regions
supplies the bulk of the nourishment, becomes here of minor impor-
tance, serving chiefly as a mulch to prevent waste of moisture; while
the active process of nutrition occurs in the deeper portion of the soil
stratum, whose composition, as well as condition of disintegration and
aeration, is substantially the same as above. The second foot is rarely
found to differ materially from the first, even as to humus content;
for the latter, being almost exclusively derived from the humification
of roots, the leaves and herbage on the surface being mostly oxidized
away under the intense heat and abundant aeration of summer; it
not uncommonly happens in very porous soils that the first six inches
of surface soil are poorer in humus than the second foot.

Practical Results of Lightness and Depth. — The "lightness" and
previousness of the prevailing soils of the arid region permit of the
penetration of roots to depths which in the humid region are inac-
cessible to them on account of the dense subsoils, which prevent the
needful access of air. This deep penetration enables even annual plants
to avail themselves directly of the stores of moisture in the substrata,
at depths which in the humid region are scarcely reached save by the
tap-roots of some perennials and trees; while the latter themselves
reach depth never approached by them in the region of summer rains.
Professor Hilgard has personally found the ends of the roots of grape-
vines at a depth of twenty-three feet, in a gravelly clay-loam; from
ten to fifteen feet 'are ordinary depths reached by the root system of
fruit trees. Even the roots of cereals have been found to penetrate
to a depth of twelve feet in California sandy alluvial soils and to four-
teen feet in loams. Such depth of rooting, when conservation of mois-
ture is secured by proper surface cultivation, enables deciduous fruit
trees to grow thrifty and bear fine fruit through six months of drouth
while as many week's of drouth may bring distress and loss of fruit to
surface-rooting trees on the shallow soils of the humid region. Recent
investigations at the California Agricultural Experiment Station have
also disclosed that the good physical and chemical conditions of the
deeper layers of our soi\s have also made possible the penetration from
the surface layers, of various forms of micro organisms upon which
we are dependent not only for a solution of the insoluble plant food,
but for the addition of nitrogen to the soil from the atmosphere.

Richness. — The foregoing conditions are rendered the more sig-
nificant and effective through the third characteristic of soils formed
in arid climates. The average aggregate amounts of plant-food ingre-
dients are markedly greater in the arid than in the humid soils, wherever
their derivation is at all generalized. Among the agriculturally impor-
tant ingredients contained in larger average amounts in the arid soils

28 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

than in the humid, lime stands foremost; its percentage in soils
not derived from calcareous formations being from twelve to fourteen
times greater in the arid than in the humid soils. Magnesia follows
lime in this respect, but the average difference is only about half as
great. The average content of potash in the arid soils exceeds that in
the humid in about the proportion of one to three or four. But no
such constant difference exists in respect to phosphoric acid. As re-
gards humus, and the nitrogen of which it is the carrier and reservoir,
its amount is usually considerably less than in the humid soils; but
the total nitrogen percentage does not differ widely, because the
humus of arid soils contains, on the average, from three to five times
as much nitrogen as is found in the humus of humid soils, and there-
fore, the supply of soil nitrogen is very nearly the same in both regions,
while from several causes, the humus-nitrogen of arid soils is more
available to plants. .

Practical Lessons from the Constitution of Our Soils. — The ex-
traordinary depth of our soils, which reveals a favorable physical,
chemical and biological nature, teaches the importance and essential
nature of: (1) deep tillage; (2) deep incorporation of manures and
fertilizers; (3) deep irrigation. It is clear that if we can make condi-
tions just as congenial for the roots of plants in the lower layers of
the soil as in the upper, there is but one course left open to us, namely :
taking advantage of the opportunities afforded us by nature, if we
would maintain the fertility of our soils. To do this we must en-
courage the deep rooting of our trees, and nothing in the line of soil
management can accomplish the desired end so well as making available
to the roots in the deeper soil layers, air, plant food and water by the
methods above enumerated.

CLASSIFICATION OF CALIFORNIA SOILS

Any attempt to classify the soils of California upon scientific lines
or even to describe them in their wonderful variety, according to their
geographical occurrence, would lead beyond the limitations of a treatise
upon the practice of fruit growing. Rather let an attempt be made
to designate certain grades of soil with brief characterization of their
leading features as they are related to the growth of fruits. By such
a course it may be made to appear that though the soils of the State
are predominantly light, deep and rich and thus eminently fitted for
fruit growing, there are many degrees in the possession of these char-
acters or any of them, in local soils, and upon this individual manifesta-
tion they rate all the way from perfection to defectiveness. Let a
classification proceed then upon a descending scale.

Light, Deep Loams. — Admixture of clay with enough coarse
materials to secure permeability to air and water, ease in cultivation,
deep root penetration and free drainage of surplus water, produces
soil of the highest adaptability to the growth of fruit trees and vines.
These soils rae popularly known as loams. They are designated as
sandy loams, medium loams and clay loams, according to the propor-
tion of clay commingled with the sand or coarse materials.

CALIFORNIA VALLEY LOAMS 29

Professor Hilgard has devised the following nomenclature of soils
based upon their content of clay ; sandy soils, less than 5 per cent of clay ;
sandy loams, from 5 to 10 per cent; ordinary or medium loams, from
10 to 15 per cent; clay loams, from 15 to 20 per cent; clay soils, from
20 to 50 per cent of clay.

The coarse materials are sand grains of various sizes or rock par-
ticles in various degrees of disintegration. The fine materials are clay
and rock powder, commonly designated as fine silt. Loam soils may
result from deposits by flowing water or may consist of debris but little
removed from local rock disintegration. They include a wide variety
of materials but agree in the possession of striking adaptability to fruit
culture. Some of the leading instances of such soils may be cited.

Loams of the Valley Plains. — On the east side of the Sacra-
mento Valley low ridges and swales at right angles to the river's
course come in from the foothills, forming a gently undulating plain
with a fall of from fifteen to twenty feet per mile, sometimes right up
to the river channels. Nearly all the soils of the east side have a red-
dish tinge, showing the admixture of the red foothill soil and demon-
strating, by the way, that all these lands are well drained. In cuts
ten to twelve feet deep, made by the sloughs, the reddish plains loam
is seen to reach from six to ten feet in depth, being then underlaid by
gravelly substrata. The width of this class of profusely fertile valley
land, east and west, varies considerably, according to the meanderings
of the rivers. Away from the water courses, the higher lands of the
valleys are largely red or yellow loams, sometimes clayey and difficult
of cultivation unless taken just in the right condition, sometimes
gravelly and apt to dry out unless the natural water supply is supple-
mented by irrigation, but mostly a free-working, fairly retentive, light
loam, very satisfactory for some kinds of fruit.

The soils of the San Joaquin Valley have, as a rule, a much greater
admixture of sand than those of the Sacramento Valley; there is also
a more distinct subdivision of the valley lands into upland or "bench"
lands, and lowland or alluvial lands proper.

Upon the upland or plains soils, especially of Fresno and Tulare
counties, wonderful progress in fruit-growing by irrigation has been
made during the last few years. Though its summer aspect is most
forbidding and almost desert-like in lack of vegetation, the application
of water has shown exceptional quickness of growth, early bearing,
and lavish productiveness of tree and vine. These plains loams vary
in appearance, and are from this fact locally named, "reddish loam,"
"white ash," and "sand hill." All are distinctly calcareous. Even in
the case of the latter, which is the lightest and made of almost 90 per
cent of inert sand, it is so deep and has its plant food in such highly
available condition that it is producing very large crops of fruits where
there is no rise of the bottom water to prevent root penetration. In
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada there are some loose loams of light
color resulting from the decomposition of granite, but they are as a
rule inferior to the red foothill soils, which are more clayey, and will
be mentioned among the clay loams later.

30 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The soils prevailing in the valley of Southern California, from
Redlands at its head to Los Angeles at it opening out toward the sea,
consist chiefly of granitic sand, which at some points on the slopes
forms the soils exclusively, but everywhere constitutes a prominent
ingredient of the valley and mesa lands. These mesa lands are con-
spicuous for their orange-red tint, and the red sandy loam of which
they are composed, to depths varying from ten to as much as eighty
feet, is evidently the choice soil for orange culture. It is manifest
that at some remote epoch it filled the entire valley. Of the middle
portion much has been washed away, but islands of it form red-land
tracts of greater or less extent all over the region, traversed by and
more or less commingled with, the gigantic wash from the valleys and
canyons of the Sierra Madre. The latter frequently consists largely
of gravel, and were it not for the luxuriant natural vegetation borne
by these gravel beds, few would have thought of devoting them to the
costly experiment of orange planting, which, nevertheless, has proved
eminently successful even on these unpromising-looking masses of
debris. In the upper valley (San Bernardino Valley proper) the red
loam is conspicuous, and gives its name to the flourishing city and
citrus district of Redlands, on the terminal slope; but the heavy flow
of water from the upper canyons, notably from that of the Santa Ana
River, has scoured it out of the valley itself, and left there, at least
on the northern portion, gray and blackish granitic loams of great
depth and productiveness, underlaid, and therefore underdrained, by
the enormous gravel beds that hold the artesian water of this favored
region.

The reddish mesa soils prevail through the smaller Southern Cali-
fornia valleys as well, and are similar in character, as they are derived
from similar geological formations.

Where the surface descends gradually to the seashore, and not in
bluffs, there are as in Los Angeles and Orange counties, coast flats
several miles in width, where the soil is a dark-colored sandy loam,
glistening with scales of mica, and more or less affected with alkali
in the lower portions. Similar soils are found in tracts of greater
or less extent up the coast as far as Santa Barbara at least. As a
rule, these seashore lands are very productive, but fruits for them must
be chosen with reference to their low level and exposure to coast
influences.

The light loams of the so-called desert region of Southern California
are not inferior in productive capacity to some of the best soils of the
great valley, which they greatly resemble, save in the scarcity of
humus, or vegetable matter. Only a detailed survey, however, can
determine the tracts having an arable soil, as against those overrun
by arid sand. The soil of the Colorado River bottom is highly produc-
tive, easily worked, being quite light. It is a highly calcareous soil,
and now, as the water of the Colorado River has been made available
for irrigation, is yielding rich returns for cultivation.

The valleys of the seaward slope of the Coast Range have mostly
gray, light, and silty, rather than sandy soils, quite similar in appear-
ance from Ventura to Humboldt county, though differing considerably

CALIFORNIA ALLUVIAL LOAMS 31

in composition, those of the southern region being more calcareous,
and apparently richer in phosphoric acid; as the coast region consists
for the most part of low ranges with intervening valleys, the valleys
are, as a rule, small, though a few show considerable area. In such
a country the soil surface shows wide diversity with its smaller areas
than on the vast stretches of the great interior valley; consequently,
so far as soil goes, the coast farms are often suited to a wider range of
fruits than the interior valley farms of similar size.

ALLUVIAL OR SEDIMENTARY LOAMS

These soils have been considered from the earliest plantings by
Americans as par excellence the fruit soils of the great valley of central
and northern California. They occur along the courses of existing
streams, and extend back to variable distances, until they merge into
the valley loams, or adobes. These deposits are considerably higher
than the present beds of the streams, and are sometimes described
as "next to river bottom." They consist of fine alluvium, with seldom
any admixture of coarse materials. These river soils are usually very
deep and they are naturally well drained.

These deposits cross the valley in somewhat irregular courses ; they
are of greater or less width according to the drainage area whence
they have come. They vary also in depth, and taper down on either
side to the level of the red loam or adobe upon which they have been
deposited. Such strips are first chosen by the fruit planters of the
district in. which they occur. In the valleys of the rivers crossing the
eastern side of the San Joaquin Valley, there are, bordering the streams
as well as Tulare Lake, considerable areas of brown to blackish loam
varying from heavy to light, but for the most part easily tilled and
exceedingly rich. Considerable fruit has been grown for years on
these situations, and some kinds do well on these bottoms which do not
show adaptation to the plains. Some even of the higher lying portions
of these "black lands" support thrifty orchards without irrigation.
The wider stretches of alluvial soils in the upper part of the valley, as
in the Mussel Slough country and the Visalia region, for instance, are
notably well adapted to fruit growing. The occasional intrusion of
alkali, which must be carelly avoided, is the chief obstacle to the
general approval of these alluvial lands for fruit purposes.

Soil of similar character is found in some small valleys consisting
of an alluvial wash from the bordering hills which in some places
reaches a depth of thirty feet or more without notable change in char-
acter. Such soils have proved very fertile and durable.

The rich river bottom, adjacent to the beds of the main rivers and
sloughs of the valley, has usually a dark, rich, and moist soil, easily
tilled and not subject to baking and cracking. It is largely used for the
growth of vegetables and alfalfa, but considerable areas have been
planted with fruit trees, especially with pears, which do not suffer from
submergence of their roots for considerable time.

In the coast valleys of the State there are also very extensive areas
of alluvial soils which are largely used in fruit production, as well

32 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

as upland loams formed in place by the disintegration of local rock
formations. The famous fruit region extending from Oakland south-
ward nearly one hundred miles, including the Alameda and Santa
Clara Valleys, has very large areas of alluvial soil, ranging from deep,
rich blackish loams used for vegetables and small fruits to lighter
loams resulting from intermixture of sediment brought by streams
from adjacent hillsides with the clay -of the valley bottom. It is to
these deep, rich alluvial deposits that the region owes its great reputa-
tion in fruit lines.

CLAY LOAMS

Of loams containing sufficient clay to render them somewhat heavy
and tenacious, there is also a great variety in California. Their suit-
ability for different fruits depends upon selection of roots adapted to
their character and upon the depth and degree of retentiveness of the
soils themselves. They are more difficult of tillage than the free loams,
but offer some compensation therefor in their richness and durability.

Clay Loams of the Foothills and Valley Border. — The soils of
the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, throughout its courses along the
great valley, vary from a moderately clayey loam to a heavy, though
not uncommonly gravelly, often orange-red clay. This character seems
to be sensibly the same, whether the soil be derived from the decompo-
sition of the ancient slate bed-rock or directly from the dark-colored
granites, thus creating a presumption that the two rocks are closely
related. The soils are highly charged with iron to the extent of from
seven to over twelve per cent, which being finely divided, imparts to
them the intense orange-red tint. The soils of the foothills agree with
the soils of the valley in having a good percentage of lime, while the
supply of potash and phosphates, as well as of organic matter, is
smaller, and sometimes low, though never apparently inadequate for
present productiveness, in the presence of so much lime.

Along the base of the foothills of the Sierra there is in Fresno,
Tulare, and part of Kern county, a narrow belt, irregular in width, of
partly red and partly black clay or adobe, so highly calcareous as to
break up, when dry, into small fragments, producing a condition that
has received the name "dry bog." It is upon this that many of the
citrus orchards of the Porterville and Mt. Campbell districts are chiefly
grown. A white, calcareous marl sometimes occurs beneath this soil
at varying depths, inducing chlorosis or yellowing of citrus leaves,
owing to its impervious nature which does not allow of good drainage
and therefore kills the roots through suffocation and acid production.
Westward of this "dry bog" land there is a belt of reddish or brown
loam soils, corresponding to those similarly located in the Sacramento
Valley, but generally more clayey, and hence frequently designated
as adobe by contrast with the very sandy soils of the valley at large,
although properly they should be classed simply as clayey loams. This
belt is eight to ten miles wide in middle Tulare county and narrows to
the north and south. Here these lands have a gentle slope of ten to
twenty feet per mile from the base of the foothills, and appear to be
underlaid at a depth of twelve to fifteen feet by water-bearing gravel.

SOILS DEFECTIVE FOR FRUITS 33

The soil is a reddish, more or less sandy, loam, changing little in its
aspect for several feet. Its adaptation to fruit is shown by the products
of the Lindsay region.

CLAY SOILS

Thus far a very small area of true adobe* soil has been employed
in horticulture. There is a great difference in the character of what
is known as adobe in different localities. Its color varies, as the
popular terms "black waxy," "black," "brown," and "gray" adobe
indicate. Its physical condition and chemical composition also vary
greatly. The black adobe of the east side of the Sacramento Valley
is easily tilled as compared with the gray adobe on the west side,
which is very refractory and often largely impregnated with alkali.
To render soil of adobe character useful for fruit growing, this
tendency to dry out and crack, thus allowing evaporation from below
as well as from the surface, must be overcome. The discussion of this
point belongs to the chapter on cultivation. Adobe soils are, as a rule,
rich and durable and therefore promise long fruitfulness to trees and
vines with roots adapted to heavy soils, but difficulty of cultivation,
excessive retention of water, and other evils are always present. Some
suggestions on the treatment of such soils will be given in the chapter
on fertilization.

DEFECTIVE SOILS

Although California soils are predominantly of the depth, light-
ness and richness best suited to the growth and bearing of fruit trees
and vines, it should always be borne in mind that there are marked
exceptions, and failure to observe this fact has resulted in considerable
disappointment and loss. There is in California much land which is
bad from a horticultural point of view and it is apt to occur even in the
vicinity of lands of the highest excellence. It is, therefore, necessary
to advise that the closest examination to be made before investment be
made in the planting of fruits.

Although there are instances of deficiency in plant food in 'Cali-
fornia soils and considerable areas of land sterile through excess of
saline and alkaline salts, these are usually indicated by the local reputa-
tion of the tracts, if the newcomer will take pains to make inquiry.
It is rather the more obscure, subsoil conditions which lead to loss or
failure, and they may be unknown even to men who have owned or
farmed the land for years for ordinary field crops. These defects are,
in the main, three:

Leachy Subsoils. — While it is best in all cases to choose deep
soils for cropping purposes, it is frequently profitable to grow fruit
on soils with defective subsoils. Among these defective subsoils there
is frequently encountered, underlying good alluvial loams, a very per-
vious sand or gravel which allows of a too rapid escape of moisture
and plant food. This may result in starving the tree or killing it for

*This name has been erroneously applied to the loam commonly used in the construction
of adobe houses. Agriculturally, it means "a heavy clay soil," such as could not be used in
building.

34 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

want of water. Under such circumstances it is possible with three
or four feet of good loam above the gravel to maintain profitably the
shallower rooted trees by practicing heavy green manuring and con-
stant summer cultivation to conserve what moisture the loam retains
and by recourse to irrigation, when required.

Hardpan. — It has ferquently been observed that even where
hardpan has been blasted prior to tree planting, the evil effects of
waterlogging in a rather retentive overlying soil have either killed
trees or made them unprofitable. This condition occurs not only on
level land, but also on rather steep hillsides where on a priori considera-
tions it would never be expected. In such cases drainage gives imme-
diate relief and the maintenance of a good humus supply in the soil
with constant summer cultivation, will usually insure good moisture
conditions.

"Plow Sole" or "Plow Pan." — Constant plowing to the same
depth or a failure to break up thoroughly the silty deposits at the
bottom of irrigation furrows may in a few seasons produce a hard-
ened and difficulty permeable layer of soil known, according to its
origin, as plow sole or "irrigation hardpan." This may also be aggra-
vated through the treading of stock and fruit pickers. Such hardened
soil layers interfere with root development and make for poor aeration
and water supply. They must be broken up by plowing or subsoiling.

Rise of Ground Water. — The rise of the water table mainly
due to excessive irrigation or the impermeability of one of the under-
lying soil layers is a question of the most serious significance and one
which the prospective purchaser of land or the owner of cropped land
must not lose sight of. For this reason precautions taken in the ex-
amination of land for hardpan, irrigation with necessary, but not
superfluous, amounts of water and adequate provision for drainage wili
not only go far toward making land profitable at the time cropping is
commenced, but will prevent troubles for the future through the ac-
cumulation of alkali and other baneful physiological effects on plants
of a high water table.

Alkali. — The term "alkali" denotes an accumulation of salts, in
a limited depth of soil, which may be of such nature and quantity as
to render the soil partially or totally unfit for profitable cropping.
The term has no necessary reference to the reaction of the soil, as is
commonly supposed, therefore, a misnomer, and should not be confused
with the term "alkaline," as referred to soil, since the latter denotes
merely a "sweet" or favorable condition for the development of most
of our crop plants.

The "Alkali" salts may include common salt, Glauber salt, car-
bonate of soda, Epsom salt, the chlorides of calcium and magnesium
and more rarelv some others, but for practical purposes we may take
the ordinary classification namely that of "black" and "white" alkali
as being sufficient for the needs of soil management. By the "black"
alkali which is by far the most harmful of the sodium of salts men-
tioned, we mean carbonate of soda. It is so called because it dissolves
out the humus and forms a black slimy layer on the. surface. Very

CHARACTERS OF ALKALI SOILS 35

small quantities of this salt are sufficient to make clay soils unworkable
because of the puddling effect it has on clay, and similarly very small
quantities of it have the power of stopping the important process of
nitrification. Since poorly aerated soils in the arid regions are favor- t
able to the reactions which produce "black" alkali, especially where
carbonates are plentiful or where excessive amounts of nitrate of soda
are used for fertilizing, no pains should be spared to insure to soils, as
nearly as possible, perfect aeration through drainage and tillage ; great
care should be exercised in the use of irrigation water, and nitrate of
soda should be employed sparingly.

The term "white alkali" is usually applied to either common salt
or Glauber salt or both in soils. Where present in sufficient quantity
white alkali salts may, through evaporation of water, be deposited on
the surface of the soil as a white efferescence, such as that seen in
exaggerated form on the Nevada desert, on some soils of the San
Joaquin Valley and on some of the Coachella Valley soils. Of the
"white" alkali salts common salt is by far the more harmful and most
fruit trees are not very resistant to it. They can, however, be success-
fully grown in very considerable quantities of Glauber salt.

The actual tolerance of fruit trees for the various salts men-
tioned, varies greatly with the different trees for the different salts,
and it is always best, when planting on alkali land is contemplated,
to consult the revised reprint of Bulletins 128 and 133 of the California
Experiment Station, and after having determinations for alkali made
on the soil, to be guided by the information therein contained. The
same publication also contains much valuable information with refer-
ence to the reclamation of alkali land and describes conditions under
which it may and may not be feasible to reclaim such lands so as to
preclude the possibility of useless expenditures.

Prospecting for Soil Defects. — For subterranean prospecting,
Professor Hilgard commends a steel rod not less than a quarter of
an inch in diameter (round or square, preferably the latter), well
pointed at one end, and provided at the other with a stout iron ring
for the reception of a stout cross-handle, such as is used for post-hole
augers. With such a prod, or sounding rod, not less than five feet in
length, the exploration of the subsoil for hard-pan or dense clay
layers becomes a matter of a few minutes. It is easy also to detect
thus the presence of underlying layers of quicksand, gravel, or other
loose materials through which irrigation water would waste, or which
would prevent the rise of bottom water within the reach of plant roots,
by the large interspaces between their grains. Any remaining doubts
as to the nature of such underlying materials ati particular points can
then quickly be solved by the use of a post-hole auger or by digging,
for thorough inspection of each foot of depth which may be found
desirable. Subsoil prospecting or sampling can also be very easily
done by boring with an ordinary carpenter's auger, \l/2 inches in
diameter — the shank being lengthened by welding-in a piece of steel,
three or four feet in length, according to the depth it is thought de-
sirable to penetrate. Separate samples for each foot of depth are thus
easily taken.

CHAPTER IV

THE WILD FRUITS OF CALIFORNIA

The wild fruits of California are numerous, and for the most part
peculiar to the region, being either of local genera or local species of
more widely distributed genera. Very few are identical with the wild
fruits common to great areas of the continent. For this reason our
wild fruits constitute a very interesting subject for botanical study,
and they are now, perhaps, more widely than ever before, attracting
the attention of botanical promologists. Viewed from the standpoint
of practical pomology or 'Horticulture, our wild fruits can not be
claimed, on the whole, to have attained any very great importance.

A few fruits, as will be noted further on, have demonstrated their
culinary or household value, and are locally sought for, but none have
any notable commercial value. This may be due to the fact that some
of our most delicious wild fruits are very exacting in their choice of
conditions, and can not be moved far, even within the limits of our own
State.

Another reason why we have made little of our own wild species
is found in the fact that our climate favors the superior growth of the
best improved fruits of nearly all parts of the world. Therefore, we
have little occasion for recourse to the improvement of local wild
fruits, because of superior hardiness and adaptation, as has been done
in other parts of the country.

The distribution of our wild fruits is determined by limitations of
areas of similar climatic conditions. In a general way it may be said
that fruits are most abundant in foothill and mountain regions, and
that our great valleys have always been practically destitute of them,
except along streams borders. These fruits are most abundant in
the northern portion of the State, but some exist throughout the State,
usually thriving at higher elevations as they proceed southward.

Oregon Crabapple (Pirus rivularis). — This fruit, though more
abundant in the more northerly regions of the coast, as its name in-
dicates, is found in the northwest counties of this State. It chooses a
moist situation, becomes a tree fifteen to twenty-five feet high, shows
white bloom, and red or yellow oblong fruit, about half an inch long.
The flavor is rather acid, but the fruit is eaten by the Indians, and
was sometimes used for jelly-making by early settlers.

Wild Plum (Prunus subcordata). — This must be regarded as
one of the most useful of our wild fruits. Even now, when the plum
varieties of all the world have been introduced, residents in some of
the Sierra regions, where an excellent variety (Kelloggii) abounds,
prefer it to the cultivated fruit, both for eating and preserving and
jelly-making. The typical species is widely distributed over the moun-
tainous regions of the State, and is a low shrub with white bloom and
fruit three-quarters of an inch long, of red color and inferior pulp.

36

WILD CHERRIES AND GRAPES 37

The better variety has a narrower range, forms a larger shrub, and bears
a yellow fruit, larger and better than the typical species. Some
attempts have been made to improve this variety by cultivation and
selection of seedlings, and the results are promising, as fruit has been
shown at our fairs notably better than the wild gatherings. The roots
have also been used to some extent as stocks, but seem to possess no
marked advantage. The late Mr. Felix Gillet, of Nevada City, re-
ported that grafting an improved plum on the wild stock seems to
cause the root to grow to much greater size than natural to it. Ob-
servation upon grafted and non-grafted seedlings in the same nursery
row convinced him of this behavior. Other experimenters have con-
demned the stock because of dwarfing and suckering. In the early
days the wild plums in the mining regions of the mountains were
largely made use of and are highly praised by pioneers.

Oso Berry (Osmaronia cerasif ormis) . — This fruit is sometimes
called the "California false plum." It has a plum-like form, one-
half inch long, and is of a rich, blue-black color, but is bitter, though
not disagreeable to birds and animals, which feed upon it. The white
bloom of the shrub has an almond odor. Used as a stock, the plum
varieties grafted upon it have been dwarfed.

Wild Cherries (Prunus sp.). — Quite a group of wild fruits come
under this generic grouping, and they have marked and widely differ-
ent characteristics. The western Choke-cherry (Prunus demissa)
closely resembles the Eastern choke-cherry, and bears its round, red,
or dark purple fruit on a racme . It is used for marmalade by
housewives in the mountain districts. This species has proved of some
utility both for its fruit and as a stock for grafting in early days when
better cherry stock was not available. Another species, Islay (Prunus
ilicifolia), has evergreen foliage, and is a useful hedge plant.

Of species bearing fruits in umbels, or true cherry style, we have
the Bitter Cherry (Prunus emarginata), which makes a handsome
tree, sometimes thirty feet high, but its oval, dark red fruit is quite
bitter and astringent. The bush form bearing bright red fruit in-
tensely bitter, is the variety of California.

California Grape (Vitis Calif ornica). — Along our streams the
native grape-vine attains large size and fruits freely, the fruit re-
sembling the "frost grape" of the East. The vine frequently covers
and sometimes kills large trees with the density of its foliage. Some
variation is reported in the species, but it is possible that some of the
better kinds are seedlings from some imported species, bird planted.
The species has attained something of a reputation as a phyloxera-
resisting root for grafting, but it has proved exacting in its choice
of soils and situations, and otherwise not desirable, and some East-
ern species are now relied upon for this service.

Elderberry (Sambucus glauca). — The elderberry makes a fine
tree in California, sometimes twenty feet or more in height, and with
a trunk a foot and a half in diameter. The fruit is borne in large
quantities and is used to some extent for preserves and pastry.

38 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Raspberries (Rubus sp.). — In the mountains of the eastern part
of the State is a scarlet hemispherical berry of pleasant flavor, which
is called "thimbleberry" (Rubus parviflorus.) It seems to have an
advantage over a variety (velutinus) of the same species which is
found near the coast and has a dry, insipid fruit. Another raspberry,
which is found in all hilly and mountainous regions, both on the coast
and in the interior is Rubus leucodermis. It resembles the black-cap
raspberry of the Atlantic slope, except that it has yellowish-re 1 fruit.
This fruit is quite largely gathered for domestic uses, and some efforts
have been made to cultivate the plants.

Salmon Berry (Rubus spectabilis). — The beauty, size, and de-
licious flavor of this fruit are highly commended by all who have
enjoyed it in the upper coast counties of California and farther north-
ward. The plant makes a strong bush, five to ten feet high, and
delights in the woods and shady banks of streams. The praise of all
who know the fruit has led to frequent attempts to introduce the
plant to warmer and drier parts of the State, but such efforts have
thus far uniformly failed.

Wild Blackberry (Rubus vitifolius). — This fruit should perhaps
be called a "dewberry," as it has trailing, or, at most, but partially
raised stems, which extend from five to twenty feet. The plant occurs
abundantly on banks of streams and other sufficiently moist locations,
both in the coast and interior regions of the State. Around the
margin of Humboldt Bay, on land cleared by fire or axe, blackberries
spring up abundantly on the denuded land. Tons of the fruit are said
to remain after the local housewives have done their utmost in pre-
serving and jelly-making. In the low-land region around Stockton
considerable quantities are sometimes gathered for sale. The fruit,
which has been held in high repute ever since pioneer days, is oblcng,
black, and sweet. The species is variable, and the anomaly, a white
blackberry, has been reported from Del Norte county. The native
wild blackberry is one of the parents of the Loganberry and of some
of Mr. Burbank's hybrids which are widely know.

Wild Strawberries (Fragaria sp.). — We have in California two
Eastern species : Fragaria vesca and F. Virginiana. Thus far these
have only been reported from localities in the Sierra mountain region.
Another, the sand strawberry/has been found identical with a South
American species, Chilensis, and it occurs along the coast, where the
fruit is esteemed, and is sometimes abundant enough to gather in
quantity. A fourth species, wood strawberry, is local, and is named
California. It bears a small round fruit and is partial to the coast
region. Recently some cultural attention has been given to the wild
strawberries, and varieties worthy of propagation have been reported
by growers resident in the Sierra region. Mr. Albert F. Etter of
Briceland, Humboldt county, has secured notable results in crossing
with the wild strawberry, as will be noted in the chapter on that fruit.

Wild Gooseberries and Currants (Ribes sp.). — Some of our
currant species are achieving quite a reputation abroad as ornamental
shrubs, but they bear insipid fruit. The fruit of Ribes tenuiflorum is,

CALIFORNIA WILD BERRIES 39

however, more agreeable, and is esteemed for jellies, etc., by dwellers
in its region, which is the mountain region of the extreme north of
the State. We also have a species (bracteosum) which has something
of the black currant flavor and a fair-sized fruit, black with whitish
bloom, and very sweet.

There are also several species of Ribes which are classed with the
gooseberries, but only three bear edible fruit. One of these (Ribes
divaricatum) is peculiar to this coast; another (Ribes oxyacanthoides)
occurs at an elevation in the Sierra Nevada and thence extends east-
ward beyond the Rocky Mountains. The berries are small to medium,
of pleasant flavor, and well armed with spines. Another species (Ribes
leptanthum), common in San Luis Obispo and Kern counties, resembles
the flavor of the cultivated gooseberry, and is free from spines.

Cranberries and Huckleberries (Vaccinium sp.). — We have sev-
eral species belonging to the same botanical genus as the Eastern
cranberry, but quite different from it both in growth of the plant and
character of fruit. The fruit of two species is reddish, but insipid.
Other species (V . ovatum, etc.} have dark blue or purple fruit. Some
of these are locally esteemed, and the argument drawn from them is
that the cranberry of commerce would succeed. It should be stated,
however, that the situations in which these plants thrive are not at
all according to the requirements of the bog cranberry. A huckleberry
(Vaccinium ovatum) is largely gathered in the redwood region of
Northern California, for canning and pie-making. The berries are
juicy and delicious, and the preserved fruit has a very agreeable flavor.
In one year as many as two thousand boxes were profitably gathered
on the hills of western Sonoma county.

Other Berries. — There are many small, wild fruits commonly
designated as berries, which are of considerable botanical interest.
The fruit, too, may be said to be edible, judging by the taste of Indians,
birds, and wild beasts, but not likely to be much more than ornamental
in the eyes of white people. They may be briefly enumerated:

The "manzanita" (various species of Arctostaphylos, especially A.
manzanita) the "little apple" of the Spaniards, bears a rather dry but
sub-acid fruit.

The "bear berry" (Arctostaphylos uvaursi) is esteemed by the
Indians both as food and medicine.

"The western buffalo berry" (Shepherdia argentia) has small acid
edible fruits.

The "salal" (Gaultheria shallon), small fruit, either red or purple,
is also a favorite of the aborigines.

Of "barberries" we have three species of Berberis. One, aqui-
folium, is called the "Oregon grape," chiefly notable for its handsome
bloom, which has been chosen the State flower of Oregon. The fruit
is dark blue and the root is said to be a febrifuge. Another species
(nervosa) has a larger fruit which is esteemed in cookery; and a
third species (pinnata) bears a small, pleasant-flavored fruit. It is
the Lena amarilla of the Spanish Californians.

Our "service berry" (Amelanchier alnifolia) is from a quarter to
a third of an inch in diameter and of a purple color.

40 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The "lemon berry" is a fruit of Rhus integrifolia, and is coated
with an acid exudation which is said to dissolve in water and make a
pleasant drink. The fruit of Rhus trilobata is said to have both a
sweet and an acid coating.

The berries of the "toyon" or "tollon" (Heteromeles arbutifolia)'
or "California holly," are said to be eaten by Indians, but they serve
the white people a better purpose in Christmas decorations.

The "jujubs" of commerce (Zizyphus jujuba) has a local relative
in Zizyphus parryi, which is, however, dry, and mealy, rather than
juicy.

The "beach strawberry," or "sea fig," is the fruit of Mcsembrian-
themwm aequilaterale, a relative of the ice-plant. The good -sized fruit
is gathered along the seashore, and remotely suggests a strawberry.

Wild Olive (Forestieria Neo-mexicana.) — This is a tall willow-
like shrub, found in springy places on the borders of the Mojave
Desert. It also grows in the Salinas Valley. It bears an abundance
of small fruits which, from their botanical relationship to the olive, have
attracted some attention. Experiments to determine its standing as a
possible root for the olive have been suggested.

Wild Nuts of California. — The wild nuts of California are of
very little commercial importance. The wild almond (Prunus Ander-
sonii) of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas is chiefly of botani-
cal interest, although some experiments are in progress in its use as
a grafting stock for the sweet almond. The California filbert (Corylus
Calif ornica) has none of the quality of the improved filberts nor even
of the wild hazelnut. Our native chestnut, the giant Chinquapin
(Castanopsis chrysophylla) has a sweet kernel, but a hard shell, almost
like a hazelnut; its near relative, Castanopsis sempervirens or
Bush Chinquapin of the Sierra Nevada and dry Coast Range, is said
to have a bitter flavored kernel. The nuts of both of these species are
very difficult to obtain because the fruit sets sparingly and the squirrels
harvest the crop early. Our native walnut (Juglans Calif ornica) is
better in flavor than the Eastern black walnut, but its hard shell makes
it of little commercial account in competition with better, cultivated
nuts. The root is widely used as a stock for the English walnut.

The one native nut which is regularly sold in the local market is the
"pinenut" — seeds of several species of Pacific Coast pines, particularly
the "Nevada Nut Pine" or "One-leaf Pinion." Their flavor is somewhat
resinous, but is agreeable.

The seeds of two species of palms, Washingtonia filifera and the
Lower California Erythea armata, are sought for by the Indians, who
also eat the sweetish fruit of the Yucca Mojavensis, which somewhat re-
sembles in shape the banana, and in flavor the fig, and is called the
"wild date."

The Indians also use the acorns of several species of California
oaks as food, extracting the bitterness by soaking in water, and then
making a rude bread of the acorn meal.

The "jajoba," or "goat-nut" (Simmondsia Calif ornica), is a low
shrub, the fresh fruits of which, deprived of their seed-coats, are eaten

CALIFORNIA CACTUS FRUITS 41

like almonds, and when dried by fire and ground they are used as a
beverage, in the form of tablets made up with sugar, or as a simple
infusion. Fire-dried seeds contain 48.30 per cent of fatty matter; the
oil is suitable for foods and of good quality, and is said not to turn
rancid. In lower California it is prepared by boiling with water.

The nuts of the California laurel were roasted by the native tribes
and esteemed a great delicacy.

Cactus. — The common cactus (Opuntia Engelmanni) bears a sweet
edible fruit which the Indians dry in large quantities for winter use.
By long boiling they make a sauce, which, after slight fermentation,
they consider especially nutritious and stimulating. The local species
has been used by Mr. Burbank in crossing to secure improved spineless
fruits on plants of greater productiveness.

CHAPTER V

CALIFORNIA MISSION FRUITS

Cultivated fruits were first brought into California from the south.
Mission work among the Indians of Lower California was actually
begun by the establishment of the mission at Loreto by Salvaj^erra,
October 19, 1697. The following years horses and cattle were brought
from Mexico, and from this introduction came ultimately the vast
herds which roamed the hills and plains of California. Probably the
first seeds and plants of cultivated vegetables and fruits came about
the same time, for there was a small garden and a few fruit trees at
Loreto in 1701. But Loreto was not fitted for horticulture, and in the
same year an expedition in charge of Father Ugarte, who is called the
founder of agriculture in Lower California, crossed over the mountains
to a more suitable location at the mission of Vigge Biaundo, which
had been destroyed some time before by hostile Indians. Ugarte re-
stored the mission, made irrigating ditches, and planted fruit trees
and vines. This effort was successful from a horticultural point of
view, for in 1707 Ugarte made more wine than would suffice for
mission use, and sent some to Mexico in exchange for other goods.
Thus began the export trade in California wine.

The Jesuits continued their establishment of missions in Lower
California until there were fifteen missions, at five of which there were
vineyards, and presumably as many or more which had gardens with
fruit trees.

The variety of fruits grown, in Lower California was small. They
had figs, oranges, citrons, pomegranates, plantains, and some olives
and dates. There were no North European fruits, with the exception
of a few peaches, which, however, did not appear to thrive.

The Jesuits were supplanted in Lower California, in 1768, by the
Franciscans. The Franciscans, led by Junipero Serra, at once pressed
northward, and entered the territory which is now the State of Cali-
fornia. Their first establishment was at San Diego, in 1769. Thence
they proceeded northward, braving many perils, and undergoing great
hardships, establishing missions through the coast region of the State.
Credit is given to the secular head of the expedition to San Diego,
Don Joseph de Galvez, representing the king of Spain, for ordering
the carrying of seeds of fruits, grains, vegetables, and flowers into the
new territory, and from the planting at San Diego the same varieties
were taken to the twenty missions afterwards established.

Kinds of Fruit at the Missions. — It is of no little interest to
ascertain how great a variety of fruits was grown in these mission
orchards. Vancouver, in 1792, found a fine orchard at Santa Clara,
with apple, peach, pear, apricot, and fig trees, all thrifty and promising.

42

PASSING OF THE MISSION ORCHARDS 43

He also describes at the mission of San Buena Ventura apples, pears,
plums, figs, oranges, grapes, and peaches and pomegranates. Robinson
described the orchards connected with the Mission of San Gabriel as
very extensive, having among their trees oranges, citrons, limes, apples,
pears, peaches, pomegranates, and figs. There were also grapes in
abundance. Edwin Bryant noticed at San Luis Obispo Mission the
orange, fig, palm, olive, and grape. At the Mission San Jose he found
an inclosure of fifteen or twenty acres, the whole of which was planted
with trees and grape-vines. There were six hundred pear trees and a
large number of apple and peach trees, all bearing fruit in great abun-
dance and in full perfection. The quality of the pears he found ex-
cellent, but the apples and peaches indifferent. E. S. Capron, in a
general enumeration of the fruits grown at the missions, includes
cherries.

Early Planting by Others than the Padres. — Though the earlier
Spanish population had the example of successful horticulture before
them for half a century at the missions, they did not seem inclined to
emulate the efforts of the padres upon their own grounds, except in
occasional instances. General Vallejo planted fruit trees in Sonoma
Valley as early as 1830, and of his place it is said: "It is an old and
well-cultivated place, well known in all the northern portions of Cali-
fornia while this State was still Mexican territory." Exceptions there
were, also at the south. The old fruit garden on the Camulos Rancho,
in Ventura county, has become famous. Freemont, writing of his
observations in 1846, says that among the arid, brush-covered hills
south of San Diego he found little valleys converted by a single spring
into crowded gardens, where pears, peaches, quinces, pomegranates,
grapes, olives, and other fruits grew luxuriantly together.

Scarcely had six years elapsed subsequent to the settlement of the
pueblo of San Jose on its present site, before the inhabitants were en-
joying the benefits of luxurious fruits. Before 1805 more was grown
than could be disposed of in its natural state.

Decline of the Mission Orchards. — The decline of most of the
mission orchards and gardens followed the secularization of the es-
tablishments in 1834. There were a few exceptions, where the mission
lands fell into enterprising Spanish or American hands. During the
years of neglect, the more tender trees died, and the more hardy sur-
vived. The pear and the olive vied with the vine in withstanding
drouth and the trampling and browsing of the cattle that roamed un-
molested through the deserted gardens. These pears, as will be de-
scribed presently, were turned to good account by the early American
settlers ; the olive and the vine furnished cuttings for most of the
plantations made during the first twenty years or more of American
occupation.

But it seems that not all the mission orchards were permitted to
fall into decay after secularization. In 1846 Bryant found at the
Mission San Jose two gardens inclosed by high adobe walls. The
area was from fifteen to twenty acres, all of which was planted with
fruit trees and vines. There were about six hundred pear trees and

44 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

a large number of apple aand peach trees, all bearing fruit in great
abundance, the quality of the pears being excellent, the apples and
neaches indifferent. Other visitors to some of the mission orchards
between the events of secularization and American occupation speak
of being regaled with pears and milk, a dish which seemed to them
ambrosial after the weary journeys overland across the deserts, or
after months of ship fare.

Planting of Mission Fruits by Early Settlers. — There were quite
considerable plantations, chiefly of mission grapes and oranges, by
early settlers in the neighborhood of Los Angeles. General Bidwell
saw in Los Angeles in 1845 the largest vineyard that he had seen in
California, and the vines were the most thrifty. Wine was also
abundant — even the. Angelica. Los Angeles had orchards, also, mostly
of oranges. The largest orange orchards at that time were those of
Wolfskill, Carpenter, and Louis Vigne. During recent years the
modern city of Los Angeles has been built over and beyond them.

Among the early planters of mission fruits in the northern part of
the State was Yount, who planted vines in Napa Valley in 1838, and
other fruits later. John Wolfskill, of Winters, saw grapes and peaches
at Yount's in 1841, and J. M. Pleasant took peach pits from Yount's
over into Pleasant's valley, Solano county in 1851. Dr. Marsh, on
his place at the base of Mount Diablo, had, in 1842, a mission grape
vineyard more than an acre in extent, and in good bearing. The vines
were planted about 1838. Mr. Wolfskill planted a few vines on Putah
Creek in 1842.

Pairtial Revival of the Mission Fruit Gardens. — After the incom-
ing of Americans in 1849 some of the old Mission trees were secured
by enterprising men, and made to renew their youth by pruning,
cultivation, and irrigation, that they might minister to the great
demand for fruit which sprang up among the gold seekers. The trees
richly reciprocated the care and attention given them, and there still
exists at the San Gabriel Mission old pear trees grafted over with im-
proved varieties by W. M. Stockton in 1854. The first fruits offered
for sale in San Francisco markets were from the pear trees of Santa
Clara and San Jose Missions, arid from the mission grapevines of the
same localities, and of Los Angeles county. These grapes, packed in
sawdust, came up the coast by steamer, and were then re-shipped to
the mining camps, arriving for the most part in good condition, and
were very popular. It is recorded that one thousand five hundred tons
of these grapes were sent from Los Angeles county to San Francisco
and the mines in 1852. Another instance in which thrift followed
neglect is seen in the fact that, in 1858, Don Andres Pico, who suc-
ceeded to possession of the orchard at the San Fernando Mission, did
a considerable business in drying pears and other fruits, using the labor
of the Indians.

At the present time vestiges of the old mission orchards still remain,
the pears and olives still bearing, and in some cases the old date palms
guarding the desolate scenes, or standing as reminders of the old
regime, while the new life of California is surging up around them.

SECOND INTRODUCTION OF IMPROVED FRUITS 45

RUSSIAN FRUITS

The second introduction of cultivated fruits to California was by
the Russians. The exact date of their planting at Fort Ross on the
ocean side in Mendocino county, is not known, but is believed to have
been as early as 1812. The survivors of the original Russian planting
look "very old and mossy, and are not very thrifty, but still bear some
fruit every year." They were planted too closely, and have undergone
periods of neglect, no doubt, The trees are apple for the most part,
but there were also cherries, and some of both fruits survive. The
trees are all believed to have been grown from seed, and if this be true
some fortunate results were obtained, for there is still grown in Green
Valley, Sonoma county, a medium-sized, bell-shaped apple, lightly
striped with red, which is called the Fort Ross or Russian apple, and
was probably propagated by grafts from the Fort Ross orchard. Seeds
were also secured from this source for propagation of apple trees in
early days in that section of the State.

CHAPTER VI

INTRODUCTION OF NEW VARIETIES

The first cultivated fruits of old era came to California with
the padres. The first fruits of the new era came with the American
pioneers. Though not a little inquiry has been made, it is not yet
possible to declare definitely who brought the first budded or grafted
trees upon California soil. It is a tradition in the family of Martin
Lelong, who came to California as a member of Stevenson's regiment
in 1846, that he brought with him a small lot of trees of French
varieties of apples growing in a box, and that they were planted in
Los Angeles.

In the fall of 1849, W. H. Nash joined with R. L. Kilburn in
ordering from a nursery in western New York a small box of thirty-
six fruit trees, which packed in moss, well survived the journey around
the Horn, arriving and being planted in Napa Valley in the spring of
1850. The shipment included Rhode Island Greening, Roxbury Russet,
Winesap, Red Romanite, Esopus Spitzenburg apples ; Bartlett and
Seckel pears, Black Tartarian and Napoleon Bigarreau cherries.

Before this introduction of grafted fruit trees, and, indeed, for
several years afterwards, there, were many shipments of fruit-tree
seeds from the eastern States to California. Mr. Barnett planted
Kentucky seed as early as 1847 in Napa county. T. K. Stewart
brought to California with him, in 1848, about two hundred pounds of
vegetable and fruit seeds, the latter including peach, pear and apple,
all of which were planted on the American River, within the present
limits of Sacramento, in the spring of 1849. At the same time he
planted figs and olives, and, in 1851, seeds of oranges. From all these
he secured bearing trees.

But these early efforts at improvement of California fruits were
but faint forerunners of the zeal and enterprise which followed the
great invasion by gold seekers. As soon as the first thought — to get
gold directly from the soil— would admit the second — to get it in-
directly, by agricultural and horticultural arts — there came a demand
for something better than the wild fruits of the mountains, better and
more abundant than the fruits from the mission orchards. At first
everything in the line of fruit-tree seed which could be obtained was
planted. Thus the immediate vicinity of the mines soon began to show
growing fruit trees. But seedlings of any kind would not satisfy the
planters, and effort was put forth in every direction after grafted trees
of the best varieties. Oregon had a few years the start of California
as an inviting field for immigration and the advantage also of winning
the attention of those who went out, not as gold seekers, but as agri-
cultural producers. Oregon had grafted trees in bearing, and nursery
stock as well, about the time the demand sprang up for it in California.
Its introduction was then, however, of very recent date. Up to 1847

46

FIRST INTRODUCTIONS BY AMERICANS 47

the cultivated fruit of Oregon consisted of seedlings introduced by the
Hudson Bay Company, in 1824, and by the early settlers from the
Mississippi Valley. In that year occurred the first considerable, if not
the very first, introduction of grafted fruit upon the Pacific coast.
The story of that venture has been so often wrongly told that it is
well to record its interesting incidents in the words of one quite near
to the event, if not actually participating in it. Seth Lewelling, of
Milwaukee, Oregon, writes :

In 1847 my brother, Henderson Lewelling, crossed the plains from Henry
county, Iowa, to Oregon, bringing with him a pretty general variety of grafted
fruits. He fitted up a wagon for the purpose, selected small plants, and planted
them in soil in the boxes and watered them to keep them alive. He told me that
in some places he had to carry the water a mile up the mountains to save his
trees. When he arrived in Oregon, late in the fall, he had something over three
hundred plants alive. The same fall William Meek arrived in Oregon with a few
varieties of fruit trees. He and my brother put their stock together, arid com-
menced the first nursery of grafted fruits on the Pacific coast. It was situ-
ated five miles south of Portland, just below Milwaukee, on the east bank of the
Willamette river. For want of seedling stock, they could not increase their
nursery much until, in 1850, my brother John and I crossed the plains, bringing
with us some apple seed, which we planted that winter. We also found a gentle-
man named Pugh, in Washington county, Oregon, who had planted some apple
seed in the spring of 1850, which had grown well, and we bought his stock.
During the winter of 1850-51 we put in about twenty thousand grafts. In March,
1851, I went to Sacramento, taking with me a box of grafts of apple, pear, peach,
plum and cherry, and sold them in Sacramento. I believe I have the honor of
being the first to distribute grafted fruit in California.

Other Early Introductions. — The introduction of grafted trees,
for sale by Mr. Lewelling in the spring of 1851, was quickly followed
by other commercial importations, and by shipments 'by planters
for their own use, so that the plantings of 1851-52 were quite large.
Still there was great doubt as to the success of the trees. The late
G. G. Briggs, after his great melon profits of 1851, went back to New
York State for his family, and, returning to California, brought with
him, as he says, "with no idea that they would succeed, but as a
reminder of home," fifty peach and a few apple and pear trees. To
his surprise, the trees grew well in 1852, and the next year blossomed
and bore some of the best peaches he ever saw. The pears also bore
some fine fruit the same year.

Besides the introduction of grafted trees which have been men-
tioned, there were others in 1852, for, at a fair held in San Francisco
in 1853, there were several kinds of apples, grown by Isaac A. Morgan,
of Bolinas, on trees planted the previous year. Apples were also shown
from Napa. David Spence, of Monterey, showed the first almonds
grown in California. During the winter of 1852-53 the distribution
of grafted trees must have extended widely over the State. Five
dollars for a small tree was frequently paid at the nursery of Meek
and Lewelling, in Milwaukee, Oregon, and the trees were carried
overland into the mining districts of California, as well as brought to
San Francisco for distribution through the valleys.

Fruit Gardens, not Orchards. — It is interesting to note that
much of the pioneer effort was expended upon fruit gardens rather

48 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

than fruit orchards. Two ideas, at least, led in this direction. One
was the popular thought, which, however, was very early found to be
erroneous, that frequent arid copious irrigation was essential to the
growth of fruit in this dry climate. Another was the ambition, which
was correct, both from a horticultural and commercial point of view,
to secure the fruit just as soon as possible, for the double purpose of
determining what was adapted to the novel conditions, and to secure
the magnificent prices which fruit commanded in the market. For
these ends dwarfing stocks naturally suggested themselves, and were
employed to an extent which seems wonderful when it is
remembered that now hardly a fruit tree in the State is worked upon
a dwarfing stock. Very early, say from '52 to '58, at San Jose, Oak-
land, Stockton and Sacramento, small areas, which would now only be
considered respectable house lots, were turned to great profit with
dwarf pear and apple trees. The place of Mr. Fountain, near Oakland,
was called, in 1857, "The finest orchard of dwarf trees in the State." It
consisted of three acres set with one thousand six hundred apple and
pear trees, all dwarf from root grafts, two years old, and four feet
high, and most of them in good bearing. He started the branches from
the ground, pruning severely, and heading in during the winter. He
claimed that dwarfing gave him better and larger fruit, and from two
to three years sooner than with standard trees. He did not irrigate,
but plowed frequently, four inches deep, up to the first of June.

But though these dwarf-tree gardens were formally declared "to
be the fashion," and though the list of stock of one Sacramento
nurseryman, in 1858, included ninety-five standard and eight thousand
and sixty-eight dwarf pear trees for sale, the foundations of the greater
orchards were early laid upon the basis of standard trees. Thus the
Briggs' orchard, of one thousand acres on the moist land of the Yuba,
was planted with trees sixteen feet apart each way, and Mr. Lewelling,
and other earlv planters on the rich lands of central Alameda county,
adopted about the same distance.

Quite in contrast, too, with the prevalence of dwarf trees, and
contemporaneous with it, was the grand plan upon which the pioneer
of pioneers, General Sutter, laid out his orchard on Hock Farm, on
the west bank of the Feather River, eight miles from, its junction with
the Yuba, of which the following description was written about the
time the trees were coming into bearing:

Several acres were set apart for an ornamental fruit orchard, the trees and
shrubs being so arranged as to present a unique landscape garden, nearly every
article in which is productive of fruit. The arrangement of the fruit trees is
peculiar, a large portion of them being set on either side of the broad avenues
opening through the extensive grounds in various directions, imparting to the
whole an air of picturesque beauty seldom seen.

But neither the narrow dwarf-tree garden plan nor the broad
landscape-garden plan has survived. Neither of them harmonized
with the commercial idea of orcharding — large production and
economy of cultivation, and both are now but curiosities ^of the early
horticulture of California.

PIONEER METHODS IN CALIFORNIA 49

Irrigation Abandoned. — The early abandonment of dwarf trees
suggests also the early abandonment of irrigation in the valleys of
Northern California — as early as 1856. Facilities which had been
secured for irrigation of orchards were allowed to go unused, because
it was thought better not to use them. One case is reported in Napa
county where means to furnish the orchard with thirty thousand
gallons of water per day were allowed to lie idle. The substitution
of cultivation for water, of course, attended this reform. The an-
nouncement of a practice, in 1856, "to plow deep, dig wide and deep
holes for planting, and work the ground from February to July, allow-
ing no grass or weeds to grow among the trees," shows that the
thorough and clean culture, for which California is famous, is not a
recent idea in our practice. Even the abandonment of the plow, and
almost weekly use of the cultivator, was the practice of some growers
in the San Jose district before 1860. In fact, the descriptions of
orchard management in that day include nearly the whole variety of
methods which now prevail. Later experience has, however, shown
that irrigation facilities are more valuable even for deciduous fruits
than was once thought possible. This proposition will be discussed
in the chapter on irrigation.

Early Wisdom and Enterprise. — It is evident to anyone who
studies the records, that California was very fortunate in numbering
among the early settlers so many men with horticultural tastes, skill,
and experience. The rapidity with which fruit trees were multiplied,
and the confidence with which these early comers entered upon the
nursery business, shows their training. Although there were many
trees brought here from the East and from Europe, they constituted
only a very small percentage of the plantings of the first few years,
but the orchards, with the exception of a very small number of trees
introduced to furnish grafting and budding stock, were the product
of the soil. When this is borne in mind, it becomes all the more
wonderful how so much could be done in a new country, in a distant
part of the world, in so very short a time. It was an observation which
was put upon record as early as 1856, that "some varieties of fruit
are much improved by change to this State, and some are not bene-
fited." The test seems to have been that if a variety was not better
than at the East, it should be discarded.

The First Oversupply. — The wonderful stimulus given to the
fruit interest by the results obtained in growth and in marketing,
soon induced larger plantings than the demand warranted. In 1857
it was publicly stated that "there are single farms in this State, con-
taining each over half a million fruit trees in orchard and nursery —
one person owning enough trees, when fully matured, to produce as
much fruit, other than grapes, as will be sold this year throughout our
State. The day is not far distant when fruit will be an important crop
for raising and fattening swine." This was, to a certain extent, a
statement of a croaker, for plantations continued, rare varieties were
brought from the East, the South, and from Europe; the growth of
some fruits continued to be very profitable and the nursery business,

50 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

confined to fewer hands, was profitable also. The idea that quality
rather than size should be striven for, led to more discrimination in
propagation and better treatment of trees.

The decade from 1858 to 1868 was one of quiet in the fruit interest
of California. Many of the too hastily and carelessly planted trees
died from lack of proper cultivation and pruning, and the borer
wrought sad havoc. In 1860 and 1861 there was serious depression.
It is recorded that peaches were worth but one cent a pound, and
many were allowed to go to waste as not worth gathering. The flood
of 1862 destroyed many trees along the Sacramento River, and replant-
ing was slow until prices began to improve, as they did soon afterward.
The rapid development of the mining interest in Nevada, and the
construction of roads across the Sierras, opened the way for the dis-
position of much fruit growth in the foothills and in the region around
Sacramento.

The imports of dried and canned fruits were large, and growers
were exhorted to take steps to secure this trade for themselves. Some-
thing was done in this direction, for by 1867 the local product of
canned fruit was equal to the demand. Drying did not advance so
fast; for two years later there were imports of six thousand barrels
of dried apples, while the hundreds of thousands of bushels of the fruit
were rotting under the trees in our orchards.

The decade under review was also notable for the first appearance
of cured raisins and prunes at the State Fair of 1863. The raisins
were from the Muscat of Alexandria grape, and the report states that
so-called raisins exhibited previous to that time were merely dried
grapes. Dr. J. Strentzel, of Martinez, was the first exhibitor of Muscat
raisins, and he exhibited also dried grapes of four varieties to show
the contrast between a raisin and a dried grape. J. R. Nickerson, of
Placer county, exhibited the dried prunes, which were of the German
variety.

Though this decade was one of uncertainty and doubt, there were
rich lessons of experience learned, and the foundations for coming
greatness were well laid. Many of our leading lines of production
trace their beginnings to this period, and their later developments have
been beyond any anticipations then cherished.

The New Era. — Another era in California may be marked as
beginning with the year 1869, because then the first fresh fruits were
sent East over the newly-opened overland line. The first season's
shipments amounted to thirty-three tons of pears, apples, grapes, and
plums; in 1870 seventy carloads, or about seven hundred tons, were
sent.

The Eastern shipment of fresh fruits began its new era with the
year 1886, when the first full train load of fifteen cars of fresh fruit
from deciduous trees went overland. Shipping train loads of oranges
from Southern California began at an earlier date.

During the present decade shipments of fruit and fruit-products
have increased until a very large aggregate in weight and value has

CALIFORNIA FRUIT SHIPMENTS

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52

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

been attained. The volume of shipments beyond State lines is shown
by the statement on the next page compiled from the records of the
California Development Board.

A full statement of citrus fruit production and shipment will be
found in Chapter XXXII.

The Fruit Interest of 1914. — The fruit interests of California
now constitute the greatest single industry of California, and the fruit
output of California is far greater than that of any other State in the
Union. Notable progress has been secured in planting, in the growth,
preparation and marketing of the product, in the contest with injurious
insects and plant diseases, and, in fact, in all things which contribute
to success. It is true that there are problems still unsolved, and there
have been grievous losses to individuals who have proceeded upon
too great expectations or have erred in location for various fruits.
Such mishaps will be less frequent in the future. At present there is
a disposition to proceed more cautiously and to profit by the lessons
which have been learned, many of which will be mentioned in their
proper places in later chapters.

Some dimensions of the present fruit interests may be suggested
by the following statistics showing numbers of trees and vines, which
have been carefully compiled from reports of the assessors of the
counties submitted to the State Board of Equalization. As the enumer-
ations were made as a basis of taxation they are not likely to be
exaggerated. Though imperfect, they are the best available.

Number and Acreage of Fruit Trees and Vines in California, 1912.

Fruit.

Bearing.

Non-bearing.

Total.

Acreage.

Apple

2,352,811

1,523,598

3,876,409

51,684

Apricot

2,877,593

493,141

3,370,734 •

44,944

Cherry

505,123

231,087

736,210

8,180

Pear

1,398,741

620,344

2,019,085

25,238

Peach

8,341,036

2,104,707

10,445,744

04.459

Nectarine

58,034

5,739

63,773

637

Plinu

1,178,436

317,960

1,496,396

14.964

Prune

7,920,799

1,123,854

9,044,653

90.441

Quince

20,381

3,324

23,705

220

Fig

330,364

219,511

549,875

21,995

Olive

1,056,167

173,431

1,229,598

19.951

Lemon

1,815,401

1,471,440

3,286,841

43,979

Orange ,

9,022,538

4,146,051

13,168,589

146.317

Almond

1,384,933

678,512

2,063,445

27.512

Walnut

786,082

839,990

1,626,072

40.652

Grapes, acres

263,800

82,873

346,673

Berries, acres

12,658

2,019

14.677

Totals *39,324,897 *14,037,582 53,001,129 1,002,523

* Acreage of grapes, acres and berries omitted.

It is interesting to estimate the total value of the annual products
of California trees and vines, using the best data and judgment avail-
able.

CALIFORNIA'S PLACE IN FRUIT GROWING 53

Rank of California in the United States in the Production of Fruits — From

the Last U. S. Census.

Kind of fruit. Rank among states. Value of product 1909.

Almond First $ 700,304

Apple Ninth 2,901,622

Apricot First 2,768,921

Cherry First 951,624

Fig First 260,153

Grape First 10,846,812

Lemon First 2,976,571

Olive First 401,277

Orange First 12,951,505

Peach First 8,563,427

Pear First 1,660,963

Plum and prune First 5,473,539

Walnut, English First 2,247,193

Berries Third 1,789,214

Total value* First 50,704,834

*Including minor fruits not listed.

Thus it appears that California leads the other states in every fruit
except two. California also leads in the total value of all fruits pro-
duced in all states — producing in fact about one-fourth of all the fruit
grown in the United States.

Four crops have been gathered since the census year, 1909, and the
California fruit interests have notably advanced. Including this in-
crease and using the commercial value of the fruits as they reach the
markets instead of "farm value" which the census gives, a total value
of these products in 1914 is estimated to be about one hundred millions
of dollars.

INFLUENCE OF THE FRUIT INDUSTRIES UPON
CALIFORNIA DEVELOPMENT

Enlistment in California fruit growing has proved exceedingly
satisfactory to tens of thousands of people in the various ways along
which they have approached it. The fruit districts are full of cottage
homes sheltering families of those who have begun with small invest-
ments and have made a good livelihood, and often considerably more,
from a few acres of fruits grown largely ' without expenditure for
hired labor. The study of the needs of the tree or vine and ministering
to them by personal effort has brought new health and new incentive
to the worn and weary who have taken up outdoor life and activity in
California fruit growing with a wise choice of location, land and fruits,
for obviously in all investments one must be wise as well as willing.

In large operations hundreds have notably succeeded by purchasing
good land in large tracts at low rates and making ample investment
for its development and improvement. Some of the most delightful of
our towns and villages have arisen as a direct result of such employment
of capital. Well established communities, well churched and schooled,
well provided for in local trade and transportation, have followed
investment and devoted effort in colony enterprises.

54 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Hundreds, also, have purchased large tracts of wild land and have
developed fine estates for their own personal gratification, with thriving
orchards of all kinds of fruits, rich pastures tenanted with improved
livestock, parks, gradens and buildings comparable with the estates
of the European nobility, except that California conditions favor free-
dom and variety in outdoor effort unknown in Europe, and command
proportional interest and enthusiasm. Estates for winter residences in
California are exceptionally desirable, not only because of natural
advantages and greater possibilities of development, but because of the
advanced standing of the State financially and socially.

All of these lines of effort, then — home-making in a small way,
colony enterprise and private estate development — have yielded on the
whole great satisfaction and success. Fruit growing has been the
central idea in nearly all of them, but it is obvious that activity in any
productive line begets opportunity for other lines, and so all branches of
agriculture have advanced and the diversification is highly desirable.
Opportunities in manufacture, trade and professional effort of all kinds
have been quickly seized and developed with much originality and
success. Fruit growing has created them all and has in turn been
advanced by all, for every accumulation of capital promotes it. Success-
ful toilers in all lines become planters. The ancestral delight of the
race, to sit beneath one's own vine or fig tree, is nowhere more enthu-
siastically manifested than in California, and nowhere else does the
emotion of comfort in ownership yield such profound and. protracted
satisfaction.

THE OUTLOOK OF THE INDUSTRY

The outlook for California fruits and fruit products involves con-
siderations of much economic interest. Though the volume is already
large and there may be experienced now and then temporary dullness
or depression in this line or that, the business is on the whole brisk
and profitable. There is such a wide range in the fruits grown and the
products made from them, and such changes in local conditions in the
many purchasing States and foreign countries with which Californians
deal, that there must be some fluctuations in the values of some of
the supplies offered in distant market. The result is that first one fruit
and then another one seems to be more or less profitable. The fact,
however, that all are increasing in volume and the total traffic brings
each year more money to the State, is a demonstration of the standing
of the collective output. Each year new markets are found, both at
home and abroad, and the capacity of old centers of distribution is
shown to be greater than anticipated. There is every reason to expect
that the products can be profitably multiplied. There have been secured,
largely through co-operative efforts of growers, so many improvements
in handling and transportation that distant shipment has become more
safe and profitable and distribution far wider. It is reasonable to be-
lieve that further improvement in movement and reduction of cost
will be realized and the per capita consumption in the populous parts
of our own country proportionally advanced. In spite of all that
wintry States can do for local supplies, California can find open mar-

OUTLOOK OF FRUIT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA 55

kets before and after the short ripening season of the Eastern States
for her early and late fruits, and can use her own midseason fruits in
the drying- and canning industries, though it is a fact that in the height
of the Eastern fruit season a considerable quantity of California^ fruit
will command the highest prices because of its exceptional size, beauty
and keeping qualities. The citrus fruits, so long as they are allowed
to remain under the favoring tariff which now exists, will continue to
supply an American product of exceptional quality and freshness, while
prunes, nuts, raisins and wines will not only do this, but will push
forward into the trade of Europe, as they are now beginning to do in
a most vigorous manner. A very significant report was made by one
of the United States Consuls in France recently that our canned and
dried fruits were appearing on the shelves of all the provision shops of
the smaller French towns and were being freely sold without reducing
the prices of the locally grown fruit. Practically the same thing could
be said of points in Germany and other European countries. The fact
is that European countries can not grow fruit enough to supply their
own people and fruit has been largely a luxury. California dried fruits
are being welcomed by the great middle classes and are likely to become
a staple of their diet. This explains the ultimate disposition of the
large amounts now going direct from California to Europe.

California's exports of high-class food supplies to European coun-
tries are likely to reach values like those of the wheat and barley which
we are now sending to that part of the world. The development of
adjacent territory on the American continent and other Pacific countries
may shape the future of California as a fruit producing State in a way
which can at present only be dreamed about. It should be remembered
that California has a unique character from a horticultural point of
view. Not only does the State have a monopoly of semi-tropical condi-
tions of the United States (excepting small parts of the Gulf States
and Arizona), but California has command of the whole of northwest
America and the whole of northeast Asia, not only in the supply of
semi-tropical fruits, but in early ripening of hardy fruits as well.

California does not grow tropical fruits, as has already been con-
ceded in Chapter I. They must come from the islands and the tropical
south coast countries. Semi-tropical fruits are, however, vastly more
important in commerce than tropical, and a region which successfully
combines northern orchard fruits with the whole semi-tropical class
commands the fruit trade of all accessible populous regions which have
limited fruit capabilities. There are now four such regions with the
kind of population which makes for industrial advancement — Southern
Europe, South Africa, parts of Australia and California. As already
shown, we are competing successfully with South Europe in the capa-
cious markets of North Europe. South Africa and Australia are unfor-
tunate in lying in the southern hemisphere, which is mostly ocean
wastes, and they are handicapped by tropic crossing in their northern
shipments, although the fact of opposite seasons may help them, and
also us, in avoiding competition of trade which both desire. California
will soon be less than half as far by sea from European and Atlantic
coast ports as at present, but California in the future will have less

56 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

occasion for such distant recourses. Prophets, far-seeing in world
courses, declare that the Pacific ocean is to be the arena for commerce
greater than the world has yet seen, and the Pacific coast countries
are to contain the greater part of the world's population. This greatest
quartosphere with its superlative opportunities and activities will have
California as its treasure house of fruits and fruit products. During
the long winter the citrus fruits will afford tonic and refreshment,
and before hardy fruits bloom in northern climes the same fruits will
appear from the early ripening districts of California. In this traffic
California will not only be practically without a competitor, but,
sitting beside the sea, there will also be every advantage of water
transportation and the sustaining ocean temperatures of the fruits in
transit. California dried and canned fruits will render acceptable diet
even though the most Arctic stretches along which development may
advance in North America and North Asia, while a succession of fresh
fruits will flow to all Pacific ports throughout the year. California,
too, will be the winter residence for all the North Pacific millionaires
and the haven of rest and recuperation for all who are worn by Arctic
cold or tropic heat throughout the great circle of the Pacific ocean.
Here the arts will flourish, education attain its highest achievements
and culture prevail. Then fruit growing both as a commercial enter-
prise and as a home delight will attain value, volume and perfection,
of which present achievements are but a faint foreshadowing.

PART TWO: CULTURAL

CHAPTER VII

CLEARING LAND FOR FRUIT

The greater part of the orchard and vineyard area of this State was
naturally almost clear for planting. The removal of large trees, which
paid the cost of the work in firewood, or the grubbing out of willows
on some especially rich bottom land, was about the extent of clearing
which our earlier planters had to undertake, and many of them perhaps
never had to lift an axe. Still there has always been some clearing
done, here and there, even since the earliest days, especially upon
hill lands, the peculiar value of which for some fruits is generally
recognized.

The lands which need clearing are in the main foothill slopes of the
Coast Range and the Sierra Nevada. In the south there is besides,
sometimes, the debris of the desert flora to clear away when water is
secured and the rich wilderness is subdued. This work is, however,
so easily accomplished that it hardly rises to the dignity of "clearing,"
as understood by the Eastern mind.

It is not possible in this connection to enumerate all of the great
variety of shrubs and trees which the settler lays low in his clearing.
The grand trees which figure most largely in lumbering operations are
not met with as a rule in foothill clearings. The trees which the
settler encounters are rather the degraded valley growths, which, though
assuming grand proportions in the valleys, become "scrubs" amid the
harsher environment of the hillsides. This is notably true of the oaks
and some other trees.

Chamisal and Chaparral. — Of true shrubs to be removed, it will
only be possible to name a few of the most abunant. The common man-
zanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) occurs on dry ridges everywhere,
both on the coast and at great elevations, sometimes only growing a
few inches from the ground, sometimes rising eight or ten feet. Next
to this, perhaps, the two terms which the land clearer has most to use
are "chaparral" and "chamisal." To distinguish between them it may
be said, however, that the term chamisal properly applies to the shrub
Adenostoma fasciculatum var. obtusi folium, which is abundant on
dry soils in the Coast Ranges and more rarely in the foothills of the
Sierra Nevada, often covering extensive areas with dense and almost
impenetrable growth, producing an effect on the landscape like that
of the heaths of the Old World. Another species, A. sparsifolium, with
narrow, scattered leaves, is sometimes abundant on the mountains east
of San Diego.

By chaparral is generally meant shrubs of several species of
Ceanothus, forming dense thickets and giving its name to certain soils
on which it most abounds, both in the Sierra foothills and the hillsides
57

58 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

of the Coast Range, where it is known as California lilac. The genus
includes the "flat brushes," as they are called, from their trailing on
the ground, or low, horizontal shoots ; also the "white thorn" of more
upright growth.

Other Small Growths. — Shrubs of frequent occurrence also are
the poison oak (Rhus diversiloba) , chiefly on the north sides of hills
in all parts of the State, but most abundant in the Coast Ranges, and
other species of Rhus which are not poisonous ; the hazel nut (Corylus
ro strata), which has been mentioned in the chapter on wild fruits ; the
buckthorns, several species of rhamnus, well distributed on the hillsides
and mountains of the State.

In some parts of the State there are also large areas of sagebrush
or wormwood make, up of several species of Artemisia, sage or chia,
two species of Salvia, and the famous white and black sages of the
bee-keepers, which are species of Audibertia, occurring chiefly on the
mountains of Southern California. Add to these the spireas, the
azaleas, the rhododendrons, the sweet-scented shrubs (Calycanthus),
etc., and include nearly all the wild fruit trees, brushes and vines men-
tioned in a previous chapter, and one will gain the idea that though
California is widely considered a bare State, the land clearer has a host
of plants confronting him and disputing his right to the soil.

Cost of Clearing. — The cost of clearing on the foothill slopes
of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges is too variable to admit of
estimates except such as may be made on the spot by experienced
persons. The cost varies, of course, according to the density of the
growth of trees and underbrush, and the rate of wages to be paid.
Though in some cases higher cost is reached, probably as a rule the
expense of clearing will be from $5.00 to $30.00 per acre, less whatever
the firewood might be worth. In exceptional cases, where there is a
large growth and a good wood market near by, the wood may pay
the expense or more ; even the roots of chaparral sometimes sell in our
cities at $3.00 or $4.00 per cord. It sometimes happens that charcoal
can be produced to advantage ; in fact, there are now orchards upon
land which was secured in the first instance for the charcoal to be
made upon it. Usually, however, the clearing is an item of expense
and must be reduced as much as possible by working in the most
economical and effective way.

Though in most cases of clearing by the actual settler himself the
problem is merely one of muscle and persistence, some few hints may
be given from the experience of others which may be useful. Spare
time during the summer and fall can often be used to advantage with
a sharp axe in trimming up the smaller trees, which are large enough
to yield fencing material, and getting out posts from the redwoods
and oaks, and rails and pickets from the pines. By thus using the
waste material the settler can often get out enough fencing material
to inclose his land and thus save considerable expense. Brush, too,
which can not be made use of, can be lopped off — in short, all the sharp
axe work can be done in a dry time. The actual clearing, however,
should be done in winter, when the ground is wet and soft, and digging
is easy or "snaking out" is possible.

METHODS OF REMOVING TREES 59

Partial and Thorough Clearings. — Orchards are planted on both
partially and thoroughly cleared land. By the former practice clearing
enough is done to give space for the tree holes, the debris is burned up,
and the trees planted. In this kind of work the stumps are left to be
taken out at a convenient season, the object being to get fruit trees
to growing as soon as possible. Where one is working with little more
than his own muscle, and has no capital, this sort of planting is better,
perhaps, than not planting at all, but it must be borne in mind that all
subsequent work will be done at a great disadvantage, and as cultiva-
tion is likely to be very imperfect, it would be a question whether in
the end anything would be gained by such a plan. The encumbered
character of the ground will, of course, prevent the use of the horse
in cultivation until most of the stumps are removed. Aside from this
decaying stumps and roots in the soil often kill the young trees ; espe-
cially is this the case with old oak stumps.

Clearing land for orchard or vineyard is a very different thing from
clearing for pasture, as is done in the redwood region of the northwest
Coast Ranges of the State, where the stumps are untouched ; the trees
not taken by the lumberman are girdled and left a prey to decay and
storms, and the brush slashed and burned every few1 years to prevent
it from completely taking possession of the land. Clearing for fruit
should be thorough, everything which will interfere with good cultiva-
tion removed ; roots grubbed so that as little shooting up as possible
is secured ; the ground evened up to obviate standing water, and, where
needed, arrangements made for irrigation and drainage, as will be
considered later.

Removal of Trees. — The first operation in clearing will be the
removal of the trees. This can be partly done in the dry season if one
has unemployed time. In such case the tree is felled and worked up
into fire-wood and the stump left for subsequent treatment when t\\^
ground is moist. Unless there is idle time to employ, the whole work
can, however, be better done in the winter, for then the top of the tree
may be made to help pull out its own roots. This done sometimes by
digging out the soil and cutting off the main lateral, roots below the
depth to which the plow will reach. By thus reducing its anchorage
the tree will topple over, or may be pulled over with a team and tackle,
and it will usually lift out its stump quite effectively.

A Steam Puller. — An arrangement for tearing out trees without
digging has been used to some extent in Santa Cruz county, which is
said to handle redwood trees up to four feet in diameter successfully,
it consists of a portable engine and a "puller," which is a windlass
operated by steam, from which a wire cable is carried to the tree which
is to be pulled down. A strong chain is put around the tree at a dis-
tance above the ground proportioned to its diameter in such a way as to
give necessary leverage. The immensely strong hook at the end of
the cable is attached to this chain and the cable is slowly wound upon
the reel. The coil begins to grow taut, a dull creak and strain are
heard as the roots begin to be torn from the earth. Two chains are
used, a second tree being prepared while the first is falling, that no time
may be lost. The cable is detached from the falling tree, and a horse

60 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

draws it from amid the debris of fallen foliage to the next victim.
The extraction of roots by this method of pulling is said to be very
complete, and the earth is loosened to a considerable depth.

Powerful traction engines, manufactured for hauling combined
harvesters and steam plows, have also been very successfully used for
the removal of large trees in land clearing.

Horse-Power Stump Pullers. — The use of horse-power devices
for tree felling and stump extraction has increased considerably of late.
The one which has achieved good results is a local invention called a
"California Stump Puller." It is simply a specially designed capstan
worked by one horse, with a wire cable five-eighths of an inch in diame-
ter, an improved snatch lock, chains, and a drafthook to unite the
cable with the chains. Power is applied to the capstan with a sweep.
It is calculated that with this device, properly adjusted, one horse is
enabled to produce an effect equal to the capacity of 60 horses without
it, and that a 1,200-pound horse which can move a dead weight of one
and a half tons for a short distance can move a dead weight of 90 tons
with the devices employed in the machine: It is so rapidly adjustable
that on one trial in Napa county eighteen stumps were pulled in
eighteen minutes, long roots coming clear out of the ground with
each stump.

The Use of Powder. — Another means for the removal both of
stumps and of growing trees which has come into quite wide use during
the last few years, is high explosives, which have vastly cheapened the
clearing of lands, where either large trees or stumps have to be
removed. Full instructions for the use of powder are furnished by
the agents in San Francisco, and they often send an expert to start the
work and give instruction if there is much to be done. It has been
estimated that the cost of handling trees and stumps with explosives
is less than one-fifth that by hand grubbing, and the ratio of saving
increases as the trees are larger, as powder is cheaper than muscle.

Removing Shrubs and Brush. — In the case of removing shrubs
of a somewhat tall growth, the top is made to help out the roots. This
is done either with a good strong rope or a chain. To do this requires
two men and a pair of horses, and two chains, each ten or twelve feet
long. A chain should be placed around the bush some distance above
the ground, to give leverage. If the bush is not removed at the first
pull, start the horses in the opposite direction. While the driver is
unfastening the chain from the chapparral, the second man can place
the other chain around another bush, and the one who gets through
his work first should at once assist the other. In this way the horses
are kept in constant employment, and neither of the men need lose a
moment's time. This work should be done when the ground is thor-
oughly wet.

Another rig to snake brush and small trees is contrived in this way :
Use single and double block or shives with 1-in. diameter rope. On
the block you pull from (the double block) use two 10- ft. chains with
ring in one end and hook on other. Secure this to a good anchor
bush or to three or five of them, enough to hold. Fasten them right

THE USE OF CLEARING PRODUCTS 61

down close to the ground so there is no leverage on them. As soon as
you have pulled all you can reach in a circle around the anchor trees,
take one anchor chain off, or start with one anchor chain, then hook
on other, take in big circle on single block end. One to four chains can
be used ; take two half hitches as high as possible, make first chain
taut; 2nd chain 2 ft. slack; 3rd chain 3 ft. slack, and so on — so your
horses are pulling one bush at a time. Chains do not tie in hard knots
when horses are pulling on them, as ropes do.

A Vine Puller. — What is called a "vine puller," because it is
used to clear off old vineyard, is also available for shrub pulling. Use
two wagan wheels, long pole 4x6x12 pine with large strong iron hook
on one end. Bolt the hook on, allow the end with the hook on to project
over the axle 18 in. Bolt the pole down to axle. This gives you great
leverage. Roll right along on the short end over the axle. Use a good
five-eighths chain. Take double half-hitch around bush ; raise the pole
into air, take a short tie on the bush; start the horse and out comes
the bush.

Roller and Plow. — Where manzanita grows upright, as on hills
north of the bay, the same methods of extraction can be employed with
it, first slashing off enough to allow adjusting the rope or chain a
few feet above the ground. Where it grows lower, as, for example, on
the hills of Santa Clara, the manzanita brush is gone over with a
roller so as to break it down, and then the land is burned over. The
roller should be rigged with a tiller (header fashion) so that the horses
can push the roller and walk over the flattened brush. The only object
of the rolling is to smash the brush down so that it will burn readily.
When the brush is got rid of in this way, the plow is trusted to get
rid of the roots. The plow should be of the pattern known as "prairie
breaker," without coulter. Horses should be shod with a plate of sheet
iron between the shoe and hoof to prevent snagging, and not less
than four of them used. Much of the Santa Clara county vine belt
was cleared in that way. Of course this method only answers for the
lighter-rooted growths; tough-rooted chaparral, oak, holly, etc., must
be grubbed out, unless the roots are snaked out by the tops, as has
been described.

Marketable Products of Clearing. — Whether any money can be
made from the results of clearing depends altogether upon local mar-
kets for wood and charcoal, and the cost of transportation to them.
From clearings near large towns enough can be sometimes had to pay
for the work and hauling, and along railways wood can often be
shipped with profit. This can only be learned by local inquiries.

Charcoal Burning. — Charcoal can usually be sold to advantage,
and wood can sometimes be profitably disposed of in this way when it
cannot be marketed for fuel. A considerable acreage of unprofitable
fruit trees has been disposed of in this way recently. Charcoal is made
from most kinds of wood, and sometimes stumps and large roots are
charred. A simple process of charcoal burning is given by an expe-
rienced burner, as follows :

To burn a pit of charcoal, the prime necessity is to perform the process of
combustion with the least possible contact with air. Select a suitable place not

62 CALIFORNIA FRUITS! HOW TO GROW THEM

too far from the dwelling, because the operation must be watched from time to
time by night as well as by day. It is not necessary to dig much of a "pit" in
the ground. Choose hard limbs of pine, spruce or whatever wood i£ most avail-
able of that kind. Dry, dead limbs, if not decayed, take for choice. Set them up
wigwam fashion, close together, fitting them as well as they will allow, the apex
forming the chimney. Be careful to keep the chimney free, because the fire
should be there applied to brisk "kindling" as far down as possible. Build round
and round, taking the precaution to lay three or four straight pieces, three or
four inches in diameter, along the ground from the outside to the center. These
may have to be withdrawn to promote the draught.

The wood all being in place it is now required to cover it thoroughly. In the
absence of turf or sods, it must be thatched with leafy green boughs, or anything
that will prevent the earth or dirt that is now heaped on from running through.
Pack this soil covering carefully, exclude air as far as possible, except when the
port-holes referred to near the ground are needed. The direction of the wind
will determine which ones are to be opened. When the fire — after a few hours,
more or less, according to the materials — has got a good hold, close also the
chimney. Visit the pit regularly night and day; lessen or increase the draught
as may seem needed ; and in a week or ten days the two or three cords of wood
should be turned into good hard coal. When uncovered, water or dirt should be
thrown upon coal that is too lively when spread out on the ground.

Cutting to Kill Brush. — Just when to cut to kill depends upon
the character of the growth and of the season. One conclusion seems
to be that with deciduous growths the best time to cut is when they
have just made their most vigorous growth, and this is in the summer
— but the month to be chosen for the work will depend upon the loca-
tion, though August is generally selected as the best time.

In the case of evergreens, the cutting should be just before the cold-
est weather, in which they are the nearest dormant. Evergreens,
however, differ much in tenacity of life, for while most kinds are easily
killed, the California redwood will endure almost any abuse with the
axe or fire and still spring up repeatedly and persistently for years.

The Use of Sheep and Goats on Sprouts. — On sprouting brush,
there is, perhaps, no cheaper or more effective means of repression than
sheep and goats. They are used after the top growth is cleared away
instead of grubbing, if one can wait, for by the persistent cutting down
of growth, many small stumps and roots will decay enough in a year
or two to be plowed out with a strong team and plow.

Burning of the Debris. — However the trees and underbrush may
be wrenched from the soil, fire is the final cleaner. Where trees are
to be worked up into fire-wood, it should be done as soon as they are
felled, for the work is much less than after they become dry and hard.
If it is not designed to break the land the first winter, the wood is left
to season and it becomes lighter and easier to handle. The brush and
roots, if no use is to be made of them, can be left to lie on the clearing
to dry out during the following summer, and after the first rains of
the following fall the whole area can be burned over. Such stumps
as do not burn with the brush must be gathered in piles and re-fired.
Burning before the first rain should not be attempted, unless it be in
exceptional situations, because of the danger of communicating fire
to the surrounding country, which is a standing danger in our dry
climate. Under the present law it becomes necessary to secure permis-

GRADING LAND AFTER CLEARING 63

sion from the State Forester at Sacramento before starting field fires
in the dry season. After the rain, clean up the ground perfectly.

First Crop on a Clearing. — It is the opinion of some cleurers
in the redwood region that the soil is not fit for fruit trees the first
year after the original growth is removed, and they grow a field crop
the first year. They claim that peas are the best corrective of "red-
wood poisoning," and fortunately in the upper redwood district they
have a climate well suited to the pea. Whether their theory is right
or not, their practice is of advantage, because they get a better cultiva-
tion and aeration of the soil, and kill out much of the sprouting from
the old roots, which is usually quite persistent in the moister parts of
the State.

Surface Leveling and Draining. — There is often occasion to clear
the land of stone and rocks. The latter should be blasted out of the
way so that the land may be clear for the plow and cultivator. Once
in a while one will come upon a stone wall inclosing an orchard in this
State, as trim and true a wall as the most thrifty New England farmer
can boast, but walls are not common. Our valley orchard lands are,
as a rule, naturally as free from stone as they are from underbrush,
but on the hills it is different. Probably the best wav to dispose of
much of the stone is to dig trenches in the natural water runs, put in
stone, cover with small brush, and then with soil deep enough so
the plow will not reach the brush. This disposes of the stone for all
time, and at the same time helps to drain the soil. Concerning other
treatment of the land after the rubbish is removed, P. W. Butler
writes as follows:

When water runs are wide, lateral ditches should be cut extending entirely
through the moist areas. If during the rainy season a sun is likely to have more
water than can be conveyed properly through a covered trench, it should be left
open and graded, so that a team can cross it, and for fifteen feet on each side
sow to alfalfa, which will take the place of unsightly weeds, that would otherwise
grow at the point that cannot be cultivated.

To distribute the work more evenly through the first year buildings can be
erected, a well dug, and the trenches done in the dry season, while all the grub-
bing, leveling, plowing and planting must be done the following season, as soon
as the ground is sufficiently moistened. All depressions where water would stand
should be filled, and all flat places should be graded until water will readily flow
off, and not be retained so near the surface of the ground as to cause it to
become soured. This leveling can be best done by one man and a pair of horses.
Plow the adjacent elevated land and scrape into the places to be filled. The land
is now ready for plowing, and should be done thoroughly, subsoiling to as great
a depth as the removal of the stumps will allow. It is now well to go over the
ground again with the scraper and level all the most elevated points so they can
be readily reached by water in irrigating. Then cross-plow as deeply as possible
without again subsoiling, harrow and drag, and the ground will be ready to plant.

Mr. Butler writes with reference to the foothills of the Sierra
Nevada, where irrigation must be practiced. Where irrigation is not
used, leveling, or rather grading, may be unnecessary, but it is often
quite desirable that there may be no depressions to retain surplus water.
The life of the trees and ease of cultivation may demand this unless
the soil should be light and deep enough to allow free drainage.

CHAPTER VIII
NURSERY OPERATIONS

California nursery stock is unrivaled in growth, health and vigor.
This is the verdict of all the visiting horticulturists, and has been for-
mally declared by the victories of California tree growers at the World's
Fairs held in this country, where the highest premiums were awarded
to Calif ornians in nearly all classes in which they exhibited since 1885.

The quality of the trees which can be purchased at our nurseries,
and the very reasonable rates at which they are sold, make it little
worth while for the orchard planter to try to grow his own trees. In
fact, the investment called for to purchase a good assortment of well-
grown trees will be one of the best which the orchard planter can
make. The professional grower, if he is honest and enterprising, can
give the purchaser the advantage of his experience and skill in the
choice of stocks suited to his soil, varieties of fruit adapted to his
situation, and be of assistance to him in other ways connected with his
enterprise ; and such helps to an inexperienced planter or to a newcomer
are very valuable. There may be, however, some reader who is distant
from established nurseries, or possessed of limited means, who may
like to use his spare time in growing his own trees, and to such sugges-
tions are offered. There will, however, be very much which can be
learned only by actual experience.

In the selection of a location for a commercial nursery there are
matters involved which it is not proposed to discuss. Attention will
be paid rather to matters connected with what may be called a farm
nursery. The first point will be the selection of a small piece of ground,
which offers proper soil, exposure, and, in some parts of the State,
facilities for irrigation.

Proper Soil for Nursery. — The soil should be a mellow loam,
easy of cultivation and not disposed to crust and crack. In all respects
what one would choose as a rich, kind garden soil will answer well
for the nursery. The soil should be moist, but thoroughly drained,
either naturally or artificially, for time and labor will be largely wasted
on a water-logged soil. In this respect a soil which might yield fair
crops of some shallow-rooted vegetables would not always be suitable
for young trees, which, to do well, must have favorable conditions to
send the roots to considerable depth. Good spots are often found in
the rich loam along the banks of creeks, as in such situations one finds
generally a deep alluvium, well drained by the creek. But such situa-
tions, if liable to overflow, should be rejected because standing water
is not good for trees, and because the soil will be apt to be soaked with
water and inaccessible just at the time when the trees should be lifted
for transplanting to orchard.

It is not always possible to find an ideal nursery spot on every
ranch, but still trees may be well grown on less favorable places if

64

PREPARATION OF SOIL FOR NURSERY 65

attention is given to correcting natural defects. For example, if the
soil be naturally heavy, it may be improved somewhat by repeated
plowing and cultivation, during the year before starting the trees. If
it be an adobe, its mechanical condition may be greatly improved by the
application of a top dressing of lime at the rate of six hundred to one
thousand pounds of lime to the acre. For this purpose "lime waste,"
which contains both lime and wood ashes, can be had cheaply at the
kilns. Old plaster which may have been left from house repairs is
excellent. Even builders' lime would not be very expensive, for but
little would be required for so small a plot of land as a farm nursery
would need to cover. The lime will increase the amount of plant food
in a heavy soil as well as render it more friable. Another way in which
a small area of heavy soil may be improved is by the addition of sand.
A few loads of sand, if it can be had near by, will remove the tendency
to crack, and will act as mulch to prevent evaporation of moisture. If
the soil be very loose and subject to too rapid drying. out, the remedy
will be moderate irrigation during the summer, but it should cease
early enough to allow the young trees to ripen their wood before the
frosts of autumn. Mulches of various light, fine materials, rotted straw
and the like, may be used to advantage among the young seedlings in
preventing drying out of the soil, if the plot is to be hand-worked, but
such materials are apt to be in the way of neat, thorough work with
the horse. A mulch of sand, if available, is not open to this objection

In choosing soil for a nursery, a piece of land which has been in
cultivation for garden or field crops is to be preferred over a newly-
cleared piece. It is often the case that soil from which old stumps or
shoots have recently been removed has become soured from the process
of decay in the dead wood. Although the deposits of humus from
decay of woody fiber tends to enrich the soil, afterwards certain
acids are formed if the land lies without cultivation. These are not
favorable to the growth of young roots, and a crop to which as much
time is given as a crop of young trees, should not be placed upon it.
This evil quality in the soil is removed by cultivation and aeration, or
may be corrected by the application of lime. This state of soil is most
complained of in connection with old stumps and roots of oak trees.

Situation and Exposure. — Warmth in the soil is necessary to a
good growth, and a good year's growth is essential to the production
of a satisfactory tree. Drainage contributes notably to the warmth
of the soil. Exposure is also of importance. Plenty of sunshine and
protection from cold winds are to be secured. Sometimes a little eleva-
tion is desirable. It would be a serious mistake to seek moist, low land
if the piece lies at the bottom of a little valley or depression where the
cold air settles during the night and frosts are frequent. In such cases
choose higher ground. Of course, in broad, open valleys there is not
this objection, for such seasonable frosts as may be expected there are
not injurious to deciduous nursery stock. The greatest nurseries in
the State are in the open valleys, not on the lowest ground, however, in
all cases, but on what would be called good, rich valley land. There
are, however, situations in the thermal belts in which the temperature
does not fall low enough to check growth of deciduous trees and cause

66 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

the leaves to drop. In such cases it has been found desirable to select
lower and colder ground for the nursery of deciduous trees.

Preparation for Nursery Ground. — The best preparation tor
nursery ground is the growth, the previous season, of a cultivated or
hoed crop. This will secure frequent working of the soil, thorough
pulverization of the clods, etc. The produce of the hoed crop should
thus pay the cost of putting the land in good condition, at least. Where
the retention of moisture is an object, as it really is in some parts of
the State where the annual rainfall is sometimes small and no facilities
for irrigation provided, it will perhaps pay better in the end to keep
the land in bare fallow during the previous summer ; but there must be
frequent and thorough cultivation, keeping the surface always mellow,
more moisture will be lost by evaporation than a hoed crop would
require for its growth. Properly cultivated fallow soil will have a moist-
ure within a few inches of the surface, while unworked soil adjoining
will be baked hard and dry to a depth of several feet. During the
winter immediately preceding planting, the green stuff should be
allowed to grow for a time, but should be plowed under before it gets
high enough to interfere with perfect turning of smooth furrows.
The decay of this green crop is of advantage to the soil. Another plow-
ing in the spring, and a thorough harrowing, will leave the ground in
good condition to receive the pits or root grafts, as the case may be.
In this plowing for nursery there should be deep work done and sub-
soiling, as will be more fully set forth under the head of preparing land
for orchard, to which the reader is referred.

Growth of Seedlings for the Nursery. — The two chief ways of
producing fruit trees are, from seedlings grown on the spot ; second,
from buds and root grafts upon stock imported from the East or from
abroad. First, as to the growth of seedlings:

It is usual to take seeds from sources where they can be collected
with the least trouble. Apple seeds are washed out from the pomace
of the cider press; apples and pears from the coring and peelings of
canneries and drying establishments ; pits of the stone fruits are derived
from the same source. Supplies can usually be purchased from such
establishments at a moderate cost. The trouble is that from such
supplies one is apt to get seeds and pits from all varieties, possessing
different degrees of health and vigor. There is just as much to be
gained from selecting the seed from which to grow good strong stocks
for fruit trees as there is in selecting good garden or field seed. One
can generally get good peach pits, for it is easy to have the order filled .
when the cannery is running on strong-growing yellow varieties, for
these are believed to be most vigorous, and yet some claim much prefer-
ence for pits from vigorous seedling trees, and made extra efforts
to secure them. Wherever it is possible, and if one is only to
produce a small lot of trees, it is practicable to select from the fruit
the seeds for planting. Not only is there great difference in the strength
of different varieties, but individual trees vary greatly. If one is taking
seeds from an old orchard to start his nursery with, he can take pains
to get his seed from his strongest trees, and thus secure also that which
is probably best adapted to his locality.

APPLE, PEAR AND CHERRY SEEDLINGS 67

Apple and Pear Seedlings. — For a small lot of apple and pear
trees the seed can be best sown in boxes. Select plump pips and
keep in moist sand, from the time they are taken from the fruit until
sowing. Fill the boxes, which should be three or four inches deep, with
good garden mold, cover the seed about half an inch, and then cover
the soil lightly with chaff or fine straw to prevent the surface from
drying out. Be sure that the boxes have cracks or holes in the bottom
for drainage, and the whole is kept moist, but not wet. When the seed-
lings have grown to the height of three inches they can be set out in
the nursery rows as one would set out cabbage plants.

Cherry Seedlings. — There are different ways of handling pits of
stone fruits to prepare them for seeting out in the open ground, which
will be described. The cherry is grown from pits of two wild varieties ;
one is commonly called the "Black Mazzard." It is the common wild
cherry of the East, and is the original type of what are known as the
Heart and Bigarreau types of cherries. The other is the "Mahaleb," a
European wild species, which is used in the East, where it thrives
better than the Mazzard, as it is hardier stock. In this State the
Mahaleb does not seem to have much dwarfing effect, as trees on that
stock in this State over twenty-five years old are twenty-five inches in
diameter of trunk. The Mahaleb, however, ripens its wood earlier, and
for this reason may be valuable in the colder parts of the State. It is
also freer from root trouble by extremes of wetness and drouth in the
soil, and is largely used on low lands. The Mazzard is, however, chiefly
used in California. Cherry stones are sometimes taken from the fully-
ripened fruit, dried for two or three days, the stones cracked carefully
and planted at once in good soil and kept properly moist. They will
germinate soon and make a growth of a foot or so the first season.
Such stocks are taken up for grafting in the winter and set out in nur-
sery row the next spring. A better way of treating cherry is that given
by W. W. Smith of Vacaville ;

The fruit of the Mazzard should be allowed to get perfectly ripe on the tree,
then gathered and let lie in a heap for three or four days, so that they may be
partially or wholly freed from the pulp by washing them in water. They should
then be spread out in the shade and stirred frequently for about twenty-four
hours. This will give the outside of the pit time to dry sufficiently to prevent
molding, while the kernel itself will remain fresh and green. They should then
be placed in moist (not wet) sand and kept, so until the rains set in in the fall,
when they can be planted in drills, in good, rich, mellow soil prepared the previ-
ous spring and kept clean of weeds through the summer, ready for the purpose.
They should never be allowed to get perfectly dry; and the reason for it is that
we have but little or no freezing and thawing weather in this country to cause
the pits to open; but if they are kept constantly moist it answers the same pur-
pose as freezing. The seeds of the Mahaleb cherry will sprout with less diffi-
culty, but the same rules for keeping the Mazzards will apply to them.

Other stock for the cherry will be discussed in the chapter on that
fruit.

Citrus Fruits. — The propagation of citrus fruits will be described
in detail in Chapters XXXII, XXXIII, and XXXIV.

The Larger Stone Fruits. — In handling pits of the larg'er stone
fruits, apricot, peach, plum, etc., the chief requisite is to prevent

68 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

drying and great hardening of the pit. Some plant in the fall and
trust to natural conditions to start the seedling in the spring, but this
interferes with the cultivation of the ground, and leaves the seedling
to grow in soil which has perhaps been puddled by heavy winter
rains. There must also be much hand work done to clear the rows
from weeds. It is much better to keep the pits from drying by covering
with sand moderately moist, hasten the sprouting by appropriate treat-
ment toward spring, and then plant out in thoroughly prepared soil,
and they will make a satisfactory growth. The following method,
by D. J. Parmele, of Vacaville, has given good results:

Keep the pits out of the sun until the rains commence in the fall, then put
them into a box about a foot deep with openings at the bottom for drainage, and
scatter sand or fine earth through them, putting about two inches on top, and
place them under the eaves of a building on the south side, where they will get
well soaked every time it rains. If there should be a long dry spell during the
winter, water them a little. About March they will open and sprout. Then take
a plow and open a deep furrow in loose, mellow ground, and, with a hoe, pull
about two-thirds of the dirt back into the furrow, breaking the clods, and mak-
ing it fine, the same as you would if you expected to plant onion seed there.
Drop the sprouted pits in straight line, and cover two inches. On account of the
extra work in preparing the ground, the trees will be large enough to bud in July.

Another way is to spread out the pits on a smooth piece of ground
and cover with sacks, and over these a layer of straw three or four
inches thick to retain moisture. The pits may be planted out as soon
as they crack open, although no harm will be done if they are allowed
to lie until the sprouts are well out.

Another method which has been especially recommended for
treatment for almonds is the following: Lay boards upon the ground
and cover them with an inch of sand ; spread on this a layer of almonds
and then another inch of sand, and so on. Keep the pile wet, and in
three weeks of warm weather they will burst open. Plant in drills
one inch deep and put over them a light coat of rotten straw.

If from any cause the pits have become quite dry, they should be
soaked in water two or three days before planting.

Nut Tree Seedlings. — In growing nut-tree seedlings, much the
same methods are followed as with pits of stone fruits. There are
methods described in detail by California growers which should be
given. As has been said, the nuts may be planted at any time after
ripening, in the milder parts of the State, if the grower will undertake
the greater care and cultivation. On some light soils where the rainfall
is not excessive, this is not much trouble. Felix Gillet, of Nevada
City, gives this as his method :

The nuts may be planted as soon as gathered, though in Nevada City it is
too cold to plant them in the fall, for the frost in winter would surely lift the
nuts right out of the ground. For keeping and sprouting walnuts, I throw into
the bottom of a box one inch deep of sand, then a layer of nuts y put in another
inch of sand, and another layer of nuts, and so on to one or two inches from the
top. Then water well with a sprinkler and water again during the winter when-
ever the sand gets too dry. The sand has to be pretty well saturated with water,
especially from the first of January down to planting time, which is in February,
March or April, according to localities. The latter part of March or first week
in Aoril is best for Nevada City. The nuts are planted in drills and covered
to a depth of two to three inches.

NUT TREE SEEDLINGS 69

In propagating chestnuts it is always better to select for seed the largest,
finest and healthiest nuts ; in the fall or beginning of winter the nuts have to be
planted in a box of damp sand, by layers, the box being kept in a cellar. The
nuts may be stored in a hole in the open ground, a layer of chestnut leaves being
first thrown in the bottom of the hole, on top of that a layer of nuts, then another
layer of leaves, and so on to the top, which has to be properly covered with two
or three inches of earth so as to prevent the fros.t injuring the nuts. In February
or March, according to location, the nuts are taken out and planted in drills to a
depth of three to four inches ; less for smaller seed like American chestnuts.

In growing seedlings of English walnuts, Mr. J. Luther Bowers,
of Santa Clara, has shown that water-soaking of nuts may make it
unnecessary to undertake storage in damp sand, if the nuts are of the
last crop. He describes the method as follows :

The nuts should be large and thin shelled and should be of last year's crop.
To ascertain this, break a few and split the kernel open at the germ end, or the
point where the root starts. If the meat of the kernel shows a clear color they
are of last year's crop, but if the flesh shows any discoloration they are old and
will not germinate. I have often got hold of a lot that were mixed, old and new
together. Never risk a lot of this kind, for failure will follow. After the nuts
have been selected place them in some kind of a tin vessel ; a five-gallon oil can,
with the top removed, is just the thing. Then cover them with hot water at not
over 110 degrees F. Let them remain in this water for 24 hours
and plant at once, keeping them in the water all the time. Do not let them
become the least bit dry, and be sure the soil is moist, and put every nut in with
the sharp point exactly straight down. The root starts from this point and will
go straight down, and if not molested will the first year be about three times
the length of the top ; that is, if the top grows one foot, the straight tap root
will be three feet or more long, and will be from three-fourths to an inch thick
where it grew out of the nut, tapering both up and down.

Tribble Brothers, of Elk Grove, give the following as their practice
with native black walnuts :

Gather the nuts as soon as most of them have dropped from the trees, and
put them in a trench. Cover with leaves, and on the leaves put a thin layer of
earth, leaving them until sprouted and ready to plant in rows. When ready to
plant, assort the nuts according to the growth of the sprouts, and as we find
the longest sprouts make the most rapid-growing trees, and by selecting we
can get even growth in the nursery rows. In our soil we plant the nuts about
five inches deep.

Imported Seedlings. — A very large proportion of some kinds of
the cherry, pear and apple trees produced in this State are worked
upon imported seedling stocks. These stocks are cheap, convenient
to handle, and are therefore popular. It is easy enough to grow
peach, almond, apricot, and Myrobalan seedlings, but small seeds, like
apples and pear, often do not show up well in the spring, especially
if the soil is of a kind that crusts over with\ rain and sunshine. There-
fore our nurserymen import these seedlings in the winter, plant them
out, as has already been described, and bud in the following summer,
grafting the next spring where the buds fail. If the seedlings are
large when received, they are often root-grafted at once, and then one
summer in the nursery gives a tree suitable for planting out.
These stocks are of better/ budding size during their first summer than
California seedlings, which are apt to overgrow.

Myrobalan plum seedlings were formerly imported to a large ex-
tent, but are now chiefly home-grown, and seedlings are used instead

70 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

of cuttings, which formerly were employed largely. This stock has
secured great favor for plums and prunes, and in some situations, for
the apricot, as it is hardier against extremes of drouth and moisture.
Prof. Newton B. Pierce, of Santa Ana, has discovered in California
upon imported seedlings a serious root-fungus which kills all kinds
of orchard trees in Europe, and he advises the use of home-grown
seedlings to escape this danger.

Fruit Trees from Cuttings. — It is feasible to grow a number of
kinds of fruit trees from cuttings, but it is not desirable in many cases
to do it. Trees grown from a graft or bud in a seedling root are
much better. The root system of a seedling is naturally stronger and
more symmetrical. The roots from a cutting start out at the bottom
and spread out horizontally and irregularly. This style of a root
system is expressively named "duck-foot roots," and they do not give
the tree a deep, strong hold on the soil. Trees can, however, be multi-
plied very fast from cuttings. Notable instances of this are the Myro-
balan plum and the Leconte pear. Cuttings of deciduous trees should
be taken from well-matured wood of the previous season's growth,
and planted in rows and in well-prepared soil, as has already been de-
scribed for the sowing of fruit tree seeds. The cuttings should be
taken before the sap begins running in the winter. A cutting about
ten inches long, four-fifths of its length buried in the ground, will
answer. Be sure that the ground is firmed well at the base of the
cutting, but keep the surface loose. Small wood is better* than large,
though, of course, the extreme ends of twigs should be rejected usually.
Cultivation of cuttings is the same as that of seedlings, and budding,
when the cuttings are to be used as stocks, is also governed by the same
rules.

The orange and lemon can be grown from cuttings, but the work
is done during the summer while the ground is warm. Cut from wood
one or two years old; set in the open ground with partial shade and
give plenty of water (dry ground is death to their tender roots), but
be sure that there is free escape for surplus water. Cuttings started
in the warm weather and given partial shade and plenty of irrigation
are very apt to succeed. This method of growing these fruits is not,
however, in wide use or favor.

The propagation of the grape, olive and fig from cuttings will be
considered in the chapters on those fruits.

Planting Out in Nursery. — For planting out in nursery, the
term "spring" is given as the proper time, but in California it must be
remembered that spring is not any definite division of the year.
"Spring weather" comes from the first of February to the first of May,
according to the latitude or elevation or exposure resulting from local
topography. Cherries may be ripe in Vaca Valley before fruit trees
put out leaves in Modoc county ; and between these extremes there
are advents of spring in other places according to the situation. These
facts are more fully set forth in the chapter on climate. Spring must
be detected in the behavior of vegetation and not by the calendar.
When the tree buds swell and the leaves appear, spring has come for

IRRIGATION IN THE NURSERY 71

that locality. But whether one can plant his nursery then or not will
depend upon the character of the soil and the condition of the rainfall
for that season. This varies much from year to year. As a rule,
however, in most parts where fruit is grown at present in large quanti-
ties, the heavy cold rains will be over by the first of February, and then
nursery operations can commence if the soil is in good condition. If
not, the planter must wait until the soil is dry enough to work nicely.
There will, of course, be heavy rains after the first of February; but
they will only necessitate cultivation to loosen the soil, if the nursery
ground is well situated for drainage, and if it is not it should not be
used for this purpose.

Supposing the ground has been deeply plowed and thoroughly
harrowed, as has been already described, the laying out of the ground
is the next operation. Everything should be done with a view to the
use of the horse in cultivation. The rows should be laid out as straight
as possible. Some use a plow furrow; some an arrangement like a
corn-marker, with two cultivator teeth set four feet apart ; some stretch
a line, to get the pits or root grafts as true to it as possible, and some
trust to the furrow for straightness. No rule can be laid down for
means to be employed; the result must depend upon the eye and skill
of the individual. Some people can hardly shoot a straight line with a
gun. Each must do the best he can in this respect.

There is a difference in practice as to distance between the rows in
nursery. The usual distance is four feet, but others claim that it is
better to make the rows six feet apart, especially where no irrigation
is practised, as this gives the young trees more room, and if the ground
is kept thoroughly cultivated, as it should be, it gives the roots a
greater supply of moisture to draw upon. In growing a small lot of
trees, where there is plenty of land, it is, of course, desirable to give
them every advantage in the way of facilities for growth, but on the
other hand, an overgrown tree is not desirable. Thrift 'and strength
must be sought rather than size.

At the ends of the rows spaces of about twelve feet should be left
as turning-ground for the horse when cultivating, and as a roadway.
The length of nursery rows depends upon the taste of Hhe grower.
It is convenient to have alleys wide enough for a horse and cart at
intervals of one hundred1 to three hundred feet, but in small nurseries
the head-lands would probably give all the access required.

The depth for planting seeds and pits must be regulated by the size
of the seed and the character of the soil, as is always laid down by
the authorities, and in this State another condition must be made, and
that is the climate or weather conditions prevailing in the locality.
Where the rainfall is generally light and the soil loose, seed must be
planted deeper than where good spring showers are to be expected.
In fine soils seeds must be planted shallower than ini coarse, even with
the same rainfall. Judgment and experience must dictate in this matter,
and if a man has no experience, he is pretty apt to get it.

During the spring months the cultivator must be used as often as
may be required to keep the weeds from getting -too high, or the soil
from becoming too densely packed by heavy rains, but the ground should

72 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

never be worked when too wet. It requires some watchfulness and
promptitude to use the cultivator just at the right time.

Nursery Irrigation. — In parts of the State where the rainfall is
adequate, cultivation thorough, the soil sufficiently retentive, and
atmospheric conditions favorable, the seedling will make its growth
without irrigation, and many nurseries are on ground not provided at
all with irrigation facilities. In other parts of the State irrigation is
necessary. Water should be applied sparingly, and yet enough to keep
the seedlings in healthy growing condition. This is shown by the
leaves, which should not droop or curl. Excessive irrigation should
be guarded against, because a soft, excessive growth is very undesir-
able. Water is a good thing, and in some cases a very necessary
thing, but the use of it should be wisely regulated. At budding it is
necessary that the sap should be free and the bark slip easily. To
foster this condition it is sometimes desirable to give a watering a few
days before budding commences. Water should be applied by run-
ning it through shallow furrows between the rows, and the cultivator
should follow as soon as the ground is dry enough to work freely.

CHAPTER IX^
BUDDING AND GRAFTING

If the nursery ground has been well worked and the seed properly
handled, the growth of the seedling will be strong and rapid. If an
early start was had and other conditions favorable, some kinds will
be ready for budding in June, and the production of what are called
"June buds," as will be described presently. In ordinary practice,
however, budding will come later, and the budding season extends
from July to October. The weight of the budding of deciduous trees
is generally done in August and September.

BUDDING

The process of budding, as employed on all the common fruit trees,
is very simple. It consists in lifting the bark and inserting a bud from
another tree in such a way that the inner bark of the bud shall come
in contact with the layer of growing wood in the stock, and then it
will be quickly knit to it by the new cell-growth if the bark is closed
around the inserted bud closely enough to prevent the air from drying
the two surfaces at the point of contact. In the engraving 1 is the
cutting or "bud stick" from the tree of the kind into which it is de-
sired to transform the seedling. This cutting is usually made from the
growth of the present season, which has well-formed buds at the axils
of the leaves, although in some cases older dormant buds may be used,
as will appear in the discussion of the different fruits. If buds are
desired to mature early, pinch off the ends of the growing shoots from
which they are to be taken. Suckers and so-called "water-sprouts"
should not be used, but rather well-formed wood from the branches
of the tree. It is requisite that the buds be taken from a vigorous
healthy tree of the variety desired. But sticks can be carried or sent
considerable distances if packed in damp moss or other material to
prevent drying, but care must be taken not to enclose too much water
or decay will be promoted. Fresh shoots in tight tin boxes without
wet packing are safer and carry very long distances. Sealing the ends
with grafting wax is also a good precaution against drying out.

Budding knives can be bought at all seed stores and cutlery estab-
lishments. They have a thin, round-ended blade at one end of the
handle, and at the other end the bone is thinned down, or a bone blade
inserted. The former is for cutting and the latter for lifting the bark
of the stock into which the bud is to be placed. Armed with a bud
stick and such a knife, the "budder" starts in upon a row of seedlings.
Bending the seedling over a little and holding it between his left arm
and his left leg, he reaches down for a smooth place on the bark as near
the ground as convenient to work, and makes a horizontal cut, and
from that a perpendicular cut downwards toward the roots, as shown

74

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

1 A stick of bud wood. 2 Cutting the bud. 3 Vertical incision

4 Transverse incision. 5 Inserting the bud. 6 Inserted bud ready

for tying.

7 Waxed cloth ready
for twisting.

8 Waxed cloth tightly 9 Bud staked and tied,
twisted.

DETAILS OF BUDDING 75

at 3, in the engraving-, with the bark slightly lifted and ready for the
insertion of the bud. Next he cuts from his bud stick a bud, as shown
at 2. This carries with it, on the back, a small portion of the wood of
the bud stick as well as the bud and bark. It was once claimed that
this wood should be carefully dug out, but in budding most kinds of
trees it is not necessary; in fact, it may be better to leave it in; such
at any rate is the general practice. The point of the bud is now in-
serted at the opening at the top of the slit in the bark of the stock arida
pushed down into place, as shown in figure 5. To handle the bud*
the part of the leaf stem which is left on is of material assistance.
Nothing remains now but to apply the ligature which is to hold down
the bark around the bud.

There are various ways of tying in the bud. Any way will do
which holds down the bark closely, but not too tightly. Different
materials are also used, soft cotton twine, stocking yarn, strips of
cotton cloth, candle wicking, etc. The last-named is perhaps the best
material, on all accounts, although strips of cheap calico bear evenly
upon the bark and do very good work. The use of twine is speedy,
but the strands bearing upon a narrow surface, and not being elastic,
they are apt to do injury by cutting into the bark unless carefully
watched and loosened. The fiber from basswood bark was formerly
largely used, but has given place to the other materials named, which
are more handily obtained. The buds must be examined about a week
or ten days after the insertion, and the ligature loosened, for other-
wise it will cut into the rapidly-growing stock. Sometimes trees are
badly injured by neglect in this particular.

In making June buds, where immediate growth of the bud is de-
sired, some growers make a hard not with the cord around the stock,
above the bud, and then use the loose ends to tie the bud. When the
binding around the bud is loosened, the hard knot remains on the
stock, girdles it, and forces the sap, into the bud. Thin wire, known to
nurserymen as "label wire," is also used for this purpose.

In going through the nursery row, all seedlings, which are large
enough are budded at once. In going through the row again to look
to the bands, if the bud is seen to be fresh looking, it is considered to
have "taken." In stocks where the first bud has dried up, another is
inserted lower down. Sometimes seedlings which were too small to
hold a bud at the first working over are given a bud later in the
season, or left for taking up for root grafting in the winter.

In nursery practice the budder does not 'stop to tie his buds, but is
followed in the row by another man, who carries the tying material,
and does this part of the work. I

The common method of budding thus described is used on all
common orchard fruits. Special styles of budding for '.special fruits
will be described in the chapters treating of those fruits.

Usually the budded trees are allowed to stand t in the nursery row
with no other treatment that year than the insertion and care of the
bud, the latter remaining dormant until the -next spring. Then, as
soon as the sap begins to swell the buds on the stock, the top is cut off
down to about two ; inches above the bud, and all growth is kept off

76 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

except that of the inserted bud. When that has grown out about
twelve inches, the stub is cut off to about three-quarters of an inch or
less from the bud, and the wood is quickly grown over by the bark. As
there arq apt to be dormant buds on the stock below the inserted bud,
the trees have to be examined from time to time, and all such suckers
removed. This is the common practice with budded trees. Excep-
tions will be noticed presently in connection with definitions of different
kinds of trees know to the trade.

Spring Budding. — What has been said in reference to budding
applies to the use of dormant buds. It is also possible to work with
what is called a "pushing bud." This process, as described by a dis-
tinguished French authority, consists of retarding the growth of the
buds on the scions by burying them in the ground until the sap is start-
ing well in the stock in the spring, and then putting them in, trim-
ming off the top of the stock so as to force the bud into growth. In
this way the grower of a rare variety may secure trees for planting
out the following winter, or he may secure a stock of buds for fall
budding, and thus multiply his stock of a desirable variety very rapidly.
A modification of this method consists in taking buds in the spring
when they have grown out even half an inch, and inserting them by
the usual method of lifting the bark, when the sap is flowing well in
the stock. Then cut off about halfi the stock, so as not to give the bud
too much sap at first, and afterward, when it is seen to have taken well,
the balance of the stock is cut off near the bud. This method gives a
tree the first season and saves a year over dormant budding. Shade
and protection from dry wind are desirable.

GRAFTING

The next process of propagation to be considered is that by grafting.
Its success, as with budding, consists in bringing the growing wood
(inner bark or alburnum) of the scion into contact with the same layer
of the stock. It can be applied to any part of the tree, from the top-
most branch to the lowest root, as is the case when new trees are made
from scions and root fragments. Thus grafting pertains both to the
production of young trees for planting out and to the transformation
of old trees bearing worthless fruit into producers of choice varieties.

Grafting for the production of young trees is first in order. Instead
of budding the seedling during the first summer of its growth, it may
be allowed to complete its season's growth, and drop its leaves. When
thus dormant the young trees are taken from the ground, the roots
rinsed off with water if the ground is wet and sticky, or merely shaken
free from clinging earth if in a dry time. Enough trees are dug at
once to graft at a sitting. The grafting can be done at the work bench
in the tool-house or barn, and if one is pressed with other daylight
work, it may be done by lamplight at the kitchen table, if the house-
wife can be conciliated for the muss it will make.

Care of Scions. — The scions should be previously selected, and
whether taken from trees on the place or brought from near or distant
sources away from the farm, should have been placed as soon as pro-

GRAFTING METHODS ILLUSTRATED

77

Saddle Graft. Wedge Graft.

Whip Graft. Bad and Good Whip Graft.

Side Graft.

78 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

cured in moist earth on the north side of the house or other building,
where they will keep cool and damp until one is ready to use them.
At the East and other parts of this State where the ground is apt to
freeze, it is necessary to keep scions in the cellar with their butts
covered with moist sand, but over most of the area of the State
nothing more is needed than to put down in the earth at the base of
a tree or on the north side of a building, with, perhaps a box or barrel
inverted over them to keep out mice and other intruders. Care must
be taken not to let them dry up. If it is desirable for any reason to
keep scions dormant long into the spring or summer, of course storage
in a cool cellar is better, for in the open ground the scions will burst
into leaf after a warm spell of spring weather.

In selecting wood for scions, as for bud sticks, never take water
shoots or suckers that start from the body of the tree and push up
through the older branches, but always give the preference to sound,
fully-matured wood, at the ends of the lower or nearly horizontal
branches. Careful experiments have shown that trees grown from
such scions are more likely to take on a low, spreading habit than
those from the central or upper branches. The scions should be tied
in bundles with a stout cord; and a piece of a shingle, with the name
of the variety written plainly and deeply thereon, should be tied in
with each bundle.

Grafting Wax. — In grafting, a good grafting wax is requisite.
The ingredients are mixed in different proportions by different
growers. A few recipes which are known to give good results are
as follows:

Two and one-fourth Ibs. resin ; 2 Ibs. beeswax, 1/4 of a Ib. tallow.

One Ib. mutton tallow; 2 Ibs. beeswax; 4 Ibs. resin.

Two Ibs. resin ; 2 Ibs. beeswax ; J4 Ib- tallow, and a little linseed oil.

Two Ibs. resin ; 1 Ib. beeswax, 1 quart linseed oil ; 4 tablespoonfuls turpentine.

One Ib. beeswax; 5 Ibs. resin; 1 pint linseed oil; 1 oz. lampblack.

One Ib. beeswax; 5 Ibs. resin; 1 pint linseed oil; 1 pint flour — the flour
stirred in after the other ingredients have boiled together and cooled some-
what.

All these mixtures are made with the aid of gentle heat, and during
grafting the wax must be kept warm enough to apply easily with a
small brush. To do this the wax dish may be kept on a hot brick, to be
changed for a fresh one as it cools, or, better still, is to heat the wax
in an old fruit can or something of that kind, inside another, which is
partly full of warm water. A more capacious heater can be made by
removing the top of a five-gallon oil can and making a hole for draft
on one side near the bottom. A slow fire can be kept going to heat the
wax pot which is suspended from a rod across the top. A wire handle
makes this outfit portable. The wax should not be so hot as to run
too easily, but just right to spread well.

Grafting is greatly facilitated by the use of strips of waxed cloth
or waxed paper, the latter being quite good enough for grafts, which
are low enough to be protected by a ground covering; also for root
grafts. This waxed paper is made by spreading a thin coat of wax,
with a brush, upon tough, thin wrapping paper, cutting up the paper,
when cold, with a sharp knife, on a board, into strips about an inch

MANY KINDS OF GRAFTING WAX 79

wide. Waxed cloth is made by dipping cheap cotton cloth into hot
wax, pulling the pieces between the edges of two boards to take out as
much wax as possible, and when the cloth is cold, tearing it up into
half-inch strips for small grafts or wider strips for larger grafts. When
grafting is going on indoors, these strips hanging near the stove are
kept in good, soft condition for use.

There are grafting preparations which do not require heating, but
remain in a semi-fluid state, and then become very hard by contact with
the air. The following is a popular French preparation:

Melt one pound of resin over a gentle fire. Add to it one once of beef tal-
low, and stir it well. Take it from the fire, let it cool down a little, and then
mix it with a tablespoonful of spirits of turpentine, and after that add about
seven ounces of very strong alcohol. The alcohol cools it down so rapidly that
it will be necessary to put it once more on the fire, stirring it constantly. Great
care is necessary to avoid igniting the alcohol.

This wax is easily prepared, and when well corked will keep for six
months. It is put on the wounded part of the tree, very thin, and soon
becomes as hard as stone. Thus it is valuable not only for grafting,
but for covering the scars caused by removing limbs in pruning. It is,
however, rather an amateur's recourse, as it is rather expensive for
large commercial operations.

As a substitute for all the old grafting-waxes, asphaltum, "Grade
D," has recently been widely and successfully used. It is kept a little
warm to spread well. Resin may be melted in one part to four.

Cleft Grafting. — Where various-sized stocks are to be used, as
will be the case with a bunch of home-grown seedlings, different styles
of grafting must be used. Where the stock is much larger than the
scion, as is apt to be the case with California seedlings, the cleft graft
will be simplest. Cut off the top smoothly above the root crown and
then split the top of the stock, as shown in the engraving. Then pre-
pare the scion by whittling it to wedge-shape at the lower end. Open
the slit in the stock with a little wedge and insert the scion so that its
inner bark matches with the inner bark of the stock, something as shown
in the second figure. It does not matter whether the outside of the scion
is flush with the outside of the stock or not ; the vital point is to get the
growing layers, just inside the barks, in contact with each other, and, to
be sure of this it may be well to give the scion a slight diagonal pitch,
for if the barks cross each other, this desirable contact is sure to be
made. It is well to make the side of the wedge of the scion which goes
nearer to the center of the stock a little thinner than the outside.

A scion for a root graft is cut longer than for use in the top of the
tree, for in planting, the point of grafting is placed a little way under-
ground. Such scions are usually cut wtih four or five buds. After
the scion is in place, it only remains to wrap it closely with a piece of
waxed cloth or paper, in such a way that all the cut surfaces are
covered, extending the wrapper a little below the split in the root.
Paint over the wrapper with warm wax put on with a brush, put a little
on the top of the scion, and the graft is complete.

Side Grafting. — Another method which prevents splitting the
stock is the side graft, shown in the accompanying figure. It consists

80 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

in bending the stock to one side and cutting in diagonally with a thin-
bladed, sharp knife, a little more than half way through the stock.
Into this open cut insert the scion so that the inner barks touch ; then
allowing the stock to straighten up, holds the scion firmly. Covering
with a wax band drawn tight makes a good job, and such grafts make
as good growth as the buds set the previous summer. This method
can be used with stems or branches up to an inch in diameter, and is
essentially the same, as will be mentioned later, as a side graft for
working over old trees. In this style of grafting, a stub of three inches
or more may be left above the graft, and to this the graft can be tied to
prevent blowing out if it makes a strong growth. Afterward the stub
is cut back with a sloping cut and waxed or painted to prevent checking.
Whip Grafting in the Stem. — Grafting above the root or in the
stem of the stock when stock and scion are about the same size, is
done by tongue or whip grafting. The accompanying sketch shows a
whip graft in the stem of the stock. Grafts up to an inch in diameter
can be made in this way, but it is generally used for smaller wood.
Care must be taken to secure proper contacts of the inner barks at
least on one side of the stock. After pushing the parts together, a
wax band holds them firmly in place, or the joint may be simply tied
and painted over with wax.

A Root Graft. — When the root stock and the scion are about the
same size, the tongue graft is also used, as shown in the figure. In
making this both the stock and scion are given a sloping cut of about
the same length, and a secondary cut made in each. When the two
are put together the wood "tongues in," or interlocks as shown in the
engraving. The object of this is to make more points of contact for
the inner barks of root and scion, and at the same time to interlock
the two more firmly. In putting the two together, if the stock is
slightly larger than the scion, be sure to put the scion so that the inner
bark contact is made, and this will bring the scion a little to one side
of the center. Bind with the wax band, and paint with wax as in the
case of the former graft.

In large nursery practice expert grafters have come of late years
to make this root graft without wax, merely tying in the graft. For
amateur work at home it is much safer to use the wax.

Grafting in the root, where the root is much larger than the scion,
may be done without splitting the root by cutting or sawing out a
triangular piece on the side of the root, cutting the scion to fit and
trusting to a strong band to hold it in place. This graft is illustrated
in the chapter on propagating the grape. It also works well with root
grafting the walnut, and is used by some in ordinary top grafting on
other trees.

Planting out Root Grafts. — This root grafting can be done in
the winter before it is time to plant out, and the grafts can be made
a few at a time, as convenient. The grafts, then, as fast as prepared,
should be bedded in moist sand in the cellar, and will make their con-
tact firm, and even start to growing a little. In planting out in the
nursery rows be sure the earth is firmed well around the root, otherwise
many will be lost. Plant ten or twelve inches apart in the rows. Keep

CLASSES OF NURSERY STOCK 81

the weeds down and the soil well cultivated and loose on the surface,
and the first season's growth will give a tree fit for planting out in
orchard in the coming winter. For irrigation the rules already given
for the growth of seedlings for budding will apply.

PRUNING TREES IN NURSERY

As for other treatment of the trees (either from bud or root graft)
in nursery during the first year, there is some difference of opinion
and practice. If the young tree will be content to make a straight
switch with good buds in the axils of the leaves, but no laterals thrown
out, it will be in the best possible shape for planting in the orchard,
and gives the planter a chance to make the head at whatever height
suits him, and to secure uniformity through the orchard. All trees will
not, however, be content with this growth, but will push out laterals
all along the stem. Even in this case some let the whole growth go
for the planter to treat as he thinks best. Another plan is to go over
the nursery when the young stock is about two feet high and pinch
back the laterals part way, but retaining the leaves nearest the stem
to shade the stem. This pinching back is done from the ground up to
a height of one to one and a half feet, and above that the growth is
left to take its natural course, to be cut as desired when the head of
the tree is formed. Pinching back develops buds near the stem and
gives the planter a better chance to head the tree lower if he likes.
Another practice which prevails to some extent, is to pinch off the
terminal bud when the young tree has reached a height of about two
and a half or three feet in the nursery. This soon forces a growth
of lateral branches, which are in turn pinched after they have grown
out a couple of feet. The result is the formation of a head on a
nursery tree the first year, and when such trees are planted in orchard
they are merely cut back on the laterals, leaving the head as formed
in the nursery. Such trees are difficult to handle in packing, and take
much room in shipment. There may, however, be an advantage in
such practice for the home grower if he is situated in parts of the
State where the greatest season's growth is attained. Orchard planters
generally, however, prefer a June' bud or a yearling of moderate
growth, without laterals.

CLASSES OF NURSERY STOCKS

The several classes of stock which are to be had from nurseries
are as follows :

Root Grafts. — These are seedling roots, or pieces of them, on
which scions of the desired variety have been grafted on the bench
and the junction healed over in the cellar. No growth has yet started
in the scion. If the tree planter wishes this kind of stock, he should
plant it out in nursery row in the spring and remove the trees to
orchard the following winter.

June Buds. — For multiplying varieties very fast, buds are kept
dormant in a cool place; or, by pinching off the top shoots of the
current year are forced to mature buds very early. These buds are put

•

82 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

into seedling stocks as early in the season as it is possible to get new
buds developed. This can be hastened by pinching tips of new shoots
from which they are to be taken, which forces development of lateral
buds. After budding, the top of the stock is girdled with knife or cord,
or partly cut away, and growth is forced on the bud so as to give a
small tree at the end of the first summer. This method of propagation
is growing in popularity in this State, especially in the foothill districts,
where small trees are preferred for transplanting.

Dormant Buds. — Trees are sold in dormant bud when they are
lifted from the nursery and sent out before any growth has started
on the inserted bud. The bud should be seen to be the color of healthy
bark. Such trees should only be used when yearlings are not to be
had and gain in time is very important. Care must be constantly
taken that growth starts from the right bud, and that it be protected
from breaking off by wind or animals. A considerable percentage of
loss is usual, and extra dormant buds should be planted in nursery
rows to fill vacancies.

Yearling Trees. — These are trees which have made one season's
growth from the bud or graft. Two-year-olds have made two sea-
sons' growth, and so on. The proper way to count the life of a tree
is from the starting of growth in the bud or graft, for this point is
really the birth of the tree.

WORKING OVER OLD TREES

Another opSHttion which may be properly considered as a branch
of propagation is the working over of old trees. There is much of
this being done every year in this State. The old seedling fruits in the
older settled parts of the State are being made to bear improved
varieties; trees of varieties illy adapted to prevailing conditions are
changed into strong growing and productive sorts ; trees are changed
from one fruit to another, when affinity permits. This will be men-
tioned in the discussion of the different fruits. Still another reason
for working over is to secure more valuable and marketable varieties.
Sometimes a mixed orchard is made to bear a straight line of one
sort which is in demand, or when the grower finds he has too many
trees of a single kind, which give him more fruit than he can con-
veniently handle when it all ripens at one time, he works in other
varieties so as to get a succession of varieties adapted to his purpose,
and thus secures a longer working season in which to dispose of them.
This is especially the case in large orchards of apricots, peaches, and
plums, when the grower depends upon drying his crop. Information
concerning the successive ripening of varieties can be gained from the
special chapters on the different fruits. For all of these reasons, and
others which need not be enumerated, the work of the propagator is
continually going on even in our large bearing orchards. As with
young trees, so with old, transforming the character of the tree is
done both by budding and grafting.

Budding Old Trees. — One way to prepare an old tree for bud-
ding is to cut back the branches severely during the latter part of the

GRAFTING OVER BEARING TREES 83

winter, which has the effect of forcing out new shoots around the head
of the tree, and in these the buds of the desired variety are set in the
summer, just as is done in budding nursery stock, except that the
budding should be done rather earlier because the sap does not run as
late. When the shoots are budded, those being selected which are
situated so as to give the best symmetry to the new head, the shoots
not budded are broken a foot or so from where they emerge from the
old wood, and are allowed to hang until pruning time. At the winter
pruning the budding branches are topped off a little above the bud,
and when the new shoot starts it is often loosely tied to the stub of
the old branch to prevent breaking out in the wind. When it gets
strength, the stub is cut away smoothly to allow the wound to heal over.

Another way is to insert the buds in the old bark at points where
it is desirable to have the new branches start. This is sometimes done
by lifting the bark, as in ordinary budding, and slipping the bud under,
sometimes by what is called shield or plate budding, which consists
in removing a piece of the old bark entirely and putting in its place
a piece of bark of the desired variety, having upon it a dormant bud.
With plate budding it is necessary to be careful to have the inserted
bark just the size of the bared spot, and to wrap it more closely than
when the bud is slipped under the bark of the stock. In all cases in
budding old trees, care must be taken to get fully-matured buds, and
it is well to take them from large shoots, which have a thicker and
firmer bark than may be used in budding nursery stock. It is also
desirable to be very sure that the buds are taken not only from a tree
of the desired variety, but from a healthy, vigorous tree of that variety.

In selecting buds, also, one must be sure that he gets leaf buds,
and not fruit buds only. In taking buds from some kinds of bearing
trees, of course, he may sometimes, to get well-ripened buds, be
obliged to take both fruit and leaf buds together. This will work
well if care is taken not to rub off the leaf bud. It is rather easier,
however, to work with buds from young trees not yet in bearing if
one can be sure that these trees are of the desired variety.

Grafting Old Trees. — Old trees are also renewed by grafting.
This is most generally done by the old process of "top grafting."
The main stem or the larger branches are cut square off, and the scions,
usually two, but four or more if in the trunk, are shaped and set
into clefts in the stock as shown in the engraving. It is better to use
limbs above the main fork, or head of the tree, than to graft in the
trunk, if the old trees are of good size. The following description,
which the writer borrows in part from some unknown source, will
serve to guide novices in the matter :

The outfit necessary for doing the work consists of a small, fine saw, a
regular grafting knife, or a pocket-knife with a long, straight sharp blade, wax,
light mallet, and a hard-wood narrow wedge. After selecting the limb to be
grafted, saw it off — your own judgment will guide you as to best point, but
before the saw gets quite through the limb, cut the bark on the under side of
the limb to prevent the liability of peeling down.

Next split the stub with knife and mallet and insert the wedge in the center
of the cleft to hold it open. It is usual to cut the scion with two buds, but
sometimes better results are had by using scions with but a single bud. Whittle

84 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

the scion wedge shape, so that it fits nicely down into the cleft. To do this,
hold it in the left hand with the bud at the ball of the thumb, then cut the side
toward you; as will be natural, turn it over, and cut the opposite side in the
same way, making the wedge a very little thinner on the edge opposite the bud
than the other. This will insure a firm pressure at the points where the bark
of scion and stock meet.

When set, the bud of the scion will be on line with the outer long portion of
the graft. The point to be closely observed in adjustment is to have the inner
or sap bark of the scion connected with the same of the stock. If a trifle too
far in, or too far out, the work will be a failure. Some people set the graft
a little out at the top and a little in at the bottom, so as to be sure of a con-
nection at the crossing point, but there will be firmer hold if there is a union
the whole length. Our rule has been to have the wood of the scion come exactly
parallel with the surface of the stock, and we seldom fail in getting firm adhesions
and solid limbs after years of growth.

After the scions are set, and two should be put into one limb if large, care-
fully withdraw the wedge and apply the wax, so that every part of the wood and
bark cut and split is well coated. In doing this use extreme care not to move
the scions at all from their sittings. If the pinch of the stock is seen to be
severe, a small wedge may be left in the center to save the scions from crushing.
If there is a large cleft, it may be filled with damp clay before waxing over.

Most grafting over of old trees is done by this method, using one
or another of the wax preparations described upon a preceding page.
If the cut surface of the stock and the split is thoroughly waxed over
as low as the bark is split, there is usually little trouble with the growth
of the scion and the healing over of the stock. In the warmer valleys
in the interior, the sun is often hot enough to melt the wax and cause
it to run and bare the wood surfaces. This is prevented by dusting
the wax thoroughly with brick dust well powdered; but, by a little
experimenting with the recipes already given, one can secure a wax
which will stand any heat likely to be encountered.

For grafting over trees by working upon the limbs, the neatest
and surest work can be done by methods of grafting which do not
require the splitting of the stock. There are various ways of doing
this. One method is shown in the engraving on the next page, and
consists in cutting the scion as shown, and inserting it beneath the
raised bark and then binding well with waxed bands, the preparation
of which has already been described.

Another method is an application of what the French call oblique
side grafting. It consists of making an oblique cut downward through
the bark of the stock and for a distance into the wood, using a chisel
and mallet or even a strong knife. A saw and knife are also used for
making this cut, as will be described in the chapter on the peach. A
small form of side graft has already been shown earlier in this chapter.
In it the scion is held in with a wax band. Some growers remove
the top of the stock with a sloping cut about half an inch above the
scion, as shown in the engraving, and wrap the waxed band well
around and over all the exposed surfaces. Others do not remove the
whole of the limb until the scion has started well into growth, and
then they cut down and pare the stock and cover with a band or with
a wax that will not run in the sun.

Several ingenious devices have been patented by Californians for
securing uniformity in the incision in the stock and in shaping the
scion, but it is so easy to succeed with ordinary tools that such inven-

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRAFTING IN CALIFORNIA 85

tions have never come into wide use. Machines for the bench grafting
of vines have, however, been successfully employed to a certain extent,
but are not generally used.

TIMES FOR GRAFTING IN CALIFORNIA

There is nothing particularly new about the methods or means
employed for grafting deciduous fruit trees in California, but the time
at which the operation can be successfully done, and the condition of
the scion, are different from those held to be necessary in other cli-
mates. It is not at all requisite that the scions should be carefully
stored away to keep them in a dormant condition, nor that the grafter
should haste to do his work in just such a state of sap-flow in the spring
time. It was early discovered that grafting could be successfully done
with growing scions, and that scions could be cut from one tree and
set in another nearly at any time the grafter desired. Grafting is
therefore possible much later in the season than is prescribed elsewhere,
and it is also possible to begin earlier. In one of the largest apple
and pear orchards in the State it is common to graft in December.
The absence of freezing weather saves the graft from injury. As our
trees start their flow of sap early, and often when the ground is too
wet for comfortable orchard work, it is the practice of many to get
their grafting and pruning done before the heavy midwinter rains
begin. The practice of most growers is, however, to conform some-
what nearly to traditional methods, to do most of the grafting in the
spring months, and to use dormant scions, the growth of which is
retarded by heeling them in on the north side of a building, or keeping
them in sand in the cellar, as the grower chooses. Of course it should
be understood that there are parts of the State where the winter condi-
tions are more nearly like those at the East, and practice has to conform
to them.

As to whether it is better to remove the whole top of the tree and
graft all the limbs in one year, there is some difference of opinion. The
prevailing practice is to graft over part of the limbs one year and the
balance the following year; or else to leave part of the top to shade
the bark and take part of the sap flow until the grafts start out well,
and then cut it away. When a large amount of grafting is to be done,
the limbs may be cut off during the weeks preceding grafting. In this
case, the cut should be made a foot or two above the grafting point
and a second cut be made at this point, when ready to put in the scions.

Whenever old bark is exposed by cutting back for grafting, thorough
protection against sunburn must be provided. The simplest way to do
this is to cover the exposed bark with good whitewash. By using thirty
pounds of lime, four pounds tallow, and five pounds of salt with enough
water to make it flow well, a tenacious whitewash can be secured.

What has been said thus far relates especially to the working over
of old trees of common deciduous fruits. Though much the same
method will succeed with some of the semi-tropical fruits and with nut
trees, the discussion of their propagation and grafting over will be
deferred to the chapters devoted to them, and this will also give oppor-
tunity to describe methods especially adapted to these fruits.

CHAPTER X
PREPARATION FOR ORCHARD PLANTING

The two essentials in preparing land for trees or vines are deep and
thorough cultivation, and provision for drainage, unless the situation
is naturally well drained. Drainage will be considered in connection
with irrigation in another chapter. In this place, however, by way of
emphasis, it may be remarked that high land is not necessarily well
drained, although the general feature of the surface may be an incline,
nor is low land necessarily wet, although the surface may be apparently
level. For horticultural purposes the drainage of the land must be
considered on the hillside as well as in the valley, for reasons which
will be more fully set forth in the chapter on drainage.

The preparation of land for fruit planting should begin with grad-
ing. In irrigated orchards this is essential for the equal distribution
of water. Even where irrigation is not anticipated, it is of decided
advantage to smooth down hummocks and fill sags which are likely to
collect water in the rainy season. As has been shown in Chapter III,
this can be done on most California soils without danger of uncovering
a sterile subsoil. Some intimation of the method of grading is given
at the close of Chapter VII. In preparation for the irrigated orchard,
and irrigation is now widely employed even in regions where formerly
rainfall was the sole reliance, it is important that accurate grading
should be done and the use of the surveyor's level and grade stakes
will be found very desirable. All moving of soil should precede the
general plowing.

For the planting of orchard or vineyard the land must be put in as
good tilth as possible, and extra expenditure to secure this will be
amply repaid in the after-growth of the trees and vines. If practicable,
it will be all the better to have the process of preparation begin a year
before the trees or vines are to be set. This is true either with newly-
cleared land, as has been described, or with old grain or pasture land
which is to be used, leaving the surface rough during the winter,
facilitates the access of air to the lower layers of the soil, and in a
certain sense may be said to sweeten and enliven it. Following in the
furrow with a subsoil plow is very desirable, either at the first plowing
or later. Such treatment of old grain land breaks up the old hardpan,*
which has probably been formed by years of shallow culture. The
preparation should continue during the following summer, and can
often be made both thorough and profitable by the growth of a summer
"hoed crop," the culture of which will kill out many weeds and secure
good pulverization of the soil. If no summer crop is grown, the land
should be kept in cultivation by plowing the weeds under as long as
the surface soil retains moisture enough to start them. A special
advantage of such summer-fallow in regions where the rainfall is apt

*In this connection the term means "plow-sole." Treatment of true hardpan will be
described in the next chapter.

86

PREPARATIONS FOR PLANTING 87

to be short is that a prevention of evaporation, the trees or vines set
the following winter will have a good part of the rainfall of two seasons
to grow with, and the result will often be very noticeable. If there
are supplies of manure available, as is often found in old corrals on
our grain or stock farms, it is better to gather and apply this the winter
before the planting of the trees. If this is not done, it should be left
until after the trees are planted, and then be spread upon the surface
during the winter, and plowed it after it has been in part leached into
the soil by the rains. Application should be made evenly all over the
surface, and not massed around the roots of the trees, unless it is to be
applied as a mulch to the surface after the spring cultivation is over, as
will be considered later.

If it is thought desirable to plant the land immediately after break-
ing up, put in the plows as early in the fall as it is possible to do deep
work, that is, to plow to a depth of ten or twelve inches, or more.
Harrow thoroughly. If it is still early, cross-plow. Thorough and
deep breaking up as soon as practicable to plow in the fall, and follow-
ing in the furrow with the subsoil plow, working to a depth of fourteen
inches or more, is a good preparation for fruit planting. For this kind
of work good teams are needed and the plow should be sharp and
bright. If the work is hard for the team,;' set the plow so as to take
less land, but do not sacrifice the depth. Harrow again thoroughly,
and the land is ready for the trees or vines.

Avoiding Dead Furrows. — Unless dead furrows can be used to
advantage for surface drainage in case of heavy rain-storms, it will
be of decided convenience in laying off to have the field free from
them. This can, of course, be secured by beginning the final plowing
at a line in the center of the field, turning all furrows inwards. In this
case, too, if a right-hand plow is used, the team will always turn on
unplowed land, and thus avoid trampling upon and packing the loose
soil. The slight ridge in the center of the field formed by the first
two furrows can be easily leveled by a couple of back furrows, and
when properly harrowed the field will be found smooth as a floor for
staking out for planting.

LAYING OUT FOR PLANTING IN SQUARES

It is very desirable, both for convenience in cultivation and for the
beauty of the orchard, that the trees should stand in straight lines,
and care should be taken to attain that end. Most orchards and vine-
yards in this State are laid out in squares; that is, the rows of trees
or vines are all at right angles to each other, as shown in the accom-
panying sketch. This is the simplest arrangement; and by some of
our largest planters is held to be the best. It is true that the trees are
not equidistant from each other in all directions, and that, theoretically
at least, there is a portion of the ground unused — supposing that the
roots occupy a circle, as do the branches. Practically, however, it may
be doubted whether the hungry roots of well-grown trees or vines leave
any portion of the soil unvisited.

88 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

There are also forms of double squares and alternating squares
available for planting at long distances, with growths between, which
are ultimately to be cut out, or for vines between fruit trees. Such
mixed planting is, however, but little practiced in California.

VARIOUS WAYS OF MARKING FOR SQUARES

Marking With a Plow. — This method was used in laying off
some large orchards in the Sacramento Valley. A common two-horse
turning plow is rigged with a "marker" — a light wooden bar extending
at right angles from the beam, the bar being as long as the desired
distance between the rows of trees. On the end of this bar a crosspiece
is fastened perpendicularly, so that it scratches along on the surface of
the ground. The line of the first furrow has to be designated by a flag
stake, to which the plowman proceeds. When this is done, the team
is turned and sent back along the next row, the location of which has
been fixed by the marker, and so on for the length of the field, the
marker being turned each time to indicate the next furrow. Following
the same course the other way of the field leaves the trees to be planted
at the intersection of the furrows.

Measure and Sight. — Another method which is quite commonly
used and answers a good purpose in small plantings is the combination
of measure and sight. The sighting stakes are usually plasterers' laths
pointed at one end and whitewashed to make them more visible to the
eye. In the use of these it is necessary to measure the distances and
locate the laths to mark the ends of the rows all around the field. Then
locate a line of laths across the field each wayf through the center, these
laths occupying places which the trees of these two central rows will
fill. After these are in place, measurement can be* dispensed with, and
the job can be finished by sighting through. The man on the ends of
the rows has three laths to sight by in each row, and the stake driver
places the stakes as directed by the sighter. Good location can be done
this way if a man has a good eye and patience enough.

Marking Off With a Wire.— A measuring wire or chain is, per-
haps, the best means for getting accurate location of trees or vines.
It is used either for setting in squares or in other arrangement, as will
be described presently. Measuring wires are made of annealed steel
wire about one-eighth of an inch in diameter. The length varies ac-
cording to the wishes of the user. If it is desired to lay off the planta-
tion in blocks of one acre, the wire should be two hundred and eight
feet nine inches long, for that is approximately the length of one side
of a square inclosing an acre of ground. But some use a wire as long
as three hundred feet, when the acre measure is of no consequence ; and
others, in smaller plantings, make the wire just the length of the piece
they have in hand. At each end of the wire is fixed a strong iron ring
about one and a half inches in diameter, to be slipped over stakes ; some
use a larger ring, say three inches in diameter, because it is easier to
handle in pulling taut. Along this wire, patches of solder are placed
exactly at the distances desired between the rows of trees or vines, and
to these places pieces of red cloth are sometimes fastened so that the
points may be easily seen. Another style of measuring wire is made of

LAYING-OUT METHODS ILLUSTRATED

89

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:

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i

LJL. L JL J

v

4L
4.

r*. 4L4. 4. %*

Trees planted on the square system. The Triangular or alternate system.

j.s L- JT

..:#....

4. 4.

4.

^ 4.

\lx

i'\. ;H IH

-. U L

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4L

The Hexagonal or Septuple system.

The Quincunx system.

90 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

small wire cable about a quarter of an inch in diameter, made of several
strands of small wire. It is more flexible and less likely to become
kinked than the large wire, and can be easily marked off to represent
the distances, at which rows of different kinds of trees should be placed,
by separating the strands a little at the desired points and inserting a
little piece of red cloth, pressing the wires together again and tying
firmly with a waxed thread to prevent slipping. In this way the same
wire can be easily arranged for planting vines or for the trees requiring
the greatest distance between the rows. Another advantage of the
cable is that any stretching can be taken up by retwisting, which can not
be done with the stretching of a single wire. Another good style of
planting wire is made of 2, 4 or 6- foot links of No. 12 steel wire (in-
cluding the diameters or the small rings turned at each end of the link
pieces). As all planting will probably be at multiple distances of these
link-lengths, the cloth tags can be changed and the chain thus be marked
for any desired distances.

Finding a True Corner. — To use the measuring1 wire for laying
out trees on the square, it is necessary first to get one corner true, and
then a field of any size can be marked out accurately. Select the side of
the field which is to serve as the base of the square and stretch the wire
along that, say fifteen feet from the fence, which will give room enough
to turn with the team in cultivation or to drive along in picking-time.
When the wire is thus stretched parallel with the boundary of the
field, place a stake at each of the distance tags on the wire, and these
stakes will represent the first row of trees or vines. To find a square
corner, begin at the starting point and measure off sixty feet long
this row with a tape line, and put a temporary stake, then from the
starting point measure off eighty feet as nearly at a right angle with
the first line as can be judged with the eye, and run diagonally from
this point the temporary sixty-foot stake. If the distance between
these stakes is one hundred feet, then the corner is a right angle.
Now, having the outside lines started at right angles to each other, one
can proceed with the measuring wire and lay off as large an area as he
desires, if care is taken to have each line drawn parallel with the last,
and all stakes accurately placed with the tags on the wire — providing
the land is nearly level or on a uniform grade. In locating trees over
uneven ground, the measurements will have to be made from tree to
tree, with the tape line held as nearly to a level as possible.

Rows on Hillsides. — Laying off orchard or vineyard on hillside
too steep to plow both ways, there is advantage sometimes in placing
the rows up and down the hill nearly twice as far apart as the rows
along the face of the hill : In planting trees thus the advantage to
be gained is by enabling you to keep the team well up the hill ; thereby
you are able to plow or cultivate the trees close on the lower side of
the rows. There is no difficulty in cultivating the upper side of the
rows, for the plow or harrow is always below the team. If trees are
planted as recommended, the team can be guided up the hill a little
between the rows, then allowed to drop downhill one step, and thus
one can cultivate the trees close on the lower side. The same rule will
apply to vines.

LAYING OUT THE ORCHARD 91

QUINCUNX PLANTING

There is much confusion in the use of this term in this State. It
is, in fact, made to cover almost every kind of arrangement which is
not on the square. Webster defines the term to mean "the arrangement
of things, especially of trees, by five in a square, one being placed in
the middle of a square." Trees set in quincunx would stand as shown
in the accompanying diagram. To locate them in this form it is only
necessary to proceed as already described for planting in squares, by
fixing upon the base line and locating two side lines to it at right
angles. Place the stakes on these two lines just half the distance
desired between the trees, and have the measuring wire long enough
to reach across from one line to the other. Near one end of the wire
place another mark just half way between the end and the first tree
mark; that is, if the trees are to be twenty- four feet apart in the
squares, this additional mark should be twelve feet from the end of
the wire. Now set the first row with the end of the wire at the corner
stake, and set stakes at each twenty-four foot mark.

Proceed now to the first half-way stake, and instead of putting the
end of the wire at this stake, put the twelve-foot mark there. Put
stakes now at each twenty-four foot mark again to locate the trees
in that row. In the next row put the end of the wire at the first stake
and proceed as in the first row* Thereafter using the end of the wire
and the twelve-foot marks alternately, the stakes will be set in quincunx
all over the field. If the midway stakes are now pulled out along the
two side lines, the remaining stakes show where the trees are to be
placed. This way of planting locates about 78 per cent more trees
upon any given area, but it brings the trees at irregular distances
from each other, and except in furnishing a way to arrange an orchard
with permanent and temporary trees, there does not seem to be any
advantage in it.

PLANTING IN EQUILATERAL TRIANGLES

This is the arrangement generally implied when the term "quin-
cunx" is wrongly employed. By it the trees are all equally distant from
each other, and thus the ground divided as equally as possible. The
arrangement admits 1 5 per cent more trees to the acre than the setting
in squares, and the ground can be worked in three different directions.
This arrangement also gives better facilities for irrigation. Objections
are urged to it, however, in that it does not admit of thinning trees
by removal of alternate rows, as is sometimes desirable, and that one
has to take a zigzag course in driving through the orchard.

Hexagonal planting places the trees as shown in the accompanying
sketch.

It is termed hexagonal because, as the figure consists of six trees
inclosing a seventh, a line drawn through the encompassing trees
make a hexagon. It is also called septuple planting, because seven
trees enter into its figure.

An orchard can be laid out in hexagonals by using the measuring
wire as described for quincunx planting with the distance and half-

92

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

distance marks, except that the guide stakes in the side rows must be
placed at different distances apart. The following table, showing the
distance for side stakes to reach desired distance between the trees, and
the method of calculating the number of trees to the acre by the square
and hexagonal or sextuple arrangement :

Trees set Septuple Check-stakes should be

10 feet apart 8 feet 8 inches.

12 feet apart 10 feet 4 2-5 inches.

14 feet apart 12 feet 7/s inches.

16 feet apart 13 feet 10% inches.

18 feet apart 15 feet 7 inches.

20 feet apart 17 feet 4 inches.

21 feet apart 18 feet 2l/2 inches.

22 feet apart 19 feet % inches.

24 feet apart 20 feet 9l/2 inches.

After the field is staked, each alternate stake in the check rows should be
removed. The following table will show the number of trees to the acre by
the square and septuple system:

Square Septule

10 feet apart 435 500

12 feet apart 302 347

14 feet apart 222 255

16 feet apart. 170 195

18 feet apart 134 154

20 feet apart 109 125

21 feet apart 99 114

22 feet apart 90 103

24 feet apart 75 86

For any distance not given in the above table, calculate the number of trees
to the acre by the square system, and add fifteen per cent. This will give the
number if planted septuple.

Laying Out Hexagonals With a Triangle. — It is possible to lay
out an orchard in hexagonal form by working from stake to stake with
an equilateral triangle of dimensions equaling the distance required
between the trees.

One corner of triangle — all being made alike.

LAYING OUT WITH TRIANGLE 93

Take three strips of one-by-two-inch dry pine or redwood, and as long as
you wish the distance between the trees. Cut the strips the same length, and
fasten the corners of the triangle firmly together by nailing two pieces of pine
board six by six inches.

If the long strips are set u« edgewise, the triangle will be much stiffer and
better to carry. Through the corner boards bore an inch hole, making sure that
the three sides of the triangle measure exactly the same. If they do, the
triangle must necessarily be perfect Then brace it a little by nailing a lath
across each corner, and it is readv for use.

Now split out some three-quarter-inch pins, one foot long, from good, straight-
grained redwood. Make one hundred pins for each acre you have to lay off.

Three persons must now carry the triangle, beginning on one side of the field,
say eight feet from the fence, and guided the first time through by a line of
stakes. Carry the triangle with its side to the line of guide stakes and its point
in. The head man and the inside man will stick pins, while the rear man will
slip his corner each time upon the pin set by the head man.

After the first time across, the man at the inside point of the triangle alone
will set pins, while the other two fit their corners upon the pins in the last row
set. Thus one row of pins only is set each time you go across the field.

If the triangle is exact, and the first row of pins is set perfectly straight, and
the pins are always set perpendicularly, everything will now work like a charm
and the job will be perfect; and it is so simple and easy that a man .and two
small boys can lay off from five to ten acres in one day. Remember that no
guide stakes are used anywhere after the first time through.

The Triangle on Hillside. — The use of the triangle requires a
little nicety in ''leveling up" where the piece is hilly. By using a
plumb-line at two corners of the triangle, the third corner resting on
one of the stakes, leveling the triangle and bringing one of the plumb-
lines over another stake already set, the position of the other line would
determine the position of the next stake. This method has worked
fairly well, even in places where the slope was sufficient to give a fall
of six feet between the trees, which were set twenty feet apart.

Locating in Triangles With a Chain. — Instead of a wooden
triangle, a chain has been used in this way:

First stretch a chain along one side of the ground, setting by it the first row
of stakes. This forms the base line. Have a piece of chain just twice the length
of the established distance between trees, with ample rings on the ends and a
joint in the middle. Put one of the rings over the first stake and the other
over the second stake. Then take the joint in the middle of the chain and
stretch it out reasonably tight. The wire forms a letter V, at the focus of which
stick a stake. The point is indicated with precision by the joint in the middle
of the chain. Then take the ring off the first stake and put it over the third
stake, leaving the one on the second stake where it is. Tighten the chain again,
and another point is fixed. Thus continue all the base line, shifting the rings
alternately, turning over the chain as one turns a pair of draughtsman's compasses
in his hand when spacing off a line. The second row of stakes being set, set the.
third row, and so on through the ground.

The suggestions given in this chapter should indicate ways enough
to lay off orchard and vineyard ground to answer all needs, though
there are other good ways not mentioned. It is hoped that the instruc-
tions will not be regarded as to explicit. They are intended for the
guidance of the inexperienced planter, and will naturally seem laden
with detail to those who have become familiar with the operations by
repeated practice.

CHAPTER XI

PLANTING THE TREES

After the field has been graded, thoroughly tilled and carefully laid
off as has been described, the next step is digging the holes for the
trees. "How large shall the holes be?" He was a wise fruit grower
who, when asked this question, replied, "As large as the field." That
is to say, it is much better to work the whole ground over deeply than
to trust to deep holes and shallow working elsewhere. Where this
is done, the tree holes need only be large enough and deep enough to
receive the roots without folding them in or cramping them up. In a
loose, deep soil, however, one can dig extra deep and broad holes if he
desires, and will be repaid by extra growth of the tree ; but in a close,
tenacious soil a deep hole is not only undesirable, but often positively
a danger to the tree unless drainage of the holes is provided artificially.
Such holes hold water like a tub, and the loosening of the soil deeply
facilitates its gathering in the hole. Many have found their trees in
such places dwindling and- dying because their roots were soaking in
water.

Planting on Some Shallow Soils. — As a rule, trees should have
a deep soil, and for these deep, free loams, California is famous, but
there are situations where very satisfactory growth and production can
be had, even when the hardpan is near the surface and the soil would
be called shallow. In such places it is the character of the subsoil ~4
which warrants the tree and vine planter in making use of them. Some-
times the hardpan is so thin and near the surface that it can be broken
through with a pick in digging the tree hole. Otherwise boring is done.
It is about forty years since Mr. James Rutter, of Florin (on the "bed-
rock" lands near Sacramento), first noticed that there were vines here
and there which grew exceptionally well and bore large crops of fine
fruit. He found by investigation that under these vines there were
crevices in the bedrock, and from this he took the hint to bore through
this hardpan in the bottom of the hole where he placed the tree, and in
this way he gained access for the roots to the subsoil and egress for
the water through the permeable substratum. He bored a hole two
inches in diameter into or through the bedrock and rammed well into it
one and a half pounds of black blasting powder. After exploding this,
he sometimes bored a three-inch hole about four feet below the blast. In-
stead of blasting in the whole where the tree is to be planted, some bore
and blast in the hardpan midway between the rows, placing the holes
at "quincunx" with the trees. The shattering of the hardpan between
the trees is said to be practicable after the trees are growing, and may
in certain soils relieve trees which are suffering for lack of drainage.
A half-pound cartridge of dynamite has been successfully used for
subsoil blasting, and some have reported in favor of exploding a quarter-
pound cartridge quite near to a tree suffering from standing water,
putting in the charge during the dry season.

94

BLASTING HOLES FOR TREES 95

There are many situations where such practice would be beneficial,
and in some cases mere digging or boring through the impervious
stratum avails much. There are spots where "lava crusts" overlie
gravel, and trees have been well grown by cutting holes through the lava
to the gravel, filling with good soil and planting the trees in these holes.
Their roots penetrate to the gravel stratum and obtain abundant moist-
ure and nutriment. In certain situations where a shallow layer of soil
overlies a heavy clay, trees have been blown over, but when a cut has
been made through the clay, the trees have rooted deeply and have
withstood the winds.

Shooting Holes for Trees. — Even where there are continuous
depths of dense strata, and not shallow hardpan underlaid by free
soils, trees can often be successfully grown by the use of high explosives.
In his book on "Soils," Professor Hilgard gives these suggestions :

A permanent loosening of dense sub-strata is best accomplished by moderate
charges (J/£ to $4 Ib.) of No. 2 dynamite at a sufficient depth (3 to 5 ft.).
The shattering effect of the explosure will be sensible to a depth of eight feet or
more, and will fissure the clay or hardpan to a corresponding extent sidewise.
If properlv proportioned the charge will hardly disturb the surface ; or will throw
out sufficient earth to plant the tree without further digging. Where labor is
high priced this proves the cheapest as well as the best way to prepare such
ground for tree planting, and it has often been found that in course of time the
loosening begun by the powder has extended through the mass of the land so as
to permit the roots to utilize it fully and even to permit, in after years, of the
planting of field crops where formerly they would not succeed.

Upon the basis of these pioneer demonstrations, California claims
priority in the now widely prevalent "dynamite farming." The most
minute descriptions of approved methods are now available in the pub-
ILations of the powder manufacturers and their traveling demonstra-
tors give field instructions in materials and appliances to those who
ask for them.

It is still a question, however, how for commercial plantings of
trees and vines on such defective soils should be undertaken while there
is plenty of good, deep land to be had.

Digging the Holes. — Holes for tree planting may be dug at a
leisure time after the laying off of the field, even though it is not
designed to plant the trees immediately, but our largest planters do
not approve the practice. In such cases the sides of the holes should
always be freshly pared off before the trees are put in, because the
rain and sunshine are apt to cement the sides. In digging holes the
surface earth should always be thrown to one side and the lower
soil on another. The object of this is to have the top soil to place
in direct contact with the roots when the tree is planted, the lower
soil being used to fill up the hole with.

TREE SETTERS

No matter how carefully the stakes are placed in laying off the
orchard, the trees will not easily come in line unless some handy de-
vice is used for bringing the stem just in the place occupied by the
stake which was thrown out in digging. These devices are called

96 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

"tree-setters," and there are a number of designs. Two are given,
either of which will give good results. Take a piece of board one
inch thick, four inches wide, and five feet long; bore an inch hole in
the center, and one at each end at equal distance from the center;
then cut a piece from one side of the board, marked by a square, the
corner resting in the middle of the center hole. Make two stakes,
each one foot long, that will easily pass through the end holes. Place
the center of this board against the stake, where the tree is to be

o

Bar for Tree Setting

planted; push the stakes into the ground through the holes in the
ends, then lift the board from position and proceed to dig the hole.
When dug, replace the board over the end stakes in its former position,
then plant the tree with its trunk resting against the center notch in
the board, and you have it in just the right place.

Another setter is in the form of a triangle: Take three pieces of
plain one-inch stuff three to four inches wide and four feet long,
and nail them together, forming a three-cornered frame, letting the
ends project sufficiently to form a corner, as shown in the drawing.
Next make a couple of smooth, hard stakes, well sharpened, and
about a foot or sixteen inches in length. When you are ready to set
your trees, place the frame flat upon the ground with one corner
firmly and fairly against the stake which marks the place where the

\>

Triangular tree setter.

tree is to stand. Now in the other two corners stick the stakes al-
ready prepared for the purpose. This done, pull up the stake against
which the frame was first placed — the one indicating a place for a
tree — remove the frame, being careful in doing so not to move the
other two stakes, which must be left to be used while setting the
tree. After the hole is dug and everything ready for setting the tree,
again place the frame against the two standing stakes, let the tree
drop into the other corner, which will help support it while the dirt

CHOOSING TREES FOR PLANTING 97

is being placed about the roots ; and this will bring the tree exactly
where the stake was originally. If the stakes are properly put in line,
so will bej the trees.

These setters are described as they are used when the hole is dug
and the tree set at the same time. Such is the ordinary practice in
planting. If one wishes to dig the holes beforehand, it is necessary
to furnish more stakes, as two have to be left beside each hole to mark
the position of the setter when the planting is done. Besides its use
in bringing a tree into line, the tree setter enables one to judge of
the depth of setting as compared with the surface of the surrounding
ground. It is not easy to determine this with the eye if the hole be a
large one. Where the measuring wire is used to set the stakes, it
is sometimes stretched across again after the holes are dug, the tags
on the wire thus indicating the places for the trees of the whole row.
The trouble with this practice is the bother >of having the wire in the
way while rilling and tramping the earth around the roots.

SELECTING TREES

In the purchase of trees it is well to patronize nurserymen in your
own district, providing they are honest and intelligent men, who keep
themselves informed as they should about their business. The advice
of such a local nurseryman is often of great value to the newcomer,
for he will know by his experience and observation much about the
adaptations of fruits and varieties thereof to the region. If, for any
reason, local nurseries do not meet your needs, seek some well-estab-
lished nursery at a distance. It is much safer to deal directly with
the grower of the trees than to patronize traveling agents. Where,
however, these agents are the accredited representatives of well-known
establishments, they may save the planter time and trouble by taking
his order for him. So-called "tree-peddlers," who are jobbers in
trees and in too many cases send you refuse trees which they pick up
cheap wherever they can, and label them to suit, without respect to
truth or honesty, should be resolutely avoided, no matter what in-
ducements or blandishments they may offer.

The California legislature of 1907 passed a law making it unlaw-
ful to sell fruit trees representing them to be a certain kind and
afterwards to deliver trees of a different kind. To do this is a mis-
demeanor punishable by fine and imprisonment. Action may be begun
at any time within seven years after the date of delivery .of such trees.*

It is desirable, if possible, to visit the nursery and see the stock
which is to be furnished. The trees should have a good healthy look,
with clean bark, and of size enough to indicate a good, free growth.
The matter of size is not the only point to consider, for size of the
top is not so desirable as well-matured wood and plenty of roots.
Stunted trees are not, as a rule, worth planting. There are cases,
however, in which, by extra cultivation in good soil, fine trees have
been grown even from "culls" from the nursery. The best rule is to

*Statutes and amendments to the Codes, 1907; chapter 229.

98 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

select trees of good medium size, straight and healthy. During the
digging season, ask to see samples of the roots as well as the tops,
and do not purchase trees unless the roots are healthy looking and free
from knots or excrescences. Gnarly and knotty roots in the young
tree are a sure sign of insect pests or of unhealthy growth, and plant-
ing such trees has occasioned immense loss. Many have been led
into purchasing poor trees because they may be had cheap. A tree
selected merely because it is cheap may prove the most expensive
thing a man can put in the ground.

Guarding Against Insects. — The top of the tree should be care-
fully examined to discover scale insects if there be any. For this
purpose a hand-magnifier should be used. Such a glass should always
be in the fruit grower's pocket. One can be bought at any optician's
for a dollar or two, which will fold into its case so as to be carried
without scratching. Our nurserymen, by forsaking old infested loca-
tions and obtaining new ground, now sell much cleaner trees than
they did years ago. But still it is well to be always on the watch for
pests. Disinfection of nursery stock is now officially provided. De-
tails of treatment will be given in the chapter on injurious insects.

TAKING TREES FROM THE NURSERY

Trees should be carefully taken from the nursery rows, so as to
obtain a good amount of small branching roots. In lifting from the
home nursery, digging with well-sharpened spades, which will sever
the long roots cleanly, is perhaps the best method. In the large
nurseries tree diggers are generally used. They have two revolving
coulters which cut through the surface soil each side of the trees, and
a sharp, curved blade, which is drawn through the ground under the
trees, loosening the soil and severing the long roots cleanly. The
tree is then easily lifted, and has generally a much better root system
than by the old style of "plowing out," which broke off so many of
the small roots and lacerated the larger ones. Whether the tap root
should be retained or not is not worth discussing on theoretical
grounds. As a matter of fact and practice, the tap root cuts no figure
at all in California orchard planting, although the discussion of the
question was formerly very warm in this State, and is still occasion-
ally heard. It is important, however, that the planter should have
as many small lateral roots as he can get. The small fibrous roots
are usually of little account, as they seldom survive transplanting,
and it is better to clip them away, if the time can be afforded, as they
often prevent the proper close contact of the soil with the larger roots.
Cutting back all roots to short stubs at the base of the stem has suc-
ceeded in some instances in California on moist lowlands, but longer
roots are far safer in the deep drying of the surface layer which is to
be expected in this State.

The roots, after lifting, should not be permitted to dry. Hence,
in hauling from the nursery to the farm, the trees should be well
covered with wet straw and old sacks, or, if shipped from the nursery
to distant points, should be well packed. The best way to pack trees

CARE OF TREES BOFORE PLANTING 99

is, undoubtedly, to box them in with wet straw, but it costs less and
they usually carry well considerable distances if carefully bundled
with tules (dry reed stems), the roots packed in wet straw, and the
packing and covering bound down tight with ropes to prevent drying
out.

Attention should be paid to hauling away trees from the railway _
stations as soon as possible after arrival. It is not uncommon for
shipments to lie on the station platforms for days, often when a des-
iccating north wind is blowing. Such treatment soon takes the life
out of the trees, and often, no doubt, the nurseryman is blamed for
failure of trees; which have suffered some such neglect as this, either
from transportation companies or from the purchasers.

Heeling In. — On arrival at the farms, trees should be "heeled in"
as soon as possible; even if it is the intention, to plant at once, heel
them in just the same, for delays arise often in the most unexpected
manner. To heel in, dig a trench or plow a deep furrow, or a double
furrow, in light, moist, but well-drained soil ; put in the trees singly
side by side, removing all the packing material carefully from the
roots, laying the tops all one way, and then shovel the earth over
the roots until they are well covered with loose soil, and be sure that
the soil sifts down well between the roots. Ordinarily this treatment
will hold the trees in good condition for a considerable time if need
be. If, however, they have become dry before arrival, the bundles
should be thoroughly drenched with water before heeling in. In
extreme cases, where ,the top shows drying by shrinking and shrivel-
ing of the bark, the trees should be drenched, and then they should
be covered root and top with earth for two or three days, when, if the
trouble has not gone too far, the< bark will recover its smoothness and
plumpness. It should be very! seldom, however, that a lot of trees is
allowed to get into such condition by neglect. In heeling in it will
be found a great convenience and a safeguard against possible con-
fusion by loss of labels, if each variety as taken from the packing is
placed by itself in the trench. Nurserymen generally attach a label
to each small bundle, if the trees are of several varieties, and the
novice is apt to lose all track of- his sorts when heeling* in the trench,
unless he heels in each kind by itself, leaving the nurseryman's label
to mark the whole lot of each kind.

If the planter has his own ideas of after-treatment of his trees,
or if he is a beginner and desires to adopt the suggestions which will
be laid down in this book, he should insist that the nurseryman shall
not trim up or cut back the trees before packing. Have the trees
packed just as they are lifted from the ground. The work towards
the shaping of the tree should be done after it is planted in the x
orchard.

PLANTING THE ORCHARD

The young deciduous tree should be dormant before being re-
moved from the nursery row, and if its leaves have fallen it is good
evidence of its dormancy. Such, however, is the effect of the climate

100 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

of California, more apparent in some years than others, and with
some kinds of fruit than others, and the young tree retains a small
part of its activity very late, and in such cases it is not practicable to
wait for the complete falling of the leaves. Sometimes for convenience
of work, the trees have to be lifted before this takes place, and in
such case it is desirable to remove the leaves to lessen evaporation.
It is probably better to transplant in this condition for the sake of
early setting in its new position than to wait for all the leaves to
drop. This statement is not intended to include nursery stock which
is kept growing late in the season by late irrigation. Such trees are
not always desirable.

Time to Plant. — The best time to plant deciduous trees in Cali-
fornia is soon after the early rains have deeply moistened the ground.
It is not desirable, however, to have a stratum of dry earth below.
This can be removed by irrigation when available. Early planting
of common orchard fruits is of advantage for several reasons. First,
an early-planted tree gets the full benefit of the season's rainfall,
whatever it may be, and a late-planted tree, in a year with short rain-
fall, is apt to suffer during its first season's growth, unless it can be
irrigated. The two main things to observe are the dormancy of the
tree and the proper condition of the soil, and both of these are most
apt to coincide in many parts of California about the first of Janu-
ary, but in heavy loams in region of large rainfall, the soil may
then be too cold and wet. There will, however, be some variation
from year to year, and different parts of the State disagree as to the
date. Hence, the general rule must be based on conditions, that
of the tree and that of the soil. If the novice can not judge these
for himself, he must get the advice of some one of experience in the
locality.

The dormant period of a tree in California, as has been stated in
another connection, is very short. As many cold-climate annual plants
become perennial here, so our deciduous trees, in comparatively frost-
less portions of the State, evince a tendency to become evergreen.
The period of dormancy in the root is also shorter than the inactivity
of the top. Trees transplanted early are found to have their root
wounds calloused over and new rootlets considerably advanced before
the buds swell. Therefore, by early planting the tree begins soon
to take hold upon the soil, the latter being well settled around it by
rains, which often follow early planting, and the high winds, which
are apt to come in the spring in some parts of the State, find the tree
well anchored and ready to maintain itself.

Again, the proper condition of soil, if not seized at its first coming,
may not recur until after the great storms of the winter are over,
say in February or March (in most parts of the State), and then often
the buds are bursting into bloom and leaf. Planting when the soil is
water-soaked and cold is very undesirable, for in such condition it
cannot be properly disposed about the roots, the inactive roots may
begin to decay, and trees moved at this period are apt to show their
dislike of the treatment. If the work has been delayed unavoidably,
so that early planting cannot be done, it is better to keep the trees

HOW TO PLANT FRUIT TREES 101

heeled in until the proper soil condition returns, even if it be rather
late, for a little extra attention to cultivation for retention of moisure
will pull through a late-planted tree.

These remarks are of very wide application in this State, but there
are exceptions. In our high altitudes, where the climate approaches
Eastern conditions in cold and snowfall, practice in planting will also
approximate Eastern methods. In regions of very heavy rainfall and
on the upper coast where the rainy season and moisture from fogs
are prolonged late in the spring, late planting is safer and surer than
in the warmer, drier parts of the State.

Another consideration, too, is the slope of the land to be planted.
Our hillside fruit growers in regions of heavy winter storms some-
times plant slopes, which, if plowed deep in the fall, are apt to wash
badly during the heavy winter rains. On such slopes it is better to
plow late in the winter, after the heavy storms are over, and plant
when the soil has become warm and mellow.

THE OPERATION OF PLANTING

Tree planting should be carefully and well done, but it need not
necessarily be slowly done. With a kind soil deeply worked and
just in the right condition for planting, trees may be put in well and
rapidly. Two men work together at a decided advantage. Using
the straight "tree-setter," which has already been described, one
takes each end, and as soon as the center notch encloses the tree
stake, the setter stakes are pushed into the soil, the "setter" is laid
aside, and the two men, taking up their shovels or spades, begin first
around the outside of the hole, throwing all the surface dirt
on the same side of the hole and leaving the tree stake to be thrown
out last, because its remaining serves to center the hole. The lower
soil is now thrown to the other side of the hole, and when depth
enough is reached, the soil at the bottom of the hole is loosened
up to the depth of a shovel thrust, without removing it from the hole.
A shovelful or two of the surface soil is thrown into the center of
the hole, being allowed to remain higher in the center, because this
generally furnishes a cushion about the natural shape of the under
surface of the root system of the tree. Now replace the tree-setter
upon its end pegs, let one man hold the tree with its stem in the central
notch in the setter, and while the other man shovels in the surface earth
rather slowly at first, the man who holds the tree with one hand will
spread out the roots, pulverize and pack the earth around them, being
sure that no cavities are left under any of the roots, but that their
surfaces everywhere come into contact with the soil, and that they
spread out as widely as possible. The earth is being continuously
put in by the shoveler, and when the roots are covered the planter
steps in the hole and carefully firms' the soil down upon the roots by
tramping (especially at the cut ends of the roots around the outer
side of the hole), at the same time judging of the perpendicularity of
the tree with his eye. When this is done, both men use their shovels
and fill up the hole with the earth taken from below, being sure to leave

102 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

the last few inches at the surface pulverized, but untramped, unless
the soil be very light so that tramping will not overpack it. Some one
said long ago that one should not plant a tree as he does a post,
ramming down the earth to the very top of the hole. Many trees are
doubtless ruined by over zeal in this respect.

The shovel has been mentioned frequently as the tool to be used
in planting. Where the soil is deeply plowed, well worked, and free
from stone, the shovel is the most rapid tool. Under other conditions
the long-handled spade, and in some cases the long-handled spading
fork, serves admirably in loosening the soil at the bottom of the holes
and in breaking up lumps while rilling in. One man with a shovel or
spade, and the other with the fork, make a good combination in this
respect.

Planting in a Furrow. — A practice which has been largely fol-
lowed in the Sacramento Valley and which attains greatest speed and
cheapness consists in laying off as described in the preceding chapter,
and then proceeding with a heavy listing plow, followed by a subsoil
plow in the same furrow. The trees are then rapidly set with the
least digging. This is all done before the field is plowed. Plowing
immediately follows planting. The advantages of this method are
ease of work on firm ground instead of a plowed surface, and escape
of injury to this surface by men and teams in planting after plowing.
It does not, however, prepare the land so well as deep working before
laying out.

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS

The roots of every tree should be examined before planting. All
large root ends should have a fresh, clean cut with a sharp knife or
shears. Make a slanting cut with the cut surface on the underside
of the root. Where a root is mangled or bruised, it should in most
cases be cut back to a sound place.

The wound made by the cutting away of the seedling stock above
the bud should be at the north or, northeast, in order that this weak
point may be shaded as much as possible from the afternoon sun.

If the roots of young trees grow more to one side than the other,
place the strongest roots toward the prevailing wind.

The use of water to settle the earth around the roots is sometimes
desirable in sections where the rainfall is light or uncertain. Pour in
four or five gallons from the water wagon after the hand work in
spreading the roots and in pressing the soil under and around them
has been done and the hole partly filled. When the water has soaked
away, fill the hole with fine earth without tramping. In irrigated dis-
tricts leading the water along the line of trees in a furrow to settle
the ground at planting is a good practice. It is almost essential in the
planting of evergreen trees which are best moved during the dry
season. In early planting in parts of the State where the rainfall is
abundant, there may be no need of water-settling; puddling the roots,
or dipping them in thin mud and planting them with this mud adher-
• ing, is governed by much the same conditions as water-settling ; it may

MANURE IN TREE PLANTING 103

insure growth of the tree when otherwise it might be seriously injured
by drouth. With puddled roots especial care should also be taken to
leave the surface loose to prevent evaporation. In making puddle,
use loamy soil and never adobe, for in dry time the latter will bake
around the roots and may kill the tree.

The Use of Manure. — Never put manure in the hole with the
tree. Sometimes the injunction is, Never put anything but well rotted
manure in the hole. It is better to put in none of any kind. Manure
should be spread upon the ground after planting. The rains then leach
it out and it may be turned under in the spring plowing. There are,
however, light soils in the drier parts of the State where turning under
manure in the spring is a disadvantage, as it makes the soil too porous
and facilitates evaporation. On such soils, extra care should be taken
to have the manure thoroughly decomposed by composting, as will
be described in the chapter on fertilizers, and all applications should be •
made either late in the spring to act as a mulch in the summer, or if a
mulch is not thought desirable, apply the manure in the fall before the
first rains, so that it may be turned under at the first plowing and have
the whole winter for disintegration. In this dry climate there is often
misapprehension, especially among newcomers, as to what is well-
rotted manure. They take the scrapings of the corral, which have been
trampled and pulverized, but which, having been kept dry, have never
rotted. When this is put in the holes with the tree and then moistened
by rainfall or irrigation, it will burn the tree, the first sign of injury
being the drying up of the leaves. It is, on the whole, safest and best
to put nothing but well-pulverized surface soil around the roots of the
young tree.

Depth of Planting. — The depth to which trees should be set has
always been a matter of discord among the planters. The safest rule
under ordinary circumstances is to get the tree as nearly as possible
the same depth it stood in the nursery row ; that is, so as to have it
stand that way when the ground has settled, or the surface returned by
cultivation to its normal level. In planting in loose soil in the drier
parts of the State, it is often desirable to plant rather low, because
several inches depth of the surface soil become dry, and the roots should
be well in the moist layer. But if irrigation is to be practised, it must
be remembered that the water level will rise when the soil is saturated
and deep-planted trees are apt to suffer. The experience of recent
years is decidedly against deep planting, which used to be advised
because of our dry climate. Thousands of trees have been ruined by
planting too deep except in light sandy soil.

Speed in Plalnting. — On good soil, well prepared, trees can be
put in rapidly and the job still be well done. It is reported that on one
occasion, in planting almonds, twenty men finished sixty-four acres
from Friday noon to Wednesday night, placing the stakes, digging the
holes, and planting the trees. This would be almost three-quarters of
an acre per day per man. In planting peaches and apricots an average
of one hundred trees per day to the man has been attained. On the
mellow loam, in another case, the average was one hundred and twenty-

104 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

five trees to the man, digging holes two feet square in land which had
been plowed twelve inches deep. Such work is only possible on good
soil, well prepared, and by men who work well together.

Mapping and Labeling. — Where mixed varieties of fruit are
planted, the orchard should be mapped as soon as the trees are set. A
good durable map is made of the glazed muslin, such as carpenters and
architects use for their drawings. The map can be easily drawn to a
scale by using a fraction of an inch to represent a foot. After the map
is made, it can be rolled on a broom stick and easily preserved. With
such a record, the grower need not care what becomes of the labels,
as he can locate a variety at any time by its row and tree number. If,
however, one desires labels, let them be made in .this way: Take a
piece of common sheet zinc five inches wide. Across this, cut pieces
three-quarters of an inch wide at one end and tapering to a point at
the other. Near the wider end write plainly with a common lead-pencil
the name of the variety ^ This will get brighter by exposure to the
weather. The small end may be coiled around the branch of the tree ; it
will yield as the tree grows and will do no injury. Such labels will last
for a long time. Labels attached by a cord or wire should be removed
as soon as the trees are set, for they are apt to be forgotten and the
tree seriously injured by the cutting in of the ligature. Even when
labels are used the map is the only surety, because any kind of a label
is apt to be lost by accident or through malice or mischief of intruders.

Mulching. — Although early planted trees on 'deep soils in re-
gions of sufficient rainfall need only good cultivation, after planting,
there are cases in which mulching is desirable. Various light mate-
rials may be used for a mulch, but nothing is better than well-rotted
straw, in which fermentation has killed all weed seed. Apply it to a
distance of two feet around the tree, arid to a depth of not less than six
inches. It is best done as soon as the tree is planted, and is to be
especially recommended when late planting is practiced. Even in lo-
calities of light rainfall, if the trees are well mulched early in the winter,
irrigation may be unnecessary for the young deciduous tree. Trees
planted very late in the spring may, by using great care and mulching
well, make as great a growth as those set out early in winter. This
should not be an excuse for late planting, but where late planting is
necessary, mulching will help the trees to pull through. It is a far
easier way of keeping the ground moist than by irrigating, but is not
a substitute for it where systematic irrigation is necessary, though irri-
gation may often be lessened, and in some cases obviated, by extra cul-
tivation or mulching, at least until the trees come into bearing.

Guarding Against Sunburn. — Newly-set trees should be pro-
tected against sunburn. This can be easily done by winding strips
of burlap from old grain sacks spirally around the stems beginning
just below the ground surface to the points where the young shoots
will appear. When these start the strip can be loosened and rewound
so as to protect the bark between the shoots. The top can be fastened
with a stitch or two with a twine needle. Manufactured "tree pro-
tectors" of paper or rushes which are readily adjusted around the trees

PROTECTION AGAINST SUNBURN 105

are now largely sold. Whitewash made according to the formula at
the close of Chapter IX is a good protection from sunburn. For
young trees, however, it should be made with air-slacked lime, which
has lost some of its causticity. Another whitewash, which has been
largely used for young trees, consists of four ounces of whale oil soap
dissolved in each gallon of water, Spanish whiting being stirred in to
give the solution a paint-like consistency. Millions of trees have per-
ished in this State, and as many more been condemned to sickly lives,
because of sunburn, and borers which seek the injured bark for en-
trance. Pruning has much to do with saving trees from this evil, as
will be 'shown in the proper connection, but in the hotter parts of the
State, the first precaution should be to shade the bark of the young
tree with some artificial protection. The use of white lead and oil paint
has, however, seriously injured young bark.

Cutting Back at Planting. — Whatever idea the grower may have
as to shaping his tree, it must be cut back when planted. Lifting from
the nursery has removed a considerable part of the root system of the
young tree and the top must be reduced accordingly. The planter who
dislikes to sacrifice the fine top will sacrifice future growth and vigor
by retaining it. The tree may struggle through and regain strength,
but it will for years be smaller than if it had been properly cut back
at planting. If the moisture supply should be short the tree may die
the first summer which would have survived if differently treated at
planting. The manner of cutting back depends somewhat upon the
style of pruning to be followed afterward, as will be considered in the
next chapter.

CHAPTER XII

*

PRUNING TREES AND THINNING FRUIT

It is not intended to enter into a discussion of the general theories
of pruning1. The reader desiring to pursue them is referred to the
abundant literature on the subject in Eastern and European treatises.
The effort to approve or condemn these theories by considering them
in the light of California experience and observation might lead to
interesting conclusions, but it has no place in a work aiming merely at
an exposition of what appears to be the most satisfactory practice in
California fruit growing. It will be found that this practice varies
somewhat in the different regions of California, sometimes in degree,
sometimes in kind,, because of different local conditions, and it might be
found that nearly all reasonable theories of pruning could be verified
in California experience.

Pruning in California is at present almost exclusively a shaping pro-
cess. Our fruit trees are naturally so prone to bear fruit that pruning
to produce fruitfulness is seldom thought of, and still more rarely
practiced, while pruninng to reduce bearing wood, and thus decrease
the burden of the tree, is quite widely done, to take the place, in part,
of thinning out the fruit. Pruning to restore vigor to the tree, as in
cutting it back to induce a new wood growth, is also rather a rare pro-
ceeding, but probably could be much more widely employed to ad-
vantage. We prune, then, for shape and for the many practical ad-
vantages which adhere in the form now prevailing in California
orchards. Some of these advantages are peculiar to our climate ; others
we share with those who advocate a similar form elsewhere.

Our best orchards of the same fruits in adjacent localities are
almost identical in form and general appearance of the trees, and those
more distant differ chiefly in the extent to which the same principles
are applied. And this is not because the trees are allowed to follow
their natural inclination, which should secure resemblance but because
their natural bent is resolutely conquered by agreement of growers
that they know what is good for the tree ; and this substantial unanim-
ity is the result of the experience of the last fifty-five years. People
possessed of the art temperament sometimes complain of the depressing
uniformity and artificiality of orchard-tree shapes in California. They
are apt to lament the fact that systematic orcharding destroys the pic-
turesqueness of tree-growth. They should understand that such con-
ception of a fruit tree has no place in commercial fruit growing. The
producing tree is the result of the conception of an agency to serve
certain purposes. The orchardist does not pursue uniformity merely
for its own sake, but rather for the purpose it serves, and the fact that
many thinking men have practically agreed upon a certain form as an
ideal of producing ability is demonstration that such form is, at least,
approximately correct. There is an industrial conception of a tree,

106

ENDS SOUGHT IN PRUNING 107

which is necessarily and essentially different from a conception of pic-
turesqueness based upon the feral type. The wild tree is rude and
crude from a cultural point of view.

PRACTICAL PURPOSES OF PRUNING

One of the first things for a beginner to undertake as he approaches
the practice of pruning trees and vines is to form a good idea of the
purposes to be served. Imitation is not the foundation of intelligent
pruning, though it yields many valuable suggestions. Satisfactory
work rests upon a correct understanding of the reasons for each act
and to the attainment of this, all study, observation and experience
should tend. Possessing this, one can proceed capably, modifying
method to meet condition, and producing desirable results. Receive
all suggestions and then go quietly to the tree and study your problem
in its shade. The tree is the best revelator of its needs. Some of the
best pruners in California are men who were untrained to horticulture
before they entered upon their orchard work. Reading, discussion,
systematic instruction are all valuable. They save much time and many
errors, but recourse to the tree affords the sovereign test of attainment.

These may be counted among the practical purposes to be attained
by pruning in California : (a) Convenience of the grower ; (b) health
and strength of the tree ; (c) regulation of heat and light ; ( d) attain-
ment of strong bearing wood ; (e) attainment of size in fruit ; (f) pro-
motion of regular bearing. Examine trees with reference to their
embodiment of these characters and one can hardly fail to secure rays
of light upon the subject of pruning which seem dark to so many.

Convenience. — Trees which branch near the ground are most
quickly and cheaply handled in all the operations of pruning, spraying,
fruit-thinning and picking. Low trees with obliquely-rising branches
are more easily cultivated than any form with horizontal branches, un-
'less the head is carried so high that the animals pass easily under the
tree. To do this sacrifices all the other conveniences and economies
which actually determine profit, and is really out of the question from
a commercial point of view. Sometimes it does not pay to pick some
fruits at a certain distance above the ground, when picking at half that
distance yields a profit.

Health and Strength. — It is imperative in most parts of this
State that the sunshine be not allowed to touch the bark during the heat
of the day. This protection is secured even for young trees by low
branching and encouragement of small, low laterals. The low tree with
properly spaced branches attains superior strength by virtue of thick,
strongly knit, short growth between branches, and by its strong, stiff,
obliquely-rising growth sustains weight which brings horizontal
branches to the ground, and thus even high-headed trees are liable to
continually increasing interference with cultivation, and the desperate
grower has to raise the head of his tree higher into the air and farther
above the profit line, while at the same time' he renders it more liable
to sunburn, to bark-binding and to unthrift by forcing the sap to flow

108 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

an unnecessary distance and through wood and bark which impede its
movement. Besides a low tree escapes stress by strong winds which a
high tree invites and at the same time is less able to withstand. Prun-
ing for health and strength of tree also includes the removal of un-
thrifty or diseased parts, which are not only an incumbrance to the tree
but may communicate to other parts the causes of their ill condition.

Heat and Light. — The maintenance of strong bearing wood in
the lower part of the tree is conditioned upon the proper pruning of
the top of the tree. How far the upper levels or the shade-layer of the
tree can be safely opened, depends upon the local climate in each fruit
region. The rule must be the higher the summer heat the denser the
tree ; the lower the heat the thinner the tree ; but everywhere the proper
condition of openness must be constantly in view in pruning. Not alone
must this be done to maintain thrifty growth below, but it is also essen-
tial to the best growth and ripening of the fruit in the lower and interior
parts of the tree. Fruit inferior in size, color and quality results, in
part, from lack of pruning to regulate the admission of light and heat,
sometimes one, sometimes both, to the shaded portion of the tree.

Bearing Wood. — Good fruit develops on good bearing wood and
good bearing wood is the product of proper degrees of light and heat,
as has just been urged. But bearing wood in the case of some fruits is
new wood, and reduction of old wood for the purpose of forcing the
growth of new wood must be constantly in mind. Renewal is more or
less a consideration with all trees, and especially the securing of strong
new wood. This is a point upon which close study of the bearing tree
will yield most satisfactory suggestions.

Size of Fruit.— The size of fruit, providing the tree is healthy
and vigorous, depends upon the character and amount of bearing wood
which the tree is allowed to carry. Removal of part of the fruit burden
is done by thinning after it is well set, but this labor should always be
minimized by antecedent pruning, which aims to retain more or less
bearing wood according to the vigor, size and bearing habit of the tree.
Thinning out of bearing shoots and spurs, when either are clearly seen
to be in excess, should be the constant study of the pruner.

Regular Bearing. — This point is largely involved in the preced-
ing and affords an additional incentive. Regulating the amount of fruit
borne in one year may involve the profit of two years, because a tree
may not be able to produce an excessive amount of fruit and perfect
good fruit buds for the following year. It may generally make buds
which will bloom, but not always that. If it does make the bloom, it is
no guaranty that the bloom will be strong and effective for bearing.
Consequently, pruning for reasonable amount of bearing should always
be borne in view and should be practiced at the close of the year of non-
bearing with particular diligence, if the alternate year bearing habit is
to be broken up.

The foregoing are among the practical purposes to be served in
pruning. There are others, but these will suffice to emphasize a single
point, and that is, that pruning can not be compressed into a single
formula, nor can one learn it by a recipe. There are various ends to

CALIFORNIA STYLES OF ORCHARD TREES 109

attain ; they may be attained in different ways, although it is not strange
that substantial agreement in methods does largely prevail. It is better
to try to understand the purposes than to memorize the formulae. Get
the tree and its interest clearly in the mind ; have an ideal toward which
to work ; be more interested in why a neighbor prunes in a certain way
than how he does it. Learn constantly by all available means, and at
the same time study the visible forms and aim to understand their
fullest significance.

FORMS OF TREE BEST SUITED TO CALIFORNIA
CONDITIONS

The form of deciduous fruit tree which prevails with singular uni-
formity all over the State is the "vase," or "goblet," or "wine-glass",
form, all these terms signifying a similar shape. There are different
ways in which this form is secured and maintained in different parts
of the State, and with different fruits, which will be especially noted in
the chapters devoted to these fruits.

The mainspring of success in California is to grow low trees. Low
is a term admitting of degrees, it is true, any may imply a trunk six
inches up to one or two feet, in the clear. In addition to the general
advantages of low-trained trees which have been described, there are
special reasons for this form in California. Hundreds of thousands of
trees have been destroyed by the exposure of a long, bare trunk to the
rays of the afternoon sun. The sun-burned sides have given the con-
ditions desired by borers, and destruction has quickly followed. - Some
times young trees have not survived their first season in the orchard,
because of burned bark, or this, with the added injury by the borers.
It is also found by California experience that growth is more vigorous
in the branches when they emerge near the ground. Even where
actual burning may not occur the travel of the sap through the longer
distance of trunk is undesirable. It is believed, also, that benefit re-
sults from shading of the ground at the base of the trees, by reducing
evaporation, and by maintaining a temperature of soil better suited
to vigorous root-growth.

But whatever may be the reasons, the fact is ^disputable, the
higher the prevailing summer temperature, and the greater the aridity,
the lower should the trees be headed. Trees which will do well in the
central and upper coast region and adjacent to the bay of San Fran-
cisco, with twenty-four to thirty-six inches of clear trunk, would
dwindle and probably perish in the heated valleys in all parts of the
State. In such situations, both north and south, the best practice is to
head the tree fifteen, twelve, and even some hold as low as six inches
from the ground. There will always be some difference of opinion as
to detail, but the necessity of making the trunk short enough to be
effectually shaded by the foliage is admitted by all growers.

Variations of the Vase Form. — There are several variations of
the vase form to be found in California orchards. The prevalent is a
vase form with short- jointed leaders which will be described in detail

110

CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

as the "common vase form." Another, which is gaining in popularity,
aims to grow leaders trained along in directions first chosen for them,
and this will be described as the "vase form with continuous leaders."
The latter method aims to secure more open centers and to produce
fruit nearer to the leaders or, as one may call them, the ribs of the
tree — the figure having a rough resemblance to the ribs of an inverted
umbrella rather than the ribs of a man.

Characteristic of the Common Vase Form. — This vase form is
a product of French ingenuity in the training of dwarf trees, but it has
undergone very marked modification in California, losing much of the
accuracy of its outline and gaining vastly in speed of work and in
bearing capacity of tree without sacrificing any practical value which
adheres in the design.

This vase form dispenses with the central stem or trunk at a certain
short distance above the ground, but this is not done for the purpose of
securing a hollow or open-center tree, which is a leading characteristic
of the old European vase form. The few branches which are desired to
grow from the short stem are pruned when the tree is young to induce
successive branching with short interspaces. At each cutting the aim is
to get two branches from one, and nearly as posible of equal vigor, so
the California tree does not, except, of course, in occasional instances,
show the outline of a leader from the bottom to the top, but there is a
succession of branchings, turned this way or that by the skillful pruner,
occupying available air space, distributing the weight so it comes more
nearly over the center of gravity and at the same time knitting the
fibers of the branch so that the weight of the fruit is well sustained.
This idea, however, is not allowed to go so far as to wholly close the

Forms of head resulting from cutting back.

Twelve-year-old apple tree in the writer's garden in Berkeley, showing forms of head
resulting from cutting back for greater and less spacing of main branches at planting.

HOW TO FORM THE HEAD OF A TREE

111

Results of cutting back to longer and shorter stems.

Apricot and cherry trees twelve years old, showing results of cutting back to longer and
shorter stems at planting, as an experiment in head form.

112 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

interior of the tree, but to retain such degree of open interior as is
found desirable. When the tree is laden with fruit, the weight natur-
ally expands the top quite enough to admit the sunlight without expos-
ing either the fruit or the branches to danger of burning. Thus ifc
appears that instead of the true vase of wine-glass, with hollow interior
and thin walls, we have the general exterior outline of this model, but
give a good part of the central area of the figure to bearing shoots, and
thus secure a large bearing surface with well-strengthened supports.

It has been found that this many-branching form, developed upon a
few main branches well placed upon the trunk, gives a stronger tree
than can be had by growing a considerable number of leaders, all start-
ing from near the point where the tree was headed at planting. Such
leaders crowd each other at the point of emergence from the stem, and
when laden with fruit, sway outward and break out at this point. A
vastly stronger tree is secured by starting but four or five branches
from the low trunk and letting them emerge from different sides of
the stem, and at different levels. Thus teach main attachment to the
stem has abundant room, and the wood enlarges symmetrically and
solidly. The expansion of the top is attained by the branching which
follows the cutting back of succeeding years. Starting branches from
nearly the same level on the stem has been the occasion of great losses
of overladen trees, and quite a considerable recourse to strengthening
up weak trees by running bolts through from side to side at the points
where experience shows breakage is likely to occur. In this respect it
is now clearly shown that the practice which was widely adopted a few
years ago of beginning with a very short stem and using the three or
four adjacent buds nearest the point to which the tree was cut back at
planting is defective. It is much better not to cut back so far at plant- j
ing, but to leave a longer trunk, keep a greater distance between the?
main branches and still have the lowest branch as near the ground as
before, thus securing a tree which is practically as low as that secured
by the old method of starting. This point will be enforced by illus-
trations.

HOW TO SECURE THE COMMON VASE FORM

For the benefit of the inexperienced reader, it will be well to illus-
trate the steps by which the form of tree found so generally desirable
is to be attained.

Cutting Back at Planting. — This has been already mentioned
as essential to strong growth of the transplanted tree. It is also the
prime act in securing a tree with a low head and strong branches. For-
merly trees were cut back farther than desirable and the branches
allowed to crowd each other, as has just been stated. It is better to
retain twenty-four inches of stem than twelve inches — providing care
is taken during the first summer to prevent, by pinching, the growth
of too many branches near together. Allow those to grow which are
more distant from each other on the stem and pinch the intervening
shoots. In this way one can have the lowest branch at six inches from
the ground in the hot valleys if desired, or twelve inches in the coast

THE COMMON VASE FORM 113

valleys, and the highest branch at eighteen or twenty-four inches. This
gives about twice the distance between the main branches which was
formerly allowed, and it is of vast advantage to the strength of the
tree. The illustrations of this fact are from trees planted by the writer
in 1887 to test this matter. At this date they are large trees and show
the forms of heads resulting from different spacing of branches on the
young trees during the first summer's growth.

First, then, cut back the tree just after planting, as shown in the
engraving, deciding first at which height you wish trees to form heads,
and cut them all back as uniformly as possible and still secure a good
bud just below the point of cutting. To preserve these buds the trees
should be handled carefully while removing from the nursery and dur-
ing planting.

If the tree has already grown laterals in the nursery where the head
is desired, three or four of these properly1 placed on the stem may be
selected to form the main branches, shortened in to the sound bud
nearest the stem, and other laterals, not desired to form the head, re-
moved. This treatment is shown in the engraving of a young peach
tree well branched in the nursery. If all the laterals on the young tree-
have started out above where the head is desired, as is sometimes the
case, it may be necessary to remove the whole top, and usually others
will start below afterwards. If there are no buds visible on the stem at
the place where the head is desired, the choice must be made between
heading the tree higher up, where the buds are, or cutting back without
regard to buds, trusting to the development of latent buds at the right
place, or to the growth of a shoot from below, which can be cut back
to form a head the following year. It is for this reason, among others,
that planters prefer a yearling tree which has not branched, but has
good buds all along the stem. Peaches and apricots usually branch in
the nursery, but usually have dormant buds at the bases of such branches
which can be employed in making new growth where it is desired.

After cutting back at planting, the shoots desired to form the head
are allowed to make their full growth without interference. All shoots
not desired for branches are pinched off after growing out two or three
inches, leaving a bunch of leaves to shade the trunk and contribute to
its stouter growth. Constant watchfulness is necessary to pinch off un-
desirable branches all the first summer.

First Pruning. — In the winter following planting, the shoots of
the previous season's growth are cut back to about ten or twelve inches
from their junction with the stem. Some prefer to cut shorter, but this
is apt to huddle the branches too close together when they get old and
stout. Growers, however, do not agree on the exact length which these
future main branches should be left at first pruning.

If, during the first summer's growth, all shoots except the number
desired to form the head have been pinched back, the first winter prun-
ing consists only in cutting back the main branches. If laterals have
grown on the parts of these branches which are to be left on the tree,
they should be cut back to a bud or two. Some growers practice cutting
away all such laterals cleanly because they are too young to bear fruit,
but it is better to shorten and retain at least a part of them and, when

114

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

growth starts, pinch the tips after throwing out' a few leaves to shade
and thicken the branches, just as the short growths left the previous
summer serve the main stem.

Second Pruning. — During the second summer it is usual to allow
two branches to grow from each of the main branches left at the pre-
vious winter pruning, and to pinch off all others, as described. These
branches are allowed to run out their full growth, except where ex-
cessive growth is made, and then it is repressed by summer pruning.
This is done with the apricot in the warmer parts of the State, as will
be considered at length in the chapter on that fruit. Usually, however,
the main branches are untouched during the second summer's growth
unless some are running out so far as to make the tree lop-sided. Dur-
ing the following winter the main branches are cut back from one-half
to two-thirds of the growth they have made, and if too many strong
laterals have grown below this point, some are shortened, others are
removed entirely where they are apt to cross or crowd each other or to
interfere with cultivation. It is not desirable, however, that all small
growth should be cleanly removed. Some of these small shoots will
bear a little fruit and the leaf action is in any case desirable as a con-
tributor to the strength of the larger branches to which they are at-
tached. Besides, they serve to shade the bark from sunburn.

Third Pruning. — When the tree reaches its third winter prun-
ing, its form is well outlined, and early-bearing trees like the peach,
apricot, almond, Japanese plum, etc., will give the grower a respectable

Pruning for branch spacing.

Yearling apple marked to cut back for greater or less
space between main branches; also first year's growth
from each beginning marked for first winter pruning.

VASE FORM WITH CONTINUOUS LEADERS 115

crop the next season. To bear this crop greater care should be taken at
the third winter pruning to leave the small laterals low down on the
main branches, for on them, clustered close in the head of the tree, most
of the first crop will be found. Though some trees, as stated, do bear
earlier than the third summer, the fruit is not usually considered of
commercial account until the third summer. An engraving is given of
a peach tree just after its second winter pruning. It is a very good
representative of the common vase-form of a tree as grown in Cali-
fornia. It has four main branches, each issuing from a different point
on the stem, each permitted to carry two main branches, which are not
arranged around the circumference, but some of them tending toward
the center. At the third pruning more shoots have been left than are
required by the rule, for, starting with four main branches, there are
usually sixteen left at the third pruning.

VASE FORM WITH CONTINUOUS LEADERS

This form has the same prototype as the common vase form, viz. :
the French garden tree and it adheres more closely to the motives and
characters of its prototype. As practiced in the Winters region on the
west side of the Sacramento Valley, it is aptly described by D. J. Whit-
ney as follows :

"It is called the open-top system of pruning. Hold in mind a wide,
shallow bowl with long legs bent inward and joining at the bottom com-
ing down rather regularly from rim to base and you know what a typi-
cal open-top apricot tree looks like. The idea seems to have leaders to
come up along the outside of the tree, none in the center at all, to have
the center of the tree open, or occupied only by fruit wood and not
much of it. In the yearly pruning the development is all outward.
There is an effort to have fruit wood along the leaders down to the
crotch, but often without success. Looking over an orchard from above,
there can be seen a lot of flat green disks set regularly twenty to thirty
feet or so apart."

This variation of the vase form is quite a departure from the com-
mon vase form, both in its purposes and methods. It is used in the
Winters' region for apricots, peaches and plums. It is coming into the
upper San Joaquin Valley for peaches, the leaders, however, being
grown nearer to upright because of the weaker wood of the peach. As
used for that fruit it will be discussed in detail in Chapter XX. It is
also used for the lemon, as exemplified by the flat, saucer-shaped trees
which one will see in some lemon orchards. As something of a de-
parture, both in principles and practices, from the common vase form
which has widely prevailed for the last forty years, it has still to widely
demonstrate its claims to superiority.

PRUNING BEARING TREES

Three winter prunings of deciduous trees usually establish their per-
manent form, and subsequent pruning is chiefly directed toward the
retention of that form ; for strength of branch and stem ; for renewal

116

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

of bearing" wood ; for regulation of amount of bearing wood ; for rela-
tive light and shade, and for convenience in cultivation and other
orchard work. Naturally, these ends are sought according to the needs
and habits of different fruits, and the methods of attaining them will
be discussed in the chapters treating of these fruits. There are, how-
ever, certain general considerations which are proper in this connec-
tion:

Pruning during the dormancy of the tree induces greater growth
of wood during the following summer ; pruning during the active period
reduces wood growth and promotes fruit-bearing. The amount of
wood removed during the dormant period will make the summer growth

Yearling peach. Cut back at planting.

First summer's growth in the
orchard.

These sketches, and those en pages 118 and 119, represent the progress of the peach
tree from a branched yearling to bearing form entering the third summer.

of wood proportionately stronger. Whether the total weight of wood
growth would be greater may be questioned, but the effective wood
growth is certainly greater. Whether the feet of new wood grown on
a peach tree cut back to stumps in the winter would be greater in weight
than all the inches of growth which would be scattered all over the sur-
face of the tree if not cut back, may be doubted, but the new growth
secured by cutting back will be of immense vigor, and the following
year will bear large fruit, while the new growth on the tree not cut
back will be thin and short and the fruit absent or indifferent. The
weaker the tree or the branch or the twig of the tree, the greater part
of it to be removed when dormant to get the stronger new growth.

THE COMMON VASE FORM

117

In the case of fruit trees in vigorous growth pruning during the
active period or allowing the wood to go uncut during the dormant
period, having the same effect, viz., the promotion of fruiting. Some
trees, like apricots and peaches, which bear upon new laterals, will bear
fruit even though heavily winter-cut, if these small laterals are retained
on the lower parts of the main branches. Some other trees, like the
prune, which bear on spurs, will delay the formation of spurs if heavily
winter-cut. These two facts suggest two diverse policies in pruning
bearing trees : A peach tree unpruned will reduce its crop for lack of
weakness of new laterals ; a prune tree too severely winter-pruned will
reduce its crop for lack of old spurs. Again, some fruits, or varieties

First winter pruning.

Second summer growth in orchard.

of fruits, bear chiefly upon the tips, others chiefly upon the lateral
spurs ; shortening one reduces the crop largely ; shortening the other
may increase the marketable crop by decreasing the aggregate number
These and other similar facts suggest that pruning bearing trees, to be
intelligently pursued, must be accompanied with the fullest possible
knowledge of the bearing habit of the fruit or variety thereof.

Cutting back or "shortening in" should be done in a way which will
reduce the burst of new shoots near the cut. This is measurably secured
by always cutting the branch at a strong lateral, because the sap flow
into this lateral prevents undue pressure and forcing of latent buds in
the vicinity of the cut. For this reason the cutting back of all branches

118

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

to a certain definite height is wrong. Trees shorn across at a certain
line become thick as a brush with top shoots which require extensive
thinning, or the bearing wood will soon be all at that level through
failure of the densely shaded bearing wood below. Cut to the nearest
lateral below the line you wish to approximate, and shorten the lateral,
if desirable, and the result will be fewer and stronger shoots than from
a stub-cut.

In the treatment of bearing trees the main effort should generally be
toward thinning or reducing the number of bearing shoots. This is
related to the important work of thinning the fruit to reduce the burden
of the tree, and will be mentioned again in that connection. The work

Second winter pruning in orchard.

has, however, a bearing beyond the size of the individual fruit speci-
mens. It involves the whole future of the tree as a profitable affair. An
unthinned tree becomes a thicket of small, weak, and dying laterals and
spurs. An attempt to cure this afterwards by sawing out many large
branches is only partially successful, though perhaps the best thing that
can be done after such condition has been allowed to exist. The only
way to keep the interior of the tree full enough of strong, bearing wood
is to resolutely and regularly thin out surplus shoots as the tree ad-
vances in age and size. This work is as important with trees which
are not regularly cut back, as with those which are thus treated. It is
one of the most vital as well as the most generally neglected item in
orchard practice.

WHEN TO PRUNE FRUIT TREES 119

In thinning out lateral bearing shoots seldom leave more than one
at any point ; select the strongest ; remove the rest close to the branch.
When a new shoot springs out at the base of an older one remove the.
older one ; when a new shoot breaks out on the side of an older one
cut the older one back to that point. In thinning always reject the
older, weaker laterals or spurs. This does not apply to the outbreak of
strong suckers or water sprouts below the main branches ; they should
usually be cleanly cut away unless a new main branch is desirable.

Pruning of bearing trees should always have regard to the removal
of branches which have become decrepit through sunburn, blight or
disease of any kind, frost injury, or in any form die-back from what-
ever cause. Such wood is not only of lessened value, but there is also
danger of extension of the trouble. Removing such wood and training
new wood to take its place should always be in mind.

Where cutting of large branches is demanded for any reason it
should be remembered that the wounds are most quickly healed and
least injury to the tree is to be apprehended if the cutting is done near
the beginning of the growing season, and not at the beginning of the
dormant period.

TIMES FOR PRUNING

Some changes of view have lately prevailed as to the times, within
the dormant period, during which winter-pruning can be done to the
best advantage. Formerly it was thought to be a vital matter that no
cutting should be done until the leaves had fallen, and this is still
the prevailing practice, and may prove to be on all accounts the best.
Recently, however, pruning in autumn has been quite widely practiced.

Fall Pruning. — There is a time near the end of the active season
in California when the foliage changes its aspect. There is no marked
change in color, perhaps, but there is a certain limpness and drooping
which betokens decided decline in activity. It comes first to the early
fruits, the cherries and apricots, for instance, and upon old trees earlier
than young ones. The buds are well formed; the season's growth
apparently complete. There are no frosts to hasten the fall of the leaf
and it remains in place. Does it render any important service? On
the conclusion that^does not, many growers begin the winter pruning
while the days are longer and the ground dry and firm, rather than delay
pruning until the short, dark days and rain-soaked soil of December
and January render pruning expensive and disagreeable. Those trees
are first pruned which first assume the appearance described, and the
work proceeds with other varieties afterwards until the winter pruning
may be finished by December 1 — about the time when it commonly
began under the old practice. Not only is more thus accomplished in
the same number of days' work, but the orchard is earlier in shape for
the winter spraying and cultivation, and the grower is ahead of his
work and not behind it all the season if the season is unusually rainy.
Several years' practice of this method discloses no bad results except in
the one item of increasing danger from frost. Vines and trees pruned
early in the dormant period have a tendency to start growth earlier
than those pruned late in the dormant period. In places, then, where

120

CALIFORNIA FRUITS ! HOW TO GROW THEM

early bloom and fruit-setting are particularly threatened by frost, this
practice may be undesirable.

Spring Pruning. — Resting largely upon this matter of retarding
growth, the practice of pruning very late in the dormant period, or,
in fact, at the beginning of the growing season, is also gaining wider
adoption where frost injury is especially feared. It is not actual freez-
ing, but a drop of two or three degrees below the freezing point which
is feared, and during recent years such a temperature has wrought
havoc with some fruits, in early valley regions particularly. Later
pruning, even after the bloom and foliage have appeared, has worked
no injury to the trees, but it is less conveniently done than when the
trees are free of foliage.

Young peach and apple trees, showing branches well spaced on the stems.

Summer Pruning. — Summer pruning, to induce bearing, is, as
has been previously intimated, but little employed in this State, for the
constant tendency of our trees is to bear early and to overbear. Enough
has, however, been done in individual cases to show that fruit-bearing
is promoted by pruning after the chief growth of the season has been
attained. If the pruning results in forcing out laterals late in the season
it has been done too early. What is desirable is the strengthening or
development of fruit buds, and this will be accomplished after the energy
has been too far dissipated to make new wood growth.

Summer pruning to check the too exuberant wood growth of some
kinds of trees is employed to some extent, chiefly in the warmer parts
of the State, where the vegetative process in some trees seems fairly
to run riot, and unless checked is apt to ruin the tree by breaking* to

0/3

(9!

SUMMER PRUNING OF FRUIT TREES 121

pieces when the wind and weight of fruit test its strength. The methods
of summer pruning employed in different parts of the State for different
fruits will be considered in connection with the special chapters on
these fruits.

Summer pruning to preserve form is another matter, and relates in
the main to pinching in, to check undesirable extension and to direct
the sap toward shoots in which growth is desired. This practice is
approved by most of our orchardists, and is employed by them to a
greater or less extent. More people believe in it than practice it, how-
ever, because the summer months, with their long succession of fruits
to be gathered and shipped or dried, and the additional consideration
that there is always a scarcity of labor at this time, give the orchardist
so much work to do that he is more apt to confine his "pinching" to a
little that he may do now and then when he has a few moments' leisure
than to do the work thoroughly and systematically. The result is that
the regular winter pruning is the main operation for tree shaping in
this State.

There is such a great difference in opinion about summer pruning
that it will be very difficult to make any assertions about it which will
not be disputed. Much of this difference comes, of course, from differ-

Weak tree from ill-spaced branches.

ent conditions prevailing in different trees and in different parts of
the State, and some of these will be met, as already promised, in follow-
ing chapters. Leaving these wholly out of consideration at this time,
it is safe to advise those who wish to secure symmetry or any particular
form in any kind of a tree, that they can resort to summer pinching
with advantage, and can sometimes to advantage remove wood too
large for the thumb and finger to sever.

Constant watchfulness should be maintained for adventitious shoots
starting out on stem or limb at points where branches are not desired.
Wherever they start out strongly, they should be pinched, or entirely
removed, according to the best judgment to be formed in each case.
They should not be allowed to divert the sap from the fruiting wood
to make the generally coarse and sterile wood which is characteristic
of them. Suckers which properly, according to Downing, are "shoots
sent up from the root or from parts of the stem below the surface of
the soil," should be removed whenever discovered. In common Cali-
fornia parlance the term "sucker" is used as a synonym for "water-
sprout" and signifies undesirable shooting from any part of the tree or
vine.

122 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

RENEWING OLD TREES

Improving and renewing trees by cutting back and grafting has
already been considered under the head of propagation. It is often
desirable to renew trees of a satisfactory variety, and this is done
simply by cutting back when the tree is dormant. Cutting back was
formerly done early in the winter, before the rise of the sap begins, but
more recently it has been seen that the exposure of large cut surfaces
for weeks or months before growth begins, results in drying and shrink-
age of the bark and checking of the wood, both of which are avoided (
by amputation later in the dormant period or during the early part of
the growing season, In cutting back, of course, those stumps should
be left to support new branches which will secure the best balance and
symmetry in the new head. When the new growth starts there gener-
ally appear many more shoots than are desirable, and selection of the
best-placed and most vigorous should be chosen, the others either being
rubbed off in the bud or pinched back when a few leaves are put out.
In cutting back trees, the exposed trunk and branch stumps should be
wrapped in old sacking, or carefully whitewashed as protection from
sunburn.

In removing large limbs it is desirable that the cut should be made
in the right place so as to secure quick covering of the scar with new
growth. Cutting so as to leave a long stub results in an unsightly
piece of dead wood on the tree, and this, in decaying, carries the decay
deep into the center of the trunk or branch. Cutting too close prevents
covering with the new bark, and also results in a hole in the branch.
Cutting just to the right mark, which is the outer edge of the little
collar or swelling which will be found at the base of all branches,
enables the wound to grow over quickly, and if the wound is properly
treated when cut, there will be no decay, and the wound will soon be
obliterated.

In amputating large branches, an undercut with the saw should be
made first so that the bark shall not be torn as the branch falls. Another
good way is to saw off first at a distance from the final cut, and then
saw off smoothly at the right place when the weight is removed.

Trees often become "hide-bound," as it is called. Especially in this
dry climate the bark gets dry and tough, therefore can not expand in
proportion to the growth of the tree, or supply the amount of sap neces-
sary for the demand. Slitting such trees here and there up and down
the trunk and main limbs with a sharp knife seems to have good effect,
for often in three months the cut opens half an inch, and a fine, clear
bark, with an increase of growth, results. On old trees, too, there is
often a growth of moss and lichens which should be removed. This
can be done by scraping off the rough, loose bark and spraying with
an alkaline wash, composed of one pound of caustic soda or potash to
six gallons of water. If scale insects are present, the lime, salt, and
sulphur spray should be used, as will be described in the chapter on
injurious insects. This will remove the parasites, give the trees a clean,
bright bark and contribute to their vigor.

USE OF KNIVES AND SHEARS 123

PRUNING TOOLS

There is some difference of opinion as to the comparative value of
the pruning knife and the pruning shears. The knife, if sharp, and
well used, makes a smooth cut, with no bruising of the bark, and such
a wound heals over perfectly. The shears, if of good pattern and sharp,
also make a very good cut, but there is always some little injury to
the bark on the side opposite the entry of the blade. On small cuts,
say three-quarters of an inch or less, if the blade is kept very sharp, the
resistance does not make sufficient injury to the bark to seriously con-
sider, and the speed with which the shears can be used renders them
the main reliance for all the smaller pruning. Nearly all styles of hand
shears are used in this State.

There are, also, two-hand shears, which are very powerful, and
enable one to work very quickly. When kept well sharpened they are
very effective tools. There are a number of styles in use, both home-
made and imported.

Still another arrangement of shears is mounted on a pole, the cut-
ting blade being operated by a cord, and having a spring to throw the
blade back. The pole is jointed, so that one or more lengths can be
used. With this device one can stand on the ground and shorten in
the top shoots of a tree very handily.

For larger cuts than can be made with the pruning knife or one-
hand shears, there are pruning saws of different styles, of which two
styles are chiefly used. One has a frame made of the best spring steel,
constructed somewhat on the plan of a butcher's saw, except that the
saw blade is much narrower ; and instead of being stationary, it revolves
so that the pruner is enabled to adjust the blade to cut at any angle,
as is often necessary to do when cutting where limbs grow close to-
gether, and where it would be impossible to use an ordinary saw of a
wider blade. The blade is only one-fourth to one-half inch wide, and
therefore not liable to get pinched in the cut. Strength is imparted by
a tension screw under the handle, which tightens the blade. The blade
is easily detached by slackening the tension screw, and lifting the blade
out of the slot in the clutches at each end. The blade can be thus
reversed and made to cut with a push or a pull, as may be desired.

Another popular saw is the curved pruning saw, with twelve and
fourteen-inch blades, which cuts with a pull.

During recent years it has been possible to find quite full assort-
ments of pruning tools at the hardware and general merchandise stores
in all our fruit districts where these devices can be compared and selec-
tion made according to individual preference, for there can be no best
tools for all men and all uses.

CUTTING TO A BUD

Whatever may be used to make the cut, it is important to sever
the twig or shoot at that distance from a wood bud which gives that
bud the best chance to grow well, and at the same time facilitates the
healing and complete obliteration of the scar. Cutting too far from the
bud leaves a stub which dies back, and is likely to carry decay into the

124 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

pith and thence down into the limb. Cutting too close to the bud or
carrying the slope down too far behind it, does not give it enough live
wood to carry it, and it makes a weak growth.

Cutting to inside buds with trees of spreading habit, and to outside
buds with upright growers, or to a side bud when lateral extension is
desired, should always be remembered as a means of throwing new
growth in the direction demanded by symmetery and equal occupation
of the space allotted to the tree. This is one respect in which study
of the habit of the tree suggests proper practice.

COVERING WOUNDS

Whenever wood is cut with so great diameter that it will not grow
over in one season, the wound should be coated with something to keep
the wood from checking and decaying. It has been amply demon-
strated by California experience that smooth-paring of the cut made
by shears or saw is a waste of time. Large wounds should, however,
be covered to prevent checking of the wood and drying back of bark
edges. Nothing is better or cheaper for this covering than lead and
oil paint, a little thicker than for ordinary use, and applied sparingly,
so that it will not run down the bark. Asphaltum, "Grade D," applied
warm is used in the same way with satisfaction.

GATHERING UP PRUNINGS

Gathering up prunings for burning is tedious and expensive, and
several efforts have been made to substitute machinery for hand labor.
Anderson's Brush Rake, invented by W. C. Anderson, of San Jose,
has been used to some extent. It readily gathers all kinds of tree and
vine brush, compresses it considerably and is easily discharged of its
load by a slight lift while still going forward. It is said to save about
one-half the cost of hand raking, Brush is often gathered into wind-
rows by the use of horse rakes borrowed from the hay field.

Baling Prunings. — There is a fuel value in prunings which has
become more clear since pumping for irrigation is so widely practiced,
but loose prunings are too expensive in handling. T. G. Rogers, of
Winters, has contrived a "brush baler." It is a large strong saw-horse
inverted, to which is bolted a long, heavy lever. Attached to a cross
piece on the lever are four heavy tines bent in a semi-circle. The saw-
horse is filled with brush, the lever is then pulled down and fastened by
a ratchet brake, the brush is forced into a small, compact bundle, and
when bound with wire makes a bundle easily handled by the fireman.

Prunings for Fertilizing. — Although many propositions for re-
turning prunings to the soil and several machines for cutting have
been used, such practice has never widely prevailed because of cost
of labor involved. At the Limoneira lemon orchard in Ventura county,
a feed cutter run by a gasoline engine, and both mounted on a
wagon-bed, is run through the orchard after pruning. Two men pick
up prunings and feed them into the cutter as the wagon slowly pro-
ceeds. This waste from an evergreen tree seems to decay very readily
in the soil as it is covered-in by cultivation.

INCREASING SIZE OF FRUITS 125

THINNING FRUIT

Intimately connected with the pruning of bearing trees, is the thin-
ning of the fruit or proper spacing of the individual fruits so that each
shall have space and sap to allow its attainment of satisfactory market-
able size. It has been fully demonstrated that no demand is profitable
which will be content with the undersized fruit from an overladen tree.
The superior price for good-sized fruit for all uses, not excluding dry-
ing, is unquestionable; the total weight secured may be variable as
between thinned and unthinned trees, but it can be accepted as an
indisputable fact that any increase of weight there may be upon an
unthinned tree will not be nearly an equivalent for the loss in value. It
is the conclusion of our largest and most successful growers that, large
as is the expenditure required for careful and systematic thinning of
fruit, it is the most directly profitable outlay which they have to make
for orchard maintenance.

Objects in View in Fruit Thinning. — But thinning fruit has
objects beyond the value of the visible crop which it makes profitable.
No overburdened tree can discharge the two-fold summer duty of every
cultivated fruit-bearing tree, which is to perfect this season's fruit
and lay a good strong foundation for next year's bearing. If the tree,
after fruit gathering, has not the strong, vigorous foliage to complete
the formation of fruit buds for the following year, there will either
be a lack of bloom or a show of bloom unfit to set, and the tree will
work for itself next year, and not for you, because this year you would
not work for it. In this particular, thinning fruit coincides' in purpose
with pruning to limit the amount of bearing wood, which has already
been considered.

Other objects there are also which are related directly to the profit
of orcharding and should command respect from the most careless.
The following is an emphatic statement of the case :

There are at least six ways in which growers are repaid for thinning
peaches, nectarines or apricots designed for drying:

First: Yon can thin off half the fruit when small quicker than you could
pick it when large, and when mature the time required to fill a basket depends
mainly upon the number of peaches it holds.

Second : It takes just as long to cut and spread on a drying tray a small peach
as a large one. It takes longer to cut eight peaches that will weigh a pound
than to cut three and pick five off when they are little.

Third: If peaches run six to the pound the weight of pits will not vary
much from that of the cured fruit. If they run three to the pound, they will
weigh not much over half. A ton of large peaches is as likely to yield 400
pounds of dried as a ton of small fruit of the same variety to yield 300 pounds.
It means a difference of about $8.00 per ton in the value of the fresh fruit
to the dryer. It will cost over $1.00 per ton to thin a heavily laden peach orchard
in a way to make that difference.

Fourth : Granted that you leave fruit to reach the same weight as maturity,
still you leave it along the body and in places on the limbs where the weight
has no breaking leverage and take it off the ends where it may get sun-burned
and is almost sure to break the tree.

Fifth: Vitality drawn from the plant and certain elements of fertility from
the soil, are in proportion to the number of seeds matured. The pulp cuts
little figure except in aerial substances and water.

126 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Sixth : Suppose that fruit dried from peaches that weigh three to the pound
only brings one cent a pound more than that from peaches half that size. Two
cents would more accurately measure the difference in value. Still, the smaller
figure is enough to meet the whole cost of picking and hauling or of cutting and
drying in any well-managed establishment.

When to Thin Fruit. — Thinning of fruit should begin with the
winter pruning of bearing trees, as has been already urged in con-
nection with regulating the amount of bearing wood allotted to each
tree. After this is carefully done, there is the thinning of bloom, which
is urged on the ground of least possible loss of energy by the tree in
the partial development of fruit to be subsequently removed. Hand-
thinning of individual blooms is impracticable on a commercial scale,
but the removal of spurs or twigs, or shortening of them with shears,
is feasible enough. The objection must lie in the fact that profusion
of bloom does not necessarily indicate an excessive set of fruit, and any
severe reduction of bloom is, therefore, venturesome unless one is fully
assured by local experience of the habit of the variety under treatment.
Reduction of the amount of fruit itself is, therefore, the only safe pro-
ceeding, and this should not, as a rule, be undertaken until the first
drop, through lack of pollination, has taken place. Even at greater
theoretical loss of energy to the tree, it is better to err on the side of
thinning a little too late than too early in order to secure the fullest
assurance possible of the permanent burden which the tree assumes.
Where spring frosts are likely to occur they afford additional reason
for delay. If surety of the local conditions comes before the pits harden
in the young fruit it is fortunate for the tree, but even after that it is
still a greater saving to the tree and assurance of profit to the grower
to reduce the fruit to a proper amount than to permit over-bearing.

The Practice of Thinning. — If the tree has not been sufficiently
relieved of an excess of bearing wood during the winter pruning and
has made a very heavy set of fruit, thinning with the shears by cutting
out whole spurs or short bearing shoots, or even shortening in longer
limbs, cutting always to a lateral when possible, is of no appreciable
injury to the tree. After all the shear-work possible is done, the spac-
ing of the fruits on the twigs and branches must be provided for. This
was done in early days by beating; the tree with a pole, and some still
maintain that they can use the pole to advantage. The almost universal
practice, however, is to use the hand in plucking or pushing off the
small fruit. This is done very quickly by experienced workmen. If
the trees are low, as they should be, most of the work can be done from
the ground. It is best to work in vertical spaces and take all that can
be reached from top to bottom without changing position ; then move
a step or two and take another vertical strip, and so on.

The distance which should be left between specimens depends upon
conditions. It is as unsatisfactory to him by rule of inches as it is to
prune by such a rule. The space to each fruit depends upon the kind,
the age, vigor and strength of the tree, the size and thrift of the lateral
or spur which carries the fruit, the moisture supply, the richness of the
soil, etc. It also depends upon what use is to be made of the fruit,
because it is possible to have some fruit which is too large for certain

METHODS OF THINNING FRUITS 127

demands, though this objection does not often arise. The strength of
the shoot is perhaps the most easily appreciable factor. With peaches,
for instance, a shortened lateral one-eighth of an inch in diameter
should only carry one peach, while one one-quarter of an inch in diam-
eter might mature four good large fruits. It would evidently be
wrong to work for an arbitrary inch-distance on all sorts of shoots, and
it will be seen to be just as irrational if it be applied without regard to
the other conditions of the tree. If, however, a rule must be had, let
it be this, that the distance between the fruit shall be two and one-half
times the diameter desired in the fruit. This would fix an arbitrary
distance, then of four to six inches for apricots and six to eight inches
for peaches — with other fruits according to their respective sizes, and
the late varieties with greater distance than early.

Any such standard, however, considers only the size of the fruit,
not the strength of the tree, and therefore stops short of one of the
important ends of thinning, to conserve the strength of the tree for next
season's fruiting. Fruits might be thus spaced and still the tree be
overladen, because it may be carrying too many bearing shoots. Cal-
culate the burden of the tree in this way, for instance : Peaches which
weigh three to the pound are of fair marketable size; sixty such
peaches will fill an ordinary peach box of twenty pounds ; ten to twelve
such boxes is fruit enough for a good bearing tree six to ten years of
age. Now count the little peaches you have left on one main branch
and its laterals, which ought to be about one-tenth of the tree, and thin
down to about sixty. By doing a few trees in this way and thinking
of the relation of the bearing wood to the fruit, one will soon get
a conception of the proper degree of thinning, and proceed to realize
it as rapidly as the fingers can fly along the branch.

It is seldom desirable to divide doubles in peaches ; pull both off or
leave both on, as they may be needed or not to make the load of the
tree. Clusters of apples or pears should often be reduced to singles,
except where size is apt to be too great.

All kinds of fruit are clearly subject to increase of size by thinning,
but it is with only the larger fruits that the practice prevails at present.
The dividing line seems to lie upon the prune. With this fruit thinning
is only done by pruning the tree for the reduction of the number of
bearing branches, while with some shipping plums hand thinning is
practiced. Growers are still striving for a prune naturally of larger
size rather than to have recourse to thinning.

The practice of thinning partially at first, trusting to further
removal of fruit later if too much of it survives the natural drop and
various accidents, is followed by some growers, but the rule is to finish
at one operation.

The size of oranges on over-burdened trees can be increased by
thinning, just as other fruits are enlarged, but it is not systematically
undertaken, because it is not so necessary and because it is perhaps
easier to get oranges too large and to be discounted for over-large and
coarse fruit. Removing part of the fruit from young trees is often
done — for the good of the tree, not for the good of the fruit.

CHAPTER XIII

CULTIVATION

It was demonstrated very early in California experience in fruit
growing, that "clean culture" is generally the proper treatment for
trees and vines during the growing season, at least. Though the fre-
quent stirring of the soil and eradication of grass and weeds have been
advocated by certain horticulturalists for generations and have recently
been demonstrated to be desirable by careful comparative experiments
it has nowhere secured such wide adherence as in California. It may
even be held to be an essential to successful growth of tree and vine in
most soils and situations in California, and the several advantages of
clean culture are intensified under our conditions.

Chief of these advantages is the maintenance of the soil in a condi-
tion favoring root growth, and the main feature of this condition is the
retention of the moisture, though regulation of summer temperature in
the soil is also involved. Where moisture-retention is not the chief
concern, because of ample irrigation facilities, and the moderation of
soil temperature of greater moment, a summer-growing cover crop may
be of benefit to the trees. In irrigated districts of excessive heat and
dry air this policy may prevail, but it will be only the exception to the
rule of clean culture.

Retaining Moisture by Cultivation. — It is a familiar fact that
water will rise in a tube of exceeding small diameter very much higher
than the surface of the body of water in which the tube is held upright.
The water rises by capillary attraction. A compact soil has extending
through it, minute spaces, formed by the partial contact of its particles,
which facilitate the rise of water from moist layers below, in accord-
ance with the same principle which causes the water to rise in the
capillary tube. This movement is constantly going on in firm soil,
and as fast as the top layer is robbed of its moisture by evaporation,
the water rises from below and it too is evaporated. During the long,
dry summer, the water rises and is evaporated from a depth of several
feet in some soils, and the earth, beneath the baking sun heat, becomes
"dry as a brick."

When a soil is broken up by cultivation, capillarity is temporarily
destroyed through the disturbed layer, because the particles are so
separated that the mutual connection of the minute inter-spaces no
longer exists. But if it can be roughly broken up, so that the disturbed
layer takes the form of coarse clods, the air has free access to the upper
surface of the firm soil beneath them, in which the capillary condition
still exists, and evaporation proceeds in the same way, though in a
somewhat less degree, as if there had been no cultivation. It becomes
evident, then, that the pulverization of the disturbed layer must be so
complete that the particles are separated and capillarity destroyed, and,
farther, that the free access of air to the lower point, where capillarity

128

RETAINING MOISTURE BY TILLAGE 129

exists, must be prevented. This is accomplished by the fine loose earth
which acts as a mulch. When this is attained, only that moisture in the
upper surface which comes in immediate contact with the air is evapor-
ated, and the balance is retained for the use of the plant. Plants
growing, then, in a well-cultivated soil, have the water in the lower
soil held for their use, and as fast as they use it the supply is replaced
through the firm soil below, which evaporation being stopped, remains
moist and permeable by roots which extend freely, seeking the nourish-
ment they need.

Such is a brief outline of the theory which explains the results
gained by thorough cultivation of the soil, so far, at least, as retention
of moisture is concerned. The practical demonstration is easy. Go
into a well-cultivated orchard or vineyard, push aside the soil with the
foot, and moisture will be found two or three inches from the surface,
or even less in some soils, while on uncultivated land adjacent, digging
to the depth of several feet will show nothing but hard earth, baked
and arid. In such hard-baked earth, moreover, the sun heat is conveyed
or conducted downward very rapidly during a hot day, so that in some
cases the roots are seriously injured. When the surface is well tilled,
it will act like a blanket, preventing a too rapid conveyance of heat
downward, and thus also diminishing the intensity of evaporation.

Accurate demonstration of these facts has been secured as the
result of many moisture determinations in cultivated and uncultivated
soil by the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station.*
Very striking exhibition of the condition of trees with and without
cultivation is found in the engravings which are reproduced herewith.
Upon the demonstration, the practice in the uncultivated orchard was
radically changed. The exact determination of moisture present at
various depths of the soil beneath these contrasted orchards in the
month of July is as follows :

Depth in soil.

First foot

Cultivated.
Per cent.

. 64

Tons per acre.

128

Uncultivated.
Per cent. Tons

43

per acre.

86

Second foot

58

116

44

88

Third foot

64

128

39

78

Fourth foot . . .

6.5

130

5 1

102

Fifth foot

67

134

34

68

Sixth foot .

. 6.0

120

4.5

00

Totals, six feet 6.3 756 4.2 512

This shows a gain of nearly fifty per cent of soil moisture by cultiva-
tion.

Necessity of Adequate Cultivation. — It has been very fully dem-
onstrated by California experience that adequate depth of tilth must
be attained. The depth of cultivation, or the thickness of the dust-
mulch, as some like to call it, must be sufficient to prevent the access
of the dry air to the firm soil below. At the East, where they have a
moister air a thin mulch may answer, but in California, with a thirsty
air for such a protracted period, there must be deeper tilth. Two or

*Bulletin 121.

130 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

three inches of dust spread over a hardpan layer formed in some soils
by cultivation, will not retain moisture well in California. The cultiva-
tor should go twice that depth, ordinarily, and then the result will be
accomplished if it is done frequently enough to prevent the re-firming
of the surface by atmospheric moisture or by the rise of moisture from
below. The exact significance of depth in the loose, surface layer has
also been demonstrated by moisture determination in the subsoil at
different points by the California Experiment Station, as follows :

Percentage of Moisture in Cultivated Loam Soil.

Depth.
Three inches . .

Niles.
54

Santa Maria.
53

Venturia.
83

Six inches

6.3

8.5

9.3

These may be accepted, probably, as average results : Variation
may occur in soils of different characters. The capillarity in a heavy
soil is vastly greater than in a light soil. The difficulty of securing a
pulverized surface layer is also greater in the heavy soil. The poorer
the pulverization, the deeper the layer must be. Naturally, then, grow-
ers' practice will vary. The rule will remain that there must be depth
enough to secure effective protection of the firm soil beneath from
agencies promoting evaporation.

Loss of Moisture by Weed Growth. — One of the most active
agencies for the exhaustion of moisture from the subsoil is the growth
of weeds. To cultivate the soil in winter and spring, and then to allow
a summer growth of weeds to "shade the soil" is a great error. Al-
though under cover of rank weeds moisture many appear even at the
surface and convey the impression of moisture-saving, the fact is, as
fully demonstrated by experience and actual experiment, the moisture
in the lower layers of the soil is reduced and trees are thus robbed of
their supply. Weed growth must be resolutely suppressed during the
dry season, if one has to operate by rainfall or desires to make best
use of irrigation water.

Moisture Storage in the Soil. — Conservation of moisture in the
soil is not only the surety of the current season's growth and fruitful-
ness, but is the safeguard against injury from the years of deficient
rainfall which occur now and then in California. The moisture supply
is equalized by this storage of the soil, and a surplus from the liberal
rainfall of one year is held over to supply the lack of the next. Of
course, the well-cultivated surface is also well calculated to catch water.
While from a hard surface much of a heavy rainfall flows off quickly
to a lower level before it can penetrate, a loose soil, if sufficiently deep,
retains all that falls upon it, except the excess, which disappears by
drainage.

It has sometimes been held by California orchardists that planting
some tall-growing crop, like corn, so as to shade the young tree and
the ground around it, is an advantage. This is a great mistake. Though
some rich, moist soils may afford moisture enough to grow both the
tree and the corn, it is a fact that in most cases the growth of the corn

INTER-CROPPING IN ORCHARDS 131

is made at the expense of the tree, and sometimes almost costs its life
and thrift. It has been amply shown by investigation that though shad-
ing ground by a leafy growth may make the surface layer of the soil
moister, the lower layers are invariably made drier, and it is in these
lower layers that the tree seeks its sustenance. The young tree should
be shaded as has been described in the chapter on planting, and not by
a growing plant.

GROWING CROPS BETWEEN TREES AND VINES

The possible advantage of a cover growth of clover in regions of
high heat and ample moisture has been noted at the opening of this
chapter. The rule, however, must be : Grow nothing whatever between
the trees if you desire the full success of the latter. As with all rules,
this one may admit of exceptions.

Inter-cultures in orchard or vineyard may be allowed under certain
conditions of the soil and the purse of the grower. If the soil is deep
and moist and rich, the cost of planting and cultivation, and sometimes
more, may be made by growing a crop among your trees. Of course,
if irrigation is available, much more can be done in this direction than
if dependent upon natural supplies of water.

There is much difference as to crops in amount of injury they may
do to the trees. Growing alfalfa, without irrigation, has been known to
kill out an orchard, and yet alfalfa growing in an orchard under condi-
tions may be a great advantage, as described in the next chapter. Grain
is less dangerous, but still is objectionable, both because of exhaus-
tion of soil and moisture, and because of danger to trees from heat
deflected from strow and stubble. The crops least injurious, because
of their requirements, and because of the constant cultivation of them,
checks the loss of moisture by evaporation are corn, beans, potatoes,
beets, carrots, etc., squashes, and other members of the melon family,
onions, and other shallow-rooting vegetables. In the growth of these,
however, there should be a width of several feet of well-cultured soil
on all sides of the tree, unoccupied.

In soils exceptionally rich and deep, and where rainfall is abundant,
inter-cultures of small fruits or vegetables may be carried on for a
long series of years with profit both from the trees and the inter-culture.
In similar deep, rich soils, with irrigation, immense crops of small
fruits and vegetables, even as high as twelve to twenty-four tons of
tomatoes per acre have been taken from between orchard rows, and
one hundred and fifty sacks of onions per acre from between the rows
of a strawberry plantation. In Ventura county some fields of lima
beans, in favorable years, have paid over $70 per acre — grown between
young trees. In other parts of the State considerable amounts of peas
for sale to canners are grown between the rows in young orchards.
This crop is especially desirable when good sale is assured, because the
plant is hardy and can make a good part of its growth during the rainy
season and the ground be cleaned up and well cultivated early in the
summer. As beans and peas are legumes, their roots enrich the soil,-*
as will be noted in the chapter on fertilization.

132 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

How Exhaustion by Inter-Culture May Be Avoided. — But all

inter-cultures are a loan made by the trees to the orchardist. The term
may be very long and the rate of interest very small in some cases, but
sooner or later the trees will need restitution to the soil of the plant
food removed by inter-cropping. This may be accomplished by the
use of fertilizers. Still the rule that the trees or vines should have all
the ground is generally true. It is also true that on merely ordinary
soils, trusting to rainfall, or on shallow soils, trusting in part in irriga-
tion, the trees or vines should have the full strength of the land and all
the help which can be given them in the shape of thorough cultivation.

METHODS OF TILLAGE

In general terms the main objects of tillage of orchard and vine-
yard are two : Winter cultivation for moisture reception, and summer
cultivation for moisture retention.

Wherever early winter plowing can be done without too great
danger of soil washing, it affords the best available means of admitting
water to the great reservoir in the lower levels a deep soil. Too fre-
quently large volumes of rain water, enriched by air-washing as it falls
and by fine soil-particles as it flows, are allowed to run off into the
country drainage, with the double loss of fertility and moisture to
the fruit grower. Deep penetration of winter rains should be, in all
safe ways, promoted. Cultivation for retention has already been
strongly urged and is quite generally recognized.

To serve these main purposes there are two main divisions of prac-
tice in this State, each of which has variations of greater or less
importance.

First : Winter plowing followed by frequent use of cultivator and
pulverizer in summer.

Second : Use of cultivator at intervals both winter and summer,
following, if needed, with pulverizer in the summer.

The main features of each division of practice, and some of the
claims by which each method is supported by its advocates, will be
noted.

Plowing Orchard and Vineyard. — There is considerable varia-
tion in the practice of plowing orchard and vineyard, in the kinds of
plows employed, and the times chosen for the work. Some plow but
once, toward spring, whenever the ground is in suitable condition;
and, if there is much growth of weeds and clovers, a looped chain is
run from the plow to the end of the evener to aid in drawing under
the tall growth. Sometimes, however, the growth gets so rank before
the soil is in condition to plow that the weeds are mown before
plowing. Where but one plowing is done, the soil is usually thrown
away from the trees and afterwards is leveled back by harrowing or
cultivating. If this practice is adopted, care should be taken that the
soil is properly returned about the tree roots, for injury is sometimes
done by bringing the roots too near the surface, which is soon after-
wards intensely heated by the sunshine.

POINTS TO GAIN IN PLOWING 133

It is undoubtedly better practice to plow earlier, when the green
stuff gets a good start, but is still not too high to turn under handily.
In this practice the weed stems are less woody, and they easily decay
and act as a fertilizer. Where early plowing is practiced, it is usual
to plow again when the second growth of weeds reaches the proper
state in the spring. When two plowings are given, the earth is usually
thrown away from the trees in the first plowing, and returned toward
the trees in the second plowing. But this order is sometimes reversed
in situations where rainfall is heavy and the soil retentive, for the dead
furrow between the rows often acts as a surface drain to carry off
surplus water, which is thus prevented from standing around the tree
roots. In all modes of plowing it is desirable that before the summer
heat comes, the surface be leveled as completely as possible.

Too much stress can not be laid upon the importance of plowing
when the soil is in good condition and not otherwise. To disregard
this is bad enough in all soils, but it is a grievous mistake to work
any of the clayey soils when they are out of condition. If too wet,
they are puddled by the plow and dry down in hard clods, impenetrable
by air, and even resist water itself for a long time. When clods are
thus formed, it may require long effort to bring the soil back to a good
friable condition. The cultivation of adobe is one of the problems of
California agriculture. The more refractory it is, the more particular
care is needed to take it when it is in proper condition to work. To
work it when perfectly dry is simply impossible, and if it is plowed when
too wet and sticky, it becomes hard, lumpy, and altogether unmanage-
able. The condition which favors best results by tillage must be learned
by experience.

Another mistake apt to be made where the orchard or vineyard
is but one of the branches of a mixed farm, is to put aside the plowing
until all the field work is done, and in some seasons the soil in the
orchard has become so dry that it turns up in large clods which are
afterwards partially reduced by the harrow, but never put in the fine
tilth which should be secured for the retention of moisture and other-
wise to encourage the growth and productiveness of the tree.

Breaking up Hardpan. — Those who advocate the use of the plow,
claim several advantages for it. The chief is that more thorough tilth
can be secured. In most, but not all soils, there is formed by cultiva-
tion an artificial hardpan at whatever depth the implement attains, if
this depth can be kept the same for many successive cultivations. This
hardpan, in some soils at least, becomes impervious to water and is
otherwise an injury to the growth of the trees. It occurs in irrigated
and unirrigated land alike, but probably is more quickly formed by
irrigation. When continuous summer cultivation is practiced, the hard-
pan will be found at whatever depth the teeth uniformity reach. The
remedy is to plow in winter just below this hardpan layer and thus
break it up, and then by the action of the air and rains it is reduced,
and cultivation may proceed as before. Where the hardpan is formed
by the plow, the ground should be plowed shallow one year and deeply-
the next, thus alternating from year to year.

134 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Green Manuring. — Another advantage in the use of the plow is,
as has already been mentioned, the turning under of the growth of
weeds, grass, and clover as a green manure. Many growers attach
considerable importance to this, and some, who have orchards in which
winter growth has been killed out by long cultivation, are seeking for
a quickly-growing crop which they can sow with the first rains and
secure growth enough to turn under with the winter plowing. This
consideration will be further presented in the chapter on fertilization.

Plowing Hillside to Prevent Washing. — Where the slope of the
land is sharp, there is much danger from washing during the rainy
season, if the hillside is not terraced or furnished with ditches carefully
laid out on contour lines to carry the water down on a gentle grade.
The old plan of plowing furrows one above another around the hill to
check the flow and let the water down easily, is often found treacherous
unless one is able to strike good grades, because of the liability to col-
lection of water at certain points and the subsequent breaking away
and washing. Recently some of the foothill growers have adopted the
plan of plowing furrows seven or eight feet apart straight down the
hill in the direction of its deepest descent. The rainfall is thus dis-
tributed over the ground so that not much water is collected at any one
place and the harm done by washing will not amount to much. Hillside
work differs according to character of soil and of local rainfall and
conference with experienced men in the region will usually afford the
beginner the best suggestions of method. In some localities, the plow-
ing of a few furrows at intervals to assist in penetration and the growth
of a cover crop during the winter to assist in binding the soil, will be
found better than any attempt at the early plowing, which may work
admirably on level lands.

The Best Plow. — For plowing orchards and vineyards many
kinds of plows are used, including the ordinary one- and two-horse
walking plows, single and double sulky or riding plows, and gang plows
of different kinds. Recently disk plows and harrows have become very
popular. In several of the leading fruit districts there are plows made
in the local shops which are patterned to meet the different soils pre-
vailing. Which is the best plow is a question which can not be
answered, it must be determined by local conditions, and the best way
to get information is to consult the experienced cultivators of the
locality.

Avoiding Injury to Trees and Vines. — The great problem is to
use the plow so as not to injure the trees and vines. Injury to the
roots is one ground on which those who advocate the banishment of
the plow from the orchard and vineyard base their opposition, as will
appear more fully presently. It is the usual practice to run the plow
shallower when approaching the stem of the tree or vine, and this is
easily done when using a riding plow or a two-horse walking plow
between the rows and finishing up near the trees with a single-horse
walking plow, which is a common practice. The injury by the plow, to
which especial reference is now made, is that to the bark of the tree or
to the vine stump.

AVOIDING INJURY TO TREES 135

Makers of the special orchard and vineyard plows have recently
made them adjustable so that the plow will work either side of the
central line of draft, and these improved tools have rendered obsolete
the early contrivances for accomplishing the result with common field
plows.

Extensions of disks and of spring-tooth harrows are often made by
attaching the parts to the ends of a central piece in such a way that
the horses walk in the centers and the cultivators work under the low
branches and very near to the stems of the trees. These are chiefly
used with citrus trees whose foliage and fruits are permitted to grow
very near to the soil surface.

Flat Hames and a Spreader. — Among the worst things for use
among trees are the pointed iron hames which are found on most har-
nesses. They often seriously bark the branches under which the horse
passes, and should be dispensed with. An arrangement widely used
consists in having broad leather tugs and hames with only one long iron
loop on the swell of the hame. The tug is passed around the hame and
the end is brought through the iron loop from the under side so that
the draft will hold the tug tight between the collar and the hame and
the end between the iron staple and the pulling part of the trace. A
spreader is put between the tugs ; it is made of a hard-wood stick six-
teen to eighteen inches long; a hole is bored in each end large enough
for a two-inch screw, a hole punched in each trace about twelve inches
from the rear end, and the tugs are screwed to the ends of the spreader,
and the ends of the tugs attached to the plow clevis. This gives no iron
or wooden surfaces at all, either on harness or whifHetree, to strike
the bark.

Improved Singletrees. — Later than these came the orchard and
vineyard singletrees, invented and patened by Californians, which are
widely used and sold in all stores of the fruit growing districts.

Dispensing with Doubletrees. — Still other inventions which
admit the use of two horses even close up to the trees, because they
dispense entirely with whifHetrees and tugs, are known as the steel
harness, Eastern inventions, which have secured the approval of some
of our leading growers, for use in orchard and vineyard. The plow is
attached to the steel yoke by a chain running between the horses. With
them it is possible to work quite close to the trees and vines, and is es-
pecially desirable in the vineyard in working close to the vines when
they have grown out about two feet, which is a difficult job with the
old-style harness.

SUMMER TREATMENT OF PLOWED ORCHARDS AND

VINEYARD

Where the orchard or vineyard is plowed twice during the winter,
the land should remain after the first plowing as the plow leaves it.
The moistening and aeration during the winter have good effect upon
the soil both chemically and mechanically.

If but one plowing is done, when the chief rains are supposed to be
over, there must be full effort put forth to reduce the soil to good tilth,

136 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

and to level the surface as much as possible. This is done by harrowing
with one of the several improved harrows which are now generally in-
troduced and found very effective. They act in cultivating, clod crush-
ing, and leveling, in a most satisfactory manner. They are too well
known to need description. Each has its advocates and its adaptations
to certain soils. As with plows, so with harrows and cultivators, the
best for one soil may not be the best for another, and local inquiry
among experienced fruit growers will be the best guide for the new-
comer. In addition to the excellent implements brought from the East-
ern States, there are others of California invention and manufacture
which have very marked local adaptations, and almost every fruit
region in California has some embodiment of local inventive genius in
the form of implements of tillage.

The secret of success in handling the heavier soils in spring working
is to secure as perfect surface pulverization as possible without com-
pacting the soil. Light soils need a certain amount of firming after
plowing, or else there is too free access of air and too great drying out.
For these and other reasons, the grower has to study his soil and learn
from observation the methods which succeed best with it. The practice
which gave success under certain conditions might not be well adapted
under other conditions. The use of the roller is a striking example of
this fact. In some orchards the roller is a benefit, in others a decided
injury. Its chief effect is compacting the surface layer, which is only
desirable on very coarse open soils. The long-tooth harrow accom-
plishes a very marked compacting of the soil to the depth it reaches,
and often settles the lower layer too closely and causes it to run together
too solidly if rain follows. The modern cultivators, clod-crushers, disk-
harrows, etc., are superior in effect, each in the soil to which its action
is most desirable.

After working down the soil after plowing, the cultivator is relied
upon to kill the weeds, break up the crust which may form after spring
rains or after irrigation, and to prevent the compacting of the surface
layer of the soil from any causes.

CULTIVATION WITHOUT PLOWING

There are orchards in California which have not been plowed for
years — in some cases the plow has not been used since the trees were
planted. Instances of this kind are to be found both in irrigated and
unirrigated land. It depends largely upon the mechanical condition
and disposition of the soil whether the practice will give satisfactory
results. It can not be trusted on land prone to develop hardpan, as has
already been considered, and yet the term "cultivation" has taken such
a wide range in this State, and the tools have reached such efficiency,
that there is not as much difference as formerly between the plow and
the cultivator, except that the former turns the soil and the latter stirs
without turning. For some who oppose the .use of the plow, use a
chisel-tooth cultivator, cutting to a depth of eight inches in the spring,
but at other times of the year they are not more than half as deep.
This treatment would tend to dispose of hardpan. However this may

PURPOSES OF CULTIVATION 137

be, and what the special nature of their soils, there are fruit growers,
both in northern and southern California, who have for years trusted
almost wholly to the cultivator, cutting to a depth of three or four
inches, and keep their orchards throughout the year almost in the same
state of tilth, never allowing a weed to grow. This practice is, how-
ever, becoming less prevalent, and for certain soils the question is
practically settled in the minds of nearly all orchardists, while for other
soils there is still doubt. For the heavier soils, which continuous shal-
low cultivation is apt to render too compact, it is necessary to have re-
course to the plow to open the land for proper aeration and penetration
of moisture which otherwise would be largely lost by surface run-off.
The lighter soils do not require this and they seem to do well with con-
tinuous use of the cultivator. It is beginning to be clearly seen, how-
ever, that this treatment tends toward the decrease of the humus and
the consequent impoverishment of the soil. Its water-holding capacity
is also lessened. These facts have induced some growers to change
their practice and to take up the plow during late winter or early spring
to cover in the growth of green stuff which they allow to grow instead
of frequently destroying it with the winter use of the cultivator. Either
the fall and spring plowing, or both, followed by the summer use of
the cultivator, the most rational and satisfactory practice for most
of our deciduous orchards, though there are local conditions and cir-
cumstances under which different procedure is preferable.

SUMMER CULTIVATION

Whatever the winter policy may be, the essential point in summer
cutivation is to preserve the surface layer of pulverised earth. It will
not do to have a few inches of clogs, from the size of a pea to that of a
goose egg, resting on a hard surface. The finer the pulverization the
shallower can be the surface layer, and vice versa, and this is probably
one reason why in practice the work of the plow is, in so many situa-
tions, found the best foundation upon which to rest the years' cultiva-
tion.

In order to secure this finely-pulverized layer, it is sometimes neces-
sary to use what is called a "rubber," where there are many clods which
are merely displaced by the harrow or cultivator. There are different
styles, and they are generally home-made. The most common form is
made of two-inch plank in lengths of three or four feet, bolted or spiked
to pieces of four-by-four-inch scantling running crosswise, the edges
of the planks lapped like the clapboards which are used for weather
boarding. As these edges are drawn over the surface, the clods are
rubbed into tilth if they are not too hard and dry.

But this rubbing may be very undesirable if it leaves the surface
smooth and polished. It may reflect the sunheat even to tree-burning,
and is apt to form an evaporating surface, which is most to be avoided.
The best finish for the land is that produced by a light, fine-toothed
harrow, and an attachment of this kind is provided with various clod
crushers and cultivators. The result is a surface af loose earth, flat and
fine, which approaches very closely an ideal condition.

138 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

There is less difference than formerly in the use of the harrow or
cultivator during the summer. Still some are content to use the culti-
vator only as a weed-killer, and after the weeds cease to grow and the
spring showers are over, the cultivator is laid aside and the land left
unstirred until the following winter. This, of course, refers to unirri-
gated ground, for wherever irrigation is practiced a cultivator must fol-
low, except on hillsides; where the surface is left undisturbed after the
irrigation furrows are made until the beginning of the dry season.
It is a fact, however, that even if no rain falls, the soil becomes com-
pacted to a certain degree, and the best way to imprison the greatest
possible amount of moisture below is to run the cultivator at intervals
all through the dry season. It should run shallow and only stir the sur-
face layer. The experience of the most successful growers is that fre-
quent stirring without, however, bringing new soil to the air, is the
best-paying practice.

WHAT IS THOROUGH CULTIVATION

As clean, thorough cultivation has been approved, it may be desir-
able to attempt to define the term. It can, however, only be approxi-
mately done, because of the great difference in individual views and
practices. Some indication of the operations which are contemplated
may be had in the following specifications upon which contracts have
been let for care of orchard : First, plowing away from the trees, fol-
lowed by harrowing; second, plowing toward the trees, followed by
harrowing; ten summer workings with cultivator; three working with
shallow cultivator or weed-cutter; five hand hoeings around the trees.
The contract intends the most complete and perfect working of the soil
and specifies the above merely that there may be no difference of opin-
ion between owner and contractor.

In cases where the land is infected with morning-glory, weekly cut-
ting with sharp, flat teeth beneath the surface is stipulated for in some
cases, and this seems about the only way to cope with this formidable
trespasser.

CULTIVATION FOR WEED KILLING

Cultivation for weed killing is a minor consideration in California,
because cultivation for moisture conservation effectually disposes of
most of them, and weeds do not start readily in the earth-mulch during
the dry season. There are, however, a few most persistent pests which
require heroic measures. Johnson grass and morning-glory are the
most prominent of these. The only successful treatment consists in
cutting constantly with a weed-cutter (a sharp horizontal knife), oper-
ated so as to pass under the whole surface and run so often that the
plant is never allowed to show a shoot on the surface. It is of no use
merely to cultivate or "weed-cut" as for other weeds. This spreads
the pest more and more ; but if the rising shoots are continually cut
under the surface, and never allowed to get the light, it will kill the
plant surely, but it may take two seasons to do it. Weed-cutting knives

SOIL COVERING TO HOLD MOISTURE 139

of this description are usually contrived by local smiths and are attached
to sleds or fitted with plow handles, or used with a pair of thills and
cultivator handles or other rigging as the operator may choose. The
vital point is a blade of sheet steel, very sharp and rigged to run just
under the surface. It must be used as often as once each week.

MULCHING A SUBSTITUTE FOR CULTIVATION

The use of a mulch or covering of the ground with a litter of light
materials to prevent evaporation, is practised to a small extent in this
State. Though mainly used for berries of different kinds, recourse has
also been had to mulching by vineyardists. The materials used are
various, such as partly-rotted straw, coarse manure, damaged hay, corn-
husks, corn-stalks, vine prunings and leaves, and even fine brush from
adjacent thickets. The practice has been found of greatest value on
hillsides where cultivation is difficult, and danger of washing of loose
soil is great. There are cases where vines have been grown several
years in this way to the satisfaction of the owner. The danger of fire
in our dry climate when the surface is covered to a depth of several
inches with a dry mulch is considerable. As a rule, the mulch employed
by the California grower is a perfect pulverization of the surface soil.

CHAPTER XIV

FERTILIZERS FOR TREES AND VINES

It was a popular doctrine among early Californians that California
soils would never need fertilization, and that there is something in our
soil and climate which releases us forever from repaying anything to
the ground for the wealth of produce which we take from it. Such a
view is, of course, without foundation, and yet it is not difficult to see
how it arose. Early attempts to enrich the soil by the turning under
of coarse stable manure, as is done in other countries, was undertaken
here on light soil in a region rather short of rainfall. The manure did
not decompose, and its coarse materials made a soil, already too light
to retain moisture well, so open and porous that its moisture was quickly
carried away by evaporation, and crops did not grow so well as upon
adjacent land which had not been manured. So the fiat went forth
against manure. The corrals* became undisturbed guano deposits, and
manure piles were fired in dry weather to get the soil poison out of the
way. Innumerable tons of bones were gathered and ground in San
Francisco and shipped away to countries which need fertilizers.
Nature did much to foster the popular delusion, for field crops were
gloriously large, and trees and vines grew rampantly and bore fruit the
weight of which they were unable to sustain. How could there be more
conclusive evidence that manure was a detriment to California soils ?

A few decades of experience have swept away such fallacies and
now California growers, especially those handling citrus fruits, are not
only freely investing in commercial fertilizers but are buying and ship-
ping considerable distances all available animal manures. They are also
untiring students of the art of fertilization and the sciences underlying
it. It was in response to their demand that the California Legislature
of 1903 passed a fertilizer control law giving the University Agricul-
tural Experiment Station regulation of the trade in fertilizing materials.
All dealers are required to register and submit samples of their brands
and there is constant inspection to detect departures. Semi-annual re-
ports are published for public information and these, with special in-
structions for taking samples when purchasers desire analyses on their
own account, can be had by application to the Experiment Station at
Berkeley. The total amount of sales reported under the law for the
year ending June 30, 1912, was 50,995 tons.

It is foreign to our purpose to discuss the general subject of the use
of fertilizers in California, and the changes in belief and practice which
have recently gained ground. Of course, the marked falling off in the
yield of shallow-rooting cereals gave the first unmistakable intimation
that there was nothing wrong about the old theory of the perpetual
youth of California soils. The lands used for fruit are sometimes slow
to show exhaustion, because trees are deep feeders, and the soils, as
they are often the very best and deepest of the State, selected for fruit
because of that very character, possess, in an eminent degree lasting

*Inclosures for livestock of any kind.

140

WHEN TO USE FERTILIZERS 141

properties, as is shown in the chapter on the fruit soils of California.
But certain of these soils are already showing the need of refreshment,
and intelligent growers are quick to minister to the lands which are
giving them such generous returns, as they can well afford to do.

WHEN IS FERTILIZATION NECESSARY?

Though the use of fertilizers by our fruit growers is beginning, it
should be plainly stated that at present, except perhaps with citrus
fruit trees, or the oldest orchards of other fruits, it is not yet the rule
that such applications are necessary. There are some soils which are
really too rich for fruit. There is sometimes an over-rank growth of
wood, which delays or prevents the formation of fruit buds, and there
is a marvelous development of fruit which is inconsistent with the high-
est quality. For this reason the grower should not conclude, from the
foregoing general remarks concerning the need of fertilization in Cali-
fornia, that he must manure his soil whether it needs it or not. Espe-
cially is this the case with young trees, in which the wood growth is
easily over-stimulated. As with irrigation, so in fertilization; the tree
or vine itself will give the observing grower hints as to its needs, and if
the growth of wood and color of foliage are such as obviously indicate
health and vigor, it may be concluded that the plant needs nothing but
good cultivation and intelligent pruning.

Usually cases of over-rich ground will cure themselves as the trees
attain size and full bearing, and it is then that fertilization may be
necessary. When the tree or vine which has been properly pruned and
cultivated is not able to mature a good weight of well-developed fruit,
and make a satisfactory wood growth, usually at the same time showing
some degree of distress by the color of its foliage, it needs help ; and
if the grower is sure that the trouble is not from lack of moisture in
the soil, he should bestir himself in the manuring of his orchard or
vineyard. In examining the soil for moisture, one should dig deeply, for
there have been cases of moisture near the surface, and drouth below.

WHAT FERTILIZERS APPLY TO FRUIT TREES AND VINES

A discussion of this subject from a chemist's point of view is
beyond the scope of this volume. The results of research at the Uni-
versity Experiment Station at Berkeley are summarized in the treatise
on soils by Dr. E. W. Hilgard, who maintains the position that the
most intelligent and economical choice of fertilizers is to be made
after ascertaining by analysis in what constituents the soil is deficient
and in what it is well supplied. Some applications made in conformity
with suggestions based upon analysis have proved very satisfactory.
But as soils vary within narrow limits of area, there must be analysis
for each soil in question.

Approaching the matter of choosing fertilizers without soil analysis,
the method by local trial is open. In this recourse there is danger
of error, as pointed out by Dr. Hilgard, arising from local differences
in soil and subsoil, and must be checked by several check plots so
interposed between the others as to not only check them by direct com-

142 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

parison, and to prevent the washing of fertilizers from one fertilized
plot to another, but they must also be compared, first of all, among
themselves, to determine what is the normal product of the unfertilized
land. It will frequently be found that these unfertilized check
plots differ more widely between themselves than do the fertilized
ones from them or from each other. Systematic experimentation,
on plots arranged to avoid such errors, has been continued for several
years by the University Experiment Station in the citrus district of
Southern California. Results from this work, not yet available, can
be secured, when ready, by correspondence with the Station at Berkeley.
It is also hoped by this work to secure some knowledge of what specific
effects on growth or fruiting are caused by the use of particular sub-
stances. Statements now freely made along this line are largely
conjectural.

From these statements it must appear that the prescription of
fertilizers is not an easy matter. Disappointments will naturally be
encountered, but unquestionably the advantage is on the side of patient
trial and wise investment in fertilizers honestly made and honestly
sold. The observing grower must learn all that he can from experience.
It is obviously the duty of the grower to constantly study fertilizer
questions as presented in books and journals and to be alert for obser-
vation of the behavior of his own trees with the applications he may
make. The publications of responsible fertilizer manufacturers and
dealers, also convey important information when read discriminately.

Though the deficiencies of the soil, as learned by analysis, or by
practical test, must be the basis of prescription of fertilizers, the
analyses of fruits, as showing the special needs of the plants, are of
the highest importance. The following analyses of the different fruits,
containing in each case, skin, pulp, and seeds, are almost entirely from
California-grown specimens, and are supposed to represent an average
composition of the fruits named.

Quantities of soil ingredients withdrawn by various fruits

Compiled from analyses by G. E. Colby, University of California.

Fresh Fruit
100Q Pounds.

Total Ash
Pounds.

Potash
Pounds.

Lime Phosphoric Acid Nitrogen
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds.

Almondst

17.29

9.95

1.04

2.04 7.01

Apricots

5.08

3.01

.16

.66 1.94

Apples

2.64

1.40

.11

.33 1.05

Bananas

10.78

6.80

.10

.17 .97

Cherries

4.82

2.77

.20

.72 2.29

Chestnutst

9.52

3.67

1.20

1.58 6.40

Figs

7.81

4.69

.85

.86 2.38

Grapes

5.00

2.55

.25

.11

.26

Lemons

5.26

2.54

1.55

.58

.51

Olives

13.50

9.11

2.43

1.25

).60

Oranges

4.32

2.11

.97

.53

.83

Peaches

5.30

3.94*

.14*

.85*

.20*

Pears

2.50

1.34

.19

.34

.90

Prunes, French

4.86

3.10

22

.68

.82

Plums

5.35

3.41*

.25*

.75*

.81

Walnutst

12.98

8.18

1.55

1.47 5.41

t Including hulls. * Estimated.

HOW TO USE BONES FOR FRUIT TREES 143

FIRST AID TO THE INJURED SOIL

Based upon the clear characteristics of California soils as already
indicated in the chapter on that subject, Dr. Hilgard advises that any
large-scale fertilization should begin with phosphates and nitrogen,
and, should this not prove fully satisfactory, then with potash also, this
being the order in which these substances are likely to become deficient
in most of our soils under cultivation. In the course of time potash
fertilization will become widely necessary in this State; in fact some
California soils are naturally deficient in potash.

AVAILABLE SUPPLIES OF PHOSPHATES

Phosphatic manures which are clearly promotive of freer fruiting
of trees and vines, are now being supplied to fruit growers by
importers and manufacturers located in various California cities, and
results attained by their use are such as to warrant continuance. They
are bone and rock phosphates, which are transformed into superphos-
phates, and with nitrogenous matter added, serve as good applications
both for growth and fruiting.

Home-Made Bone Manures. — Much good bone manure can be
made by collecting bones, heads, horns, feet, etc., from butchers' shops
or elsewhere. How to make such material available, by simple proceed-
ings, is described by Prof. Hilgard as follows :

1. Bones put into a well-kept (moistened) manure pile will themselves grad-
ually decay and disappear, enriching the manure to that extent.

2. Raw bones may be bodily buried in the soil around the trees; if placed
at a sufficient depth, beyond the reach of the summer's heat and drouth and
cultivating tools, the rootlets will cluster around each piece, and, in course of a
few years, consume it entirely.

3. Bones may be packed in moist wood ashes, best mixed with a little quick-
lime, the mass kept moist but never dripping. In a few months the hardest bones
will be reduced to a fine mush, which is as effectual as super-phosphate. Con-
centrated lye and soil may be used instead of ashes. In this process the nitrogen
of the bones is lost, going off in the form of ammonia, the odor of which is
very perceptible in the tank used.

For neither of these processes should the bones be burned. The burning of
bones, is an unqualified destriment to their effectiveness, which can only be undone
bv the use of sulphuric acid.

4. Bones steamed for three or four hours in a boiler under a pressure of
thirty-five to fifty pounds, can, after drying, be readily crushed in an ordinary
barley-crushing mill, and thus be rendered more convenient for use. Practically,
very little of the nitrogen (glue) of the bones need be thus lost.

POTASH

Though, as already stated, potash is commonly in good supply
in California soils, it is very clear from experience that additions of
potash, perhaps in more available form, are advisable. The fruit
analyses already given show that the use of this substance by fruit
trees and vines is very large. Recent experiments seem to indicate
that potash ministers directly to the quality of the fruit in some cases.

144 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Ashes from wood fires are the most available source of potash, but it
is a mistake to regard wood ashes as valuable only for their potash
contents. Professor Storer has found by analysis of a number of
samples of house ashes, that selected samples contain 8^2 per cent of
real potash, and 2 per cent of phosphoric acid, or say 4l/2 pounds of
potash and one pound of phosphoric per bushel. Hence there is
enough potash and phosphoric acid to make a bushel of ashes worth
twenty or twenty-five cents, and besides that, some ten or fifteen cents
additional may not be allowed for the "alkali power" of the ashes, i. e.,
the force of alkalinity which enables ashes to rot weeds and to ferment
peat.

These facts suggest to the fruit grower that he should carefully
preserve all home-made wood ashes and apply them to the soil at once,
or, if stored for future application, be sure that they are kept dry.
Leached ashes from the lye barrel, or ashes from open piles, leached
by rains, are hardly worth handling. Coal ashes are almost devoid
of fertilizing properties, though, if finely divided, as in the case of
coals burning completely, their use is beneficial, mechanically, on clay
soils, in the same way that fine sand would be.

The chief supplies of potash salts are now brought from Germany,
but a strenuous effort is being made to develop a local supply from
sea-weeds and by developing deposits in the arid regions of this
country.

NITROGEN

Nitrogen ministers directly to the vegetative activity of the plant
and this is a wonderful stimulant of wood growth and foliage. Sup-
plies of this substance can be had from animal manures, which will
be considered later. The effect of stable manure upon the soil and
the plant is notably strengthening and restorative. For this reason
money and effort are often well -expended in securing it even beyond
the cost of the equivalent of the plant food which it contains. Another
natural form of nitrogen in cover crops or green manures will be
discussed presently. Of commercial forms of nitrogen, tankage and
dried blood are highly esteemed for orchard use, and there is large
use also of Chile saltpeter, which contains about sixteen per cent of
nitrogen, in immediately available form. From two to four hundred
pounds per acre is the usual application, and it should be evenly dis-
tributed over the ground, not collected near the trees. Sulphate of
ammonia is another available source of nitrogen obtainable in com-
merce; a good commercial article contains twenty per cent and over
of nitrogen. It does not, however, act quite as rapidly as the Chile
saltpeter. A suggestion of caution in the use of nitrogenous manures
will be given presently.

LIME, GYPSUM AND MARL

Lime is another substance usually abundant in California soils,
but still often desirable as an application. This is, notably, the case
on our heavy clays or adobes, where, as has already been mentioned

VARIOUS FORMS OF LIME 145

in another connection, the use of lime as a top dressing, at the rate of
six hundred to one thousand pounds to the acre, not only makes the
heavy soil more friable, but acts upon and makes available the large
amount of organic matter which such soils usually contain. Lime also
renders inorganic materials more available for plant food, corrects
acidity, and may destroy insects and fungi. Application of lime is
also desirable after applications of barnyard manure have been made
for several years; and it is especially valuable wherever, in alluvial
soils rich in vegetable matter, there is an excessive growth of wood
and leaf. Usually light soils are not materially benefited by the use
of lime.

Ground limestone is gaining standing as a fertilizer. It acts less
vigorously and -more slowly than burnt lime or hydrate of lime in
improving heavy soils, but it serves a good purpose in overcoming
sourness in loams, silts or sands. It should be used in double the
amounts prescribed for other forms of lime.

Gypsum. — Gypsum, or land plaster (sulphate of lime), occurs
in considerable quantities in this State and Nevada. It acts directly
in correcting soils made alkaline by presence of carbonate of soda.
Applied to soils not alkaline, gypsum sets free potash, magnesia, and
ammonia, which may be present in insoluble form; and it also causes
potash to be transferred from the upper to the lower layers of the
soil, so that roots can everywhere find a store of it. Hence its special
value when applied to deep-rooting plants. The reason why gypsum
is so capricious in its action, which was long a mystery, is now held
to be clear, because upon soils that are tolerably rich in fixed potash
it will do good service, while upon soils poor in potash it will not. In
any event gypsum is to be regarded as an excitant rather than as a
form of plant food.

Of the several uses of gypsum, probably its chief value lies in its
power as an absorbent. If added to manure in excess it delays fermen-
tation, and it is, therefore, not a desirable addition to the compost heap.
But for covering fermenting manures or scattering around moist places
in horse and cow stables to absorb odors and fix volatile manurial
substances it is of value. Gypsum does not correct acidity nor does it
promote decay of organic matter as other forms of lime do.

Marls. — Marl is a calcareous earth, and is called shell marl, rock
marl, earthy marls, etc., according to its origin and mechanical condi-
tion. A number of samples from different parts of the State have been
analyzed and some of them commended for local application to soils
needing lime, but they are usually not valuable enough to warrant
hauling far.

BARNYARD MANURE AND COMPOST

Where fruit growing is carried on with stock growing, there are
abundant supplies of manure available, but this combination is not
characteristic of California, though prevailing to some extent, and
likely to be more prevalent as fruit planting extends farther from the
centers which are wholly given to it. But even in the fruit centers

146 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

there are certain amounts of material available from the animals that
are kept for cultivation and hauling, or to be had, often, for the
expense of hauling from adjacent towns.

As already stated, coarse, unrotted manure can seldom be used to
advantage in this State, unless it be plowed under in the fall in heavy
soils with ample rainfall, or on lighter soils, perhaps, if well irrigated.
So great, however, is the demand for humus-enrichment of soils that
all available supplies of stable -cleanings are readily sold in towns in
the citrus districts to go considerable distances by rail to the orchards.
Thus fresh manure is largely used, although either finely divided or
well-rotted manure is superior. Corral scrapings, which are usually
the first resource when the idea of manuring springs up in a neighbor-
hood, are not always well decomposed, but they are finely divided, and
therefore decompose readily as compared with coarse straw, which,
it is said, has been found practically unchanged even after lying two
years in a dry, loose soil. It is, therefore, of the greatest advantage to
prepare barnyard manure with care for use in this State by some such
method as will be described below, which includes composting, thereby
turning to account nearly all organic material likely to be available.
This advice is obviously for the use of the orchardist who keeps live-
stock rather than for the large commercial grower.

Clean up all the manure on hand just before the fall rains, putting the same
on the land, and either cultivate it in or plow it under. What manure accumu-
lates during the winter pile in a snug heap some five or six feet in depth, and
throw it over some three or four times during the winter to keep it from
burning, as well as to thoroughly mix it and thereby hasten decomposition.
Put horse, cow, hog, chicken and every other kind of manure that can be had, all
together. Never burn anything that will rot, but haul to the pile corn-stalks,
roots, and all squash, melon, tomato, and potato vines, etc., as well as weeds of
every description ; in fact, anything and everything that will decay and make
vegetable matter. Use fresh horse manure mostly to hasten the decomposition of said
vines, weeds, etc., alternating as the heap is made. By so doing there will not
be a weed seed left with vitality enough to germinate. It is well to have
manure piles under a roof to avoid leaching during the longest and most
excessive rains, but so situated that some of the rain falling on the barn can
be easily conducted to the piles, giving them just the amount of water necessary
to wet thoroughly without leaching, and no more.

Treatment of Manure Without Composting. — Even when com-
posting all refuse vegetable matter with the manure is not thought
worth the time and trouble, it is just as important to properly treat the
manure when stored alone. This can be easily done by some such plan
as is described below by an owner of a small fruit farm :

Collect the stable manure in a large bin and keep it wet enough to prevent
burning or "fire-hanging." With a bin, say ten or twelve feet square and five or
six feet high, built convenient to the barn, the manure can be placed therein and
watered from time to time with much less trouble than it can be composted with
other material. This, of course, presupposes the ability to run the water through
a hose or by natural flow. Care must, of course, be taken that too much water
be not supplied, causing the substance to be leached from the pile. But in my
own experience I find the danger is at the other extreme, and when I open my
pile I sometimes wish I had used more water. In filling the bin leave one end
or side open as long as possible, for convenience of filling.

Barnyard manure and compost carefully prepared in some such
way as described, and applied before the rains or early in the rainy

SHEEP AND POULTRY MANURE 147

season, to be turned under at the first plowing, will be in condition
to be readily assimilated, and will not injure any soil. Where no
composting is undertaken it is rational to apply the manure during
the rainy season directly to the land if the rainfall is not large and
the land fit to haul over. During the dry season the manure can be
spread in the corral and tramped into dust by the stock because as long
as it remains dry no losses by fermentation can occur. Near the end
of the dry season, the corral should be scraped and all the material
spread on the land. In this way the cost and trouble of manure piles
can be avoided.

Sheep Manure. — The proximity of the orange orchards of South-
ern California to extensive sheep ranges led to large use of the manure
from sheep corrals until supplies were practically exhausted. After-
wards large deposits in the San Joaquin Valley were opened and the
material which has shown value by analysis in one case of above $14
per ton, is finally ground and placed upon the market in a business
way. One deposit mined for several years by George C. Roeding
& Co., of Fresno, was several acres in extent, and at some points the
material was ten feet deep. Such deposits can seldom be found now
except in remote parts of the State.

Sheep manure is usually counted richer and quicker, though not so
lasting in its effects, as stable manure. Being highly nitrogenous, too
free use of sheep manure tends to excessive growth of wood, especially
on young trees. Old bearing trees may be benefited by such a
stimulant.

Poultry Manure. — Poultry keeping on fruit farms is a good
combination providing the fowls are not confined on too small areas
for this is apt to render the soil sour and foul and may cause trees to
be unthrifty. Poultry manure can be used to advantage with fruit
trees if applied sparingly, for it is a concentrated manure, as is sheep
manure. On the average clear hen manure, free from dirt and trash,
may, when fresh, average about 1 per cent nitrogen, 0.80 per cent
phosphoric acid, and 0.40 per cent potash; in other words, 20 pounds
nitrogen per ton, 16 pounds phosphoric acid, and 8 pounds potash.
This contains 55 per cent moisture and when thoroughly dried might
contain about half as much, which would make the amounts of plant
foods just double what is stated above. At the values usually given
for these plant foods, such manure might be worth about $10 per ton.

VARIOUS WASTE PRODUCTS

The care advised in saving and treating barnyard manure, hen
manure, bones, ashes, etc., should be extended to other waste products
of the farm. Soapsuds should be allowed to run to adjacent trees
unless used in the flower garden, but not too long upon the same trees,
for it may kill them. Peelings and corings of fruit, cut for drying,
should be fed to pigs, and the resulting manure secured. It is not wise
to corral the swine in a dry run in the summer and allow the manure
to be sluiced out by the winter rise of the stream.

148 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Prunings. — Prunings of the orchard and vineyard should be
burned between the rows, in small piles, so as to distribute the ashes
well. Danger to adjacent trees may be avoided by using the portable,
home-made tin shields on the sides of the fires. It is not wise to carry
all the prunings to the side of the highway and burn them there and
allow the ashes to be lost. Vineyard prunings are sometimes cut up
with an arrangement like a straw-cutter, which reduces them to bits
about an inch in length. They are then scattered over the surface of
the ground, turned under at the next plowing, and soon decay. The
use of cut prunings on the lemon orchard has already been mentioned
in the chapter on Pruning. Where, through lightness of soil and short
rainfall, the woody fiber does not readily decay, burning upon an iron
sled about ten feet long are practiced. At its front is a V-shaped iron
rod, to which a horse can be hitched. On the sled are flaring sheet-iron
sides and perforated bottom. This is filled with brush, a fire kindled,
and as the horse moves forward fresh brush is added, while the ashes
by its motion are sifted out very evenly all over the vineyard.

Refuse from Wineries. — The fermented husks, stems, and seeds,
all containing valuable fertilizing properties, are often spread on the
road and in holes, where it is of no account whatever. If scattered
over the vineyard, much valuable substance would be returned to the
soil. Professor J. L. Burd, of the University of California, estimates
the contents and value of this somewhat variable substance as follows,
value increasing as water percentage decreases :

Water Potash. Phosphoric Nitrogen. Value.

%. Acid.

Sweet pomace 50.00 12.6 2.80 19.1 $4.59

Fermented pomace (impressed) . . . 70.59 7.4 3.98 9.6 2.49

Fermented pomace (pressed) 54.92 16.6 5.0 17.6 4.60

Mixed barnyard manure 75.00 11.4 6.0 11.4 3.15

Grape pomace (old) 21.00 21.4 17.90 33.60 8.67

The figures of potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen are the num-
bers of pounds of each in a ton of pomace, and the value is that of a
ton. The barnyard manure is, of course, inserted for comparison.
Grape pomace, particularly when fresh, is likely to be acid, and it is
desirable that the acidity be neutralized with freshly slaked lime. The
use of large quantities of fresh grape pomace without this preliminary
treatment might act unfavorably upon soil and plants.

Other Waste Products. — There are available from various manu-
factories different waste products which can not be specified. When
any such material comes to the notice of the fruit grower, he should
seek advice from the Agricultural Experiment Station, at Berkeley,
as to the probable value of the material, and its special uses.

CAUTION IN USE OF FERTILIZERS

Besides the injunction already given against application of fertiliz-
ers when the soil is already quite rich enough to produce good fruit
and plenty of it, it should be noted that manures unduly rich in animal
matter should be used with caution, as they may over-stimulate the

METHODS OF APPLYING FERTILIZERS 149

plant, delay or reduce fruiting, injure the quality of the fruit, and
possibly engender disease in the tree or vine. Monstrous size and
puffiness of oranges is clearly due in some cases to excess nitrogenous
manures. Excessive use of soluble fertilizers like nitrate of soda may
kill plants or trees outright.

The effect of excessive use of stable manures, or other manures
very rich in nitrogen, upon the products of the vine has been frequently
noted as destructive to bouquet and quality.

METHODS OF APPLYING FERTILIZERS

Suggestions concerning proper application of barnyard manures,
both to young trees at planting and to bearing trees and vines, have
already been given. The same conditions which cause slow decomposi-
tion of stable manures apply to any fertilizing material which is not
readily soluble in water. All such material should be in a finely divided
state. Surface applications of ground bone will, in the dry climate of
California, lie practically unchanged for a long period. Ground bone
should be plowed in as deeply as can be done without injury to the
roots of trees and vines, and then, if the surface is kept cultivated, it
will lie in moist strata and decompose, or be seized by the searching
rootlets. On the other hand, super-phosphate, or other really soluble
chemical fertilizers, will produce immediate results, and can be most
economically used on light and easily permeable soils, on which falling
water sinks and does not flow over the surface. In leachy soils a part
of such fertilizers might be carried down beyond the reach of shallow-
rooting plants, but there is little danger of this in the case of trees
and vines.

When superphosphate is used on irrigated ground, it is sometimes
drilled in to prevent its being carried along with the running water.
One way is to run a chisel-tooth cultivator ahead of the drill and to
drill in the fertilizer as deep as feasible to do without injuring the
roots. Spring application of fertilizers are conveniently made by
spreading upon the vegetation which is plowed under at that season.

Manures with Irrigation Water. — Distribution of fertilizers by
using the flow of irrigation water is described by A. S. Chapman,
as follows:

We shovel sheep manure into the irrigating ditches, allowing each tree to
receive about twenty-five pounds at each separate irrigation. Our basins cover
the entire surface of the ground. We make no effort to choke such weeds as
clover, alfilerilla, and the like; but the irrigator with his hoe destroys the
obnoxious nightshade, hoarhound, and nettle.

In the fall of the year we follow with copious liming — about three barrels of
unslacked lime to the acre — applied in the following manner at the head of our
irrigating ditch : We plant a box (about three feet wide, six feet long, two
feet deep) six inches under the surface of the running water. In it we place a
barrel of the lime. It slacks and swells to twice its original bulk. A man stands
on this with his hoe and sees that the water carries it off evenly. With an
irrigating head such as we use, a man will run into the ditch four barrels a day,
or about three barrels to the acre. We have a considerable fall, and the water
runs very rapidly; but it takes up all the lime and the water runs white, like
milk.

150 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

We now leave the orange orchard till spring, when we plow under the
weeds, manure and lime. We thus aim to supply our soil with nitrate of lime,
potash and magnesia. Carbonic acid gas is absorbed by the water and attacks
the inert plant food in the soil; hard-pan is prevented both by the mechanical
effects and the vegetable matter and the lime.

The basin method of irrigation, to which allusion is made, will be
more fully described in the following chapter.

FERTILIZING MATTERS IN IRRIGATION WATER

Water used for irrigation may carry in solution injurious sub-
stances, as, for example, alkali, as will be noted in the following
chapter; or it may carry very valuable fertilizing properties. These
facts can only be determined by analysis. Professor Hilgard has
found that the water of one creek in Alameda county carries to the
land it irrigates about half a grain of potash in each gallon, which
means that if twelve inches of such water were used on the ground
during the season, each acre would receive therefrom about twenty
pounds of fully available potash. At Riverside a crop of oranges
requires about forty-two pounds of potash per acre, of which the
amount the irrigation water used in that case contained thirty-five
pounds, beside other matters required by plants. These things have
a definite cash value in the market ; and this value the irrigator gets
as a free gift in addition to the water. Even in the case of the Nile, the
sediment is only part of the sum of fertility conveyed by the river.

GREEN MANURING OR COVER CROPS

Green manuring consists in plowing under a growth of weeds or a
sown crop to secure by its decay a contribution of humus to the soil.
Plants grown for this purpose are currently called "cover crops"
because they cover the soil instead of allowing it to remain bare in
"clean culture" of orchard or "bare fallow" of grain fields.

All plants by their decay in the soil add organic matter to it, and
this matter is of nitrogenous character, but leguminous plants do this
and a great deal more, through their exclusive ability to use atmos-
pheric nitrogen gathered by the bacteria which cause nodules upon
their roots. There is also special value in deep-rooting legume in soil
amelioration. As has already been stated, where moisture is ample
for both alfalfa and trees this plant is being used for a permanent
cover of orchard ground as a substitute for clean culture. This is
being successfully done to some extent with almonds and walnuts, as
with other fruits also. In the San Jose districts apricot trees have
been grown for several years in irrigated alfalfa, with a gain in the
product of the trees. Alfalfa can be used for a certain time even when
its permanent stand is not desirable, for it is not difficult to destroy
alfalfa with a well-sharpened plow, although the roots may have
attained considerable thickness. Of course this practice depends upon
moisture supply ; where that is not abundant, clean culture for moisture
conservation is unavoidable. But where moisture in excess of the

COVER-CROPS OF GREEN MANURES 151

needs of the trees is available it will be used in future indirectly for
their benefit in ways we are only just beginning to discern, and one of
these is likely to be the summer growth of legumes in the orchard.
Cow peas on moist or irrigated lands may be used in this way.

A summer cover crop in California, however, except where irriga-
tion water is cheap, may never be practicable. The wider problem
is to secure the best leguminous plant which will make a heavy growth
during the winter months, so that it can be plowed in early in spring
and the ground put in shape for the thorough surface pulverization
to prevent evaporation of moisture during our long, dry summer.
For this reason we can not use many plants which are used for green-
manuring in humid climates. Crimson clover, cow peas, etc., do not
make good winter growth unless the temperature is relatively high
and frosts few and light. They make exuberant growth for a time in
the spring when heat is adequate and moisture abundant, but at that
time it is too late to grow crops for plowing under because the soil is
too dry for their decay and their presence tends otherwise to the loss
of moisture and makes it very difficult to secure a good surface tilth.
The greatest care must be had not to allow a growth either of cover
crop or of weeds to stand too long or its covering will do more harm
than good. Hardy legumes are therefore the desideratum both for
winter forage and green-manuring. The common "burr clover"
(Medicago denticulate,) is proving very satisfactory in some parts of
the State, the "Canadian field pea," the winter vetch, the hairy vetch
and fenugreek are coming into quite wide use in orchards in different
parts of the State. Which plant is best in any locality must be deter-
mined by its local behavior. In some places native lupines make a
good natural cover crop. If local conditions do not favor growth of
legumes, a good winter cover of rye or other hardy grain may be
grown. It will serve the same purposes, though, perhaps, to a less
degree.

A Matter of Local Study. — The recourse to cover crops in the
orchard or vineyard should be approached with a disposition to careful
study and experiment. Unless it is done in the right way it is likely
to be disappointing and the right way involves both the selection of
the best legumes and the best ways to grow them. Scant growth,
cloddy soil, loss of moisture and condemnation of the practice are likely
to result from ill-considered methods. On the other hand, success
with cover crops results in such numerous and important advantages
that the wide introduction of them must be looked upon as one of the
most important advances in California horticulture during the last
decade.

Nothing more emphatic can be stated in support of green manuring
under the proper conditions than a description of the role played by
organic matter in soils. Professor C. B. Lipman, of the University of
California, prepares such a description as follows :

1. By its binding action on the soil particles and by its sponge-like
absorptive power, organic matter makes sandy soils more retentive of
moisture.

152 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

2. By its light, yet bulky mass, it prevents the extremely fine par-
ticles of clay soils from running together and becoming cemented, and
improves the essential feature of aeration in heavy soils.

3. Organic matter contains most of the nitrogen found in soils
and all plants except the legumes are absolutely dependent on it for
their supply of that essential element.

The greater ease of tillage of soils enriched with organic matter is
a matter of universal experience. Besides such a contribution, cover
crops may be claimed to confer such specific benefits as these :

4. Organic matter is the source of energy and the laboratory in
which the important beneficial soil bacteria manufacture available plant
food and bring about other changes of importance to plants.

5. Through its decomposition by soil micro-organisms, organic
matter acts as a source of carbonic acid and other weak acids which
help to dissolve and make available the mineral matter necessary to
the growth of plants.

While growing they probably assist in preventing the radiation of
heat from the ground in time of a freeze. They do away with the
cultivation of the ground during the winter months.

Each of these reasons suggests a chapter of discussion and explana-
tion which can not be indulged in. Every reader should keep himself
up to date in this progressive subject by thoughtful reading of our
horticultural journals, proceedings of our horticultural assemblies,
and the publications of the University of California Experiment Station.

CHAPTER XV
IRRIGATION OF FRUIT TREES AND VINES

Whether fruit shall be grown with irrigation or not is a local and
specific question, and it must be answered with due regard for several
conditions, among which are: First, the minimum local rainfall;
second, the depth and character of the soil and subsoil; third, the
situation and environment of the ground on which the fruit is to be
grown ; fourth, the kind of fruit which it is desired to produce.

These conditions are all correlated, and a knowledge of them all is
necessary to an intelligent decision as to correct practice in any given
locality. For example, the amount of rainfall which is adequate in one
locality, or in one situation, even, may be quite insufficient in another,
because, first, one soil may be deep and fairly retentive, into which
roots can penetrate and find abundant moisture; second, another soil
may have sufficient depth, but be so porous as to lose its moisture by
evaporation, or so leachy as to lose it by drainage; third, still another
may be shallow, and quickly dried out under a fervid sun, or quickly
drained by reason of a sloping substratum of rock or hardpan, while
another similar soil, differently situated, may receive abundant moisture
from the drainage of the slope above it ; fourth, possibly in all the soils
cited there might be adequate moisture for deciduous fruits, but citrus
fruits would require irrigation; or enough for young, but not for
bearing trees.

Thus it appears that even to decide whether a location has sufficient
rainfall for the growth of fruit without irrigation, one must pass
judgment upon all the conditions first mentioned. It is hardly worth
while, then, to discuss such a topic upon theoretical grounds, or to
attempt to answer the general question, Shall irrigation be employed
in the growth of fruit ? The true guide is enlightened local experience,
and the true test is the growth of the tree and the excellence of its
fruit. So long as the grower is able to secure every year a generous
amount of good-sized and excellent fruit by natural rainfall, he need
concern himself very little about irrigation; if his tree shows distress,
and his fruit, even when properly thinned out, is not up to market
standards every year, he may do well to provide himself with irriga-
tion facilities, either for constant use or to supplement rainfall when
it is occasionally deficient.

Of course it is not commended that the grower wait until the tree
shows signs of distress before applying water. This is a very bad plan
of proceeding, but the visible language of the tree is mentioned as indi-
cating that the tree needs help, either at regular intervals or occasion-
ally, and after such a warning the grower should be able to tell by
examination of the soil and by study of the local rainfall record when
this need will occur, and apply his water in advance of the need.

Recent experience has enabled fruit growers in all parts of Cali-
fornia to arrive at a truer conception of the relation of irrigation to the
153

154 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

growth of fruits. Many who long scouted the suggestion that irriga-
tion was necessary for deciduous fruit trees in their districts, have
found that water, in addition to the rainfall, was very profitable, either
to enable large, bearing trees to produce larger fruit, or to maintain in
full vigor their later summer growth and to make strong fruit buds,
which insure the following year's production. It has also been widely
demonstrated that a tree which is adequately supplied with water, no
matter whether it be directly from the clouds or through the irrigating
stream, yields fruit of better size, aroma, flavor and carrying quality
than a tree which, from any cause, falls even a little short of an ade-
quate supply. It is clear then that neither irrigation nor non-irrigation
are in themselves principles, but are merely methods to be employed
when conditions demand the one or the other.

Several claims against irrigated products may be stated and opposed
in this way :

(1) The claim that nursery trees grown by irrigation are, from
that mere fact, inferior is based upon experience in transplanting trees
unduly forced by over-irrigation. Immense growth from the bud in a
single season of an inch and a half in diameter and ten feet in height
tempted buyers who wanted to get as much as possible for their money.
The result of setting out such trees created a strong prejudice against
irrigated nursery stock. It is now clearly seen that moderate, thrifty
growth is the ideal in a young tree, and if the soil does not hold rainfall
enough to secure this, water enough to secure it must be applied.

(2) The claim that irrigated fruit lacks aroma and flavor is based
upon observation of monstrous, insipid fruit forced into such abnormal
character by excessive irrigation. Growers who concluded therefrom
that irrigated fruit was necessarily inferior, denied water to their trees
and gathered small, tough, unmarketable fruit, because there was not
enough rainfall to enable the trees to perform their proper function.
As it is now conceded that the highest quality, including the delicate
aromas and flavors, can be secured only by adequate moisture, it matters
not how long since it fell from the clouds nor by what route it reaches
the roots of the trees.

(3) The claim that irrigated fruit could not endure shipment was
based upon the bruising and collapse of fruit which was unduly inflated
by over-irrigation. The best fruit for shipping is the perfect fruit and
that is secured as just stated. The fact that the greater part of the
fresh fruit shipped across the continent from California has been more
or less irrigated, according to the needs of different localities, has
settled the point beyond further controversy.

(4) The claim that canners objected to irrigated fruit was based
upon the early experience with over-irrigated fruit, which lacked
quality and consistency. At present the canners encourage irrigation
and all other arts of growing which bring the product up to the
standards they insist upon.

(5) The claim that irrigated fruit is inferior for drying has the
same foundation as the preceding claims and is just as clearly based
upon misapprehension. Watery fruit is obviously inferior for drying
but such fruit is the fault of the irrigator, not of irrigation. One of

QUANTITY OF WATER REQUIRED 155

the plainest deductions from experience is that small, tough fruit makes
unprofitable dried fruit, and that the best development of the fruit is
essential to the best results from drying. Many comparative weighings
have shown that the greatest yield in dried form has been secured
from trees which have had water enough to produce good, large fruit.
Even to bear fruit for drying, then, the tree must have moisture enough
to develop size and quality. If lacking moisture, the tree serves its own
purpose in developing pit and skin and reduces the pulp, in which lie
the desirability and value of dried fruits.

Of course the water should be applied at proper times, in proper
amount, and in a proper way.

HOW MUCH WATER SHOULD BE USED?

This is by its very nature an elusive question and any attempt to
answer it by a definite prescription is more apt to produce folly than
wisdom. For as it appears that whether irrigation is at all needed or
not depends upon several conditions which must be ascertained in
each place, so the amount of water, which is really an expression of the
degree of that need, depends also upon local conditions of rainfall, of
soil depth. and retentiveness, of rate of waste by evaporation, of the
particular thirst of each irrigated crop, etc. The result secured by the
use of water is really the ultimate measure of the duty of water in each
instance. In the case of fruit trees and vines, then, whatever amount
of water secures thrifty and adequate wood growth and strong, good-
colored foliage, but not excessive or rank growth; and abundance of
good-sized and rich, but not monstrous and watery fruit, is the proper
amount for that place and that product, — and to the ascertainment of
that amount by local experience of himself and others, the grower
should employ his most earnest thought and his keenest insight.

During recent years the writer has continually renewed his data
of the irrigation practice of California fruit growers by systematic
inquiry and has prepared four bulletins* which have been published
by the Irrigation Investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

A study of local practice shows that infinite! variety exists and in
the nature of the case must exist, and that any definite prescription
of the duty of water under various conditions is impossible. In some
cases the amount of water at each irrigation must be small, and appli-
cations frequent because the soils are shallow, overlying bedrock, and
a small amount saturates them. In other places an acre-foot of water
is readily absorbed and retained in the deep soil. The annual rainfall
also has little relation to the amount of irrigation, because neither fine
shallow, nor deep coarse soils, can retain the volume of water which
falls upon them during the rainy season. Then the varying rate of
evaporation, the character of the tilth, etc., enter as factors and it
becomes clear that he is fortunate who knows how much water to use
on his own place.

*Farmers' Bulletin No. 116, "Irrigation in Fruit Growing;" Farmers' Bulletin No. 138,
"Irrigation in Garden and Field;" Bulletin of Experiment Stations No. 108, "Irrigation Prac-
tice Among Fruit Growers of the Pacific Coast;" annual report of irrigation and drainage
investigations, 1904, "Relation of Irrigation to Yield, Size, Quality, and Commercial Suitability
of Fruits."

156 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

It is interesting to note that results of close inquiry by the Irrigation
Investigations of the U. S. Department of Agriculture to ascertain the
amounts of water used by measurement of water running in main
ditches and by estimate of the acreage to which the water is applied,
do not agree closely with the growers' estimates of the amounts of
water which they actually use. There are, of course, always issues
between water-purveyors and water-buyers which can not be entered
upon in this connection. A rough conclusion from data secured from
the ditch flow, etc., is that from 12 to 30 acre-inches of water are used
annually in irrigated orchards and vineyards, according to local condi-
tions involved. It is quite clear that the amounts chiefly used would
not be the average but would tend toward the lower figure. The
details of these inquiries are found in the publications on irrigation of
the Office of Experiment Station, U. S. Department of Agriculture.*

RELATION OF RAINFALL TO IRRIGATION

The amount of rain and the time it falls are clearly the most
important factors in determining the necessity for irrigation. Absence
of rainfall makes a desert of the richest soils at all elevations and at
all exposures. Its only remedy is irrigation. But there are degrees of
poverty in rainfall, and thorough tillage will often lessen the ill effects
of a scanty supply, so that an oasis may be made to appear without
water beyond that supplied from the clouds. This is the triumph
of tillage in the arid region which is to be considered in another
connection.

The line between adequate and insufficient rainfall can not be
closely drawn. In the growth of common orchard fruits, irrigation is
not resorted to at a number of points where the local rainfall sometimes
is as low as 15 or 16 inches, but with less than that amount, unless
the soil receive additional moisture by underflow, it is essential. On
the other hand, irrigation is regularly practiced in some localities where
the rainfall sometimes rises to 45 inches. Under average conditions
of soil depth and retentiveness, the amount of rainfall which may be
considered adequate for deciduous orchard trees under good cultivation
is about 20 inches. So definitely is this amount fixed in the minds of
some California growers as meeting the needs of the tree for satisfac-
tory growth and fruitage that, when rainfall for a season is less than
that amount, irrigation is at once resorted to to supply the shortage.

But owing to local conditions of soil and climate, the rainfall, no
matter how large, may not be relied upon to carry the trees through
the dry season. The fact is that the soil is not capable either of re-
ceiving the heavy rainfall or of long retaining such portions as actually
enter it. There is, then, a considerable part of the rainfall which is
worse than worthless, because it does injury by soil washing and soil
leaching, and places where extremely heavy rainfall occurs may be
actually worse off than other places with less rainfall. Some localities
of large rainfall lead in amounts of water supplied by irrigation. The

*Definite citation is not made because these publications are continually appearing with
additional data on the effective use of water. The whole series should be examined.

WATER-REQUIREMENTS OF DIFFERENT TREES 157

converse is also true, for some localities of light rainfall report success
with deciduous fruit trees with a minimum amount of irrigation water.

Deciduous Fruits. — Without making too much of individual
reports there appear instances enough to warrant the conclusion that
the deciduous fruit tree can winter successfully with a small moisture
supply and is, in fact, in less danger from lack of moisture than from
over-supply at this time of the year. If there be enough moisture to
prevent injury from evaporation, the tree will start good growth as the
season advances and continue it if irrigation is given promptly and in
sufficient quantity. There must always be a determination of what is
an adequate supply by reference to local conditions, but as an estimate
of necessary rainfall has been made at 20 inches, it is evident that ade-
quate irrigation may be very much less than that. The rainfall of 20
inches is distributed through six or seven months. Some of it consists
of light rains, with long, dry intervals, where there is slight penetration
and quick evaporation. Some of it is lost by run off and by drainage.
It is not surprising, then, that some growers having deep valley loams
to render their irrigation effective, report success with deciduous trees
with 8 or 10 inches of water applied just at the time of the tree's
greatest needs and used, no doubt, with maximum efficiency. It seems
to be a warranted deduction, from all data known to the writer, that
10 inches of water, applied at the right time to soils of good depth and
fair retentiveness, and accompanied by good tillage for conservation, is
an adequate supply for five months of growth and fruiting even when
the rainfall is only about enough to prevent drying out during the
winter season. Some growers report use of less than this. Certainly
less will do for young trees under favorable conditions, and some of
the least amounts are reported from the newly planted regions. As
the trees advance in age and bearing, larger amounts will be required.
Instances of greatest frequency of application may be taken as indicat-
ing soils lacking retentiveness, either through shallowness or coarse-
ness, or either of these accompanied by extreme summer heat and
aridity.

Citrus Fruits. — As these trees are evergreens, and as their habit
is to make their chief fruit growth in the autumn after the work of the
deciduous tree has been finished for the season, the irrigation season
for them is much longer. As they are, in fact, almost always active
and sustaining uninterrupted evaporation from their leaf surfaces,
they must always be provided with moisture or ill will result to tree
or fruit. They thus require more water than do deciduous trees.
There is the same relation between irrigation and rainfall with
citrus, as with deciduous fruit trees, but the degree of relation is
different. Many trials have shown that it is practically impossible
to grow satisfactory citrus fruits without irrigation, unless there be
underflow, and this is attended by the usual difficulties of high
ground water and undesirable. There is no combination of heavy
rainfall, or winter irrigation, and soil retentiveness which will sup-
ply the summer and autumn thirst of the orange or lemon in Cali-
fornia. Irrigation, too, must be maintained both summer and win-
ter wherever the rainfall is not well distributed and adequate. In

158 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

the chief citrus regions of the State rainfall is seldom adequate ex-
cept during January and February, and not always then. Under
such conditions an estimate of the average requirements of citrus
fruit trees in bearing would be about 20 inches of irrigation, irre-
spective of rainfall, although there are localities of larger rainfall
and more retentive soils where crops of these fruits can be made
with 10 inches used at just the right time.

RELATION OF SOIL TO IRRIGATION

As already stated, the desirability of irrigation is unquestion-
ably, in many cases, conditioned upon soil depth and character.
This relation has received careful attention from soil physicists,
and an understanding of it involves problems of plant growth and
the movement of water in soils, the leading facts of which are avail-
able in popular form.*

Analysis of such phenomena can not be undertaken in this con-
nection but a few striking contrasts in existing practice are very
suggestive.

On the famous river-bank fruit land of the Sacramento Valley,
with loams of great depth and good retentiveness, and with an aver-
age rainfall of approximately 20 inches, irrigation is resorted to only
in years of minimum rainfall, when the precipitation is perhaps only
about half the average. At nearly the same level, as already cited,
where the soil is shallow and overlies hardpan, irregular irrigation
is required. But still more marked contrast is found in the foothills
within sight of these valley fruit lands, where with twice the aver-
age rainfall irrigation must begin early in the summer and continue
until autumn is well advanced, because, first, the slope is so rapid
that much rainfall is lost by run off; second, the soil is too shallow
above bed rock to hold much water. Even here, however, there
comes in a local variation of measurable effect. When the soil lies
upon vertical plates of bed rock much water is retained between
them, and is capable of being reached by tree roots, while soil lying
upon flat plates of rock has no such subterranean reservoir. In the
foothill region there also occurs exceptional exposure from slopes
facing the midsummer sun in an atmosphere whose dryness is but
slightly ameliorated by the influence of air currents from the coast.

In the valley and foothill contrast, just cited, the unirrigated
valley looks up to the irrigated foothills. There are also places
where unirrigated hillslopes look down upon irrigated valleys. The
uplands of San Diego County are nearer the coast than those above
the Sacramento Valley. They, too, have a rainfall usually ample
for deciduous fruits suited to their elevation. Their rolling plateaus
of deep soil, free from excessive heat and evaporation which occur
on the highlands farther inland and 500 miles farther north, produce
very successfully without irrigation. In this region, however, the

*Relations of soils to climate, U. S. Dept. Agr., Weather Bureau Bui. 3. Water as a
factor in the growth of plants, Yearbook U. S. Dept. of Agr., 1894, p. 165. Some interesting
soil problems, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1897, p. 429. The movement and retention of water
in soils, Yearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1898, p. 399. The mechanics of soil moisture, U. S. Dept.
Agr., Division of Soils, Bui. 10.

CULTIVATION AND IRRIGATION 159

rainfall in the valleys below is often less than the needs of even the
deciduous fruit trees, and waters flowing from mountain snows
through a region of unirrigated uplands must be used to irrigate
them.

Still another striking contrast, and one involving another and
wholly different factor, is found in the San Joaquin Valley. Near
Visalia 2 feet above river bottom and 4 feet above the surrounding
plains, there is a large area of deep alluvial soil with much decayed
vegetable matter. The land is moistened by underflow from the
river, and, though the rainfall is but 7]/2 inches, deciduous fruits are
grown without irrigation. In the same county, and only 18 miles
distant, there are areas of rich loam mixed with granitic sand 16 to
18 feet deep. In this locality, though the rainfall is 11*4 inches, irri-
gation is practiced freely, as the loss of moisture in summer is very
great.

RELATION OF TILLAGE TO IRRIGATION

Tillage, particularly during the dry season of the year, under
some conditions, directly determines the need of irrigation, and is
to a certain extent, as the popular phrase goes, a substitute for irri-
gation. Under all conditions surface tillage by promoting con-
servation of soil moisture, is determinative of the actual duty of
water, whether it be from rainfall or irrigation. The effect of fre-
quent surface tillage has been accurately determined by investiga-
tion and experiment, both in humid and arid regions. These experi-
ments fully support the view taught by the experience of about half
a century in California, in accordance with which thorough tillage
has been so widely practiced in the arid sections as an essential to
successful fruit growing1.

As already maintained in Chapter XIII, the relations of tillage to
soil moisture include both reception and conservation. For the re-
ception of moisture, deep work with the plow, and sometimes with
the subsoiler also, is almost indispensable. To retain this moisture
and to prevent, as far as possible, its escape into the thirsty air of
the arid region by surface evaporation, less depth and more thor-
ough surface pulverization are required. Recent practice has been tend-
ing toward deeper summer cultivation, so that, as previously claimed, 5
or 6 inches of loose, finely divided soil is now obtained where formerly
half that depth was considered adequate. It has also been shown
that frequent stirring of this fine surface layer checks evaporation,
even when no water is applied to compact the surface or where no
weeds grow to draw upon the soil moisture. In a word, the aim
of tillage in the arid region, so far as it relates to moisture supply
in the soil consists in opening the soil to rain, or to irrigation, and
in subsequently closing it to evaporation. These are the principles
which were recognized and applied in California half a century agt>
and are now enjoying somewhat sensational renaissance in the "dry
farming" agitation in the interior of the United States.

A Negative Declaration. — It is interesting that current practice
affords full demonstration of the foregoing claims both positively

160 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

and negatively. The negative argument in favor of moisture con-
servation by clean summer cultivation is found in the fact that
growers in regions of heaviest rainfall approve the growth of cover
crops, like clover, after the trees reach bearing age, and also that
others employ scant summer cultivation, or cultivation for a short
period only. The idea of these growers is that such practices relieve
the soil of excessive moisture, either by the growth of the cover
crop or by facilitating surface evaporation, and so prevent the tree
from being stimulated to too large wood growth, or maintaining
growth so late in the season as to enter the frost period in too active
a condition and with new wood not properly matured. Quite in
contrast with this is the practice, which is gaining ground in the
hottest parts of the irrigated region, of growing alfalfa as a cover
crop for the purpose of shading the soil and thus reducing soil tem-
perature and, perhaps, of avoiding the ill effects of the reflection of
burning sun heat from a smooth surface of light-colored soil, or the ill
effect of "burning out of humus" by clean summer culture. In such
cases more irrigation is needed to supply enough water for the growth
of both trees and cover crop. But at present these exceptions are of
rare occurrence.

Cultivation Not Determined by Irrigation. — The adoption of a
policy of clean cultivation in the dry season is not conditioned upon the
amount of moisture available either by rainfall or irrigation. It is
pursued both where irrigation is practiced and where it is not, and also
where the rainfall is greatest and where it is least. It prevails in the
humid region where rainfall may rise to 60 inches or more, and in the
arid region where it may not exceed one-tenth as much. As a matter
of fact, there does not appear to be a good fruit soil so deep and re-
tentive that it can retain enough even of a very heavy rainfall to effect
good tree growth and fruit bearing if it is forced to sustain the loss by
evaporation from a compact surface during the long dry season follow-
ing. There may be, it is true, soils weak in capillary, in which water
can not rise from a great depth and in which deep-rooting plants may
find ample water in the subsoil, providing it is held there by impervious
underlying strata. There are many more instances where loss by
natural drainage is added to loss by evaporation. But, disregarding
exceptions, the loss of moisture by both drainage and evaporation dur-
ing the dry season is so great that the soil to a depth of several feet
loses practically all the water which is available for plant growth, and
the trees fail or become unprofitable. Loss by drainage can not, prac-
tically, be prevented, but loss by evaporation can be so reduced that trees
and vines will be adequately supplied in spite of the loss by drainage.
Because, therefore, the soil can not retain enough water in its natural
state, no matter how much it may receive, clean summer cultivation,
involving quite complete and more or less frequent stirring to the sur-
face to the depth of 5 or 6 inches, as discussed in Chapter XIII, is the
almost universal practice, irrespective of local rainfall or of irrigation.

Cultivation, However, Determines Success of Irrigation. — The

prevailing motive for cultivation in the dry-summer region is moisture
retention. In this respect good surface tilth is so effective that, though

WHEN TO USE IRRIGATION 161

enough moisture can not be retained without it, so much can be retained
with it that, even where irrigation or rainfall is moderate in amount,
it may serve all purposes of the tree or vine. Thus cultivation enters
into the fruit-growers' practice in the region under consideration, not
to make large rainfall effective as it does in some parts of the region,
but to make moderate rainfall effective, or to make small irrigation
effective, by increasing the duty of water which is applied. It becomes
not only a ruling consideration in the effectiveness of a certain amount
of rainfall, as has already, been suggested in another connection, but it
also determines the success of irrigation and the amount of water re-
quired; for, although it was an early and crude practice to rely upon
irrigation to support uncultivated fruit trees and to irrigate more and
more frequently as the ground became harder from its use, this policy
has now no standing in commercial fruit growing. Not only was it
wasteful of water, but it was otherwise detrimental to the thrift of trees.
Cultivation and Irrigation Work for Soil Improvement. —-Thor-
ough cultivation, both in winter and summer, has other very important
ends in view. It opens the soil and promotes aeration ; it encourages
deeper rooting and thus encourages the tree to take possession of a
greater soil mass both for moisture and other plant food. It is part of
the very valuable policy of increasing humus by plowing under the
natural growth of weeds or specially sown legumes, which is discussed
in Chapter XIV. This affords opportunity to use water, beyond the
amount the trees require, for soil improvement.

WHEN TO IRRIGATE

When to irrigate is governed by local conditions and the needs of
different fruits, and can not be stated in general rules. There are, how-
ever, some principles involved which may be hinted at.

Winter Irrigation. — On lands with sufficient depth of fairly re-
tentive soil, the grower may artificially supplement a scanty rainfall by
thoroughly soaking the land by winter irrigation and then by careful
summer cultivation he will be able to conserve enough water in the soil
to carry deciduous fruit trees or vines through bearing and autumn bud
formation without further water supply. But there are other situa-
tions in which no amount of winter irrigation nor rainfall will suffice
for these ends. There are foothill orchard areas in which the winter
rainfall is two or three times as great as in the valley situations where
fruit is successfully grown without irrigation, and yet water must be
applied in summer on those foothills or the fruit would be unmarket-
able and the trees in distress. The forty or more inches of rainfall
falling on a shallow soil underlaid by sloping bedrock in some cases
nearly sluices the cultivated soil from its foothold, and yet the over-
saturation in winter avails nothing for summer growth, because most
diligent cultivation can not retain moisture enough in shallow soil thus
situated to sustain bearing trees in good crops of full-sized fruit. The
same is true of valley soils underlaid by hardpan. In such cases winter
irrigation could add nothing but distress to the soil over-soaked by rain-
fall, and summer irrigation, well-timed and adequate, is the secret of

162 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

success in the orchard. The same conclusion, although for very differ-
ent reasons, must hold for soils underlaid by gravel or sand, and thus
too rapidly dried by leaching.

But even this generalization must be accepted only for situations
endowed with conditions which justify it. There may be sloping hills
with shallow soil where winter rainfall does not amount to saturation,
Then winter irrigation to supply such irrigation is desirable, and then,
too, summer irrigation in proper amount and at proper intervals, will
also be demanded. Among the foothills, also, there may be localities
with depth of retentive soil in which water enough can be applied hi
winter to carry trees through the year. Thus we come again to the
only safe generalization which can be made, and that is, that every-
where water must be adequate to the demands of the tree at the time il
is needed, and whether it can best be applied in summer or winter, or
both, or whether it is not necessary to make any artificial application
at all, depends upon existing conditions which the grower must ascer-
tain, and to which his policy and practice must conform. It is a fact,
however, that all soils, which under good cultivation are fairly reten-
tive, winter irrigation, when water is most abundant, and usually car-
ries most sediment, can be made to go far toward making summer
irrigation unnecessary for all deciduous fruits.

As to winter irrigation, practice varies, some relying upon a single
heavy flooding by using checks on contour lines, by which, perhaps, a
foot in depth or more of water is allowed to soak into the soil ; others
use the same method of application in winter as in summer, and, there-
fore, give a number of irrigations in winter. There is, of course, much
less danger of injury by water to deciduous growths in winter, because
they are dormant, though an eye should be kept on drainage for exces-
sive irrigation as for excessive rainfall. The grape and the pear are
known to endure long submergence, but some other fruits are sensitive
about it.

Summer Irrigation. — When this shall begin and when end are
to be locally determined. In some places even the earliest fruits can
not reach satisfactory size and quality without irrigation. In others
rainfall with winter irrigation will suffice for proper development of
early fruits, but not for late. In both cases the fruit may be satis-
factory, but the tree unable to hold its leaf vigor until the work of the
growing season is properly completed. It is then apparent that local
practice must vary in order to reach the universal fact, and that is that
all through the active season the tree must have constant and adequate
moisture supply. Many evils in lack of bearing, in dying back, in un-
seasonable activity and the like are due to inadequate, intermittent and,
in some cases, to excessive moisture in the soil.

Cultivation and Irrigation. — Although the relations of irrigation
and cultivation have been freely discussed, it must be remarked in this
connection that with such an extension of irrigation practice as is now
realized, there is danger that those who have previously trusted so
fully upon good cultivation may swing to the other extreme and trust
too much to the stream of water and too little to the plow and culti-
vator. There is a temptation this way when one finds that he can run

HOW TO APPLY WATER 163

water in large amounts very cheaply. Not only is there danger of over-
irrigation in the growth of tree and fruit, but the ill effects of water
upon the soil, when unattended by good cultivation, are constantly
threatened. The tree needs air as well as water ; it needs a certain free
condition of the soil for its best root action. These needs can be amply
secured when adequate application of water is quickly followed by
soil-stirring. Irrigated soil rightly treated is delightfully mellow and
free and of condition to invite the fullest activity on the part of the tree.
Irrigated ground not properly treated becomes compacted, fissured,
cloddy and generally hateful, losing moisture rapidly, setting around
the roots like cement and tearing them by its subsequent shrinkage.
These conditions do not occur on the lighter soils, and yet even these
are best when cultivated in a rational manner.

METHODS OF IRRIGATION

There are various methods employed in California for the convey-
ance and application of water to trees and vines. Some of the principal
ones will be described.

As this writing does not pretend to be a treatise on irrigation engi-
neering, no -attempt will be made to describe the more ambitious under-
takings, which should never be entered upon without the engagement
of a qualified engineer. Nor is it possible to discuss the numerous
devices which are covered by patents. Investment should always be
preceded by visits to irrigation works now in operation, and procedure
should be guided by observation. The hints presented herewith relate
chiefly to things the irrigator can. do for himself.

Free Flooding. — Flooding — that is, the free flow of water over
the whole surface, or the flow between rows with furrows near the
trees to retain the water in the interspaces — is only employed on some
flat lands where winter irrigation is used to supplement rainfall when
the latter is occasionally below normal. In such cases water is available
in large quantities, and the lay of the land favors quite even distribu-
tion. Even under these conditions the experience of growers soon
leads to the adoption of deep furrows or lateral ditches, or some simple
check system, as superior to flooding. Summer flooding is done only
by those who are unacquainted with better methods or who count their
trees of too little account to warrant extra effort. It seems, therefore,
a fair conclusion that flooding is only resorted to as a temporary expe-
dient, and has little standing.

The Check System. — With soils of such character that vertical
percolation is very rapid, flooding in checks, by which water is held
upon a particular area until it sinks below the surface, is considered
necessary. There is a tendency to change from this method to a furrow
system wherever practicable, because the former requires more soil
shifting, a larger head of water for economical operation, more labor
to handle it, more working in water and mud, and more difficult culti-
vation to relevel the land and to reduce a puddled surface to satisfactory
tilth. For these and other reasons, perhaps, on loams of medium fine-

164 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

ness one may find two adjacent growers pursuing different methods,
while on coarse porous loams the check system prevails, and on fine,
retentive loams, the furrow system is without rival.

The check system can be seen on the most extensive scale in the
upper part of the San Joaquin Valley, where the land is so level and
water so abundant that the checks can be measured by acres or frac-
tions of acres. In its most perfect form it is found in Orange County
and some parts of Los Angeles County, where the checks are measured
by feet, rarely by rods. Very large checks are chiefly used for field
crops, although also employed for winter irrigation or vineyards and
orchards of deciduous fruits. With fruits, however, even in the same
district, the tendency is toward using smaller checks carefully leveled
before planting. With the large-check system permanent levees, either
in rectangular form or on the contour plan, are generally used. The
small-check system is chiefly laid off with temporary levees, quickly
made with special appliances and as quickly worked back to a level as
soon as the ground dries sufficiently after irrigation, and the whole
surface kept well cultivated until the time arrives for a restoration of
the levees for the next irrigation. The latter is the leading horticul-
tural mod£. It is carefully described by Mr. Sydmer Ross, of Fuller-
ton, Orange County, California, as follows :

The check system, as carried out in the best-handled orchards, entails much
hard work, but after you are through with an irrigation you know that each
and every tree has had its full supply of water or you know the reason why.
The ground must be cultivated, say, about 5 inches deep, so as to have plenty of
loose soil with which to throw up a high ridge. Then a four or six-horse
"ridger" should be run once each way through the rows, if it is a citrus or
deciduous orchard, or twice should the trees be walnuts, because these trees are
grown about 40 feet apart After this is done the ridger should be run entirely
around the outside of the piece to be irrigated, so as to have as perfect a ridge
as possible on the outside. One man will ridge about 15 acres in a day. The
ridger should be built with a steel plate extending along the bottom on both
sides, bolted to the inside and projecting about 2 inches, so- as to take good hold
of the ground. Then with one horse attached to what is locally known as a
"jump scraper/' one side of the checks should be closed up, for the ridger in
making the cross ridges breaks down the first ridge at its intersection. These
repairs were at first made with a shovel, but the jump scraper, also called
locally the "horse shovel," closes up the gaps very quickly. The practice gen-
erally followed is to close up the high side of the checks if the land does not
cut by running water, but if it cuts, close up the lower side.

After closing up the checks the ditches are plowed out and then the V-shaped
"crowder" is run twice through them. On lands inclined to cut it is advis-
able that they length of the rows to be irrigated should not be over 250 feet, but
in heavy land this distance can be , considerably increased, if necessary, without
danger of cutting the ridges bv too long a run of water.

If the checks have been closed up on the low side of the ridge, it is better
to run the water to the ends of the ditch and water the last row first ; but if
the high side has been closed up, it is best to water first the row nearest the
gate or the main ditch, as the case may be, as in each instance dry earth will
thus be available, if necessary, to close up the checks. The water is run down
the, row to the end tree, and as soon as the last check is filled it is closed up,
and so on till all are filled and closed, when the water is turned down the next
row.

To do good work it is usual to allow three men for every 50 inches of water,
but in our own practice we have had much better results by dividing up our
water and running from 35 to 40 inches to a ditch and allowing two men for

THE CHECK SYSTEM 165

such streams. In doing this we get better work and find it much easier for the
men. If everything is well in hand, each man will irrigate about 30 acres in a
day.

For turning the water from the ditches into the checks metal dams or tap-
poons are used. Some of these have a gate for the division of the water when
the stream is too large and is divided, and two rows are watered at the same
time. The gate is not a great success, as the water is apt soon to cut its way
under the tappoon, but it may be much improved by having a shelf for the
water to drop on after it passes through the opening. The common practice for
dividing water is to throw a tappoon partly across the ditch, putting a gunny
sack on the opposite side to prevent cutting by the water. This is, on the
whole, fully as satisfactory as using the tappoon with a gate.

All who follow this system should get ready for the water before it comes.
A great many seem to think that if they ridge up their land, close up the checks,
and plow out their ditches, everything necessary has been done. Such is not the
case, as ditches that are liable to cut should be fixed in the weak places with
brush or burlaps. Old gunny sacks cut open and spread out are excellent for
this purpose. Occasionally there are places where it is impossible to get a
perfect ridge. These should be looked up and fixed with a shovel. The jump
scraper will not entirely close up a check ; it generally requires a shovelful or
two to complete it. It is usual after the water is turned down one row to
fix up the next one, but it is an excellent plan to have a few rows fixed up
ahead, for there come times when breaks occur and there is not time to make
the necessary repairs, and when water once gets the start there is apt to be
much trouble and hard work before it can be put under control, besides doing
poor work.

After the ground is dry enough to work, the ridges are split with a listing
plow or furrower attached to a cultivator. Then the ground should be run
over with a harrow, setting the teeth to go well in, so as to pulverize the surface
thoroughly. By using the harrow the ground can be worked about one day
earlier than with the cultivator, and it also prevents the ground from baking
till such time as it can be worked with the latter implement, besides doing far
better work than with the cultivator alone, especially when there is much land
to go over, as some of it is certain to get too dry before it can be reached, and
then it will not pulverize well. All trees should be worked around by hand with
either a fork or hoe, as soon after irrigation as the ground becomes dry enough
and before it becomes hard.

Specifications for Homemade Implements for the Check System.

— The following implements, used in preparing the ground for irriga-
tion by the check system, were made on the fruit ranch of J. B. Neff,
Anaheim, California, with the tools ordinarily found on a ranch, and
with but little help from the blacksmith :

The Ridger. — This has sides of 2 by 16-inch pine 7 feet long, stand-
ing 18 inches apart at the rear and 5 feet apart at the front end. The
sides may be made of two 2 by 8-inch pieces with 2 by 3-inch battens
bolted on securely. The front crossbar is of 2 by 4-inch pine 6 feet 2
inches long, and is set 20 inches from the end. The rear crossbar is
of 2 by 4-inch pine 4 feet 4 inches long. It is set 7 inches from the end
of the sides. The diagonal braces are 1 by 3-inch pine 6 feet 10 inches
long. The short side braces are 2 by 3-inch pine 15 inches long. The
lower inside edge should be protected by a strip of steel or iron y$ by
2 inches extending to and around the front ends, which should be
beveled to a sharp adge. The inside should also be lined with sheet
iron 6 or 8 inches above the % by 2-inch piece, and should have sheet
iron pieces extending 16 inches beyond the rear end of the sides, tapered
and braced in the manner shown in the cut, for the purpose of making

166

CALIFORNIA FRUITS! HOW TO GROW THEM

the ridger firmer at the top. Every part of the ridger should be firmly
bolted with ^-inch bolts, except the % by 2-inch iron, which should
have 3-16-inch bolts, and the sheet-iron, which may be put on with
nails. The hooks on sides for hitching draft chain are j£ by lj/2 inches,
and the draft chain is 3^-inch cable chain.

The "Ridger."

For levee making in the check system of irrigating trees and vines.

The V-shaped Crozvder or Ditcher. — This has sides of 2 by 12-inch
pine and cross-brace of 2 by 9-inch pine. The long side is 7 feet 8
inches long and short side 3 feet 6 inches long. This is also protected
by a piece of steel or iron extending entirely around the ditcher and
bolted with 3-16-inch bolts. The sides come together in a point and
stand at an angle of 45 degrees. The brace is placed 2 feet 10 inches
from the point on short side and 3 feet 10 inches from the point on
long side. It also has two handles, as shown in cut, 3 feet long. These

The "Crowder."

Used in the preparation and distribution of water in the check system.

are made of 2 by 3-inch pine reduced so as to hold conveniently. The
sloping handle is bolted to the short side. When in use this implement
stands with the short side elevated at an angle of about 35 degrees,
and a floor is placed in the triangular space so that it will be level when
in use. An ordinary wide clevis is used for the draft and is placed as

IMPLEMENTS FOR CHECKING 167

shown in the cut. A vertical hole may be made in front of the clevis
pin and a small rod driven in to strengthen the hold of the clevis.

The Jump Scraper or Horse Shovel. — This is used for filling gaps
in the ridges, and is the work of the blacksmith. The beams are % by
\Y± inches and 30 inches long from the draft ring to the bend down-
ward. The shovel is of No. 16 sheet-iron, 24 inches long by 18 inches
deep. The handles are those used on any cultivator. The beams are
bent to stand 6 inches forward of a square placed on top of the beams.
The braces are of ^-inch round iron. The shovel is slightly cupped to
make it hold more earth.

The Portable Gate or Tappoon. — These are for shutting ditches,
and are made of No. 16 sheet-iron 2 feet wide and of any desired length,
but usually 3 feet, 4 feet or 5 feet long. The corners are cut off to a
circle, starting about 1 foot back of the corner. The handles are made

The "Jumper/'

Used to complete levees by the "ridger" for the check system.

of 2 pieces of 1 by 3-inch pine, 12 inches longer than the gate, and are
placed one on each side of the sheet iron and secured by Y^ -inch bolts.

The Combined Check and Furrow Method. — An effort to escape
in some measure the puddling of the surface which results from allow-
ing water to sink away upon finely pulverized soil, lies in the direction
of breaking up the soil roughly in the bottoms of the checks, which
facilitates the quick passage of the water into the subsoil. This is done
by running a small plow or three large cultivator teeth attached to a
single frame before the ridger is used to form the levees. Mr. A. D.
Bishop of Orange County, California, uses a combined furrow and
check system, as shown in the accompanying diagram. He furrows
the land first with a three-tooth furrower at right angles to the direc-
tion in which the water is to flow, and then uses the ridger to make
levees in line with the water, laying out the work so as to get the
closest approximation to a level. When the levees are made, the jump
scraper is used and the end of each third or fourth furrow bank is con-
nected with the levees at alternating sides of the check made by the

168

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

levees. This causes the water to flow through the furrows from side
to side and distribute itself evenly over the whole ground. The number
of furrows which can be passed before connecting with the bank de-
pends upon the slope of the land — the nearer level the land the greater
the distance that can be left between the connections, and vice versa. In
this way the water is taken slowly down a grade where it would flow
too rapidly were it admitted to furrows in the direction of its flow.

Another combination of the check and furrow system is found
where the lowest spaces of a slope irrigated by furrows are laid off in
checks to catch the overflow from the furrows and compel its percola-
tion at a point which would otherwise receive too little water. The parts
of a furrow system which lie farthest from the source of supply are

--i 6aRaatM:«ahS
tac*a»tjws<

Combined check and furrow irrigation.

obviously least supplied, because long flow can not be maintained there
without much loss from overflow. Holding the water in checks at the
lower end — usually for two rows of trees — is quite a help toward even
distribution.

The Basin System. — The term basin should be restricted to in-
closures which do not aim at covering the whole surface, but only a
small area immediately surrounding the tree. The check system is
clearly a more rational and perfect method of flooding. When basins
were used on ground capable of irrigation by the check or furrow sys-
tems, it was probably due to a misconception which has prevailed also
in the practice of fertilization, that the tree derived its chief benefit from
the soil immediately surrounding and beneath its bole, and that distant
applications were likely to be wasted. Years ago it was held that the
lateral root extension of a tree was equal to the spread of its branches,

CO

.

THE BASIN SYSTEM 169

but recent investigations have shown that under favorable soil condi-
tions the root extension is vastly greater. It is not reasonable then to
restrict water or other plant food to the region chiefly occupied with
the stay roots and not the feeding roots of the tree, and it is a frequent
observation that basined trees do not do so well and that they show
distress sooner than those under systems which secure more complete
water distribution.

To the basin system may, however, be conceded these possibilities :
( 1 ) Trees may be grown on hillsides too steep for other means of irri-
gation unless the hillside be previously terraced; (2) the basins afford
an opportunity to use a very small stream of water by allowing it to
run for a long time in each basin, thus making a miniature reservoir at
the base of each tree; (3) for young trees a small amount of water
may sustain growth, while with other methods the same amount of
water would be almost wholly lost by evaporation or percolation, or
both; (4) the expense of wider application of water and the necessary
after-cultivation is obviated.

In planting on hillsides, terracing is the foundation of the basin
system. Terraces are plowed and scraped out until they have width
enough to accommodate a line of basins and. a ditch at the foot of each
bank to supply them. The terraces are given a little fall, alternating in
direction so that the water, starting from the ridge above, is dropped
through a box, or otherwise let down, from the low end of one terrace
to the high end of the next, and so on until the stream reaches the bot-
tom of the slope. As a basin is reached it is filled and closed and the
water sent along to the next and so on. As these basins are usually
small and shallow thev are filled two or three times in succession at
each irrigation.

Wherever water can be handled in contour ditches or furrows, ter-
racing should seldom be undertaken for commercial purposes. With
slopes which do require terracing, basins on the steeper parts are
largely made by hand labor, after plowing to loosen the whole surface,
and the operation consists in moving the earth from the upper side of
the tree so as to form a circular levee on the lower side, until the tree
stands in a level, roundish pan as large as can be made without too much
excavation and filling. As the slope becomes less the basins enlarge
and reach a diameter, finally, where the sides can be made by turning
a small horse or mule around the tree with a plow, the rim being further
raised and shaped by hand so as to hold 3 inches or more of water
without danger of breaking away.

The basins are filled with a small stream by ditch or hose or pipe
line, according to the ground and notion of the irrigator. They are
filled at such intervals as the water supply admits or the growth seems
to need. The basin bottom is rarely disturbed. The cracking soil is
finally given another dose of water to close up its wounds ; meantime the
frequent surface soaking puddles the soil and the conditions unfavor-
able to growth arrive sooner or later, according to the disposition of
the soil to run together by water settling. Drying and cracking is
lessened by filling the basin with manure or rotten straw or other light
rubbish, or by a layer of coarse sand on the bottom. As the tree grows
the foliage shades the basin and thus reduces evaporation.

170

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Where the surface is uneven or the soil too leachy to carry water
well in a ditch, portable and adjustable carriers are used to advantage.
Of these, slip- joint pipes of non-rusting metal or of wood, are most
satisfactory and are coming to be largely used.

The Furrow System. — The furrow system is the prevailing
method of irrigating fruit lands except with some soils which can be
better handled with less water by the check system. The furrow sys-
tem has, however, a very marked theoretical advantage in the escape
from saturating the surface soil, which has to dry out again before it
can be cultivated, and it is only with difficulty reduced to fine tilth
after such puddling. Another advantage is in saving the water used

SOUTH FUKROW

NORTH F0KROW

Large furrow.

Large furrow irrigation of orange trees at Palermo, Butte County, Cal.

in moistening soil which has to be dried by evaporation. Other theo-
retical advantages lie in the even distribution of the water with the
least displacement of the soil and the introduction of the water to the
subsoil, where deep-rooting plants should derive their chief sustenance.
It is becoming quite clear that all these theoretical advantages have not
been realized by the furrow system as generally practiced, and a num-
ber of modifications are now being introduced which promise their
fuller realization. The changes now taking place tend toward reduc-
ing the difference between what are known as the "large-furrow" and
the "small-furrow" methods, because the improvement lies chiefly in
introducing the water more deeply in the soil, as will be shown later,
and this is done by using fewer and deeper furrows.

LARGE IRRIGATION FURROWS 171

Irrigating by Large Furrows. — Where one to four furrows are
used, these are large furrows, while the small-furrow system uses from
five to eight or more between two rows of trees. Large furrows are
made with the double-moldboard plow, or with a single plow followed
by the "crowder," or by plowing- out dead furrows between the rows,
etc. Their number depends upon the size of the trees and the fitness
of the soil for lateral seepage. They are wide enough and deep enough
to carry or hold a large stream of water. This method is used chiefly
for winter irrigation on land which is so nearly level that the water
will flow slowly into the furrows and stand there until it disappears by
percolation. It is also used where one or two summer irrigations is all
that is required to carry the trees through. It is obviously adapted only
to land of slight and uniform grade. Irrigation by a single furrow cut
near to the row of trees is a widely prevalent method with young trees.
When the trees are larger, or when inter-cultures are undertaken, the
large furrows are multiplied. In this case the water is admitted to the
furrows from a board flume. Large furrows are often used in a bear-
ing orchard, the furrows being filled from a lateral ditch, this lateral
being parallel to the main ditch. In this case the board dam is used
to divert the lateral into one large furrow after another, and when the
furrow is filled dirt is thrown in to prevent the reflow of the water into
the lateral.

The great variety in large furrow practice is suggested in the fore-
going. A systematic manner of proceeding is that of Mr. A. Trost, of
Palermo, California, as described by himself :

The soil is red, gravelly clay, the upper 12 inches without rocks; below this
the gravel is more rock. At the depth of 3 or 4 feet the red clay changes
into a whitish one and water enters it very slowly. My orchard is 12 acres —
1,120 feet long from north to south and 510 feet from east to west. The north-
east corner is the highest. Here the water ditch enters, and I run my head
ditch along the east side from north to south. There are 51 rows of trees in
that direction, the north and south outside rows being olives. There are 23
orange trees in the row from east to west and 1 olive tree on the west end. All
trees are 20 feet apart. I use 24 miner's inches per day for 5 days in the fol-
lowing manner : I use 4 furrows about 5 or 6 inches deep and about 3 feet
apart between rows, leaving the rows nearest the trees from 5 to 6 feet from
the trunks. The 4 lower rows on the west side I cross furrow with 2 furrows
between the trees. I divide the 24 inches into 51 equal streamlets by using one
gate for each 4 rows. First turn this amount into the furrow south nearest to
tree. When the water has moved to the olive tree, I divide the water between
the 4 furrows for the lower 6 trees and through the cross furrows. The next
morning I divide the water at the tenth tree for the 4 furrows. On the third
day I let only one-half the water go down in the furrow south of tree, the
other in the one north nearest to tree. On the fourth day I turn part of it in
the middle furrows near the head ditch, and by the fifth day I have my place
equally wet from one end to the other, taking care that the top soil near the
trunks of trees remains dry on the surface. I keep the soil around the trunks
of the trees about 2 inches higher for a width of 3 feet. In this way I use all
the water without running any off, and lose only the evaporation. The whole
amount of water used is 120 inches, equal to 10 inches or 130,000 gallons per
acre, or 4.5 acre-inches, or 1,200 gallons per tree.

I irrigate about every four weeks, running the water five days and turning
it on again three weeks after it is taken off. I have irrigated as early as the
1st ^ of April and as late as the middle of October, depending on late rains in
spring and early rains in fall ; usually from five to six irrigations per year. After
four or five days I cultivate 14 feet wide between the trees from 6 to 8 inches

172 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

deep; for this I use a 7-foot cultivator and four horses. Near the trunk of
the tree I work about two inches deep and a little farther away 4 inches deep,
using the three-cornered orchard plow with a cultivator 4 feet wide and two
horses.

Irrigation by Large Furrows Without Summer Cultivation. — An

exception to the continuous cultivation of orchard ground which is
prevalent in the irrigated regions of the Pacific Coast is found in the
foothills of the Sierra Nevada in California, where furrows are made
at the beginning of each irrigating season and used continuously during
that summer. The ensuing winter plowing and early spring cultivation
are relied upon to keep the soil in good condition. Although this con-
stitutes an exception and the practice is widely followed for what seems
to the growers of the region to be a good and sufficient reason, it does
not militate against the truth of the continuous summer cultivation
policy which elsewhere prevails, nor does it follow that this policy
would not be better in some respects even in the region where it is
abandoned. It is a district of very large water supply, and the arrange-
ments of the water company are such that the grower must pay for a
certain number of inches of water by the year, and is entitled to this
amount of continuous flow. He has to use it or neglect it as it flows,
and can not get more at one time by not using it at another. For this
reason he has not the motive for close observation which prevails under
other conditions, and to escape the cost of summer cultivation and fresh
furrowing out he has recourse to frequent flows in the old furrows.
The following interesting account of the prevailing method was pre-
pared by Mr. W. R. Fountain, of Newcastle :

Water is supplied almost exclusively by one company, which has met require-
ments up to date, and seems fixed to supply in excess of demand. It is supplied
by the miner's inch ; price $45 per inch per season for a constant supply. The
inch is measured under 6-inch pressure.

Beginning May 1st, five months is called the irrigating season, but the pur-
chaser can have the water twelve months per annum if he wants it. The
water company collects monthly. The purchaser cannot start the season with
little and increase at pleasure, except upon payment for the full season on the
basis of the largest amount used at any time.

With this constant supply we use it constantly, piping to high points and
moving it from place to place. When no fruit is ripening it is attempted to
water a block of trees in twenty-four hours. The water is not checked back,
but is run in ditches, mostly in one, but occasionally in two, along each row of
trees or vines. When a variety of fruit is rioening more water is given the
trees, while after a variety is picked and before any other is nearly ripe the
effort is made to water each tree every ten or twelve days. Level land and low
spots stand a good chance, as a rule, to get too much water, and a larger stream
is used per row to force the water through quickly. Then it is taken off in a
shorter time than it would be where the trees are on a side-hill and have a good
drainage.

About 1 inch for each 8 acres is generally used. This is for deciduous fruits.
The citrus fruits and berries require watering about once a week ; if there is
good drainage they would prosoer if watered every three days. In such ground
I have not heard of their getting either too much water or too much fertilizer.
The general practice is to plow, cross plow, and then after each rain cultivate,
with no cultivation whatever after beginning the use of water. I think an
occasional cultivation after watering would help.

There is a tendency for the ditches to become packed after water has been
flowing through them for some time, in which case but little water soaks into
the ground. When this occurs I dig a pot hole in the ditch to allow the water to

APPLICATION OF WATER ON HILLSIDES 173

soak in, or else loosen the ground about the trees with a spade and carry the
ditch through this loosened ground. I block out my ditches so that I can get
my stream through the last tree in about sixteen hours. Where the water has
not reached the end of some of the ditches, I turn the water into it from a
stream that is flush, and by keeping a man with a! hoe constantly with the water,
I manage to get it over the field at about 4 p. m. I wet about 350 trees in a
block on hillsides; on a flat I wet less, using more water in each stream, and
changing it about every twelve hours instead of every twenty-four hours. My
trees grow about 130 to an acre.

Systematic Distribution of Water on Hillsides. — The Common
method of carrying water in pipes to the various high points of several
slopes or "irrigated faces" from which it can be admitted to large fur-
rows crossing or descending those faces is open to some difficulties and
disarrangements. P. W. Butler, of Penryn, has had in successful opera-
tion for several years a system of zigzag ditches for carrying and dis-
tributing and for catching outflow and redistributing on a lower face.
This is also a system which makes ditches and furrows but once a year,
and dispenses with summer cultivation. Mr. Butler's account, as illus-
trated by the accompanying diagram, is as follows :

The amount of water generally used in this section for the irrigation of
deciduous fruit trees is 1 inch to 5 acres of orchard (miner's inch under 6-inch
pressure), and is applied to each row of trees by one stream of water of sufficient
quantity to just reach the end of the row. Much of the water is thus
wasted because of inability to properly adjust its distribution. It is usually
run twenty-four hours, then changed to other parts of the orchard until
the whole is covered, which takes about three weeks' time, when the process
is repeated, continuing throughout the summer, or from May 1 until October
1. There is no cultivation in the meantime, and at each irrigation the water
is run in the same ditches. This system is followed in nearly all the
orchards of Penryn and vicinity, some on quite steep hillsides, which suffer
when the water is thus applied. I have never liked this method, and for
many years have used a different system in irrigating all orchards over
which I have had control. In my home orchard I have a reservoir on the
highest land, from which water can be conveyed as desired to every part.
My ditches are run on a grade with a fall from 2 to 3 inches to the rod and
from 5 to 8 feet apart. At each irrigation the water is run about thirty-six
hours before changing. The round of the orchard is made in ten to four-
teen days. None of my small ditches exceeds 400 feet in length. When I
begin to irrigate a section I turn on from the reservoir water sufficient to
cover the section in a few hours, then lessen it until it just reaches the end
of each row, but see that it reaches the end of each row if a little surplus
passes over. This surplus I take up in a main ditch, to be again used on
lower ground. This is continued until the lowest part of the orchard is
reached, and very little water is ever wasted. By running on a grade that
is so nearly level the water is applied uniformly, even on the driest parts of
the hill slopes. I run the main distributing ditches in a zigzag manner, tak-
ing water from these ditches to cover the lower sections. I formerly used
pipes to lead the water down the steepest grades, but this system I have
abandoned and now use open zigzag ditches for mains. From the main
zigzag ditches I do not take the water at the turning point, as there is more
liability of breakage than if taken when running straight, or at whatever
point is necessary to keep the distributing ditches on an average of 8 feet
apart. The length of the zigzag ditches varies according to the slone of the
hillside. When steep, the ditch, before turning, must be of greater length
than where the ground is more level. (See diagram.) I use no gates, but
bush the openings with coarse swale hay. I also bush the turning points of
ditches as they are in permanent use throughout the season, and after the
first few days' use require but little care to keep them in order. These

174

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

ditches are torn up during the season of cultivation and have to be renewed
every year.

I use* a level set on a frame 8.25 feet long and about 2.5 feet high (one
leg longer than the other) to make any grade desired. Then I drag its
length on the ground after getting the level, and can mark the linq of ditch
nearly half as fast as a man can walk.

During the last ten years I have used many thousand feet of pipe! in irri-
gating, but have found it too expensive to be practicable, and it frequently
gets clogged, causing much trouble. ' The zigzag method of taking the water
down hills on the dry ridges, distributing to right and left, picking it up
again in zigzag ditches at the end of the rows or system, to be used again
on lower ground, brings into use the largest quantity where it is most needed
and utilizes it all without waste.

Zigzag ditches.

Large furrow system on hillsides with zigzag ditches for distribution, catchment,

and redistribution.

Irrigating by Small Furrows. — It has already been suggested
that recently the small furrow method of irrigation is undergoing cer-
tain modifications. The occasion for the change is that in certain of the
heavier soils, particularly, the use of water in many shallow furrows
followed by cultivation results in the formation of a compact layer, and
this prevents the percolation of the water into the subsoil. This dis-
covery led many Southern growers to resort to fewer and deeper fur-
rows, and to new devices to enable the tree to get the benefit of the
water. There has been wide use of the subsoil plow, with a wedge-
shaped foot attached to a slim standard rising to the ordinary beam.
The standard opposes its thin edge to the soil so as to cleave it with
the least difficulty, and the foot, passing through or beneath the hard-
pan, lifts and breaks it. The result of the subsoiling is to open a way

METHODS OF FURROW IRRIGATION 175

for the water to sink and spread below the hardpan. It is usual to run
this plow once through the center of the interspace between the rows of
trees, sometimes at right angles to the irrigation furrows. When this
is done the water is admitted to the furrows as usual, but instead of
flowing along smoothly it drops into the track of the subsoiler and runs
there a long time before rising again to continue its course down the
furrow. It is the experience of some growers that the water has taken
five or six days to reach the lower end of the furrows, a distance which
would have been covered in twenty-four hours if the subsoiler had not
intervened. This has been shown to result in much water for the sub-
soil and a notable invigoration of trees which had been famishing,
although shallow-furrow irrigation had proceeded regularly.

Recent changes in the furrow method at Riverside, California, are
described by Mr. J. H. Reed as follows :

The handling of the water in the orchard has materially changed in recent
years. Instead of flooding up, basining, or using shallow furrows, deep furrows,
from 3 to 5 feet apart, are most generally used. In heavy adobe soils more
furrows are used than in the more porous granite soils. The most usual length
of furrows is 40 rods. Every precaution is taken to have. the surface wetted as
little as possible.

The amount of water run at a time is materially lessened. Formerly the com-
mon practice was to run 3 inches per acre for twenty-four hours each thirty
days. Now, 2 inches continuous run for seventy-two hours is found to serve a
much better purpose, except on loose soils. The general practice in the valley is
to irrigate once each thirty days. A few of the most careful orchardists had
found that by intelligent and thorough manipulation of the soil they obtained as
favorable results from the application of water every sixty days or more, using
the same amount as they formerly did at intervals of half that time. The writer
has watched with much interest an eight-year-old orchard that during the three
years preceding the present received in all but ten irrigations, the usual amount
of water being used only at each four irrigations the first year and three irriga-
tions each the second and third years, with results comparing favorably with
those on trees of the same age on the same soil in neighboring orchards that
received the ordinary thirty-day irrigations. While there are few orchardists
who .have the skill and patience required to secure such results, they show the
possibilities of improved cultivation in conserving moisture. So long as water is
abundant and not expensive, more frequent irrigations will probably be generally
practiced ; but the advantage of running the water for a longer time, in furrows
as deep as possible, covering the saturated bottoms as soon as practicable and
keeping the surface perfectly pulverized and in loose condition, is being generally
recognized.

The usual practice is now to have six deep furrows in 20-foot
spaces. The number varies according to the character of the soil, but
is in any case less than in the small, shallow furrow system which
formerly prevailed.

The recourse to deeper furrows and to the subsoil plowing has
been made in several citrus fruit districts of Southern California. Its
success depends upon conditions. There are cases in which too deep
use of the subsoiler has admitted the water at a point too low for best
results to the tree which grows on a leachy subsoil, and the cutting of
roots by the subsoiler has in some cases brought shallow-rooting trees
into temporary distress. The general conclusion, however, is that
deeper introduction of water favors deeper rooting and is very econom-
ical of water by preventing the loss by evaporation from the surface,

176 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

which, theoretically, is dry, but which actually, with shallow furrows
over an irrigation hardpan, becomes too often saturated over nearly
the whole space between the trees.

Cement Pipes and Flumes for the Furrow System. — The use of

cement in the construction of flumes, pipes and outlets for distribution
has advanced so rapidly during recent years that in nearly all districts
local cement works can be found, at which irrigation structures and
appliances of latest design can be studied. Other devices are first de-
scribed and afterwards regularly advertised in our horticultural jour-
nals. Analysis of them is beyond the scope of this treatise, but they
are none the less important and all who contemplate laying out irriga-
tion systems, both large and small, should consider them carefully.
It is the function of this work to deal chiefly with home-made appli-
ances.

The Board Flume and the Furrow System. — Although in the older
regions the cement flume is advancing in popularity, important service
will always be rendered by the home-made board flume where suitable
lumber is cheap. A detailed account of its construction and operation
will be widely useful. The following is contributed by Mr. A. S.
Bradford, of Orange county:

I consider the board flume best because it is in many places cheapest and
because it will last fifteen or twenty years in California if made of good soft
redwood. The common redwood lumber is generally so, but the so-called flume
lumber is hard, generally, and will warp the flume out of shape. Even in the
common redwood lumber hard pieces will be found, and these should be avoided.
My first flume has been in use nine years and is apparently as good as ever.

The first thing to be considered is getting a flume put in properly, as this
alone will cause much trouble if not done right. A flume should run nearly on
a level. It should be placed about two-thirds in the ground at the commence-
ment, and as soon as it comes out of the ground to about two-thirds of its
height, there should be a drop made of 1, 2, or 3 inches, if necessary, and then
carried along as before, so as to keep the entire length of flume practically on a
level.

Sixteen-foot lumber is better than longer, as it is lighter to handle. I prefer
8-inch sides with 18-inch bottom, or, in some cases, 10-inch sides with 16-inch
bottom. The first section, however, should be about 2 feet wide, narrowed to the
size of the flume, so as to control the stream. Collars should be) put around the
flume everv 8 feet of distance; that is, one in the center and one to cover the
joints at each end. These collars should be 2 by 3 inch stuff on th bottom and
sides and 1 by three inches on top. This makes a strong, durable flume. The
length of the flume should be divided, so that the stream will decrease as it goes
along. The width should be decreased also, say from 16 inches to 14, 12, 10, and
8 inches, the sides being the same throughout or reduced so as to have 10-inch
sides on the 16-inch bottom and 8-inch sides on the rest, nailed to the side of the
bottom, making 7 inches depth inside. Two-inch holes should be about 30 inches
apart and 2-inch gates placed on the inside instead of outside, as they will col-
lect less trash, the hole through the wood, if uncovered, making a ''lodgment for
leaves, etc. In the narrow and flat flume it is much easier to fix the gates.

From 8 to 9 furrows for trees set 24 feet apart is sufficient. The streams
should be run from one-eighth to one-half the capacity of the holes in the flume,
according to the soil and fall of ground. I commence the stream small and
increase it if necessary later on. The streams should be kept as near together
as possible, and when the end is reached the gate should be nearly closed down,
so as to allow the stream to just trickle to the end. In this manner the soil will
become thoroughly wet from one end to the other. The streams should be run
very slowly on most of our soils. A great many failures have been made on

IRRIGATION BY SPRINKLING 177

hard soils by running the stream too large and then reducing it. This seems to
"slick" or cement the soil so that it will not take the water, and the consequence
is a poor and unsatisfactory irrigation. On the other hand, if the streams are
started small and allowed to soak the ground as they go along, it is simply
astonishing how much water can be put in the ground. On sandy soils the
streams should be larger. A little practice would give any one the desired
information.

About three rows of trees at the lower end should be blocked up, provided
one has no place where the overflow water could be used. This last provision
is the better, however, as there would be only about 10 inches of water run over
the last three or four hours, and a thorough job would be done from one end
to the other.

I making furrows I have an extension made for my cultivator to bolt on
each side andj use four plows. With this extension I can wet the whole ground
thoroughly. The furrows will extend under the limbs of the trees, and by
making a slight curve around each tree the ground will become wet ins the rows
as well as between.

As compared with the check system, the furrow method, properly handled,
makes the soil light and loose, while the check system is apt to packj the soil,
rendering it lifeless and leaving it so thatvit will not retain moisture long. Be-
sides, the cost of ridging and extra labor in handling water in checks for one
season will nearly pay for 'the flume, by which one man can do the irrigating.
Two horses will furrow out 10 acres in half a day, and a little) hand labor at
the flume will connect the furrows. In 'the check system generally a disk is run
first where the ridges are to be made, and then the ridger is run with four
horses; then jump scraper is run to stop up one side of the blocks; then ditches
must be made ; then from 2 to 3 men are required to handle the water by shut-
ting up the checks when 'filled. Afterwards the ridges must be plowed down
before the ground can be harrowed and got in condition to cultivate. At a
glance one can see that it costs fully three times !as much to irrigate by the check
system as by the furrow system, and with the latter the soil acts more as it
does after a rain.

OVERHEAD IRRIGATION

Although Californians have always been strongly impelled by the
desire to get irrigation water away from contact with the air and into
the soil as directly as possible, to escape losses by evaporation and to
maintain a loose soil-surface, sprinkling methods have recently become
matters of considerable expenditure. Such systems are in operation
in the orange orchards of Robert Baird of Porterville and R. D.
Williams of Exeter. The former has overhead perforated pipes sup-
ported on redwood posts ; the latter has underground pipes with a
stand-pipe rising through the center of each fourth tree and sur-
mounted with a revolving sprinkler. The cost of installation in each
case is about $150 per acre.* The desirability of such sprinkling
methods is still to be demonstrated. In both cases the water is forced
into the pipes by pumps.

DEVELOPMENT AND STORAGE OF WATER

It is, obviously, beyond the limitations of this work to attempt an
extended review of irrigation enterprises and practices. The enter-
prises undertaken by capitalists, or by co-operation among settlers,

^Details are given in the Pacific Rural Press, July 13, 1912.

178 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

require the services of competent engineers. All these matters are too
great in extent and variety to be discussed in this work. As, however,
it has been the aim of the writer to aid the inexperienced planter to
help himself in small efforts, a little space will be given to suggestions
as to how a planter may develop and use such small water supply as
may be derived from spring, small creek or well, on his own land
without employing an engineer.

Running Lines for Irrigating Ditches. — How far to go up a
creek in order to bring water out upon a given piece of land is a ques-
tion which frequently arises in individual practice. There is also doubt
as to how much fall should be given to the ditch. The fall required
by a ditch or canal depends upon the amount of water which it is
desired that it shall discharge, and upon the width and depth with
which it is intended that the water should flow. It may also be
dependent upon the character of the soil in which the ditch is to be
constructed, and upon the peculiarities of the water itself. A strong
current in soft soil may cause mischievous erosions. Water carrying
much sediment must never be allowed to move sluggishly, as clear
water sometimes may. It is best to state the requirements to a compe-
tent engineer and act on his suggestion, or secure the counsel of a
neighbor who has had experience with similar soil and water.

Having decided what fall to give the ditch, the nearest point of
which water can be taken out of the creek to be brought to a certain
piece of land is found by commencing with the point at which the
water is to be delivered (generally the highest point of the land to be
irrigated), and running up stream a line which has the inclination
intended for the ditch.

To stake out this line when no special hindrances are in the way,
use a home-made leveling instrument constructed as follows:

With sound, straight-edged lumber a triangle is made, as indicated in the
sketch. The three pieces, A B, 6 feet long, B C, 12 feet long, and C A, 4 feet
long, are made fast to each other at A B} and C. The board, A D, is fastened
to the triangle at right angles to B C. Near A} on the board, A D, a plumb-line
is made fast. The plumb, like a mason's plumb, hangs in a hole at 'F, so that
when A D is vertical, the string hangs very near the surface of the! board, A D.

It will be seen that when A D is exactly vertical, B C is 'exactly horizontal,
if the angles at D are true right angles. An ordinary carpenter's square used in
the construction of the apparatus will insure sufficient accuracy in the position
of A D.

In marking on the board, A D, however, the line in which the string of the
plumb will hang when B C is exactly horizontal, more care is required. Two
pegs are driven, as far apart as B and" C, for these points to rest on. The high-
est one 'is driven into the ground until the plumb-line follows about the center
line of the board, A D. Having marked this ^osition of the plumb-line, the
triangle is reversed so that the end B rests on the peg, where before we had the
end C, and vice versa. Should the plumb-line be in a position at variance with
the first one marked on the board, then the correct position for the B C horizon-
tal will be exactly in the middle between the two found by the aid of the two
pegs.

It will frequently be found convenient to have a scale of feet marked off on
B C. Holes in the pieces A B and C A at E E, or handles, will make the triangle
convenient to carry. Only two men are necessary in using it.

RUNNING LINES FOR DITCHES

179

To use this instrument for locating the line of the ditch, calculate
the amount which your line should rise between each two pegs. Drive
a peg at the starting point with its top say six inches from the general
surface of the ground. Hold one end of the leveling apparatus above
this peg by exactly that amount which the line arises per each instru-
ment length (B C), and swing the other end around into the direction
from which the ditch is to come, until, when level, it is just six inches
above the ground. Drive a peg here, which will, like the first, be six
inches high, and proceed as before. Care should be taken to give the
top of each peg exactly the correct elevation. The level must be
horizontal when resting on any peg, and raised exactly that amount
which the line rises per level length, above the preceding peg. It will

A home-made leveling instrument.

be found convenient to use a carefully prepared block to hold on the
top of each stake at the rear end of the level instead of trusting to
measurement each time.

Locating Contour Lines for Checks or for Distributing Ditches.

— This work can be done with the aid of the level above described.
For instance, to locate a contour (a line of equal elevation), as
required in the construction of a check levee, drive a peg until its top
has a convenient elevation from the ground, say one foot. Rest one
end of the triangle on this peg and swing the other around until, when
B C is horizontal, this other end has exactly the same elevation from
the ground as the top of the peg. At this point drive a second peg and
proceed as before. If the tops of the pegs be chosen as the height of
the levee, they may be retained as grade stakes as well as line stakes
for the embankment.

Storing Water from Small Sources. — For individual uses quite
a respectable water supply can sometimes be developed from apparently

180 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

mean sources. This can be done by clearing out and opening up hill-
side springs, and often by tunneling into the hillside to intercept sub-
terranean water-flows, or by pumping from a well. Even a small
spring, yielding but two quarts per second, would be sufficient to
irrigate several acres in fruit trees. To derive the greatest benefit from
small springs, however, a reservoir is necessary, in which the flow of
twelve to twenty-four hours, or even a longer period, can be accumu-
lated, and then discharged as required. It is by using water in driblets
that many springs are wasted. A spring supplying even one and a half
inches of water would be wholly swallowed up by a thirsty soil within
two hundred feet of its source, when, by arresting the flow and accumu-
lating it in a reservoir and discharging at intervals in a volume four
times as large, it would more than cover eight times the surface. A
spring flowing two quarts per second will discharge forty-three thou-
sand two hundred gallons in twenty-four hours. This would require
a reservoir forty by twenty feet, and seven feet deep, or double that
width if the depth is decreased one-half. The shallower it can be
made the better, for many reasons, but especially on account of the
temperature of the water. That of springs is generally too low in
summer for immediate use, and its value is greatly enchanced by being
raised to an equal or greater temperature than that of the air. This
is quickly done by exposure in a shallow pond. A reservoir can be
constructed entirely in the ground where the slope will admit of it,
and by lining the bottom and sides with clay well puddled, will answer
for most purposes. Some are built of adobe, backed with earth and
plastered on the inner side with hydraulic cement. Concrete of lime,
sand, and broken stone, is however, the best material, where lime can
be readily obtained, and any person with ordinary mechanical skill can
construct them. The following hints on a dirt reservoir may be
suggestive :

A reservoir should be built on the highest part of the tract sought to be irri-
gated by scraping the earth from the outside and from such a large area as not
to affect the utility of the land from which it is taken. With a levee all around
5 feet high, 5 feet of water could be carried safely. The slopes ought to be
two to one on the inside. A reservoir 20 feet square and 4 feet deep would hold
12,000 gallons. With the slopes as 'above the reservoir should be measured two
feet from the bottom, or half way up the 4 feet of water ; consequently to lay out
a reservoir to hold 12,000 srallons, put the stakes 12 feet square and build. For
any other size one take 8 feet off the same as this : A reservoir 25 feet square
will hold 18,750 gallons and would be 17 feet square at the bottom; one 30 feet
square would hold 27,000 gallons and would be 22 feet at the bottom ; one 35
feet square — 27 at the bottom — will hold 36,000 ' gallons ; one 40 feet square — 32
on the bottom — will hold 48,000 gallons. This spread upon the surface of an
acre would be a little more than 1^4 inches 'of rainfall.

Almost any loam or soil will hold water with a little puddling. The cheapest
way to puddle is to build a pen the size of the intended reservoir, including
at least a portion of that to be under the embankment, wet it very wet, put some
hogs in the pen and Iceep feeding them barley, a little at a time, so as to make
them not only walk around, but root for the barley. A half sack of barley fed
to eight or ten hungry hogs in half a day will make a good puddle. If it did
not work satisfactorily, the water could be taken off and the bottom covered
about an inch deep with coarse sand' mixed one part to five with Portland cement,
put in dry, and let it be covered slowly. A barrel of cement may be counted at
about 4 cubic feet and ' with the mixture above would cover the first-named

LIFTING WATER FOR IRRIGATION 181

reservoir about 1^4 inches. This would make it tight. The supply pipe should
come up from the bottom, so that the lift would never be tnore than the height
of the surface.

Loss of Water by Seepage. — The great loss of Water by seepage
during a long run has led to the cementing of ditches, and to the use
of miles of large wooden, concrete and iron pipe by the irrigation
companies of Southern California; also, where the slope is rapid,
paving ditches with rock has been resorted to. Similar efforts naturally
suggest themselves to the user of a small water supply to save his
flow from loss. The lining of ditches to prevent seepage is being
tested by the California Experiment Station at Berkeley, and publica-
tion of results is being made.* Where lumber is cheap the use of a
board flume is an available means of saving water, when the soil is
coarse and leachy.

Irrigation from Flowing Wells. — A considerable area of orchard
is irrigated from flowing wells in different parts of the State. Nearly

End view of irrigating wheel.

everywhere in the artesian districts there are local well-borers who
have kept records of the strata traversed in their work, and can
estimate closely the cost of securing water by this method.

Lifting Water from Flowing Ditch or Stream. — Where a stream
has a rapidity of two miles or more per hour, and a lift to a height of
six to sixteen feet will give head enough to distance the water over
a considerable area, there is nothing cheaper than the current wheel
which is largely used in this State. The engraving gives an end view
of such a wheel. Eight pairs of arms, carrying flat buckets like those
of a steamboat paddle-wheel, extend from a hub rotating on metal
bearings. At either end, or both ends, of each bucket are fixed wooden
or tin water boxes which fill themselves on entering the water, and
on being brought to the highest point of rotation empty themselves
into a receiving trough. This trough supplies the distributing ditches,

*Bulletin 188 and Circular 114, University of California Experiment Station, Berkeley.

182 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

etc., and its inner end is so placed that it comes under the projecting
buckets of the wheel without interference with the motion of the arms.
The current of water in the channel underneath forces the buckets
down stream, the latter delivering in the opposite direction at the top.
By using a double set of boxes, one at each end of each bucket, the
water may be delivered on both sides simultaneously. A little experi-
menting will indicate the proper size boxes, which depends upon the
velocity and volume of water in the channel, as well as to the amount to
be delivered.

At the Fancher Creek Nursery, in Fresno county, a wheel is used
eighteen feet in diameter, and carries sixteen buckets, which empty
into a trough sixteen feet above the ditch. The wheel lifts about one
cubic foot in two seconds.

PUMPING FOR IRRIGATION

The use of pumps for irrigation is continually increasing. The
capacity of pumps, their ease and cheapness of operation in this land
of oil wells and of ponderous waterfalls whose power can be trans-
formed into electric energy, warrant the conclusion that in many places
water can be lifted from below more cheaply than it can be brought
long distances by ditch; and that the supply is more constant and
subject to the users' command and convenience. In all parts of the
State well-boring and digging and pump construction have advanced
very rapidly. Pumping plants of all capacities, from the greatest of
the gasoline class, lifting five thousand gallons per minute from a
depth of twenty-five feet, down to the plant with a throw of three
hundred gallons per minute, all styles of motors and pumps are being
constantly multiplied. These plants are being placed upon wells in
the orchard or in the vicinity, or upon adjacent streams or ponds.
Many new designs by California inventors are coming into use. It
would require a volume to contain any adequate account California's
recent progress in these lines. Economic pumping is governed by so
many considerations that no general statement would be conclusive in
any specific case. Each orchardist must ascertain his own conditions
and then confer with trustworthy manufacturers or their agents as to
what will meet his requirements.*

WATER MEASUREMENT

The Miner's Inch. — Although the miner's inch, as commonly
measured, is open to objection because of inaccuracy, from an engi-
neer's point of view, it is so easily applied that it must remain a popular
recourse. It consists in causing the water to flow through an opening,

*Full details of the cost and flow from pumps drawing from various depths and operated
by various motors are given in the publications of the irrigation investigations to which refer-
ence has previously been made. Also, Circular 117, California Experiment Station: "The
Selection and Cost of a Small Pumping Plant," by B. A. Etcheverry.

HOW TO MEASURE MINERS INCHES

183

the capacity of which is known, and which is readily capable of adjust-
ment to the flow in any case. A simple form of this device and its
use is shown in the illustration, which represents a board 1 inch thick,
12 inches wide, and about 8 feet long. The opening is 1 inch wide and
50 inches long, and the distance from the top of the board to the center
of the opening is exactly 4 inches on the up-stream side. On the
down-stream side the opening is beveled so that the hole presents sharp
edges to the stream. A sliding board is hung upon the top of the
first board, with a strip screwed along its upper edge, this sliding
board being wide enough to cover the opening on the up-stream side.
In the slot there is a closely-fitting block, made to slide on the beveled
edges and fastened by a screw to the sliding board. It is obvious,

. 'r

Measuring miner's inches in a small stream or ditch.

then, that when the sliding board is moved backward or forward, by
means of its end, which is extended for a handle, the block moves in
the slot and determines the length of the opening.

In operation the board is placed in the stream as shown in the
figure, so as to dam the flow completely, and the sliding board is
moved backward and forward until the water is all passing through
the slot, the water being kept up to the top of the board, or 4 inches
above the center of the opening. The length of the opening measures
the number of miner's inches of water flowing through. If the flow
is too great to pass through the opening 1 inch wide, the opening may
be made wider, the water still to be kept 4 inches above the center of
the opening. The laws of several States provide that in devices for
measuring water for sale by the miner's inch the opening shall be 6
inches high and shall be provided with a slide as shown in the picture.
The number of miner's inches then discharged is equal to the number
of square inches in the opening. The assumption made that the dis-
charge is proportional to the size of the opening is not true, but the

184 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

error in measuring small quantities is not great enough to be taken
into consideration. By converting the results of measurements in
miner's inches to gallons, cubic feet, or some other familiar unit, it
may be determined how long it will take the stream to fill a reservoir
or cover a given field with the necessary depth of water. This unit
is readily convertible into cubic feet or gallons or acre-inches of water,
according to the time the water flows.

The following data will be helpful in computations: One miner's
inch, as described above, equals 0.1496 gallons per second, 8.976 gal-
lons per minute, 538.56 gallons per hour, 12,925.44 gallons per day;
0.02 cubic foot per second, 1.2 cubic feet per minute, 72 cubic feet per
hour. One acre-inch of water (that is, 1 inch in depth over an acre
of surface) equals 27,152 gallons, or 3,630 cubic feet, and 1 miner's
inch will supply this quantity in about 50.4 hours. Thus a simple
calculation shows that a little stream of 5 miner's inches will supply
enough water to cover an acre 2.3 inches deep in about 23 hours — a
fair amount for one irrigation of soil of average character if it has
not been allowed to become too dry before the application. In fact this
is an average amount actually used for an irrigation of shallow-rooted
plants like most field and garden crops.

Weir Measurement. — The term "weir" is not always understood
by those who use it. The term can properly be used only for structures
designed to allow the water to flow over the crest with a considerable
fall on the down stream side. There are a large number of forms of
weirs, taking their names from the shape of the weir notch, or the
form of crest. The triangular weir has a V-shaped notch. The
rectangular weir has a horizontal crest with vertical sides. Both of
these forms of weir are good, when used by the expert irrigator or
engineer who understands the principles and factors which enter into
their calculations. In order to avoid the variable factors which enter
into the calculations for the flow of water over weirs, Cipoletti invented
the form of weir which has taken his name and which is in general
use throughout the irrigated sections of the world.

The Cipoletti Weir. — The Cipoletti Weir has a thin horizontal
crest, the sides of the weir notch sloping back from the vertical at an
angle equal to one inch in horizontal for every four inches in vertical.
This, for each additional inch in depth the weir notch widens on each
side one-fourth of an inch, or a total addition of width of one-half
inch. A weir having a length of crest of one foot, and designed to be
eight inches in depth, will have a top width of notch of 16 inches.

When the weir box is placed, care should be taken to have the
bottom of the notch or crest, level. An ordinary carpenter's spirit
level may be used for this purpose. When the crest is horizontal,
one end of the spirit level is placed on the center of the crest, and
when level the other end will mark the point for the zero of the weir
gauge. In rough work a nail may be driven part way into the side of
the box, the top of the nail being level with the crest of the weir. A
thin plate of brass is to be preferred to a nail. In other cases gauges
are inserted on the sides of the flumes and properly marked in tenths

DETAILS OF WEIR MEASUREMENT

185

of feet or inches. At other times a post from 1 to 2 inches square is
placed in the center of the box and several feet above the weir board.
The top of this post is on a level with the crest. This is the method
shown in the accompanying sketch.

How to Measure Water Over Weirs. — The method to follow
can best be shown by examples. Let us suppose that a farmer has
made and placed a box; similar to the one shown in the drawing, after
turning in the water and allowing it some time to attain a uniform
flow he proceeds to the weir box and with an ordinary rule measures
the depth of water flowing through the weir notch. Bear in mind that

Weir box in operation showing post from which to measure depth of stream.

this measurement is not made at the weir board, but at the regular
gauge, whether it be a nail, brass plate or post, as already described.
We will assume that the depth as found by the rule is 3^2 inches.
Now by referring to the table below he follows down the first column
until 3J/2 is reached. The weir used is one foot, and under the column
marked "1-foot weir" and opposite the figure 3^ already found, he
finds the cubic feet per minute or the gallons per minute flowing over a
1-foot weir when the depth of water is Zl/2 inches. The equivalent
flow in gallons per minute for any given length of weir and depth of
water over the crest was obtained from the accompanying table :

186

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Discharge over Cipoletti Weirs

Depth of water
on crest.

1-foot weir.

1}4 -foot weir.

2-foot weir.

3-foot

weir.

$

$
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o

RaJ

5
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li

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*£«

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. .0.08

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73

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109

IX

0.10

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65

0.19

87

0.29

130

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0.11

51

0.17

76

0.23

101

0.34

152

itt

0.13

59

0.20

88

0.26

117

0.39

175

iy2

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67

0.22

100

0.30

139

0.45

200

15/8

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75

0.25

113

0.34

150

0.50

226

134

0.19

84

0.28

126

0.38

168

0.56

252

m

0.21

93

0.31

140

0.42

187

0.62

280

2

..0.23

103

0.34

154

0.46

206

0.68

308

2y&

0.25

113

0.38

169

0.50

225

0.75

338

2y4

0.27

123

0.41

184

0.55

245

0.82

368

23/s

0.30

133

0.44

199

0.59

266

0.89

399

2y2

0.32

144

0.48

215

0.64

287

0.96

431

25/8

0.34

154

0.52

231

0.69

309

1.03

464

234

0.37

166

0.55

248

0.74

332

1.11

497

27/8

0.39

177

0.59

262

0.80

355

1.18

531

3

..0.42

189

0.63

283

0.84

378

1.26

566

3^

0.45

201

0.67

301

0.90

402

1.34

602

3y4

0.47

213

0.71

319

0.95

426

1.42

639

3&

0.50

225

0.75

338

1.00

451

1.51

676

3^

0.52

238

0.80

357

1.06

476

1.59

714

35/8

0.56

251

0.84

376

1.12

502

1.68

753

33/4

0.59

264

0.88

396

1.18

528

1.76

792

3%

0.62

277

0.93

416

1.24

554

1.85

832

4

0.65

291

0.97

436

1.30

582

1.94

872

4^

0.68

304

1.02

456

1.36

609

2.04

913

4^4

0.71

319

1.07

478

1.42

637

2.13

956

43^

0.74

333

1.11

499

1.48

665

2.22

998

4y2

0.77

347

1.16

521

1.55

694

2.32

1,041

45/8

0.81

362

1.20

543

1.61

723

2.42

1,084

43/4

0.84

376

1.26

564

1.68

753

2.52

1,129

4%

0.87

391

1.31

587

1.74

782

2.62

1,174

5

0.91

406

1.36

609

1.81

813

2.72

1,219

5^

0.94

422

1.41

633

1.88

843

2.82

1,266

554

0.97

437

1.46

656

1.95

874

2.92

1,31.2

53/6

1.01

453

1.51

679

2.02

906

3.03

1,359

sy2

1.05

469

1.57

703

2.09

938

3.13

1,407

55/8

1.08

485

1.62

727

2.16

970

3.24

1,455

534

1.12

501

1.68

752

2.23

1,002

3.35

1,503

V/8

1.15

517

1.73

776

2.31

1,034

3.46

1,553

6

1.20

534

1.79

801

2.38

1,069

3.57

1,603

eys

2.46

1,102

3.68

1,653

fr/4

2.53

1,136

3.80

1,704

63/6

>

2.61

1,170

3.91

1,755

6J4

2.68

1,205

4.03

1,807

65/6

2.76

1,240

4.14

1,859

634

2.84

1,275

4.26

1,912

67/8

2.92

1,310

4.38

1,966

7

. . .

3.00

1,346

4.50

2,020

HINTS ON IRRIGATION 187

RANDOM SUGGESTIONS

Without attempting an impossible thing, to-wit, to furnish explicit
directions for the practice of irrigation, for much of it every man must
learn for himself by experience, a few suggestions may be noted, even
though more important ones do not come to mind.

Usually water should be prevented from actual contact with the
trunk of the tree. Citrus trees are especially sensitive to 'such contact,
and resent it by "gum disease," which was formerly far more preva-
lent in the State than now. Care must, therefore, be taken not to set
trees which are to be irrigated, too low. It is better to raise them up
a little and draw the earth up around them to prevent approach of
the water, but this must not be overdone.

If possible, the ditch should be run on the shady side of the tree,
because reflected sunshine from the water surface may burn the bark.

In examining soil to ascertain dryness, one must dig deeply, for
often an upper layer will be fairly moist, if well cultivated, while lower
layers, where the feeding rootlets are, will be arid. Therefore, when
trees, or vines are suffering, dig far down in examining the soil.

In irrigating, thorough, deep soaking is necessary, and examination
must be made to see if an artificial hardpan which prevents the descent
of the water has been formed.

Be careful not to continue irrigation too late in the season. It will
prevent the proper dormancy of deciduous trees, and if more fall
irrigation is given citrus trees than they need for perfecting the fruit,
the trees will continue growing tender shoots until they are injured
by severe frosts. On the other hand, it is often desirable to give decid-
uous trees a draft of water after the fruit has been gathered, if the soil
is so dry that the tree is likely to drop its leaves too soon, and wake
from its dormancy with the first rains. Many times the fall blooming
of deciduous trees, which is very undesirable, may be prevented by
keeping them growing later in the summer by moderate irrigation.

If trees or vines, in regions usually irrigated, are to be grown
without irrigation, it is important that the grower be more than usually
thorough and constant with his summer cultivation. In trying the
non-irrigation experiment, one should, of course, begin with young
trees which have not been irrigated, and not usually expect success
by withdrawing the water from trees which have been accustomed to
it, and have developed a root system accordingly.

While waiting for an "irrigating system," young trees can be kept
going with a water wagon. With a galvanized tank on a wagon three
men went over a 60-acre orchard three times, taking four days for each
irrigation, each day's expense being less than $10. This made twelve
days, or $120, or $2 per acre. One man went ahead to scoop out
around each tree, and after the water was put on he covered it up,
to keep the soil loose and prevent loss by evaporation. He could keep
ahead because of the loss of time of the team going after water and
returning. From the tank ran two large hose, the water being siphoned
off at the basin near each tree till about four or five gallons of water
were put on. Then the hose was bent back so the water could not flow
out, and they advanced to the next tree.

188 CALIFORNIA FRUITS! HOW TO GROW THEM

SUB-IRRIGATION IN CALIFORNIA

The word "sub-irrigated" is freely used in California to describe
land which is moistened below by underflow or seepage from streams
or springs, or from open irrigation ditches, traversing higher levels.
This land is sub-irrigated, it is true, but there is no system about it,
except the natural distribution of water, which is to seek its level.
Some of our most productive lands are of this character, and where
the soil and subsoil are fitted to the movement of this living water,
and not apt to retain it up to the point of saturation, most satisfactory
growth of deep-rooting field crops and of trees and vines are secured.
But this is not sub-irrigation in the ordinary signification of the term.

Several systems of sub-irrigation by subterranean pipes have been
devised by California inventors, but none have passed beyond the
experimental stage, and no acreage has been continually operated.

DRAINAGE IN CALIFORNIA

There was for a long time a very erroneous popular generalization
that California soils do not need drainage ; that in a dry state the aim
should be to retain the moisture, not to part with it. It is, of course,
true that we have vast areas of naturally well-drained soil, upon which
any money spent for drainage would be in a great part thrown away,
but we have, also, both in the valley and on the hillsides, localities
where, by peculiar character and conformation of the subsoil, water is
held in the soil until evaporated from the surface, and the result is a
boggy, miry condition, which prevents proper winter cultivation, and
at the same time injures the roots of the trees or vines. This defective
cultivation, added to the puddling effect of standing water, makes the
soil dry out completely under the fervid sun of summer, and the result
is that the wettest soil of the winter is the driest in the summer, and
plants which are injured by soaking in winter suffer again from lack
of moisture and sustenance in summer. Thus it is a fact, clearly
proven by observation and experience, that thorough under-drainage
removes surplus water in winter, and ministers to the retention of
moisture in summer. More than this, a soil puddled by standing water
can not present its contents in available form for plant nutrition, and
besides, it loses the fertilizing effects of atmospheric currents, which
pass through an open, well-dried soil. Wet land is cold and late in
spring, and hot as a baked brick under the summer sun ; it is no fiction
of the imagination to say that well drained land is warm in winter
and cool in summer — that is, cool to a degree which favors quick and
free root growth, and cool enough to escape the parching effect of
deeply baked soil.

These, and a host of similar considerations, which have made
under-drainage popular in older countries, are of weight in California.
Possibly, as a rule, because of our vast area of deep, kind loams, the
proportion of land needing drainage in this State is less than else-
where, and yet there is a vast extent of country to be improved by
tilling. There have been large losses of trees from planting upon soils

IMPORTANCE OF DRAINAGE 189

defective in this respect. The evil has resulted from excessive rainfall
and excessive irrigation, either direct or by underflow from adjacent
irrigations. In some places this latter movement of water has brought
alkali to assist in the ruin of the trees and vines. The cure is drainage
to sufficient depth and with good outlet for the drainage water.

Information on the construction of under-drains is too available
through other sources to call for its presentation in this connection.

Drainage and Irrigation. — A special importance attaches to com-
plete and systematic drainage in connection with irrigation. There
is pressing need of such provision where the soil has become overloaded
by seepage water from irrigation ditches, and it is well that people in
such situations are waking up to the need of coupling drainage outlets
with their irrigation inlets. Another matter closely allied to this is the
action of alkali on soils thus artificially watersoaked. This has been
made the subject of a special publication, to which allusion has already
been made in Chapter III. Drainage is plainly essential, both in
individual farms and in districts where the water level is rising too
high, and the striking statements given below by Professor Hilgard
should incite all to give immediate attention to the needs of vines and
trees in this regard.

The following summary of drainage needs, and the advantage of
providing drainage when needed, is made by Professor Hilgard :

In the valleys and plains of the arid irrigation countries the soils are pre-
dominantly of a light, sandy or silty nature, easily penetrated to great depths
by water and air. With these the roots of plants also reach to such depths,
drawing therefrom not only moisture, but also plant food, which in these soils
is, as a rule, very abundant. The plants of the arid region thus are enabled to
utilize nearly as many feet of soil mass as in the regions of summer rains inches
would be drawn upon ; and it is evident that this advantage, which postpones for
a long time the need of fertilization, should not be lightly thrown away. Each
farm in the arid region has several similar ones underground, which with proper
management can be fully utilized.

But this presupposes that the water, air and roots can all penetrate under irri-
gated culture as they do in the natural condition. It means that the ground
water level shall not be allowed to rise to such an extent as to prevent the pene-
tration and healthy life of the roots in the depths of the soil mass. If by inten-
tional or careless over-irrigation, or by leakage from the ditches, the water
level is allowed to rise within a few feet of the surface, the wonderfully pro-
ductive lands of the arid valleys are reduced to the same condition as are those
of the humid countries; a shallow layer of surface soil, within which alone the
roots can exercise their functions of plant nutrition. The natural result is that
this layer soon becomes exhausted, and copious artificial fertilization is required
to maintain profitable production.

And even this is the most favorable case. When, in addition, the upward
movement of the soil water carries with it the entire mass of salts of various
kinds which exist in all arid soils, and brings them within reach of surface
evaporation, these "alkali" salts impregnate the soil to such an extent as to
render the cultivation of many crops unprofitable, or sometimes altogether
impossible.

Summarizing the advantages of systematic land draining it may be said that :

1. It prevents the drowning out of the deeper roots of plants by the rise or
fluctuations of the ground water, by which the vineyards and orchards are so
frequently rendered unprofitable.

2. It prevents, or at least limits definitely, the shallowing of the soil caused
by high-lying ground water, resulting in the need of early and copious fertiliza-

190 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

tion, which would otherwise not have been called for in many years. The annual
cost of such fertilization would soon exceed the first cost of drainage.

3. Drainage does away definitely with the alkali evil. When drainage is
established the land can easily be so handled as either to remove all the alkali,
or to leave in the soil so much of it as n:ay be rationally considered beneficial, on
account of its usual content of valuable and highly available plant food. To
prevent the waste of much of this soluble plant food, the use of gypsum is also
valuable ; but subsequent swamping of the land would cause a return of the black
alkali unless drainage were provided for.

In view of the facts that water-logged lands are still being sold
to the unwary for fruit planting ; that sometimes lands are offered with
the attractive promise of an irrigation supply when they actually
need a drainage system ; that on such lands every year of large rainfall
brings areas of trees into distress and inflicts considerable losses, these
declarations of Professor Hilgard should be most carefully kept in
mind.

PART THREE: ORCHARD FRUITS

CHAPTER XVI

COMMERCIAL FRUIT VARIETIES

What fruit to plant, or what kind of a bearing orchard to buy as
an investment, are questions which can not be answered, in this treatise.
The planters on new land and the investors in improved land must
answer them for themselves — forming their judgments after securing
facts which seem to them a proper basis for such a business decision.
It is the conviction of the writer that all fruits which have demonstrated
commercial suitability in California, when properly placed under the
soil, temperature and moisture conditions which favor their best
growth and productiveness, may be counted as yielding nearly equal
net returns, considering the investment in land, water, waiting for
bearing and handling of the product. So far as the writer has
observed, all our commercial fruits have reached maximum and mini-
mum returns during the last quarter of a century which are practically
identical. Therefore to plant good fruit in the best place for it, to
handle the trees and products most intelligently, both in production
and marketing, holds out substantially equal promise of profit. If it
could be demonstrated that any particular fruit had the especial
advantage over others in net returns, this advantage would imme-
diately disappear because planters would rush to it and take away this
advantage by undue increase of its acreage. Therefore the choice
of fruits must remain an open question for each one to determine by
his own experience and observation, at least to the extent of determin-
ing his own line of production.

It is one of the purposes of this treatise, as they will be disclosed in
succeeding chapters, to impress upon the local planters the conviction
that their clearest path toward satisfactory income lies in choosing
varieties which have demonstrated two fundamental characters, viz. :
adaptation to the locality and to the uses of the fruit trade — rather
than in choosing novelties, no matter how alluring they may be.

It may surprise the casual reader to find that our production
proceeds so largely upon old standard varieties. Anyone, however,
who is acquainted with commercial fruit growing knows that it is
neither wise nor easy to revolutionize an established and profitable
industry by the substitution of new varieties for the old standards. It
takes several years to determine whether a new variety is really trust-
worthy and suitable, and it takes much longer to get a large acreage
in bearing either by grafting or new planting because people are slow
and conservative in making changes. As the period of trial of each
novelty passes, however, new varieties are accepted, if for any good
reason found suitable, and become prominent as their merits justify.

Another reason why new varieties do not figure more largely
in California fruit growing is the smallness of the amateur interest.
191

192 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

There is, in fact, almost an absence of pure amateurs — enthusiastic
critical, discriminating, athirst for novelties. Even suburban planters
follow the lead of commercial orchardists and plant chiefly that which
has shown adaptations to local growing conditions, and few are averse
to making what they can by sale of small surpluses. The result is
that California fruit growing is almost wholly commercial in spirit,
policy and point of . view, which is perhaps only natural in a state
where the fruit products reach an annual aggregate value of something
like one hundred millions of dollars. The effect is to concentrate
attention upon varieties which have achieved fame for profit, and to
repress amateur devotion and indulgencies.

At the same time there is, and has always been, quite a disposi-
tion toward trial of novelties among commercial growers, especially
manifested in search of specific characters which are seen to be desir-
able rather than desire for newness for its own sake, which is often
a point of pride among amateurs. To this enterprising and discrimin-
ating search is due the prominence of some of the leading varieties,
which are chance seedlings recognized as meeting special requirements
and having grown great because they really did so. The California
grower is, therefore, quite certain that he needs not varieties new
throughout and of startling characters, but improved varieties which
hold the good points of the old and add other points. For instance,
he calls for trees resistant to disease, for improvement of the fruit in
beauty, flavor and keeping qualities ; for varieties, similar in kind,
which fill gaps in the ripening season so that he can employ help
continuously, and shippers and canners agree with him so that they
can keep the cars moving and the cannery plants at work. The
grower says he must be careful not to plant something different from
what is already growing and selling well in his region, t nd this is
also the advice of the trade to him. He can not risk much on varieties
of entirely different types, although most growers are always doing a
little experimenting. Nor should he undertake too many varieties,
because a profitable orchard is not a pomological museum. There
must be a large quantity of uniform fruit to make any district commer-
cially prominent.

For these reasons the number of varieties now planted is but a
fraction of what it was a third of a century ago, and, stopping at this
point, one might get the idea of the California grower was a monu-
ment of conservatism and lacking in enterprise and adventure. Subse-
quent chapters will, however, show that he has very definite ideas of
the suitability and desirability of the varieties which he chooses for
planting.

It should therefore be noted by the reader that the preference for
certain varieties, which is embodied in this statement, does not involve
pomological standards as a leading factor. The claim is distinctly not
made that these varieties are chosen exclusively on the basis of quality,
beauty, hardiness or health. In the case of nearly all the fruits, there
are other varieties which might equal or even surpass them in one or
more of these respects. The choice is made because they are most
profitable to grow ; not alone because they are good, but because they

CALIFORNIA'S MOST POPULAR VARIETIES 193

are good for something. This particular suitability or serviceability
may involve pomological considerations and commercial and manu-
facturing considerations as well. The planter must use these lists in
connection with what he may find about the varieties in subsequent
chapters, without neglecting to confer also with older growers in the
district in which he may plan to plant.

Perhaps an intelligent use of the statement can be concretely sug-
gested by briefly discussing the first group of varieties mentioned — the
apples most approved in California. First comes the yellow Newton
Pippin, and that means that most apples commercially grown are
winter apples and this variety is, on the whole, the most profitable of
them. But a planter in a hot interior valley should usually reject them,
for all winter apples are apt to be unsatisfactory, and, if he plants
apples at all, should choose early varieties, because they ripen early,
thus escaping the highest heat and at the same time being ready for
the early market. Similar comments might be made upon the varieties
of other fruits.

During the year 1914 the writer had the advantage of revising all
his earlier data on varieties through association with Professor B. B.
Pratt, J. E. Coit, F. T. Bioletti and R. E. Smith as a committee of the
California Experiment Station to assist the Bureau of Plant Industry
in a revision of the variety list of the American Pomological Society,
and desires to gratefully acknowledge benefits from such association.

The varieties grouped below are arranged not according to ripening
season but in the order in which the greatest number of growers con-
sider them worth planting :

Apples. — Newtown Pippin, Bellflower, E. Spitzenberg, W. W.
Pearmain, Gravenstein, Red Astracan, W. Astracan, R. I. Greening,
Rome Beauty, Jonathan, Winesap, White Astracan, Delicious, Arkan-
sas Black, Baldwin, Tompkins Co. King.

Apricots. — Royal, Blenheim, Moorpark, Tilton, Hemskirk,
Peach, Newcastle.

Cherries. — Royal Ann, Black Tartarian, Bing, Black Republican,
Lambert, Chapman, Purple Guigne, May Duke, Centennial, Black
Bigarreau.

Peaches. — Muir, Elberta, Phillips, Lovell, Salway, Early Craw-
ford, Tuskena, Foster, Late Crawford, Orange Cling, Susquehanna,
Sellers, Lemon, St. Johns, Henrietta, Hales, Alexander, Heath.
Triumph.

Pears.— Bartlett, Winter Nelis, Easter, Du Cornice, Glout
Morceau, Hardy, Barry, Comet, Seckel, Winter Bartlett, Wilder.

Plums. — Wickson, Burbank, Climax, Hungarian, Tragedy,
Kelsey, Yellow Egg, Red June, Giant, Washington, Satsuma, Jeffer-
son, Grand Duke, Santa Rosa, Clyman, Formosa.

Prunes. — French, Imperial, Sugar, Robe de Sergeant, Italian,
German, Standard, Silver, Splendor.

Raisin and Shipping Grapes. — Muscat, Tokay, Thompson,
Emperor, Malaga, Cornichon, Black Prince, Sultana, Black Morocco,
Sweet Water, Verdal, Gros Colman, Pierce.

194 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Figs. — White Adriatic, Lob Injir, (Smyrna), Mission, Brown
Turkey, Purple Smyrna, Kassaba.

Almonds. — Nonpareil, Drake, IXL. Ne Plus Ultra, Texas
Prolific, Languedoc, Peerless.

Walnut. — Franquette, Mayette, Concord, Eureka, Placentia, El
Monte, Santa Barbara Softshell.

Orange. — Washington Naval, Valencia, Mediterranean Sweet,
Paper Rind St. Michael, Ruby Blood.

Lemon. — Eureka, Lisbon, Villa franca.

Pomelo. — Marsh.

Olives. — Mission, Manzanillo, Sevillano, Ascolano, Nevadillo.

Blackberries. — Mammoth, Lawton, Himalaya, Crandalls.

Raspberries. — Cuthbert.

Strawberries. — Dollar, Brandywine, Jessie, Arizona, Marshall,
Melinda, Banner.

Let it be understood that this compilation indicates the popularity
of varieties in the State as a whole. It should not be taken as a guide
to planting in any particular district, except for experimental purposes.
Lists for localities should be made after careful studies of the chapters
treating of the particular fruits chosen for planting.

CHAPTER XVII

THE APPLE

During the last decade notable progress has been made in apple
growing in California. The old idea that our conditions did not favor
excellence in the apple has given away to full assurance that in wisely
selected elevations and exposures the very highest points of size,
beauty, flavor, keeping and shipping qualities are secured. Even before
the wonderfully satisfactory test of both northern and southern Cali-
fornia apples at the New Orleans World's Fair, it was clear that the
right variety grown in the right place yields an apple in California
than which a better can not be grown anywhere, and during the last
five years California early apples have been in sharp request for ship-
ment to all regions of the Northwest and British Columbia, and Cali-
fornia winter apples have been sold at the highest prices east of the
Rocky Mountains and in Europe. Shipments beyond State lines of
above four thousand carloads in 1910 testify to these facts.

Localities for Apples. — Speaking generally, it may be laid down
that the great valleys of the interior are not well suited to the apple ;
also, there are some situations which are much better than others. In
the early regions of the Sacramento Valley and foothills, however, ex-
cellent early apples are profitably produced. In the great valley and
lower foothill region of the State, the late apple usually lacks character
and keeping quality. On the great plains the tree is liable to sunburn,
or sun blight, as it is called. Some varieties, because of the character
of their foliage, are less liable to this injury than others, and it is
possible that this evil may be finally overcome by the selection of
varieties with blight-proof foliage, as will be mentioned later. In the
great valley, however, on the rich river-bottom land of the Sacramento
and the San Joaquin and its tributaries, the apple roots deeply, attains
good size, bears good fruit, with fair keeping quality, while but a few
miles away on the plains it is inferior.

In the interior, adaptation to the apple lies at an elevation on the
foothills on both the east and west rims of the great valley. Its limits
are not well defined, but there are flourishing orchards at an elevation
of about four thousand five hundred feet on the slopes of the Sierra
Nevada Mountains, and from two thousand to three thousand five
hundred feet is commonly regarded the best apple region of the moun-
tains. The trees attain large size and bear heavily, and the fruit, of
well-adapted varieties, is large, crisp, juicy and has exceptional keep-
ing- qualities. On the Tule River in Tulare County, at an elevation of
4100 feet, eight-year-old Winesaps have borne 300 pounds, Yellow
Newtown Pippins 250 pounds, and White Winter Pearmains 300
pounds per tree. At such elevations, however, there is constant danger
of spring frost injury.

Along the coast the apple succeeds well from end to end of the
State, and very close to the ocean excellent fruit is produced on good

195

196 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

soil. There is a certain advantage in elevation in the coast region as
well as in the interior, but the advantage is not so marked nor is the
required elevation so great. Coast valleys in the central and upper
portion of the State, where the soil is suitable, produce most excellent
apples, but even here the lower hillsides, with deep, well-drained soils,
are, perhaps, preferable to the floors of the valley. Departing from
immediate coast influences and approaching the interior, with its
greater heat and aridity, the greater elevation becomes desirable. The
apple, excepting the very early varieties, does not relish the forcing
heat which brings such perfection to the peach, but to insure late ripen-
ing and long keeping, with accompanying crispness, juiciness, and
flavor, it must have atmospheric surroundings which favor slower de-
velopment.

Localities for apple growing in southern California are to be chosen
with much the same rules as in the upper parts of the State. As has
already been said, valleys in which coast conditions largely predominate
produce good apples, on suitable soils, but away from the coast, propel
elevations must be sought, and they should be a*bove the so-called ther-
mal or frostless belts. Good apples are grown on low lands near the
coast in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Sixty miles inland, in Sar
Bernardino County, winter apples fail in the valleys, but are mosl
excellent at a sufficient elevation upon the slopes of the surrounding
mountains or in elevated valleys like the Yucaipe Valley above Red-
lands, where a Rome Beauty of excellent quality was grown in 19CK:
to a weight of twenty-seven ounces and a circumference of fifteer
inches. In the elevated interior of San Diego County, as in the Juliar
and Smith Mountain districts, excellent apples are produced in larg<
quantities and profitably carried long distances.

Second and Third-Crop Apples. — There is a peculiar behavioi
of the apple tree, most noticeable when winter temperature is mildest
and that is blooming and fruiting out of season. In the case of earl}
apples the second bloom may appear about the time the first frui
ripens and the third bloom when the second crop is half grown. Ever
such behavior may be followed by regular blooming the following
spring. Second crops of apples are not of amount nor regularity
enough to be of much economic importance, as the second crop o:
pears and grapes sometimes are. The third crop occasionally ripens
An instance is on record at Chino, San Bernardino County, where it
1903 a tree ripened its first crop in June, and its last fruit was pickec
on Christmas day following. Such behavior, of course, indicates con
ditions ill suited to the apple.

Exposures for the Apple. — The choice of exposure for an appl<
orchard may almost be inferred from what has been said about locali
ties. In regions with high summer temperature the apple will do bes
on cool, northerly slopes, and this exposure becomes doubly desirablt
when the location has high temperature with only moderate annua
rainfall, or where the soil is not well adapted to the retention of mois
ture. With such prevailing conditions, the apple will be grateful foi
the cooler air and the greater moisture of the northerly slope. When
the temperature is moderately cool, and the rainfall adequate, the mat

SOILS FOR THE APPLE 197

ter of exposure is of less account, and the grower can make the exist-
ence of the best soil the test of location of his orchard. At elevations
on the sides of high ranges where late cold storms are liable to rush
down from higher snow fields, protection from the usual course of such
storms, or from the course of cold winds generally, must be sought;
and directly up the coast, especially in the northern part of the State,
in certain places where the peach does not usually succeed even the
apple needs protection, and the benefit of all heat available, and then a
southerly or southeasterly exposure becomes desirable. The choice of
exposure is thus seen to be largely a local question and to be deter-
mined by a knowledge of local conditions. A newcomer in a region
can best learn these conditions by conference with older residents, or
by personal observation of older orchards.

Soils for the Apple. — Experience with the apple in California
confirms what has long been set forth as its choice of soils in older
regions. If one avoids an extremely light, sandy soil on the one hand,
and a very stiff clay or adobe on the other, he may plant apples on
almost any soil which allows extension of the roots to a considerable
depth without reaching standing water. The apple thrives in a moist
soil, but it must be well drained, naturally or otherwise. A soil which
may be called best for the apple is a deep, rich, moist, calcareous loam,
but the tree will thrive on coarser materials. The subsoil, whatever its
nature, must be sound and open to the passage of moisture. The most
unfavorable condition for the tree is a subsoil of clay which holds water.
There is some difference in varieties as to choice of soil. The Yellow
Bellflower, for instance, will do well on a lighter soil than the Yellow
Newtown Pippin.

PROPAGATION OF THE APPLE

The apple is chiefly propagated by root-grafting upon apple seed-
ling roots either whole roots or root pieces. Budding is also practiced
to a certain extent. For dwarf trees the Paradise stock is used. Re-
peated trials with working the apple on the pear, chiefly by top graft-
ing, have secured growth of limited life but without fruiting.

The resistance of certain roots to the woolly aphis has been fully
demonstrated by local experience in the use of the Northern Spy and
Winter Majetin, chiefly the former. Seedlings of Northern Spy can
not be relied upon as resistant to the woolly aphis. It is necessary to
get a root actually grown from the Northern Spy wood. The best
way to get a start is to buy some Northern Spy trees from some rep-
utable nurseryman, specifying that they shall be Northern Spy root
and top. With these resistant roots and wood growth for scions or
cuttings can be grown. Resistant trees are made by root grafting the
scion of the variety which it is desired to propagate upon a piece of
Northern Spy root and then being careful that the scion does not send
out roots of its own, but is wholly dependent upon the Northern Spy
root. It is customary with nurserymen selling resistant trees to save
the root pieces which are removed in digging and packing for subse-
quent propagation. It is also possible to get a resistant tree by start-.

198 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

ing from the cutting- of a Northern Spy. To facilitate the rooting of
these cuttings a small piece of any kind of apple root is put in by side
graft near the bottom of the cutting. This acts as a starter, but the
cutting will also make roots of itself. At the end of the first year then
the cuttings are taken up, the piece of root used as a starter is cleanly
cut away and the rooted cutting replanted; henceforth it is dependent
upon its own roots and is resistant. The variety desired is then grafted
in a little way above the ground surface so that there will be no danger
of its making its own roots. By either of these processes it is more
troublesome and takes more time to produce a tree with a resistant
root than in the ordinary way, and for that reason trees on resistant
roots are sold at a higher price. This may be the reason why resistant
trees are not yet largely used in this State.

Other suggestions applicable to the growth of young apple trees
are given in Chapters VIII and IX.

DISEASES AND PESTS OF THE APPLE

The apple is subject to various diseases and insect enemies which
must be resolutely fought or they will render the trees unprofitable.
Chief of these diseases are the "pear blight" and the apple scab, and
the apple mildew. Of the insect enemies the codlin moth, the apple-
leaf aphis, the various leaf-cutting caterpillars and several scale insects
must be kept in check and the latest approved means of reducing these
troubles will be described in detail in later chapters.

PLANTING AND CARE OF THE APPLE ORCHARD

The chapters on planting, and pruning contain suggestions to which
the reader is referred. Care should be taken to obtain trees with clean,
healthy roots, not knotted and scarred by woolly aphis.

Distance in Planting. — The distance between the trees is of the
highest importance. All the old apple orchards are overcrowded.
More recently trees have been set at greater distances, and such plant-
ing is now generally advised. There is some difference of opinion as to
proper distance, but certainly twenty-five to thirty feet is near enough,
and some of the best new orchards have been planted at forty feet, the
ground being used for a time with other crops or planted with early
bearing trees, for which the soil is suited, between them.

Pruning the Apple. — The manner of shaping fruit trees described
in the chapter on pruning succeeds admirably with the apple. Year-
ling trees are usually planted, and they are regularly pruned until
proper form is secured.

Mr. C. H. Rodgers, during his life-time a leading apple grower of
the Watsonville district, near the coast in central California, gave the
following excellent outline of a simple and economical, yet successful,
method for apple tree building under ordinary conditions :

PRUNING THE APPLE TREE 199

First Year : On planting cut the stem from 30 to 36 inches in
height, with the terminal bud toward the southwest. In the spring,
when growth begins, strip off all shoots from the ground up to about
20 inches. Above this point let all growth remain during the summer.
If for any cause during early summer a bud does not start where
wanted, a short transverse cut through the bark just above the bud
will cause it to develop into limb.

Beginning of Second Year : Cut off all limbs except those selected
to remain permanently. Two, three, four, and not more than five limbs
should be allowed to remain, the number depending on their position.
It should be the aim to distribute them evenly on all sides, and to give
all possible space between limbs up and down the trunk. This latter
precaution is to give room for expansion of limbs in after years. Cut
back the limbs that are to remain, taking off from one-third to one-half
of the previous season's growth. If the tree is of a spreading habit,
and it is desired to have it grow erect, cut to inner buds. If desired
to spread the top cut to outer buds.

Beginning of Third Year: Allow two or three lateral limbs to
remain on each of the main branches. Top the tree again, taking off
from one-third to one-half the previous year's growth. Continue this
method during the first four years, at which time the tree should begin
to bear, and if surrounding conditions are favorable, it will prove
strong, vigorous and capable of sustaining a heavy load of apples. The
after treatment will consist mainly in keeping the top properly thinned.

After coming into bearing there must be intelligent pruning accord-
ing to the growth-habit of the variety. Some varieties, like the Yellow
Bellflower, resent heavy pruning after coming into bearing, and slow
growers like the Yellow Newtown Pippin, do not need it. On the other
hand, varieties like the Winesap and Smith's Cider are apt to make
long slim branches and bear at the ends. This can be corrected by
cutting back to secure more short shoots which will bear better fruit.
Some varieties, like the Jonathan, will make plenty of short spurs
under this treatment, while others, like Rome Beauty and Rhode Island
Greening, are persistent tip-bearers, but can be gradually drawn in
without reducing the crop too much. ,The grower must study his
varieties not only with reference to this but in forming the tree, cutting
to an inside bud all varieties which naturally take a horizontal direction,
and cutting to an outside bud varieties which have a tendency to send
up tall, straight shoots. By thus throwing the new growth upward
in the first case, and outward in the second, one can shape each kind
to greater symmetry and strength for fruit carrying, and bring up all
spreading varieties to a form which admits near approach of the plow
and cultivator. This manner of shaping the tree must continue as long
as seems necessary to secure a tree which will come to bearing age
shapely and strong, and within reach.

Bearing trees should not be allowed to carry too many branches,
and pruning will largely consist of thinning out surplus shoots and
removing interference between branches. It is not desirable to shorten
in the apple as is done with the apricot and peach.

200 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Summer pruning to reduce wood growth and promote bearing is
practiced to a limited extent in some districts upon varieties inclined to
shy bearing. In regions of the most intense summer heat, less pruning
is admissible than in the coast and elevated regions. It is necessary
that the foliage be dense to protect the tree and the fruit from sunburn.
Nor does the tree seem to relish cutting back. Slight thinning out if
the tree becomes too brushy, seems to be the best treatment in some of
the hot valleys.

Thinning the Fruit. — One of the most important items in the
handling of an apple orchard is the faithful thinning out of the fruit
of all varieties which are prone to over-bear, and this work is now
regularly provided for by the leading commercial growers. Only one
apple should grow at a place and spacing of four to six inches is com-
mended. Although this work is tedious and expensive, it is profitable,
because of the improved price which can be had for the larger fruit
which will be secured, and it is desirable in the effects of thinning on
the tree. It will be relieved from the exhaustion of overbearing, in-
duced to yield annual crops, and often saved from breaking down with
a too heavy burden.

Cultivation and Irrigation. — All that has been urged in measures
to secure adequate moisture supply has full force with the apple. Ex-
cepting the early varieties, it is a fruit with a long growing season and
therefore requires continuous moisture to secure size and quality. Most
California apples are grown on deep, retentive soils in regions of large
rainfall and if this is conserved by thorough cultivation, good fruit can
be secured. It is doubtless true, however, that apples in California
would sometimes be improved by irrigation just as they are in interior
and mountain districts.

Fertilizers have been thus far but little used in California apple
orchards but they are manifestly needed.

There has arisen recently evidence of the unfinished character of
the fruit in some districts because it has shown blemishes after picking
and during shipment which can not be attributed to any parasitic en-
croachment. This is probably due to some unfavorable condition in the
local climate or to some other stress upon the tree which prevents it
from doing perfect work.

GATHERING AND STORING APPLES

The disposition in this State, as elsewhere, is to allow the fruit to
hang too long upon the tree before gathering. It was long ago dem-
onstrated that an apple for long-keeping must be picked a little in ad-
vance of full maturity. As late fall weather in California is so delight-
ful, there is more temptation to delay the picking than where the
approach of winter admonishes the grower to get his fruit under cover.
Picking apples for shipment should be done just when the seeds begin
to blacken and when the fruit yields to pressure. If left on until fully
ripe, and the seeds all black, the fruit is apt not to keep well. This rule
applies to fall apples for shipment to distant markets, or for apples to
be stored at home.

PICKING AND STORING OF APPLES 201

Mr. H. G. Keesling of Edenvale, Santa Clara County, gives a
sketch of his way of handling apples on a small scale: In picking
apples we insist on just as careful handling as in picking other fruits,
and we find that the picking pail made of tin or light galvanized
iron, holding about twelve quarts, or nearly twenty pounds of apples,
is the best vessel to pick in, and we use them right through the season
for cherries, apricots, peaches and even prunes. A pail of this size is
not too heavy to handle even on high ladders, and it carries the fruit
without bruising. Our plan is to pick and sort into boxes in the
orchard. If a number of pickers are at work, then one or more men
will do the sorting. As each picker fills his pail, he carries it a short
distance to the sorting station, taking an empty one and returning to
his work. The apples are sorted out of the pails and very carefully
examined. The perfect apples go into one box, second into another
and culls into another. They are then loaded onto a truck or wagon
with springs and hauled to the house. A good sorter will keep pails
empty for several pickers, all of course depending on the crop, size of
apples, etc. I put my winter apples in redwood boxes, which, when
piled one on top of another, five or six high and close together and
covered with canvas or muslin, are in a condition to keep their flavor
and juiciness a long time. Storing apples in boxes saves a lot of work
in handling if they are to be examined or sorted during the winter.

Nearly all the ways of keeping winter apples have been tried in
California. The main difficulty in keeping apples in good condition
during the dry months of the autumn is the loss of moisture from the
fruit by evaporation. This causes shriveling and operates against long
keeping. It has been found by experience that apples keep perfectly
until late in the spring by piling under the trees and covering with
leaves, etc., allowing the rains to fall upon them. When dry north
winds blow, the fruit should be sprinkled occasionally. They come out
from the cover fresh, smooth, and plump, and for family use such
rough storage will often answer a good purpose. For commercial stor-
age, even on a small scale, however, good fruithouses are used. The
requisites of such houses are an evenly cool temperature, moist air, and
good ventilation, the fruit being open to free access of the air. In the
mountains where stone is abundant excellent apple houses are made of
it, which resist temperature changes notably.

Mr. Edward Berwick, of Monterey, apple grower of experience in
the coast region, handles his fruit in this way :

The apples are carefully handpicked into baskets and at once transferred to
ordinary apple boxes — just put in loose, not packed tight as for shipping. These
boxes are hauled to the fruit houses with as little jar as possible.

This fruit house is built of rough boards (fastened on a heavy frame) with
inch-thick battens covering the cracks, and rustic-nailed outside the battens, thus
leaving an inch air-space between the boards and the rustic. It is of two stories —
the upper devoted to tools and stores, the lower used for fruit, and arranged
with shelves accordingly. This lower story has only an earthen floor. One object
of this is to > give no lodgment for rats or mice, the other is to serve as a
means of maintaining a cool, damp atmosphere. To this end it is kept well
watered in apple-keeping season ; and, to avoid mildew or mold, it is also liberally
sprinkled with ground sulphur. By day, doors and windows are mostly kept shut,
by night open; this, of course, is to exclude the heat and allow free circulation
of the cool night air.

202 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

A rather more open house is used in the coast region of southern
California, by Mr. T. W. Ward, of Carpinteria :

It is a slat house made of strips 1 x 2y2 inches, put on one inch apart. The
roof is similarly constructed. There are two passages, on either side of which
are two shelves, one above the other, i. e., eight in all. The shelves are made of
slats placed one-half inch apart, with sides a foot high. The apples are spread
on these shelves a foot or more deep. The floor is made of slats, and there are
bins on this also. The first must receive a thorough sprinkling weekly, unless
sufficient rain falls. The slats are close enough to prevent birds doing damage,
and the whole building is raised six inches from the ground.

In the monutain regions arrangements must be made for frost
exclusion — a consideration which does not apply to the valley and
coast.

PICKING AND PACKING APPLES ON A LARGE SCALE

Mr. C. H. Rodgers, whose pruning prescription has just been cited,
gives the best methods of handling apples for market as follows :

In the matter of picking, experience has evolved a number of rules which
should be strictly adhered to :

(1) Do not pull the apple off the tree. By so doing, the stem may be
detached from the apple, thus making a second grade of what otherwise would
be choice.

The proper method of plucking the apple is to grasp it with the full hand, not
with the fingers only, and by a gentle twist and lateral movement detach it with
the stem attached. Especially must finger pressure be avoided in the picking, as
bruises thereby produced injure the value.

(2) The apple must never be dropped into a receptacle or from box to box,
but should be transferred as carefully as so many eggs.

(3) Under all circumstances use vehicles having springs in moving the fruit.
Once within the packing-house the more perishable varieties should be handled

immediately and forwarded to market, while the long-keeping varieties, especially
those intended for export, should be held at least a month before sorting and
packing. This latter precaution enables the packer to discover and eliminate all
diseased and defective fruit — a thing that would be impossible if the fruit were
packed at an early date after picking.

Three grades or qualities are recognized in the "trade" — first, second and third.
First grade includes only perfect fruit. Second grade includes the fruit having
a trivial surface blemish or stem absent. The third or cull class includes all
wormy, badly bruised or skin-broken apples.

Though grading for size varies somewhat in different localities, in the Wat-
sonville district, the leading apple producing center of the West, there are but
three sizes recognized. These are 3*/>, 4, and 4^ tier. The unit of size is the
4-tier, which comprises all apples running from 2$4, to 3^4 inches in diameter,
and derives the name from the fact that when packed in the box there are four
rows of four apples each, both vertically and horizontally across the end of the
box. Apples in excess of 3^4 inches are classed as 3^2-tier size. The third size,
or 4^4-tier, includes those apples ranging between 2^4 and 2^ inches in diame-
ter. Both the 3^2-tire and 4H-tier are packed in the manner known as "diamond"
pack or "pear" pack. Apples smaller than 4^-tier are thrown into the cull pile.
The sorter ascertains the size by passing the apples through circular holes in a
board.

In this state the standard box is made of pine. Its measurements are 9^4 by
11 by 22 inches, and it holds about 50 pounds of fruit. A modified box of extra
thick material, reinforced by iron straps, is frequently used for export trade.
Redwood boxes are used only for cheap grades of apples packed for the local
market.

After being sorted, the apples are passed to the packer, who. before placing
them in the box, wraps each apple in a piece of paper prepared for the purpose.

LEADING VARIETIES OF APPLES 203

The apples must be so packed in the box as to permit the nailing firmly of
the lid at each end, and at the same time allow a gradual swell of about three-
fourths of an inch at the middle of both top and bottom. On account of the
resultant shape of the boxes, they can be stacked up with safety only on their
sides.

The packed boxes after being neatly labeled, are next transferred to the cars
and stacked four or five tiers high. An air space of three or four feet is left
between the top tier and the roof of the car, also the entire space between the
doors is left vacant for the better circulation of air. The boxes, after being
systematically placed in the car are so braced with timbers as to prevent any
movement. The usual carload consists of about 650 boxes. Refrigerator fruit
cars are employed mainly for apple shipment, but no ice is used.

Summer and Fall Apples. — In some regions noted for early
maturing of fruit, it is profitable to grow early apples, providing there
are facilities for reaching profitable avenues of trade. Except to minis-
ter to some special local or distant trade which can be thus foreseen,
it must be said that very early apples are hardly worth the attention of
the commercial planter. These sorts are apt to come into direct contest
with the magnificent peaches, grapes and other summer and autumn
fruits, and suffer thereby.

On the other hand the fall apples, chiefly the Yellow Bellflower
and Gravenstein, are so good and profitable in regions where they bear
well that they are among the varieties which constitute our chief com-
mercial reliance. Bellflowers are also encroaching on the field of win-
ter apples because they come out so well from cold storage.

Winter Apples. — For large ventures in apple growing, in local-
ities carefully chosen for especial adaptations, a few of the finest
varieties of winter apples should generally be selected. It is the judg-
ment of the most experienced apple growers, many of whom have old
orchards including many varieties, that new plantations of winter
apples should contain only about six sorts. Of these, in all parts of the
State, two would be the Yellow Newtown Pippin and White Winter
Pearmain; the other four would vary in different parts of the State, as
can be learned from the table which will follow.

Apples for Long Shipment. — There has been for years quite an
important trade in shipment of California apples to various ports in
the South Pacific Ocean, and recently there has been a sharp demand
for California apples for shipment to the eastern states and England.
The characteristic size, quality and keeping of the fruit, together with
the size and style of package, have strongly commended the fruit. The
center of this trade is Watsonville, in a coast valley, in the central part
of the State. The two apples which are most popular are the Yellow
Bellflower and the Yellow Newtown Pippin. It is an interesting fact
that these varieties by virtue of quality have overcome the popular
fervor for a red apple, though at Watsonville some Red Pearmains are
grown to fill orders which insist on having some color.

For the Interior Valleys. — In choosing varieties for the hot val-
leys of the State those making a heavy leaf growth are to be preferred.
The Spitzenberg, for example, is a failure in the valleys of the interior,
though satisfactory at points on the valley borders. From experience
already had it seems likely that some of the Russian varieties, with

204

CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

thick, large leaves, will prove best for such situations. The behavior
of the Astracans, the Duchess of Oldenburg, and others of Russian
origin, are illustrations of this fact. Other varieties have been on trial
for several years, but no great distribution of them has yet been at-
tained.

SELECTION OF VARIETIES FOR CROSS-POLLINATION

Association for cross-pollination can be arranged with a number of
our most popular varieties by consulting the following dates of bloom-
ing as prepared by Mr. Frederick Maskew based upon observations in
the coast region of Los Angeles County.

Blooming Season of a Group of Popular Varieties.

General

Varieties.

First bloom.

Full bloom.

fall of bloom.

White Winter Pearmain

April 11

April 27

May 5

Red Astracan

April 17

April 30

May 12

Bellflower

April 20

April 30

May 16

Fall Pippin

April 20

May 5

May 15

Rhode Island Greening

April 20

May 5

May IS

Kentucky Red Streak

April 20

May 10

May 2C

Early Harvest

April 21

May 6

May 12

Shockly

April 27

May 15

May 2C

Fameuse

April 27

May 15

May 22

Ben Davis

April 29

May 15

May 22

Winesap

May 5

May 17

June 1

Yellow Transparent

May 5

May 16

June 1

None-such

May 7

May 16

June

Missouri Pippin

May 10

May 20

June 1

Alexander

May 15

May 25

June 1

Smiths Cider

May 15

May 25

June t

Transcendent Crab

Mar. 30

April 7

April 22

Hvslop Crab

April 11

April 22

April 3C

Montreal Crab . . „

April 16

April 24

" May "/

i* >

This is a later range of bloom than will be found in many parts of
the State, but the same relation may be expected everywhere.

VARIETIES OF APPLES ££lEFLY GROWN IN
CALIFORNIA

Of the hundreds of varieties tested in California comparatively few
are now grown, as has already been suggested. Those named below
have been reported by growers as succeeding in localities named with
the description, or indicated in the table which will follow. The ar-
rangement is, approximately, in the order of ripening.

Carolina Red June (Southern). — Medium size oval, irregular, inclined to
conic; deep red covered with light bloom; slack in small cavity; calyx closed;
flesh white, tender, juicy, subacid; core rather large.

Early Harvest (American). — Medium size, roundish; straw color with few
faint white dots ; stalk half to three-fourths inch, slender, set in moderate cavity ;
calyx in shallow basin; flesh very white, tender, crisp, pleasant.

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR APPLES 205

Early Strawberry (New York).— Medium size, roundish, narrowing toward
the eye; skin smooth, deep red on yellow ground; stalk one and a half inches,
rather slender and uneven, in deep cavity; calyx small, in shallow basin; flesh
white, tinged with red next to the skin, tender, subacid, sprightly.

Red Astracan (Russian). — Large roundish; skin deep red, save greenish yel-
low in the shade; pale white bloom; stalk short, and deeply inserted; calyx
partially closed and set in slight basin; flesh white, juicy and crisp, pleasant acid;
tree hardy and vigorous, and an early bearer. The main reliance in California
for an early apple. /

White Astracan (Russian). — Large, roundish; skin smooth and nearly white,
with faint streaks of red, and covered with white bloom ; flesh white. Consider-
ably grown in the Sacramento Valley and foothills for early shipment. Some-
times attains a weight of 29 ounces. Excellent in the Modesto district of the
San Joaquin Valley.

Duchess of Oldenburg (Russian). — Large, roundish, oblate; yellow, streaked
with red; calyx large, nearly closed, set in wide, even hollow; flesh juicy,
subacid.

Gravenstein (German).— Large, rather flattened; a little one-sided or angular;
broadest at base; stalk short, strong, deeply set; calyx large, closed, in a large
basin; skin yellow, freely marked with light and deep red and orange; flesh
tender, crisp, highly flavored, aromatic; a strong-growing and heavily-bearing
tree; a standard fall apple in this State.

Red Bietigheimer (German). — Large to very large, oblate, slightly conical,
regular, smooth, whitish or yellowish white, shaded with light and dark red, and
purplish crimson in the sun; stalk short, rather stout, calyx closed in large,
deep, slightly corrugated basin; flesh white, firm, juicy, brisk subacid. Declining
in favor.

Maiden's blush (New Jersey). — Rather large, smooth, regular; yellow, with
evenly shaded red cheek ; stalk short, in rather wide, deep hollow ; calyx closed in
moderate depression; flesh white, tender, sprightly.

Fall Pippin.— Very large, roundish, a little flattened ; stalk three- fourths inch,
projecting considerably beyond the fruit (which distinguishes it from the Holland
Pippin) ; calyx open, not very large, rather deeply sunk in round, narrow basin;
skin smooth, yellowish green, becoming pure yellow; brownish blush and few
scattered dots ; flesh white, tender, mellow, rich, aromatic.

_ Alexander (Russian). — Very large, showy, conical, greenish yellow, streaked
with red in shade, bright red in sun; calyx large, in deep basin; stalk slender,
long, in deep cavity; flesh yellowish white, crisp, tender, and juicy. Three vigor-
ous, but not always a good bearer.

Gloria Mundi. — Very large, roundish, oblate; ribbed; greenish yellow. A
popular show apple on account of great sizei attained in this State. (See table.)

Fameuse; syn. Snow Apple (Canada). — Medium size, roundish, somewhat
flattened ; deep crimson, nearly concealing pale yellowish ground ; flesh snowy
white, tender, juicy, slight perfume; stalk slender, one-half inch, in narrow
funnel-shaped cavity; calyx small, in shallow, rather narrow basin; "tree vigor-
pus, with dark wood; one of the finest desert fruits; succeeds particularly well
in the foothills." — John Bidwell.

King of Tompkins County. — Large, globular, angular, inclining to conic; yel-
lowish, mostly shaded with red, striped and splashed with crimson; stalk short
and stout, in large, somewhat irregular cavity ; calyx small, closed ; flesh yellow-
ish, rich, juicy, vinous, aromatic; chiefly grown in mountain regions.

Rambo (Pennsylvania). — Medium to large, flat; yellowish white with pale
yellow and red in the sun, with large, rough dots; stalk long, rather slender,
curved, deeply set; calyx closed, in broad basin; flesh greenish white. Reported
a failure in some counties.

Ben Davis. — Large, roundish, sides often unequal; light red and deep red on
yellowish ground; stalk medium, rather slender, in deep, narrow cavity; calyx

206 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

partially open. Commended as a market apple by the Southern California
Nurserymen's Association. Grown in the upper Sacramento Valley; sometimes
keeps until July 1.

Baldwin (Massachusetts). — Large, roundish, narrowing a little toward the
eye; deep bright red over a yellow ground; a few russet dots; calyx closed and
set in narrow basin; stalk one-half to three-fourths inch, rather slender, set in
deep, even cavity; flesh yellowish-white, crisp, juicy, subacid. Best in northern
and elevated regions; coloring varies greatly according to locality.

Hoover (South Carolina). — Large, roundish, slightly oblique; yellowish,
mostly overspread with red, with conspicuous light dots ; stalk rather long, in
large cavity; calyx open in furrowed basin; flesh yellowish, juicy, crisp, acid.

Rhode Island Greening. — Large, roundish, a little flattened, pretty regular ;
dark green, becoming yellowish green ; calyx small, woolly, closed, in shallow
basin ; stalk three- fourths inch, curved, thickest at the bottom ; flesh yellow,
fine grained; tender, crisp, juicy, aromatic, slightly acid; tree healthy and the
variety widely popular.

Vandevere; syn. Newton Spitzenburg. — Medium size, oblate, slightly conic;
fine yellow, washed with light red, striped and splashed with dark red and
shaded with carmine in the sun; light bloom and peculiar gray specks; stalk
short, in wide cavity; calyx small; flesh yellow, rich, sprightly, vinous.

Jonathan (New York). — Medium to large, roundish, conical or tapering to
the eye ; light yellow, nearly covered with red stripes and deep red in the sun ;
stalk three-fourths of an inch, rather slender, in deep, regular cavity; calyx in
deep, broad basin; tender, juicy, rich, vinous; a great favorite in California;
specially commended as a market apple by Southern California Nurserymen's
Association; keeps till midwinter.

Winesap. — Medium size, roundish oblong; dark red with traces of yellow in
the shade ; stalk nearly an inch, slender, set in an irregular cavity ; calyx small,
in regular basin; flesh yellow, crisp, high, rich flavor; largely grown; tree a
good bearer.

Stayman Winesap. — An old improvement on the Winesap now becoming
more prominent. Some growers reporting favorablly on Winesap have this
variety, which is larger and better, and the tree a stronger grower and more
productive. Approved by Mr. Frank Femmons, of Madera county.

Ortley; syn. White Bellftower, etc. (New Jersey). — Large, oblong, greenish
yellow, becoming fine yellow with slight blush; stalk medium, slender, set in
deep, acute cavity ; calyx closed, set in abrupt corrugated basin ; flesh white, fine-
grained, juicy, subacid.

Swaar (New York). — Large, roundish; golden yellow with numerous brown
specks; stalk slender, three-fourths inch, in very round cavity; calyx small,
greenish, set in shallow basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained; very rich, aromatic
flavor and spicy smell.

Lawver. — Large, roundish, oblate, dark red, covered with small dots; stalk
medium, cavity deep, regular ; calyx small, closed in medium furrowed basin ;
flesh white, sprightly, aromatic ; a promising, late keeping variety.

Yellow Bellflower (New Jersey). — Very large, oblong, irregular, tapering
toward the eye ; smooth ; lemon color, with blush ; stalk long and slender, in deep
cavity; calyx closed, in rather narrow basin; flesh tender, juicy, crisp, with
sprightly subacid flavor; keeps well into the winter; tree a strong grower and
healthy; one of the 'universal favorites of California.

Romanite. — Small to medium, roundish, conical, truncated ; yellow, mostly
covered with clear, handsome red; indistinct light dots; stalk slender; calyx in
an abrupt basin; flesh yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, pleasant, subacid.

Esopus Spitzenburg (New York). — Large, oblong, tapering roundly to the
eye ; smooth, nearly covered with rich, lively red, dotted with distinct yellowish
russet dots; on shaded side, yellowish ground with streaks and broken stripes

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR APPLES 207

of red; stalk rather long, three-fourths inch, slender, projecting beyond the base
and inserted in wide cavity; calyx small and closed, in shallow basin; flesh yel-
low, rather firm, crisp, juicy, with a delicious rich, brisk flavor. A largely
grown variety; tree a good, upright grower and healthy; fruit keeps fairly.

Hyde King. — Very large, glistening golden yellow with blush, very hand-
some. Ripens October 15th in Humboldt county. Approved by A. F. Etter.

Smith's Cider (Pennsylvania). — Large, roundish, oblate conic; yellow, shaded
and striped with red, sparsely covered with gray dots; stalk slender, in deep,
rather narrow cavity; calyx closed, in broad, shallow basin; flesh whitish, juicy,
crisp, acid; tree a strong grower, and fruit keeps till midwinter.

Rome Beauty (Ohio). — Large, roundish, approaching conic; yellow, shaded
and striped with bright red, sprinkled with light dots ; stalk one inch, in large,
deep cavity; calyx partially closed, in deep, narrow basin; flesh yellowish, juicy,
sprightly; fruit keeps late. Particularly fine in the mountain valleys of Southern
California.

Missouri Pippin (Missouri). — Large, roundish oblate, slightly oblique, some-
what flattened at the ends ; shaded, striped and splashed with light and dark red,
often quite dark in the sun; many large and small gray dots; stalk short, small;
cavity large, deep ; calyx closed or half open, basin rather abrupt deep, slightly
corrugated; flesh whitish, rather coarse, moderately juicy, subacid. Quite largely
planted, but losing favor for lack of keeping quality in coast valleys.

Nickajack (North Carolina). — Large, roundish to roundish oblate, slightly
conic, sometimes oblique; yellowish, freely striped and splashed with red, many
large dots; stalk short, in large cavity; calyx partly open; flesh yellowish, fair
quality ; reported a shy bearer in high altitudes.

Northern Spy (New York). — Large, roundish, oblate, conical; pale yellow,
purplish red stripes in the sun; stalk three-fourths inch, slender, in wide, deep
cavity; calyx small, closed; flesh white, mild, pleasant; highly esteemed in a few
localities, but abandoned in others for shy bearing.

White Winter Pearmain. — Large, roundish, oblong conic, somewhat oblique;
pale yellow with slight blush, many minute brown dots; stalk short in deep
cavity; calyx nearly closed; flesh yellowish, tender, crisp, juicy, very pleasant
subacid, extra high flavor; grown everywhere and fruit keeps late; tree a strong
grower and healthy. Greatly advantaged by cross-pollination.

Lady (French). — Small, regularly formed, flat; smooth and glossy, with bril-
liant red cheek contrasting with lemon yellow ground; flesh white, crisp, juicy
and pleasant; chiefly used for ornamental purposes.

Black Ben Davis. — Resembles Ben Davis in tree and fruit, except that the
latter is deeper colored, more symmetrical and of better quality. Highly praised
by Mr. Frank Femmons, Madera county.

Delicious. — Resembling Bellflower; yellow; almost covered with dark red;
very mild acid, quality good; a late keeper. Strongly approved in elevated dis-
tricts.

Arkansas Beauty (Arkansas). — Medium to large, oblong conical, yellow and
red stripes; fine, juicy, very good, subacid. Approved in Southern California.

Rawles Janet (Virginia).— Medium to large, oblate conic, yellowish, shaded
with red and striped with crimson; stalk short and thick, in broad, open cavity;
calyx partially open, in shallow basin; flesh yellow, tender, juicy, pleasant vinous
flavor ; tree healthy and prolific.

Stark. — Large, roundish, inclined to conic ; sometimes elongated, sometimes
oblique; greenish yellow, nearly covered with dark red or sprinkled with light
and brown dots; stalk short, rather stout; calyx closed; flesh yellowish.

Yellow Newtown Pippin. — Large, roundish, oblate and oblaque, more or less
flattened yellow with brownish red cheek; stalk very short; flesh firm, crisp, juicy,
and with very rich, high flavor. Generally considered the best winter apple in
California.

208 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

CRAB APPLES

Hyslop. — Fruit large, growing in clusters ; roundish ovate ; dark rich red.
covered with thick blue bloom; stalk long, slender ; calyx closed; flesh yellowish.

Large Red Siberian. — Roundish ovate with large and prominent calyx; pale
red and yellow skin.

Large Yellow Siberian. — Fruit similar in size to foregoing, roundish oval,
flattened at base and crown; light clear yellow, inclining to amber, with warm
cheek.

Transcendant. — Medium to large, roundish oval, flattened at the ends, slightly
but regularly ribbed; golden yellow, with rich, crimson cheek, or nearly covered
with red ; delicate white bloom ; stalk long and slender, in open, deep cavity ;
calyx closed ; flesh creamy yellow.

Montreal Beauty. — Large, roundish, oblate ; bright yellow, mostly covered and
shaded with red ; one of the most beautiful of crab apples.

Whitney's Crab. — Large, handsome, greenish yellow, striped with crimson.

CALIFORNIA SEEDLING APPLES

Skinner's Seedling (name approved by California State Horticultural Society,
November, 1887) ; syn. Skinner's Pippin, Santa Clara King. — Originated with
Judge H. C. Skinner, of San Jose. Fruit large to very large ; form oblate, conic,
slightly mixed; color rich lemon yellow, faintly striped with bright red; flesh
yellowish white, very tender, juicy, sprightly, mild subacid; quality best. Season,
September and October.

Marshall's Red. — Originated with J. L. Marshall, Brown's Valley, near Napa.
Fruited first about 1877; introduced by Leonard Coates in 1884; no longer
propagated.

Magoon. — Large, roundish oblong, deep red shading to light red on yellow
ground, resembling Esopus Spitzenburg in form, flesh and flavor. Found in 1893
on place formerly occupied by S. E. Magoon, near Ahwahne'e. Named by Frank
Femmons.

Cook's Seedling; syn. Sonoma Seedling. — Brought to notice by O. B. Shaw,
of Sonoma, as a seedling raised by David Cook from the seed of the Juneating.
Above medium size, pale yellow striped with red; sharp acid flavor. Chiefly
grown in Sonoma and Napa counties.

Lawton. — Seedling on place of Mrs. F. H. Lawton, one-half mile north of
Sebastopol, Sonoma county. More symmetrical than Belmont or Waxen. Very
promising show variety.

Tabular Showing of Adaptations. — An attempt is made to dis-
trict the State for the apple, and for the other fruits which follow, in
accordance with the scheme of climatic conditions described in Chapter
I. This groups regions of nearest resemblance, and is more rational
than any prescription according to county lines can be, for though
some counties lie wholly in one climatic division, many more counties
extend through two, and some even through three, such divisions. It
is, therefore, a more promising proposition to encourage planters in
any locality to study their climatic adaptations, not with regard to
county lines but rather as related to the conditions of elevation, ex-
posure to ocean influences and other factors which characterize natural
belts, or areas, of similar horticultural fitness.

TABULATED STATEMENT

209

Apple Varieties Approved by California Growers.

Northern Central

VARIETIES. Coast Coast

Region. Region.

Alexander

Arkansas Beauty

Arkansas Black

Baldwin **

Ben Davis

Bietigheimer

Black Ben Davis ...

Cook's Seedling

Delicious

Early Harvest

Early Strawberry

Esopus Spitzenburg **

Fall Pippin

Fameuse

Gravenstein **

Gloria Mundi

Hoover **

Hyde King

Jonathan

Langford

Lawver *

Maiden's Blush

Marshall's Red

Missouri Pippin

Nickaj ack ...

Northern Spy

Oldenburg Duchess *

Ortley

Rawles's Janet

Red Astracan *

Red June *

Red Pearmain

Rhode Island Greening **

Romanite

Rome Beauty

Smith's Cider

Skinner's Seedling

Stark

Stayman Winesap

Tompkins King **

Vandevere

Wagener ** **

Wealthy

White Astracan

White Winter Pearmain...

Winesap

Winter Banana . . ..

Yellow Bellflower **

Yellow Newton Pippin **

Yellow Transparent

York Imperial ...

indicates that the variety is approved in the region
**Most highly commended.

Interior
valleys

and

foothills.
*

**
*

Mountain
valleys

and
plateau.

*
**

Southern

California

Coast.

*
*
*

**
*

**

**

**
*
*

**

*

*
*
*
*

*

**
##
**
**
**
**

*

*
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resignated.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE APRICOT

California has nearly three million apricot trees which stand in the
open air without protection of any kind and bear large, luscious fruit.
That apricot trees can do this constitutes one of the unique features
of California fruit growing and proclaims it different from fruit grow-
ing in other States, for, excepting a few localities in other parts of the
Pacific slope, California has a monopoly of commercial apricot grow-
ing, and nowhere else in the world does the fruit attain such commercial
importance. Although the apricot has been grown here from the
earliest days of the American occupation, and though since the opening
of the export trade in canned and dried fruits, the apricot has gained
in popularity, the planting of apricot orchards has not proceeded re-
cently with great rapidity, although indications are that our distant
patrons are only just beginning to recognize the desirability of the
fruit, and their demands will make it well-nigh impossible for us to ex-
tend our production beyond profitable limits. The reason by the apri-
cot has not kept pace with the advance of some other fruits in Cali-
fornia is to be found in certain limitations of suitable area which will
be mentioned presently.

Though the apricot has some pests and diseases to contend with,
they have thus far proved slight evils, and the tree is generally regarded
as one of the healthiest and most vigorous, as it certainly is one of our
most beautiful orchard trees. It is long-lived and attains great size
There are here and there groups of trees nearly half a century old
which have a height of fifty feet ; the main trunks like forest oaks, and
the first branches or limbs twelve and fifteen inches through. The
smaller limbs and foliage are at least fifty feet across ; a half dozen of
them shade an acre of ground and they sometimes yield per tree a ton
of fruit. But such trees do not meet orchard requirements and are
only mentioned to show what the tree may do when it has its own way.

The apricot is a rapid grower and an early and heavy bearer in
California. In the interior and in the southern coast valleys it yields
a paying crop during its third summer in the orchard, and from eight
to fourteen tons to the acre was reached for several years in succession,
in Judge Blackwood's old orchard of Royal apricots, in Alameda
County. The trees, even of some varieties which are uncertain bearers,
are large and vigorous growers, and have warranted the suggestion
that there is a use for the apricot tree for a windbreak for the protec-
tion of other trees. The trees may be planted near together in strong
land and make a windbreak that will pay its way without regard to
such fruit as it may incidentally produce.

Apricots are chiefly marketed as a dried fruit and the operation
of drying will be described in the chapter devoted to such processes.
The amount used in canning is, in a year of full production, about one-
quarter of that for drying, while the weight of fruit sold fresh to con-
sumers, near and far, is about one-quarter of that used by the canners.

210

NATURAL REQUIREMENTS 211

LOCALITIES FOR THE APRICOT

In discussing localities for the apricot, reference is, of course only
made to its growth as a standard orchard tree without protection of
any kind. It shows even in California that it does not forget the con-
ditions which destroy its thrift elsewhere, for late frosts in our upper
coast counties render it, as a rule, unprofitable. Speaking broadly, the
quarter of the State lying northward of the Bay of San Francisco and
westward of the high ridge of the Coast Range is not suited for com-
mercial apricot growing ; though here and there are places where bear-
ing may be regular and abundant enough to make trees satisfactory for
home gardens. The mountain regions everywhere in the State above
an elevation of about 1200 feet are also to be excluded. The lowest
lands of the great interior valleys, except here and there, where frosts
are prevented by proximity of broad streams of by favoring air currents,
are unsuited for apricots, and the bottoms of small valleys whence cold
air can not find drainage outlet, are also treacherous. It is evident
then, that even in regions of general adaptation to the fruit local dis-
crimination must be exercised in selecting lands for apricots, and the
occurrence of spring frosts, which are usually governed by topography,
must be guarded against. This is not the same problem which arises
in the selection of land for citrus fruits, because apricots are not open
to injury during December, January and February, and consequently
they may be successfully grown in places where winter temperatures
might injure the evergreen trees of the citrus family. Still, next to
the almond, the apricot is most liable to frost injury of all our decidu-
ous tree fruits, and commercial success depends largely upon the selec-
tion of a proper place for them. The occurrence of even light frosts
during the blooming and setting, or soon after, may strip the tree of its
burden of fruit without injury to even the softest of twig and leaf; con-
sequently, regular bearing of the apricot can not be expected where
the temperature is apt to fall four or five degrees below freezing point
during the months of March and April, even though the duration of
such temperature may be very brief. For this reason the area of Cali-
fornia which is well suited to apricot growing is limited when com-
pared with the great area of the State, though when counted by acres
it is ample enough to supply all the fresh canned and dried apricots
which the markets of the world can be expected to take at profitable
figures.

It is often claimed that situations directly subject to ocean influ-
ences are best for the apricot. It is noted by many observers
that the apricot "points its best branches to the ocean, in the very teeth
of the constant breeze, and the landward limbs and twigs bend up and
endeavor to reach the same direction. This is patent in every tree, and
in the long orchard rows is very striking." This is taken to signify
the special liking of the tree for the vicinity of the coast. It is well
enough to interpret it that way, providing one does not lose sight of
the perfect success of the apricot in the interior as well. It is true that
the fruit near the coast attains higher color, and the less rapid growth
of the tree makes it somewhat easier to handle, but the earlier ripen-
ing in the interior, coupled with freedom from fog and constant sun-

212 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

shine for drying, are points of the highest industrial importance. The
fact is that the apricot has a very wide range in California, and though
the trees have been cut out at some points it has been chiefly because
too frosty locations have been chosen or because some other fruit has
seemed to be locally more desirable, for one reason or another.

In some valleys in the upper part of the State opening directly to
the ocean, there is sometimes complaint of the cracking of the fruit on
the sunny side. The alteration of sunshine and fog seems to have
something to do with this, for in favorable years, when fogs are few,
the fruit is sound.

Locations for early ripening of the apricot are to be chosen with
reference to the influence of topography, as laid down in Chapter I. In
a general way, it may be said, in regions directly subject to coast in-
fluences, both in northern and southern California, the apricot is late.
On the west side of the Sacramento Valley, on slightly elevated places,
in small, hill-locked valleys, the earliest apricots have been grown for
years. Protected situations in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, on
the eastern rim of both the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys, share
in the production of the earliest ripening fruit. There is probably
about a month's difference in the ripening of the same variety in the
earliest situations and in the coast valleys of both northern and south-
ern California.

In the interior of southern California, in irrigated situations, on the
west side of the Colorado River and in adjacent parts of Arizona,
apricots rival in earliness the product of the famous valleys of interior
northern California.

Recently a measure of success with the apricot has been attained
in irrigated sections of eastern Washington, Idaho and Utah. If win-
ter temperatures are low enough to keep the tree dormant and yet not
injure the fruit buds and frosts are absent after growth begins, success
ought to be attainable.

STOCKS AND SOILS FOR THE APRICOT

Because of the success with which the apricot can be budded on
various stocks, it has a wide range in adaptation to different soils.
Budded on the peach root it may be grown successfully on the light,
warm, well-drained loams in which the peach delights. The peach
root is, in fact, largely used for the apricot. It gives the tree quick
growth and early fruiting, and the fact that the gopher does not like
the peach root is a consideration with some planters. In growing
stocks, pits of a strong-growing yellow peach are believed to yield
more uniform and thrifty seedlings.

For deep, rich, well-drained, loamy soils, the apricot on its own
root makes a magnificent tree. Apricot roots for budding are easily
secured. The pits sprout as readily as corn. Sometimes, where cutting
and drying are done in the orchard, the ground the next spring will be
almost covered with a volunteer crop of seedling apricots. These little
plants, taken up and set out in nursery rows in March, are ready for
budding in June or July. Large numbers of trees are sometimes

RELATIONS OF APRICOT AND ALMOND 213

secured in this way. In the upper San Joaquin Valley there are situa-
tions in which the apricot seems more productive on its own roots than
on the peach, and in the moister parts of the San Fernando and tribu-
tary valleys in southern California the apricot root has recently ad-
vanced in popularity. It is, however, rather more sensitive to soil-
drouth than the peach root.

When it is desired to grow the apricot in moister and heavier soils
than have been described, or where a light soil is underlaid by a heavy,
retentive subsoil, recourse should be had to the plum root. Only a
non-suckering plum stock should be used. For this purpose the Myro-
balan has been considerably used. Some growers complain that the
root has a dwarfing effect on the tree, and object to its use. The
manner of securing Myrobalan stocks has been described in the chapter
on propagation.

Apricot and Almond. — The almond should as a rule be rejected
as a stock for the apricot. Hundreds have tried it, and found that the
scion never made a good union with the wood of the stock but was
knit to it only by the bark, and is, therefore, easily broken off by the
wind. It may grow well and sometimes gets to be two or three inches
in diameter before it breaks off, thus wasting much time for the
orchardist. Whole orchards worked in this way have been a loss and
disappointment.

A few growers, however, approve the almond and use it with the
idea that it gives larger fruit. It has been claimed that the Royal
apricot will take well on the almond seedling by root grafting instead
of budding, using the side graft. Cut off the top of the stock about
four to six inches above ground, scrape away the dirt, bend the stock,
and, with a sharp, thin knife, cut into the root to the center, making
the cut perpendicular, so that the graft will be that way when in-
serted. The scion should be made wedge-shaped. After insertion,
draw the loose earth around it, and the work is done until the graft
has made a growth of eighteen to twenty-four inches. This is given
as a record of experience, but still caution is urged against the use
of the almond as a stock for the apricot.

The apricot may also be made to hold on the almond by double
working, growing on the almond seedling first a shoot from a peach or
plum bud and then working an apricot bud higher up in the new shoot.

In addition to the specifications of certain stocks for different soils,
it may be remarked, in a general way, that the apricot seems to thrive
better on a tolerably heavy soil, with enough sand to make it work
easily, than on a very light soil. It does well on soil rather too heavy
for the peach. It also enjoys moisture better and gives signs of dis-
tress unless its roots are fairly supplied all during the season, but it
dislikes standing water and should not be planted on undrained situa-
tions.

PLANTING THE APRICOT

The apricot becomes a large tree in California, as has already been
remarked, and it should be given plenty of room. Twenty-four feet
each way is certainly the minimum distance for so large and long-
lived tree, and some orchards have been planted at thirty feet. If

214 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

nearer planting is done it should be with reference to subsequent re-
moval of part of the trees, which, however, is very seldom done.
Twenty feet apart, with later removal of half the trees to double the
distance was proposed by H. D. Briggs, of Azusa, in this way :

In setting out an orchard it seems advisable to double set the ground, as an
apricot twelve to fifteen years old should have not less than 800 to 900 square
feet of ground. This can easily be obtained by setting 20 x 20 feet; then when
nine or ten years old remove every other tree, making them forty feet in the
row, with rows twenty feet apart, of course, taking them out diagonally. The
trees will very quickly tell the orchardist when they are too thick. When the
outside rows have twice the fruit of those inside, it is quite evident that the time
spent in pruning, etc., on half of the trees is worse than wasted. I have cut
roots forty feet from a nine-year-old tree.

The apricot makes such rapid growth and so much depends upon
giving it proper form, as will be seen presently, that one year's growth
is all that should be allowed in the nursery. Some growers would
rather have a dormant bud than a two-year-old tree, and cases have
been reported from dormant buds outgrowing yearling trees planted
at the same time in the same orchard. But in growing from a dor-
mant bud in the orchard care should be taken to develop a short trunk,
with properly-spaced branches, by pinching the side shoots near the
ground. Trees started from dormant bud and allowed to branch from
the ground, have developed very unsatisfactory form, and have, in
some situations, lost their lower branches by the wind. The tree
should have a low head, but a short trunk seems to give a better tree,
and more elasticity to the branches.

PRUNING THE APRICOT

Of all the California orchard trees, the apricot seems most in need
of the constant attention of the orchardist to give it proper shape and
strength. It is a rampant grower, and in its zealous haste for size
and fruitage it over-reaches itself and becomes the prey of specific
gravity and wind force. Thousands of trees have been ruined by
literally breaking to pieces with the weight of their fruit, and being
torn by winds of only ordinary velocity. Thousands more have been
rescued from such a fate by bolting the branches to each other. This
excessive growth and consequent weakness of the apricot is greater
in some parts of the State than in others, because of the difference in
degree of forcing conditions, but everywhere the apricot needs watch-
fulness and timely aid in building up its strength. The general prin-
ciples to be observed in securing branches strongly attached to a short
trunk have already been discussed at length in the chapter on pruning.

There has been a very marked change during the last few years
of the pruning of the apricot. Summer pruning, immediately after the
fruit is picked, has become much more general, and winter pruning
has proportionally decreased. The new practice is certainly more
rational than the old. Young trees are winter pruned to promote low
branching and short, stout limbs ; bearing trees are summer pruned to
promote fruit bearing and check wood growth — the excess of bearing
shoots being removed by thinning during the winter.

COMMON VASE-FORM OF APRICOT TREE 215

The apricot tree bears upon old spurs, like the plum ; also upon the
new wood, like the peach. This fact has to be borne in mind when
winter thinning of the new growth is undertaken.

A very clear record of procedure is given by J. B. Neff, of Ana-
heim, Orange County, who built up one of the best apricot orchards
in the State as he describes. This orchard was displaced to make way
for English walnut trees which are more profitable in that district, but
that was no fault of the pruning :

Pruning the apricot requires some skill and considerable judgment, which can
only be formed by experience and observation of the habits of the tree. Trees
of four to five feet in height are preferable for planting, and when planted should
be trimmed to a single stem and cut off at eighteen inches from the ground.
These will throw out shoots vigorously, and frequently two or three shoots from
one bud. These shoots should be thinned out, leaving not more than four or
five, no two of which should come from one bud, nor be directly opposite. The
firsc shoot should start twelve inches from the ground, the others in such a
manner as to divide the space and make the branches balance, leaving the top
shoot to form the central part of the tree.

It will be necessary to go over the trees several times the first year to remove
shoots that may start where not wanted, but no general heading back should be
done, as it tends to dwarf the tree ; though if some of the limbs are making an
overgrowth they should be pinched back to keep the head balanced.

In the pruning of the second year, the first year's growth should be cut back
to within five or ten inches of the body of the tree, and all forks should be
cut out, even if it necessitates forming a new head, as it is much better to lose
some growth on a young tree than to take the risk of splitting down when the
tree begins to bear fruit.

When the shoots start for the second year's growth, take off all that come on
the under side of the limbs and thin to one, two, or three, as may be needed to
balance the tree.

The second year will require much more attention than the first year, in order
to keep off suckers and all lateral growth that may start on the under side of
the new limbs, the object being to make the limbs grow as nearly upright as
possible. The remark on heading back holds good for the second year also.

In pruning for the third year the second year's growth should now be cut
back to within fifteen to twenty inches of the old wood, except the central stem,
which may be left twenty-four to thirty inches long, depending on the number
of laterals it may have thrown out. When the new shoots start they should
again be thinned down to two or three on each limbs, and all taken off that
tend to turn down or out at right angles, but do not take off the fruit spurs.

During the third season's growth, go over the trees about three times before
July to remove suckers and lateral growth that may start on the lower side of
the limbs, as the tendency in the third year is to make an immense growth of
downward laterals, and these must be taken off so as to develop wood that is to
be left for fruit. If the orchard is on good land and has been properly irrigated
and cultivated there will be a few specimens of the fruit the third year, and as
soon as these are gathered the trees should be summer pruned for the first time,
care being taken that the land shall have been allowed to become moderately dry
so that the trees may be partially dormant. If the downward growth of the later-
als has been kept cut off, all that remains to be done is to cut off about one-half of
all this season's growth all over the tree, using the same judgment as before with
reference to prevailing winds and symmetry of tree. If this is properly done and
water at once turned on the orchard, a new growth will be made and the fruit
buds for next year fully developed.

The only pruning necessary in the following winter will be to take out any
cross limbs and sprouts that may have been overlooked in the summer.

After the trees begin to produce regular crops they will not grow so vigor-
ously, and the numerous prunings of the first three years will not be necessary,
as almost all can be done by summer pruning until the trees get so old that they
need the old wood taken out. This can be more readily done without damage

216 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

to the trees where from 24 to 30 limbs are grown, than in the old method of
leaving only eight or ten large limbs. A few limbs can be taken out each year
until a full crop of new wood is again made.

The foregoing describes the development of the common vase form.
A method of forming the apricot with continuous leaders is described
in Chapter XII.

Winter Pruning of Bearing Trees. — The evident defect of many
old apricot orchards is the failure of the low-bearing wood and the
thicket of brush near the ends of long bare limbs. Such trees need
renewal of the top by vigorous winter pruning, which should prefer-
ably be done toward the close of the dormant season rather than early
in the winter as formerly. Old and unprofitable trees have been re-
claimed in this way.

Winter pruning is still the regular method in some parts of the
State where the conditions do not favor excessive growth of the tree
and where summer pruning does not seem to be called for. The
practice is to remove half or two-thirds of the new growth and thin
out, by removing entirely enough new and old wood to prevent the
tree from becoming thick and brushy. In shortening the bearing
shoots it should be remembered that the larger fruits usually grow
nearer to the tip than to the base of the shoot.

THINNING THE APRICOT

All free-fruiting varieties of the apricot must be thinned to secure
size acceptable to purchasers. It is the experience of the oldest grow-
ers that though thinning is an expensive operation, it is very profitable.
When half the fruit is taken off in thinning, the remainder reaches as
large aggregate weight as though the whole were allowed to mature
and thinned fruit is worth about twice as much per pound. Even if
less weight is secured, and in most cases the purpose should be to get
less weight, the tree is spared the exhaustion of over-bearing and the
owner escapes a year of little or no fruit. A discussion of this subject
is given in a previous chapter.

Where conditions are favorable, the tree will set more fruit than it
can bring to full size, and for this reason thinning or spacing the fruit
on the twigs by hand-picking, while the fruit is about the size of a
pigeon's egg, is almost a universal practice among the best commercial
growers. This is necessary to bring the individual fruits to the
diameters required by canners or overland shippers and which they
scale in price according to size: Extras, 2^4 inches; No. 1, 2 inches;
No. 2, \y2 inches. Fruit of less size is hard of sale unless the crop
happens to be very small. It has also been found that thinning to
regulate size is quite as important when the fruit is to be dried by the
grower as when sold as fresh fruit.

IRRIGATION OF THE APRICOT

Whether the apricot shall be irrigated or not is answered in the
chapter on irrigation. In many locations, with proper pruning, thin-
ning and cultivation, perfectly satisfactory fruit can be grown with the

C/3

bJD

I

IRRIGATION OF THE APRICOT 217

usual rainfall. In others a single winter irrigation will satisfy all the
needs of the tree; in others a single irrigation just after fruit picking
and summer pruning will carry; the tree through. It is a fact, how-
ever, that as the trees advance in age some supplement to the average
rainfall is often desirable and in dry years irrigation is the saving of
two crops. Some idea of the amount of water used can be had from
the chapter on irrigation. The following account by Mr. Neff applies
to this practice in Orange County, which is an average situation as to
rainfall and atmospheric humidity, and is as good a general statement
as could be made :

If rains are copious, winter irrigation may be dispensed with during the first
two or three years after planting the orchard, but when the trees reach the age
for bearing fruit the rain water should be supplanted by irrigation water until
the soil is thoroughly wet 5 feet deep, and in order to have this, at least 20 inches
of water, including rainfall, must be put on the land. Three irrigations should be
given the trees during the first summer, but it is not necessary to wet more than
a strip 5 or 6 feet wide along the tree rows. The orchard should have three
irrigations during the second summer and a strip 12 feet wide should be watered,
as the roots are reaching farther and the trees require a greater amount of water.
The irrigation for the first two years should always be done before the trees
show any want of water, so as to keep them growing vigorously.

All the space between the trees should be watered the third year and after-
ward; but two irrigations will be sufficient for the summer. The best time for
the summer irrigation of bearing apricot trees is when the fruit is about half
grown, which is usually about the second or third week in May.

If well watered at this time the fruit grows to its largest, and has time to
ripen slowly as the ground gradually dries, until it has all the sugar which will
go into the fruit. An orchard in full bearing that has been well watered in the
winter should now have as much as full 100 inches of water for two hours on
each acre (equal to four acre-inches).

The second irrigation should be given as soon as possible after the summer
pruning is done, in order to start the trees growing and develop the fruit buds
for the next year. This will not require so much water as the irrigation in May,
but ought to be as much as 100 inches of water for one hour on each acre.

Winter irrigation of apricots on deep soils, as supplementary to
rainfall and largely reducing summer irrigation, is a very satisfactory
recourse in some districts.

DISEASES OF THE APRICOT

Though the apricot tree, as has been said, is regarded as one of
the healthiest fruit trees, it is subject to some maladies. Trees perish
from being set in unsuitable situations, and in these cases, if the evil
be stagnant water in the soil, or penetration to alkaline subsoil, the root
shows it. Sometimes, however, a branch or a whole tree withers and
dies without apparent cause early in the summer, and while the root is
still sound. The disease is evidently acute, but its cause is not known,
nor a remedy proposed. It is an old trouble of the apricot, and not
peculiar to California.

The so-called "gum disease" sometimes causes injury to trees. The
best treatment is to cut away the diseased part down to healthy wood
and cover the wound with common lead and oil paint, putting on spar-
ingly so as not to flow over healthy bark.

Some years certain varieties in particular are blackened at the pit
and rendered unsalable, but the trouble has not thus far proved serious

218 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

generally, except with certain varieties which have generally gone out
of use for that reason.

The worst injury to tree and fruit is done by what is called the
"shot-hole fungus" (coryneum), from its perforations of the leaves as
though by a charge from a shotgun. It makes ugly scars on the fruit,
which renders it unsalable. The same disease also affects the leaves of
cherries and plums. Thorough use of the Bordeaux mixture described
in a later chapter will prevent this trouble.

A disease which is prevalent in some districts of southern Cali-
fornia is called "black heart" ; a pith disease which sometimes does
great injury. No treatment except that of pruning back to healthy
wood has thus far been proposed. Root knot is also a serious trouble
of the apricot as of several other trees. It will be considered in the
chapter devoted to disease of fruit trees.

Until recently the apricot has been generally free from scale in-
sects, and it is not affected by those species which are worst on some
other fruit trees, but recently it has been seriously infested in some
places with black and brown scales, which will be considered in a later
chapter.

The ripe apricot is sometimes seriously assailed by the diabrotica,
a small green beetle, with twelve black spots upon its wing covers.
Driving the insects away with smoke smudges has been used to some
extent. Fortunately, the insect only occasionally occurs in large num-
bers.

Varieties Approved by California Growers.

Central

Interior

VARIETIES.

Coast

valley and

Southern

valleys

foothills

California

Barry

*

Blenheim

**

**

**

Early Golden

*

**

Early Moorpark

**

Hemskirke

**

*

Large Early

*

#*

Large Early Montgamet

*

*

. . .

Luizet ,

*

Moorpark

**

*

*

Newcastle

**

Oullin's Early

*

*

Peach

**

*

Royal

**

**

**

Routier's Peach

**

Spark's Mammoth

.

*

St. Ambroise

*

*

Tilton

*

**

*

Wiggin's Seedling

*

...

VARIETIES OF THE APRICOT

Though nearly all standard varieties of the apricot have been in-
troduced and planted in this State, comparatively few are found on the
list of the orchard planters. Many local seedlings have been brought
to notice and propagated to some extent but are less used now than

OF POPUAR APRICOTS 219

twelve years ago, and the disposition is to restrict planting to a few
old varieties. There is, however, still a need of new varieties combin-
ing size, quality and regular bearing.

VARIETIES OF FOREIGN ORIGIN

Large Early. — A French variety ; fruit of medium size, rather oblong and
compressed; suture deep, skin slightly downy; pale orange in the shade, fine
bright orange with a few ruddy spots in the sun; flesh separating readily from
the stone, orange colored, rich and juicy; kernel bitter. This variety is especially
popular in the southern coast counties, but in most situations has proved an
uncertain bearer. Ripens before Royal.

Wiggin's Seedling. — Favored in Winter's district as best of early apricots;
good size, fine color, solid red cheek, good bearer; ten days earlier than Royal.

Early Golden. — Origin unknown; small, roundish oval, with suture well
marked and extending half way round; skin smooth, pale orange; flesh yellow,
moderately juicy and sweet, with very good flavor; separates from the stone.
This variety is reported favorably from some counties, but generally otherwise,
and is not largely grown. Ripens before Royal.

Royal. — A French variety, and at the present time the leading California
apricot. Of large size (when well thinned out), free stone, fine color and flavor,
good bearer, and fruit ripens evenly, when well grown ; a favorite with the
canners, and an excellent variety for drying. Fruit roundish, large, oval, slightly
compressed ; skin dull yellow with orange cheek, very faintly tinged with red, and
a shallow suture; flesh pale orange, firm and juicy, with a rich vinous flavor.

The Derby Royal is grown in the Winter's district; like the standard Royal
but two weeks earlier.

There is a variety somewhat grown in Sacramento and Solano counties, some-
times called "White Royal," which is not liked by canners, because of its lack of
color and flavor.

Large Early Montgamet. — Large, orange yellow, reddish on sunny side, firm.

Oullin's Early. — Early form of Peach apricot, large size, delicious flavor.
Ripens in Amador county four weeks earlier than Peach.

_ Luizet. — Large, oval, distinct suture, one side higher than the other; orange
with crimson cheek; flesh deep yellow, firm, rich. Especially approved in the
upper San Joaquin.

' Blenheim or Shipley. — This is a valuable variety in this State, standing next
to Royal in popularity; was described by John Rock as follows: "A very good
variety, above medium, oval; orange, with a deep yellow, juicy and tolerably
rich flesh; vigorous grower and regular, prolific bearer." This behavior of the
variety was demonstrated fully in the University orchard at Berkeley, where it
was for years the! best of twenty varieties. It is now popular in all parts of the
State. Fruit runs a little larger than the Royal, and is usually better distributed
on the tree, but it must be well thinned. This variety has been approved by
canners. Ripens a little later than the Royal.

Alberge de Montgamet. — Large and handsome, late, grown in Vacaville
district.

Early Moorpark. — Very popular in Southern California, where its identity has
been long in dispute, and is not yet fully determined. The Early Moorpark of
Thomas Hogg is as follows : Roundish, inclining to oval, with very deep suture
on one side, extending from base to apex. Skin yellow, mottled, and dotted with
crimson on the exposed side. Flesh in all respects resembling Moorpark. Stone
oblong, with a covered channel along the back, which is pervious. Kernel bitter.
Ripens three weeks earlier than Moorpark.

^St. Ambroise. — Large, early, compressed, deep yellow, reddish on sunny side.
Juicy, rich, and sugary, with firm flesh when grown in the interior; apt to be
coarse and to lack flavor near the coast. Condemned by canners for not process-
ing well, and by dryers for loss of weight and for white color around the pit. It
has served well as a shipping variety.

220 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Bergetti. — An undetermined variety introduced by Mr. Bergetti and widely
distributed under his name in the San Joaquin.

Hemskirke. — A fine English variety quite widely grown in California ; ripens
later than Royal ; described by Downing as follows : "Fruit large, roundish, but
considerably compressed or flattened on its sides; skin orange, with red cheek;
flesh bright orange, tender, rather more juicy and sprightly than the Moorpark,
with rich, luscious, plum-like flavor; stone not perforate, rather small, and
kernel bitter." Esteemed in California because the tree is more hardy and a
more regular bearer than the Moorpark, and the fruit ripens evenly on both
sides. Sometimes drops worse than other varieties.

Peach. — A variety from Piedmont of the largest size, about two inches in
diameter, roundish, rather flattened, and somewhat compressed on its sides, with
a well-marked suture; skin yellow in the shade, but deep orange mottled with
brown on the sunny side; flesh of a fine yellow, saffron color, juicy, rich, and
high flavored; stone can be penetrated like Moorpark, and has bitter kernel.
This has been a very successful sort in the warmer parts of the State especially,
and a favorite in the Sacramento Valley, but is now in less favor because of
rapid ripening and inferior appearance in canning and drying. It ripens just
ahead of the Moorpark.

Moorpark. — A standard of excellence and an old variety which originated in
England. Fruit large, roundish, about two inches and a quarter in diameter each
way; rather larger on one side of the suture than on the other; skin orange in
the shade, but deep orange or brownish red in the sun, marked with numerous
dark specks and dots ; flesh quite firm, bright orange, parting free from the stone,
quite juicy, with a rich and luscious flavor; stone peculiarly perforated along the
back, where a pin may be pushed through ; kernel bitter. In California the
Moorpark reaches grand size, but has the fault of ripening unevenly in most
localities. The tree is tender and bears irregularly, which leads to its rejection
by most planters, though some growers cling to it because of its size and quality
and occasional grand crops. The San Jose districts lead in the production of
this variety, and in some parts of the Santa Clara Valley the Moorpark seems to
ripen uniformly. The same behavior is reported from localities in the upper San
Joaquin Valley, where it also seems to be a more regular bearer. The variety is
almost wholly rejected in Southern California.

VARIETIES OF CALIFORNIA ORIGIN

Newcastle. — Originated with C. M. Silva & Son, of Newcastle, Placer county,
in 1881 ; size medium, round, with spherical pit ; freestone ; not quite as large as
the Royal, nor quite as rich in flavor, but more highly colored ; rather darker on
the side to the sun. Early, regular and good bearer, a medium grower, being
more upright than the Royal. Its time of ripening has been reported as seventeen
days earlier than the Early Golden, and twenty-five days earlier than the Royal.

Routier's Peach. — Originated with Joseph Routier, near Sacramento. Large,
yellow in shade ; deep orange, mottled or splashed with red in the sun ; flesh
juicy and rich, high flavor and a good market variety. Blooms a week later
than Peach. Very popular in Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.

Spark's Mammoth. — Popular in Ventura county. Largest size, even larger
than Moorpark; pale yellow, very tender, juicy and sweet; abandoned for shy
bearing.

Tilton. — Chance seedling first noticed about 1885 on place of J. E. Tilton, near
Hanford, Kings county, and distinguished by regular bearing. Propagated and
introduced by J. W. Bairstow, of Hanford. Fruit large ; freestone ; symmetrical,
ripening evenly and one week to ten days later than Royal. Tree vigorous and
prolific. Widely planted recently and very promising, though condemned for shy
bearing in some places. Colors in advance of ripening and is often picked too
green for best quality in drying.

Late Englehardt. — Chance seedling originating at La Crescenta. Propagated
and introduced by W. B. Thorne of Tropico. Large as Moorpark, ripening
evenly and twenty-eight days later than Royal. Claimed to be a very late
bloomer, and thus escaping frosts which caught all other varieties at similar
elevations. Planted chiefly in Los Angeles county.

CHAPTER XIX

THE CHERRY

Although the amount of cherries grown in this State is small as
compared with the aggregate weights of some other fruits, the cherry,
from the growth of the tree and the size and quality of the product,
is entitled to rank as one of the grand fruits of California. The size
of the California-grown cherry is a matter of pride with the residents,
and a marvel to visitors. It is related that, many years ago, one of the
most distinguished Eastern pomologists, who was taken to an Alameda
County cherry orchard during picking time, could not recognize the
varieties, though he had himself propagated and shipped to California
the very trees which were bearing the fruit, the size of which so far
surpassed all his mental standards. And quality is commensurate with
size. Whatever disagreement there may be concerning the flavors of
our other fruits as compared with Eastern, the richness and excellence
of the California cherry have never been impeached. Recently the
shipment of cherries to eastern markets, the extension of the canning
interest, and the uprising of a demand for maraschino-preserving have
considerably enlarged the opportunity for profitable growth of the fruit.

Famous Old Trees. — The longevity and productiveness of the
cherry tree in this State is naturally of interest. Cherries that were
planted in some of the earliest settled parts of the State are still in
full vigor. One of the famous trees is a Black Tartarian, which was
brought from France by Dr. L. E. Miller, and planted by him in 1854,
on land afterwards owned by Robert Hector in Placer county, just
below Rattlesnake Bar, on the American River, about eight hundred
feet above sea-level. It is described as above seventy feet in height, the
branches covering a space between seventy feet and seventy-five feet in
diameter. The trunk branches about six feet above the ground, and
at that point has a girth of over ten feet. A close record of its crop,
kept for a number of years when the tree was over thirty years of age,
showed that it yielded from a ton to a ton and a half a year. Such trees
are too large to be profitable, for the fruit has to be picked with the
aid of extension ladders securely guyed, by men slung in swings from
such ladders or the forks of the trees. At last reports there were
about fifty of these large trees. Other large trees were to be seen near
Woodside, San Mateo. County, and near Oroville and Chico in Butte
County, some of which have borne a ton of fruit in favorable seasons.

LOCALITIES FOR THE CHERRY

In California there are many districts in which the cherry does not

do well, and situations for the fruit must therefore be selected with

discrimination. The chief product is made in the coast valleys adjacent

to the Bay of San Francisco, including its extension east of the Coast

221

222 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Range, known as Suisun bay, for in all these regions there is a modifi-
cation of climate due to the influence of ocean temperature and
moisture. Away from these influences the cherry also thrives on the
alluvial bottoms of large rivers and their tributary creeks, both on the
low lands of the valleys and the foothills, while on broad valley plains
and foothill slopes it is not usually satisfactory. In the mountain val-
leys cherries also thrive in suitable soils. In southern California at
elevations where moisture is adequate and temperatures favor suitable
winter dormancy of the trees, good cherries are profitably grown,
while on the mesas and valleys below, where citrus fruits flourish, the
cherry is an aggravation.

How far atmospheric conditions which are beyond control influence
the growth and fruitage of the cherry, can not yet be fully determined,
but ample trial seems to demonstrate the unsatisfactory character of
the tree, manifested in small fruit and sunburned foliage, on the plains
of interior valleys, although the soil is kept moist enough. There is,
however, still the chance of securing varieties of the fruit which have
been developed under conditions similar to those prevailing in the
interior of California. The Russian cherries, which are largely grown
in a region subject to high summer heat and dry air, will succeed in
parts of California where the varieties originating in west Europe fail.
Though this was suggested long ago, the effort has not yet been made.

SOILS FOR THE CHERRY

The cherry thrives in free deep soil, in which water does not stand
too near the surface. It delights in deep deposits from old water
courses, and does not dislike a moderate amount of sand. A loam
underlaid by a sandy subsoil is acceptable if it is not allowed to dry
out in the late summer, but a loam underlaid by clay has shown its
unfitness by the early failure of the trees, because of standing water in
the rainy season, while those on deep loam near by have remained
vigorous and profitable. On the foothills it thrives in the light, mellow
soil and fails in the tight clay either in soil or subsoil, as it does in the
adobe of lower lands; and yet a clay loam of no great depth upon a
clay subsoil may grow good trees if the clay be so disposed that sur-
plus water from winter rains can escape and water is at hand to guard
against summer drouth. Commercial orchards should have a good
depth of sufficiently retentive soil. The great cherry trees which we
have mentioned, are growing right on the bank of the American River,
where the soil is a pure, sandy loam, in some places over sixty feet
deep, as proved by an old shaft once dug near the center of the
orchard.

But though the cherry dislikes a wet soil, it is particular about
its water supply and insists upon enough, its requirements being
greater than some other trees. During the dry year 1898-99, also in
1912-13, trees came into distress where they had never suffered before,
and many large valuable trees died. The only new condition they
encountered was lack of soil moisture. It thus appears that while
the cherry is undoubtedly injured by excess of water in the soil

MOISTURE REQUIREMENTS OF THE CHERRY 223

it is still very exacting in its requirement of an adequate supply.
If this can not be retained in the soil by cultivation, irrigation must
be resorted to. Thus the cherry growers in the famous Willows
district of San Jose, usually find it an advantage to give their trees
an irrigation between the spring rains and the ripening of the fruit,
and another irrigation after the fruit is gathered.

Irregularity in the moisture supply also causes the cherry to
bloom and fruit unseasonably. There has been bloom in October
and ripe fruit in January, due to the fact that trees become dormant
in late summer from soil-drouth. January cherries may be evi-
dences of salubrity but they betoken poor horticulture.

These facts show that the cherry must have water enough or
it will not succeed. Sometimes young trees which have made a
good summer growth die outright on leachy soils which dry out
before the fall rains begin. On the other hand, there must not be,
excessive moisture in the soil either from irrigation or by mois-
ture. Cherry trees in southern California, planted with orange trees
and given similar irrigation, have failed utterly. Planting on natur-
ally moist land in low places has also failed, and observed facts some
time ago led to the conclusion that at the south the cherry should
be planted on well-drained land, which could be irrigated (as the
behavior of the tree indicated its need of water), rather than on
naturally moist land, because of the likelihood of excessive moisture
in such situations. More recent experience has declared mellow,
well-drained soils, of the higher lands well adapted to the cherry and
on such soils, when well cultivated, cherries have done well
without irrigation at Pasadena, Pomona and elsewhere. The com-
mercial cherry product of southern California comes, however, from
mountain valleys and high plateaux — the chief regions being the
Yucaipe Valley above Redlands and the Mesa Grande region in the
interior of San Diego County.

In California, as elsewhere, the Dukes and Morellos may succeed
where the Hearts and Bigarreaux fail. The May Duke seems
especially hardy, and bears well in Nevada, where other sorts fail
utterly.

Delayed Fruiting of Cherry Trees. — Though the cherry in fav-
orable situations bears early, the grower, especially on strong, rich
lands, will often have many years of disappointment from falling
blossoms and fruit. During this time the trees will be making
marvelous wood growth, and this apparently suppresses the fruit-
ing function. Usually these trees will ultimately bear when their
exuberant growth declines. They can be thrown into fruit sooner
by allowing the trees to go uncultivated, or by root pruning, through
digging" a trench around about eight feet from the tree, and sever-
ing the roots thus encountered, or by summer pruning. Because of
this over-growth, growers give such strong soil to the apple
or the pear rather than the cherry. Sometimes the non-bearing of
the cherry is inexplicable. Though everything seems to be right,
and the blossoms are profuse, the fruit will not stick.

224 CALIFORNIA FRUITS! HOW TO GROW THEM

Lack of bearing is sometimes due to the need of cross fertilization.
There is warrant for the claim that keeping bees in the vicinity of
cherry orchards has increased the bearing. But varieties must be
provided which will act as cross-pollinizers. The Royal Ann needs
this assistance and will bear better when associated with Black Tar-
tarian, Black Bigarreau, Bing, Lambert and probably others.

EXPOSURES FOR THE CHERRY

Exposures for the cherry are chosen both with reference to pro-
tection from frost injury and to early ripening of the fruit. The
cherry blooms early; though hardly as venturesome as the apricot
and almond. In protected situations, guarded from cold northerly
winds, and open to sunshine on the south and southeast, the fruil
advances to maturity very rapidly. In Vaca Valley about a month
of good weather after the blossoming will ripen an early cherry
and ripe cherries have been shipped as early as March 31. The
pioneer cherry growers of Vaca Valley went there from their old
homes in Napa Valley, because they could gather and market cherries
in their new locations before the same varieties were ripe in Napa
They chose places protected on the north and west by steep hills,
The two things to secure are, apparently protection from the sweep
of cold winds and elevation above the deposits of cold air, which
occur in depressed places.

In localities where fruit ripens late, as near the coast, there is
no need to seek forcing conditions, for the extra early varieties
should not be planted except for family use. Early varieties are
comparatively poor in quality, and will not sell profitably, as they
will reach the market alongside the better later sorts from earlier
districts. The place for the cherry in the later districts is on the
most proper soil, according to the requirements which have been
laid down, avoiding however, so far as possible, wind-swept spots,
and seeking amelioration of direct ocean influences by elevation 01
intervention of hills and windbreaks.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING THE CHERRY

In the chapter on propagation is given a successful method oi
growing cherry seedlings. California cherry trees are almost exclus-
ively propagated by budding on seedlings of the Black Mazzard.
The Mahaleb root is more hardy than the Mazzard and is less
subject to injury by soil saturation during the winter season. It is
also more hardy against injury by summer drouth on shallow soils',
which is one of the causes of die-back of the cherry tree in some
parts of the State. While there may be particular places in which
the Mahaleb is the better root, the conclusions of fifty years' experience
in California cherry growing, which approve the Mazzard, are on
the whole trustworthy. The Mazzard is a better grower and, where
moisture conditions are fairly good, leaves little to be desired. The

PLANTING THE CHERRY 225

Mazzard, however, though credited with a dwarfing influence, does
make a good sized tree under our conditions. Recently the Morello
or sour cherry seedling, has found favor with some growers on the
Sacramento River, although it is inhospitable to the buds of some
varieties, like the Early Purple Guigne and Royal Ann, and double
working has to be resorted to which is expensive, both in outlay and
time. The Black Tartarian takes well on the Morello and other
varieties can be budded upon the Tartarian top growth.

The planting of the cherry is covered by the general considerations
already given for the planting of orchards. The distance which
cherries should be set apart is a disputed point among planters. When
planted twenty feet apart the trees have interlaced their branches
when sixteen years old, and the spaces between the rows have been
covered in like colonnades. In the Hayward region the branches
of twelve-year-old trees set twenty-eight feet apart have nearly
reached the other, though continually cut back. Much depends in
the matter of distance upon the manner of handling the trees. The
trees can be grown much nearer together by continuous pruning
than where the usual way of cutting back for the first few years and
letting the tree take it natural growth after that, is followed. James
E. Gedney, of Mesa Grande, San Diego County, practices close
planting and cutting back which may work better on his upland than
on deeper, moister soils. He says:

I plant my trees twenty feet apart each way. My method is to plant thus
closely and then keep my trees low, by cutting back every year ; this facilitates
gathering the fruit very much. I prefer this way to setting the trees farther
apart and allowing them to attain too great a height. By the former method I
secure fully as good, if not better, results per acre, to say nothing of the differ-
ence in gathering the fruit. Another advantage in keeping the trees headed low
is that the wind does not affect them nearly as much as it does tall trees.

The best distances are 24 or 28 feet on such deep soils as have
been described as best befitting the tree and though one may fix
his distance in planting according to the method of pruning he
proposes to follow, he should remember that the cherry is naturally
a large tree, and most old orchards are now over-crowded.

As with other trees, orchard planters prefer trees with one year's
growth on the bud in the nursery, because they usually get, then,
a straight switch with well developed buds all the way down, and
the head can be formed as desired. For garden planting, older trees,
properly pruned in the nursery, can be used to advantage.

PRUNING THE CHERRY

All our best growers agree in the advantage of a low head for
the cherry, and all aim to have trunks of young trees from the
ground up to the limbs literally covered all around with leaves, which
completely shelter the bark from the rays of the sun. In planting,
therefore, the side buds are carefully preserved — not to be grown
into branches, but to be cut or pinched back when they have come
out a few inches, leaving just growth enough to clothe the tree with a

226 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

covering of its own foliage. These spurs not only furnish leaves to
shade the trunk, but soon become fruit spurs and bear well.

Low Heading with a Central Stem. — Some of the trees in the
older orchards have been shaped by carrying up a leader with a
regular system of side branches. Head back at planting to two
feet, pinching off the shoots below the head as stated, and allowing
the shoots which form the head to grow larger, but they too are
all to be pinched except the leader, which is allowed to grow as long
as it pleases during the summer. During fall or winter pruning
cut back the leader to about twelve or sixteen inches from its starting
point and cut back the side branches to about six or eight inches.
This is done year after year, cutting back and thinning out the
side shoots, pinching the laterals, and allowing the leader to grow,
never interfering with it until the winter pruning and always letting
it predominate over the side shoots. By cutting short, wood is
increased, but at the end of six years the tree goes into fruit very
rapidly. As the tree increases in fruit it decreases in wood, and by
the time it is ten or twelve years old there will be but little cutting
to do, except to shorten in and thin out, and this requires some
judgment and experience, to know where to cut, how to cut, and when
to cut. To shorten in, never cut down to an old fruit spur. It is very
difficult to get healthy wood out of such ; but whenever you -can find
last year's wood, there you can cut with safety anything that is less
than one inch in diameter.

This system of pruning must be accompanied by constant pinching
during the summer time. It should commence when the lower shoots
are about six inches long, and be followed up closely all through
the growing season. Those on the trunk should never get longer
than eight or ten inches, under any circumstances. After these are
pinched, let the trees rest ten or fifteen days, or until the branches
in the top get a good start. Then pinch everything clean but the
leader, in every main branch in the tree. The leader takes its own
way all through the growing season, to prevent the effects of over-
pinching or checking the growth. If only the side shoots are kept
back, the leader or head of the branches receives the current or flow
of sap and maintains and carries on life and vitality in the tree.
One object in pinching or spur pruning is to keep back surplus
wood and create fruit spurs, throwing all the little twigs and branches
into fruit, thereby utilizing all the wood the tree can produce, not
allowing it to grow at the tree's expense, and then have to cut it
off. And another object in side-shoot pruning is to make the tree
produce fine large cherries, all closely nestling around the big wood,
and no long, slim branches hanging down like weeping willow. All
such branches are always more or less sunburnt on the top and full
of worms, one of the evils tending to the destruction of the tree.

This method is commended to those who like a tree with a central
leader, and are willing to give their orchards such constant attention.
Unless pinching and consequent multiplication -of shoots and foliage
is faithfully followed such, a tree is apt to become tall and rangy and
to expose the bark all the way up to sunburn and borers.

DEVELOPMENT OF VASE-FORM TREE 227

THE USUAL METHOD OF PRUNING THE CHERRY

As we have said, all cherry growers agree on low heading and
on the advantage of pinching the lowest shoots as soon as they make
a bunch of leaves. In forming the head, and in after treatment,
the usual method is quite different from that we have described.
It follows the vase or goblet form, which has been discussed at
length in the chapter on pruning. Of the application of this method
to the cherry, W. W. Smith, in an address before the State
Horticultural Society, said:

The cherry may be pruned the same as any other deciduous fruit tree until it
is about five years old; after that the less pruning the better, except when neces-
sary to cut out a dead or crossing branch. Pruning the cherry is more or less
likely to produce gum (and this, decay), and should be avoided as much as
possible. Cherry trees, however, should trained with low heads not to exceed
eighteen inches from the ground to the first branches; fifteen inches is better.
From three to five branches are enough to form the head of the tree; all others
should be removed early. Three are better than five ; two make a forked tree,
which is likely to split in after years.

At the end of the first season we have a neat little tree with three to five
branches. During the following winter these branches should be cut back to six
to eight inches. The next season these should be allowed to produce two
branches each (no more) ; then, at the end of the second season from planting
out, we have a tree with from six to ten branches. The following winter the
new growth should be cut back again to from twelve to eighteen inches-
according to the amount of growth the tree makes — the less the growth the more
you cut. The same process should be repeated the following winter, treating each
branch as an individuual tree, until the tree is about five years old; it takes at
least five years to get the head of a cherry well established. After this, as
some varieties will persist in throwing out branches near the ground, they should
be removed during the summer. At this age the tree, if well grown, will have
top enough to shade its body from the sun, and there is no further need of
branches on the main trunk.

If necessary to remove large branches it should then be done in midsummer,
as that is the only season when the gum- is not more or less exuded. We made
it a rule to go over and dress up and prune our cherry orchard immediately after
the crop is gathered — which in our part of the State is the last of May. All
wounds made then by the removal of branches or otherwise will heal over the
same season. All large wounds made at any time, however, should be coated
over with paint.

The method thus described by Mr. Smith is that by which probably
nine-tenths of the cherry trees of this State are shaped.

In the cherry there should be the same observation as to cutting
inside and outside buds as with other trees ; in fact, the outside bud
is the rule, because so many varieties make a directly upward growth.
In removing limbs, cutting to the collar or swelling at the base or
the limb is especially important, also the covering of the wound to 0
prevent checking of the wood.

GRAFTING OVER THE CHERRY

Since canning of cherries began on a large scale, there has been
a vastly increased demand for white cherries. The Royal Ann (a
local name for Napoleon Bigarreau) has been the favorite. Other
white sorts are also used for canning-. This rise in favor of the white

228 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

cherries has vastly increased their proportionate production as com-
pared with the choice black and red varieties, which are still popular
as a table fruit.

It is the experience of growers that the cherry is grafted over as
easily as the pear or apple, if the tree is healthy. In large trees as
many as fifty or one hundred grafts may be set, choosing the smaller
limbs, even if you have to go pretty high in the tree. J. W. Cassidy,
of Petaluma, used to advise grafting before the sap begins to flow
in the winter, or if not done then, wait until the buds are well
advanced or the tree in bloom. He has trees which were over thirty
years old before they were re-headed, and they made fine tops of new
and healthy wood, and produced abundantly. The cherry is in fact
a very easy tree to graft by the usual top-grafting methods.

PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE CHERRY

The disease of the cherry which is most heard of is the "gum,"
or overflow and condensation of sap, which, if left to itself, often
induces decay of adjacent bark and wood. Without attempting to
explain the cause or causes of the unhealthy exudation, it may be
said that prompt treatment of certain manifestations is desirable, and
in others the tree should be cleansed from the flow. Where the
gum exudes on the side of trunk or limb, the thin outer bark should
be pared away with a sharp knife, the accumulation of gum and sap
removed, and the wound painted with lead and oil paint, or covered
with grafting wax.

Gum in the crotch should be cleanly brushed out when softened
by the winter rains. If allowed to remain, it becomes sour and
offensive and may injure the tree. In places where two or three
limbs come out close together a kind of cup is formed, which will
hold the gum from one year's end to another, and in its soft state,
leaves, sticks, cherry pits, dust; and dirt will stick and hang and
sometimes the mass becomes very foul. By this collection also, a
nest is made for all manner of insects, bugs and worms. Another
evil in letting the gum stay on is, if the rain does not wash it off clean,
it runs down the trunk of the tree and makes the bark look bad,
and if it is very thick on the 'bark when it dries, it will contract and
crack the bark crosswise, and is very injurious to the tree.

Gumming in the crotch can be largely avoided by starting the
young cherry as advocated in the chapter on pruning. Branches
which emerge from the trunk at separate points and at wide angles
seldom gum ; those which are crowded together or emerge at acute
angles gum badly. In shaping young trees a gumming joint sometimes
may be clearly cut out and those branches selected to remain which
start out at a wider angle; in older trees there is nothing to do but
keep the fork clean, as already described.

There are cases reported in which gumming of old trees has been
stopped by allowing the ground to lie uncultivated, weeds being cut

PESTS AND DISEASES OF THE CHERRY 229

down with the hoe. As a rule, however, the cherry thrives with good
cultivation.

Die-back of the Cherry. — The dying back of cherry branches is
more or less common in all regions, and the immediate cause thereof
is not known. It is apparently sometimes a root trouble, as is the
dying back of other fruit trees. This might have resulted from
standing water in the winter in the soil, although the same condition
may result from lack of sufficient moisture during the late summer and
autumn. Anything which causes destruction of the root hairs is apt
to cause die-back and other forms of unthrift in the top. Early
vegetative activity in the branch, followed by frost, seems also to
occasion die-back in some cases. Fortunately, this can occur without
injury to the rest of the tree, though it is sometimes and in some places
destructive to the tree in the end. The only treatment is removal of
the affected wood, and if this can be done during the growing season,
as soon as signs of injury appear, it is all the better.

The Gopher. — One of the most dangerous foes of the cherry is
the gopher, for he seldom takes less than the whole tree, young or
old. Traces of his presence should be constantly watched for, and
killing methods described in a later chapter adopted. If a tree is
seen to wilt suddenly, the probability is that a gopher has girdled
it. Covering the wound sometimes saves the tree, but not usually.

Insects injuring the cherry will be mentioned in a subsequent
chapter.

VARIETIES OF THE CHERRY

Many varieties of the cherry have been tested in this State, and
many have been abandoned from one cause or another. Those most
frequently starred in our table are the survivors in public esteem.
As our reports have come from those who grow for market, possibly
some sorts are too tender for shipment, but excellent for family use,
are omitted, but will be included in the descriptions which follow the
table. The claims to value upon which a variety is judged are several:
Extra earliness, an important consideration in early districts for ship-
ment, and elsewhere for local sale or family use ; firmness to withstand
mechanical injury by jarring in transit and durability to escape decay
during the long journey to distant markets; firmness and fixed color
to stand processing in the cannery, and- to prevent coloring the juice;
lateness to extend the cherry season.

In classification of cherries it was originally considered that there
were four classes of cherries. The Hearts were the tender and
half-tender sweet cherries, while the Bigarreaux were the firm-fleshed
ones; but these have been so intermingled and blended together by
hybridization that no distinct line can now be drawn separating them.
There is really but one class of these, whose main characteristic is
the large, vigorous growth of the tree. The Duke and Morello
cherries, also wanting a natural division, really constitute but one
class.

230

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Southern
California

Cherry Varieties Approved by California Growers.

Interior Mountain

Upper Central valleys valleys

VARIETY. Coast Coast and and

Region. Region. foothills. plateaux.

Advance * * * *

Bing ** ** ** *

Bl'k Heart (B. Bigarreau) ... * *

Burbank ... **

Burr's Seedling **

Centennial * * * *

Chapman ** **

Cleveland ... *

Early Purple Guigne *****

Elton * ... *

Knight (Early) ... * ...

Lambert * ** '-* *

Lewelling (B. Republican) ***** *

Mezel * * **

Napoleon (Royal Ann).... ** ** ** **

Nonpareil ... **

Rockport * * *

Schmidt * *

Spanish (Yellow) *

Tartarian (Black) ** ** **

Wood (Governor) * *

Buttner's Yellow *

Eugenie

May Duke * *

Morello * * *

Richmond * * **

^Indicates that the variety is approved in the region designated.
**Most highly commended.

BIGARREAU AND HEARTS

Early Lamaurie. — Fruit large, dark purple; flesh rich, juicy, excellent. Down-
ing says a week earlier than Early Purple Guigne. Has proved the earliest
cherry in the University collection at Berkeley, and in Vacaville district. Not
fully tested as to regular bearing.

Guigne Marbree. — "Fruit medium large, round, skin dark red; flesh purplish
red, tender, juicy, delicate flavor." — Gillet. "A better bearer than Early Purple
Guigne."— W. W. Smith.

Baumanns May (Early Black Guigne). — Rather small, deep rich red, becom-
ing rather dark when fully ripe; tender, juicy, tolerably sweet and good.

Early Purple Guigne. — Small to medium size; purple; tender, juicy, and
sweet. This variety is considered the earliest good cherry. It is reported a
shy bearer in some localities.

Belle d 'Orleans. — Above medium size, roundish, heart-shaped; whitish yellow,
half covered with pale red, very juicy, sweet and excellent.

Early White Heart. — Below medium size, rather heart-shaped, skin dull
whitish yellow, tinged and speckled with pale red in the sun; flesh melting,
sweet, and pleasant when fully ripe.

White Tartarian. — Fruit of medium size, obtuse heart-shaped; skin pale yel-
low ; stalk slender ; flesh whitish yellow ; half tender and very sweet.

American Heart. — Fruit pretty large, heart-shaped, often nearly four-sided
and irregular in outline borne in clusters; flesh half tender; skin strong and
adhering to flesh.

Werder's Early Black. — An early variety, moderately productive ; tree vigor-
ous, spreading; fruit large, black, tender, sweet and excellent.

**
*

*
**

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR CHERRIES 231

Knight's Early Black. — "Large, black, tender, juicy, rich, and excellent; high
flavor; a shy bearer until the trees attain age."

Rockport Bigarreau. — Large; pale amber in the shade, light red in the sun;
half tender, sweet and good; a very excellent and handsome cherry; good
bearer ; highly esteemed for canning and shipping.

Coe's Transparent. — Medium size, pale amber, red and mottled next the sun;
tender, sweet and fine.

Cleveland Bigarreau. — A thrifty, strong, spreading grower, and productive
large; clear red and yellow; juicy, sweet, and rich.

Black Tartarian. — Fruit of the largest size, bright purplish black. Flesh
purplish, thick, juicy, very rich and delicious. Tree a remarkably vigorous, erect,
and beautiful grower, and an immense bearer ; the best of the black cherries.

Governor Wood. — Large; light yellow shaded with bright red; flesh nearly
tender, juicy, sweet, rich and delicious ; a vigorous grower and very productive.

Elton. — Large, pointed; pale yellow, nearly covered with light red; juicy,
with a rich and luscious flavor ; one of the best.

Black Eagle. — A very excellent English variety, ripening in June; large size,
deep purple, or nearly black; flesh deep purple, tender, with a rich, high-flavored
juice.

American Amber. — Fruit medium sized, roundish, heart-shaped; skin thin,
smooth, light amber ; delicately mottled and overspread with bright red ; flesh
tender and juicy, but not high flavored.

Yellow Spanish (Bigarreau Graffion). — Large; pale yellow, with red cheek
in the sun; flesh firm, juicy, and delicious; one of the best, most beautiful and
popular of all light-colored cherries.

Mezel, Monstreuses de (Great Bigarreau). — A foreign variety of the largest
size; dark red or quite black; firm and juicy; late.

Pontiac. — Large; dark purplish red; half tender, juicy, and agreeable.

Burr's Seedling. — Large; yellow, shaded with red; sweet and rich; vigorous
and great bearer; apparently does better near the coast than in the interior.

Oxheart. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; skin dark red; flesh red, half
tender, with a pleasant juice of second quality.

Napoleon Bigarreau (Royal Ann). — A magnificent cherry of the largest size;
pale yellow, becoming amber in shade, richly dotted and spotted with deep red,
and with a bright red cheek; flesh very firm, juicy and sweet. Tree a free
grower and an enormous bearer, when properly pollinated. The great commercial
cherry of California.

Tradescant's Blackheart (Elkhorn, Black Bigarreau). — Large, heart-shaped);
deep, glossy black; very solid and firm; dark purple, moderately juicy.

Schmidt's Bigarreau. — The largest of all the Black Bigarreau cherries. Skin
of a deep black color; flesh dark and very juicy, with a fine flavor.

DUKES AND MORELLOS

Early Richmond (Kentish). — An early, red, acid cherry; valuable for cooking
early in the season.

Eugenie. — Medium large; heart-shaped; amber red; good quality; early.

May Duke. — An old, well-known, excellent variety; large, dark red, juicy,
subacid, rich.

Arch Duke. — Fruit large, obtuse, heart-shaped; bright red becoming dark;
flesh light red, melting, juicy, rich, subacid flavor, very good; tree more upright
and vigorous than May Duke.

Late Duke. — Fruit large, flattened or obtuse, heart-shaped ; white, mottled
with red, becoming rich dark red when ripe; flesh yellowish, tender, juicy; hangs
long on the tree.

Reine Hortense. — "It is one of the very largest of cherries ; a beautiful, glossy
red, or deep pink, when fully ripe; heart-shaped; a universal bearer, and when

232 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

hanging on the tree no fruit is more beautiful; excellent for canning, but too
soft and juicy for shipment." — W, W. Smith.

English Morello. — Large, dark red, nearly black; tender, juicy, rich, acid, pro-
ductive and late.

Guigne Noir Luisantc (Black Spanish). — Fruit medium size, round, heart-
shaped, glossy, blackish red; flesh reddish purple, tender, juicy, rich, acid.

Belle Magnifique. — Fruit large, roundish, inclined to heart-shape; skin a fine
bright red; flesh juicy, tender, with sprightly subacid flavor; one of the best of
its class; a fine table fruit when fully ripe.

Buttner's Yellow. — Medium, roundish; clear yellow; firm, late.

PACIFIC COAST SEEDLINGS

Lewelling — Black Republican (Black Oregon). — "Seedling by Seth Lewelling,
Milwaukee, Oregon, from seed planted in 1860; first fruited in orchard in 1864.
Widely distributed in California. Large, black, sweet, with purple flesh; ripens
ten days after Black Tartarian." — James Shinn. "Large, late black cherry, good
flavor, long keeper; dries and ships well. Seems to succeed better on foothills
than in the valley." — Robert Williamson. "Supposed to be a cross between
Napoleon Bigarreau and Black Tartarian, having the solid flesh of the former
and the color of the latter; very late." — John Rock. "I am of the opinion that
the Black Republican and Lincoln came down from the seed of the Black Eagle,
but I have little idea of what variety they were crossed with." — Seth Lewelling.

Bing. — Originated by Seth Lewelling, from seed of Black Republican. "Fruit
large, dark brown or black, very fine, late ; a good shipping variety." — Seth
Lewelling. Tree vigorous, and foliage heavy. Fruit ripens so that trees can be
cleaned at one picking.

Centennial. — A seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, raised by Mr. Henry Chap-
man in Napa Valley, and fruited by him for the first time in 1876. Propagated
and introduced by Leonard Coates, then of Napa, in 1885. It is larger than its
parent, more oblate in form, and beautifully marbled and splashed with crimson
on a pale yellow ground ; exceptionally sweet and of remarkable keeping quality.
Described by Committee of American Pomological Society (1885) as follows:
"Size large, slightly oblate ; amber, with dark crimson marbling ; flesh, firm,
sweet, and rich; quality best; condition excellent (after crossing continent by
mail), showing its good shipping qualities." The Centennial has been little
planted recently, because of superiority of Royal Ann.

The Oregon. — Seedling of Napoleon Bigarreau, by H. W. Prettyman, of
East Portland, and named by Oregon State Horticultural Society in 1888;
described as larger than Napoleon; firm; dark red; "fit to eat earlier than
Napoleon, but coming to full maturity somewhat later." Introduced in 1888 by
W. S. Failing, Portland.

Lambert. — Seedling of J. H. Lambert, Milwaukee, Oregon, 1887 ; presented to
Oregon State Horticultural Society; right to propagate sold to Oregon Nursery
Co., 1896, and introduced by this company; very large, roundish, heart-shaped;
stem long, slender, suture medium depth, acid; smooth, glossy, dark purplish;
red flesh dark purplish red, firm, flavor rich, quality good. Ripens ten days to
two weeks after Black Tartarian.

Andrews. — Fruited French seedling about 1896 by C. N. Andrews, Redlands.
Grown in mountain valley near Redlands. Apparently a fine shipping variety
locally named after the grower.

Paul. — Found by E. V. D. Paul, of Ukiah, on place purchased by him and
previous owner could not account for its presence. Very large, black, mottled
with dark red; late; remarkable shipping endurance demonstrated; diploma at
Oregon Cherry Fair, 1907. Propagated and introduced by Leonard Coates Co.,
Morgan Hill, California, 1908.

Nonpareil. — Originated at Vaca Orchard ; a fine, black, shipping cherry, owned
by Earl Fruit Company at Vacaville and not distributed.

Early Burbank. — Originated by Luther Burbank ; a seedling of Early Purple
Guigne and sold in 1903 to a group of Vacaville growers. Very early, earlier
than its parent variety. Large, rich deep crimson, resembling Black Tartarian
in quality. Tree medium upright grower, large leaves, prolific.

CHAPTER XX

THE PEACH

Until the great prune planting passion of the decade ago the
peach was the greatest deciduous fruit of California judged by the
total number of trees in service. When the bloom impression went
forth that cured prunes could be put up in sacks more cheaply than
wheat, people took to planting prune orchards by the section all
through the wheat districts of the great valley, and bloom planters
even carried the trees where no one would think of planting wheat —
cutting up shallow-clay upland sheep pastures and even yucca sand
wastes into prune-growing colonies. Under such planting propositions
it is little wonder our nurseries sold prune trees for twice the normal
prices and still could not fill the demand. Figures of prune trees in
orchards rushed far beyond the peach figures. This over-planting
of prunes naturally brought loss and disappointment, and interest
turned again to peach planting, so that now the peach has secured
notable advance beyond the prune, as shown by statistics in Chapter
VI. During the last few years the peach has had the call, the nurseries
have had difficulty in keeping up with the planting demand for certain
varieties, which will be discussed later, and the peach has demonstrated
its right to attain again its old position by possession of a greater
acreage than is given to any other deciduous fruit.

The peach was the first fruit to ripen on the improved trees
brought here by the early American settlers, and the magnificence
of the peach was consequently the key-note of the refrain which
greeted the ears of the world in which the California gold cry was
ringing early in the fifties. In fact, the gold from the mine and the
gold from the tree were very nearly related. In old Coloma, where
gold was discovered, there was a peach tree which bore four hundred
and fifty peaches in 1854, which sold for $3.00 each, or $1,350 for the
crop of the one tree, and in 1855, six trees bore one thousand one
hundred peaches, which sold for $1.00 each. Some of these pioneer
trees are said to be still living and bearing fruit.

LONGEVITY OF THE PEACH IN CALIFORNIA

There are many other facts to establish the claim that the peach
tree, if planted in a suitable soil and situation and cared for with
any devotion and skill, is not a short-lived tree in California. California
is too young to mark limits of duration, but there are instances
in the earliest-settled places in the State, where peach trees above
fifty years old are still vigorous and productive. Some trees have,
in fact, gone along in thrift until they have a bark below which looks
like that of a forest tree, and framework of main branches sound
and stalwart throughout because they have never been allowed to
233

234 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

sunburn until protected by their own roughness, and have never been
pruned with an axe, and never lost a limb no had a wound in to
which decay could penetrate and descend to the root. When the peach
has a fair chance in its aerial parts and is in a soil which favors health
of the roots, it shows itself to be very long-lived in California. When
trees break to pieces and show decay wounds, they are in bad places,
and have suffered through natural stress or have been weakened by
cultural errors.

In favorable soils the peach is stronger and longer lived in the
root than in the top, and sometimes triumphs over neglect by discarding
old, wind-broken, sun-burned and bark-bound branches, and forms a
new head of its own. Such renewal is sometimes very rapid. In the
interior valley new shoots on a cut-back Muir tree have grown twelve
feet in one season, with a thickness of one and one-half inches at the
base. Such shoots will bear the following summer and proper selection
should be made from them to shape the new tree — all others being
removed. Cutting back for a new head kills some trees, probably
those which through hardship are weak in the root, but most peach
trees take to it kindly.

It is through this disposition to renewal of good wood that the
intelligent system of pruning which is now prevalent, ministers to
the longevity as well as the profitability of the tree, aiding it to con-
stantly renew its youth by restraining its exuberance, and at the same
time furnishing it sound new wood on which to grow its fruit foliage.
But while these are facts, there is some difference in opinion as to the
point at which an old tree becomes less valuable than a young one.
Along the Sacramento River some count about a dozen good crops as
the limit, and thus replace the trees when about fifteen years of age.
This is a point which may vary greatly, according to local conditions.

Early Productiveness. — Quite as important as the longevity of
the peach tree are the facts of its rapid growth and early produc-
tiveness. It is the first of our fruit trees to attain size and yield a
profitable crop. In localities best suited to its growth it will mature
some fruit 'the second summer in the orchard if the small shoots are
not pruned away from the main branches, and during the third summer
averages of forty to fifty pounds per tree have been secured from
considerable acreages. These facts are stated to show what the peach
of good variety may do in a good situation and soil and with the best
of care. Of course they are not to be taken as average results, although
greater than those given are sometimes attained. For example, on the
rich, alluvial land near Visalia, an Admiral Dewey yearling tree
planted in March, 1904, had in October, 1905, attained these dimen-
sions : Near the ground the trunk was eleven and three-quarter inches
in circumference, branching two feet from the ground it had four main
branches, each seven inches in circumference; height of tree, twelve
feet; spread of branches, ten feet. It grew near a crack in a cement
ditch and so had all the moisture it could use, and being in a free,
open soil was not impaired by standing water.

PEACH REGIONS OF CALIFORNIA 235

As for possible productiveness of the peach, one Susquehanna
tree in Kern county yielded twenty-seven forty-five pound picking-
boxes — twelve hundred and fifty pounds in one crop — about four times
as much as good trees may average.

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEACH

The peach has a wide range in California, and finds many districts
suited to it in the several ways in which the trade delights it it.
As compared with the apricot, the peach thrives in the sheltered
valleys of the district north of the bay and west of the Coast Range,
in which the apricot is of little commercial moment; it yields those
peerlessly beautiful "mountain peaches" from one to two thousand
feet higher in the Sierra foothills than the apricot can be trusted; it
goes everywhere in the lower foothills and over the great valleys that
the apricot will go, and beyond it also, because it is less restless in
the spring and escapes some frosts which injure apricots. Counted
from trees in orchard the peach is more than three times as great as
the apricot.

Nearly every county in California reports the possession of peach
trees. Above an elevation of four thousand feet on the sides of the
Sierra Nevada, they may be subject to winter killing, and lower still
the careful choice of situation has to be made to avoid frost at blooming
time — the peach in such places being subjected to some dangers
which beset it in the eastern States. Below these points, however,
lies the great fruit belt of the foothills of the Sierra, where the peach
is the chief fruit grown and its excellence is proverbial. Size, beauty,
richness, delicacy of flavor and firmness, which endures carriage to
the most distant markets, are all characteristics of the foothill peaches
of California.

In the great interior valleys of the State wherever proper condition
of soil and water supply can be found, the peach also thrives, the tree
making a wonderfully quick and large growth, and the fruit attaining
great size. The San Joaquin Valley is the greatest peach district
in the State.

In the small valleys on the west of the great valley and on the
eastern slopes of the Coast Range, there are also extensive areas
suited to the peach, and sheltered places on the eastern and western
edges of the Sacramento Valley have produced the earliest fruit for
a long series of years. Recently the contest for the earliest fruit
of these districts, with the foothill district on the east side of the
Sacramento Valley and special locations in the upper San Joaquin
Valley, has been quite close.

In the coast valleys, opening upon San Francisco Bay and the
Pacific Ocean, the peach is also a leading fruit. Its success is greatest,
however, where good shelter is had from direct coast influences. Even
where open to these influences, good peaches can be grown by choosing
the smaller range of varieties, which do well by protecting the trees
from harsh winds, and by seeking elevation above depressed valleys,
whose frosts are frequent. The occurrence of curl-leaf is a factor

236 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

of much importance, which will be considered presently. In the coast
counties north of the Russian River Valley the danger to the peach
from unfavorable atmospheric conditions increases as one goes north-
ward, and situations must be chosen with greater care. And yet by
such exercise of care, peaches for home use and local markets can
be successfully grown.

South of San Francisco Bay the coast influences soften as you
proceed southward, and the peach draws nearer to the ocean, choos-
ing, however, elevations and avoiding broad, wind-swept areas and
narrow defiles where drafts and fogs are frequent. At considerable
elevations, as on the Santa Cruz Mountains, some varieties of peaches
are notably excellent. The general rule holds with the peach, as
with other fruits, that coast influences retard ripening and the season
of the fruit is late.

In some valleys and at elevations in southern California the
peach is largely grown and high excellence attained while on the
mesas and plains there is often too high a temperature which starts
growth out of season and follows with a dormacy and die-back when
the tree ought to be most active. It has recently been demonstrated
that varieties like Lukens' Honey, descended from the Peen-to or
flat peach of China, resists such irregularities better than the common
sorts which are largely of Persian origin.

SOILS AND EXPOSURES FOR THE PEACH

Through the suitability of soils for the peach can . be somewhat
extended by the choice of stock for budding upon, as will be considered
presently, its range of soils is narrower than that of the apricot.
The best peach soils are light, deep, sandy loams, rather dry than
moist, but under all circumstances well drained. It will thrive on
land with a considerable mixture of coarse sand or gravel, providing
it contains also needed elements of fertility; for the rapid growth and
heavy fruitage of the peach requires abundant nutrition. Though
it accepts coarse materials both in soil and subsoil, it relishes fine
sediment and perhaps finds no more congenial location than in the
deep, sandy loam, or sedimentary deposit bordering the creek beds
of our warm valleys, and will send its roots deep to secure long life
and abundant fruitage. Such soils, whether along existing streams
or deposited by prehistoric water courses, which have left their mark
by the elevated ridges of rich sediment above the prevailing valley
soils, are warm, deep, and thoroughly drained, and delight the peach.
Peaches are grown very successfully on what is called hardpan in
some parts of Fresno County, providing the hardpan is blasted as
described in Chapter XL In these situations the hardpan is near the
surface and has a deep free soil below it into which the roots can
extend.

At elevations on the hillsides there are free loams which result
from decomposition of the underlying rocks, and on them the peach
thrives, both where the soils themselves are deep and where the

SOILS SUITABLE FOR PEACH GROWING 237

underlying rock is loose and open, permeable by roots and affording
escape for water. Success has been reported even when holes are
partly excavated in these rotten rocks as in the soft sand rock on
the hills east of Vaca Valley, or in the broken chalk rock in what
is called Blackburn Gulch, near Santa Cruz. The superior warmth
of such soils is supposed to minister to earlier ripening of the fruit,
though the escape from cold air by elevation is no doubt a greater
factor to the end.

The influences of comparatively slight difference in elevation is
very marked. E. R. Thurber, of Pleasant Valley, Solano County,
had for many years a plat of peach trees on a natural terrace about
seventy-five feet higher than the general level of his orchard. On
the terrace peaches ripen and are disposed of before the same
varieties ripen in the orchard below.

As in the valley a short distance to water is to be avoided, so
on the hills too great percolation from higher levels is undesirable.
Of course, natural defects of this kind can be corrected by adequate
under-drainage.

Still, though such be the general soil conditions best suited to the
peach, the tree can be well grown for home use or local markets
on somewhat heavier soil, providing there. is a good drainage, but
drainage must be insisted upon, for thousands of trees have perished
because planted in retentive soils without drainage. Alkaline soils
which are usually rather heavy should, however, be avoided as the
peach, when grown on its own roots, seems to be of all fruits most
sensitive to alkali.

As to exposures for the peach the same rules hold as for other
fruits which are liable to injury when in bloom or young foliage.
Thus low places where cold air settles should be avoided, also low
gulches through which cold drafts prevail. In frosty situations an
incline away from the morning sun will often allow the trees to escape
serious injury.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING

The chapter on propagation gives the general method of growing
and budding peach seedlings. In selecting pits, preference is usually
given to those from strong-grownig, yellow peaches, at least for
working on the same colored fruits, while others use pits of the
Morris White, others the Strawberry, and others still will use only
pits from vigorous seedling trees. In this State the peach is usually
so healthy and vigorous, and the "yellows" not known, and less care
may be needed in selecting pits ; still there is certainly nothing lost
by making every effort for a good stock.

The hard-shell sweet almond has long been used as a stock for
the peach. It is held that it gives a hardier, stronger root, in dry
soils especially.

When it is desired to grow the peach on moister soil than suits
its own roots, the St. Julian plum may be used. The Myrobalan

238 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

has been used to some extent, but experience generally does not favor
any plum stock for the peach and our largest propagators have
abandoned its use.

The so-called "peach-almond" has often been urged as a stock for
the peach but has been little used, probably because the straight peach
and straight almond are so satisfactory and available. It is a fruit
having the pit of a peach but the pericarp of an almond, that is tough
and tasteless and disposed to split like an almond hull. Early in the
fifties a chance hybrid of this sort appeared in the nursery, of W. B.
West, of Stockton, and its pits were used for nursery seedlings which,
when budded to the peach, produced good trees. Trees bearing the
peach-almond are found here and there over the State. Mr. Burbank
has produced a hybrid of the Wager peach and the Languedoc almond.

Distance in Orchard. — Distance observed in planting peach
orchards differs greatly, according to the views of different growers.
Regarding the peach as a catch crop to plant between apricot, pear,
cherry, walnut, fig or other slower-growing, larger trees, the trees
may be set comparatively close; that is, with the latter trees at thirty
to forty feet, and alternate rows of peach planted quincunx, and to be
removed at the end of ten to fifteen years. If the peach is to have the
ground to itself, some planters plant at eighteen feet in equilateral
triangles, or twenty to twenty-four feet on the squares, the present
tendency of the peach, as with other trees, being to give more room
than was the custom a few years ago.

Age of Trees. — In planting peach orchards yearling trees are
generally preferred, though June buds are freely used and more are
planted in dormant bud than of any other kind of fruit trees. The
reason for this is easily found in the disposition of the peach to make
a tree the first year from the bud. It springs almost at once into a
full outfit of laterals. Some growers employ this disposition to form
a head the first year in the nursery. When the bud has grown out
eighteen inches, pinch it off at the top and force out laterals, which
make long growth the same season. When planted out in orchard the
following winter, cut back to ten or twelve inches. In this any one can
get a yearling with' the equivalent of a two-year-old head on it. The
common practice is, however, to let the growth from the bud proceed
as it chooses, and when the yearling is set in orchard, cut back to a
single bud the laterals which are desired to form the head and remov-
ing others. If there is a dormant bud on the stem where a branch is
desired and it is obstinate in not starting, a cross-cut through the
bark just above it may concentrate pressure and force it out. Proper
starting of the young tree is promoted by cutting away cleanly all
laterals which have grown from stem-buds. In such cutting back the
dormant buds at the base of such a lateral should be preserved. The
development of form from a yearling branched in the nursery is illus-
trated in chapter on pruning.

Planting Dormant Buds. — The chapter on planting describes
the planting of yearling trees. The lifting of dormant buds from the
home nursery and planting in orchard is described by P. W. Butler, of
Placer County, as follows :

STARTING DORMANT-BUD PEACH TREES 239

Have the ground prepared and stakes placed in position in the orchard in
early February, if possible, and begin the planting at once, while the trees are
in dormant bud. Take no more trees from the nursery than can be planted in
half a day. Plow a furrow on each side of the row, six inches from the trees,
turning the soil from them, then two men with heavy spades or shovels, one on
each side of the tree, can readily take it up without breaking many of the roots ;
and what are so broken should be smoothly trimmed with a sharp knife. Place
the trees in a tub of water, near where they are to be planted, and take them
from it only a few at a time. Put them in a basket or box and cover with wet
sack, that they may be kept moist until placed in the ground.

On planting, place the bud one inch below the level of the ground, but do
not cover it until after it has grown to the height of a few inches. The stock
should be cut off at the bud with a thin, sharp knife (and not with shears, as is
often done, as the latter method will sometimes split the tree), when it will take
in moisture and not heal readily.

Some growers do not cut back the young seedling tree until growth
has started out well on the dormant bud, girdling the bark above the
bud to force its growth. The tender shoot is protected somewhat by
the old stem to which it can be tied. The removal of the old stem
should not be too long delayed, for the wound by its amputation should
heal over the first summer.

Rather more care is needed in handling dormant buds both in
planting and in their young life in the orchard. Lookout must be kept
for suckers and against injury in cultivation. Success with dormant
buds is notable. In good hands they commonly outgrow yearlings
planted at the same time, and the percentage of loss from failure of
the bud to start is very small. Of course, every bud should be ex-
amined before planting, to see that it has a healthy color.

In the selection of peach trees for planting, a clean, healthy root
only should be taken. During recent years there have been a good
many young roots affected with knots or swellings from some obscure
cause. Such trees should be burned. If planted, the knot sometimes
grows to an enormous size and little or no top growth is made.

PRUNING THE PEACH

As has already been stated, the peach will carry a top of great
fruiting longevity if the grower will do justice to the tree by regular
shortening of the growth and forcing out new wood, upon which alone
fruit is found. Not only does regular pruning do this, but it promotes
longevity and vigor in the framework of the tree upon which these
bearing shoots come. Left unpruned, the peach soon becomes bark-
bound, and the bark itself becomes hardened and brittle. Lower shoots
are apt to dwindle, and the tree becomes an umbrella of foliage and
fruit held aloft by bare branches bark-burned by the sun, invaded by
borers, exuding gum, covered with moss and lichens — a picture of
distress and unprofitability because its owner does not give the tree a
chance to re-invigorate itself with large fresh leaves from the new
wood which alone can carry them.

Vase-Form with Continuous Leaders. — The common vase form
of the peach tree is amply described in Chapter XII, where it is used

240 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

to illustrate the development of the prevailing California method of
shaping fruit trees. Recently there has appeared a different form
which, though not new, is being given local names. It consists in build-
ing the tree with continuous ribs or leaders, a variation in the vase-form
which has been used in Europe for centuries, perhaps. The following
very clear account of it is prepared by Mr. C. F. Collins, horticultural
commissioner of Tulare County :

Another method of vase form, known locally as the Sims method, has been
practiced for many years by William Sims, of Farmerville, and is now practiced
by the California Fruit Canners' Association in its large orchard near there,
by Hunt Bros, in their orchards near Exeter, and by many individual growers
in that vicinity. The trees are cut back to 18 inches at planting, and at the
first winter's pruning four or five of the most upright-growing branches are left
to form the head. These are cut to a uniform height and as great a length
as the season's growth will allow. On a vigorous tree this will be about 6 feet.
All laterals are removed from these.

The second winter retain one strong upright branch emerging from near the
end of each branch of previous season's growth, and remove all laterals from
the tree larger than a lead pencil. Toy these main branches at a uniform
height of 10 or 12 feet from the ground, according to the growth made. Some-
times a lateral is allowed to grow from one of these main limbs to fill in an
open space in the outline of the tree. At the end of the second winter's
pruning, we have a low-headed tree with four or five main branches 10 or 12
feet long, and so upright that the tree is only 6 or 7 feet across the top. Enough
small laterals are left for abundant shade. After this each season remove all
large laterals, leaving only the small fruiting wood, and cut this back to the
required amount.

Some of the claims made for this system are that no propping is required
to support the limbs, and as these are so nearly perpendicular in growth the
orchard is more easily worked close to the trees and the trees are more easily
kept down to a proper height than when pruned by the ordinary method. This
system certainly works admirably in the sections where it is used, and in my
opinion, on true peach soil, where the trees are vigorous and grow large,
strong limbs, it is far superior to the old vase form, but it is a question if it would
prove as satisfactory in many of our orchards where the trees make a more
feeble growth, and especially with a tree of as slender growth as the Muir. Of
course, with a less vigorous tree it might require three or even four years to
get the tree to a proper height by this method.

Special Points on Peach Pruning. — Whatever plan for low,
vase-form be adopted, there are points which should always be borne
in mind as deductions from the experience of successful peach growers
in all parts of the State. A few instances will be given :

"The peach, fruiting only on wood of the previous year's growth, bears fruit
farther away from the body of the tree each year, and the small shoots of from
one-eighth to three sixteenths in diameter begin to decline when the fruit is
removed. To have healthy growth, all of these small branches must be removed
the first winter following their fruiting, when there is a greater tendency to
form small new growths, which may fruit the following season. In the peach,
it will seldom be found necessary to remove any interior branches, except suck-
ers, until they have produced a crop, when they will begin to decline and should
be removed.

"I would certainly not cut peach trees back less than one-half of the new
growth in the winter pruning, and our trees are getting too large for their age
even with that amount of pruning. This has suggested, in other localities, sum-
mer pruning or shortening in, with success in some places. So far my own expe-
rience is favorable. It will be noticed on trees kept growing rapidly that the
fruit buds are near the ends of the shoots, and it seems to take away too many

PRUNING BEARING PEACH TREES 241

of these buds to cut back one-half in the winter pruning, but by cutting back
about one-half the new growth in August, fruit buds are developed lower down,
and where they would not be developed without the summer pruning." —
H. Culbertson, El Cajon, San Diego County.

"Prune the peach every year, cutting back and thinning out the center, using
great care not to cut out too many of the little fruit shoots of new wood growing
on the main branches, but removing the slender branches of the old wood,
leaving as many branches of the new growth as the tree will support. In this
case judgment must be used as to what the tree will support. The soil may be
wet or dry, rich1 or poor, the grower must be the judge. To grow small fruit,
prune lightly; to grow large fruit, prune with care and judgment. To get this
judgment you must have some practical experience. I prefer doing the work
when the sap begins moving in the) spring of the year. All cuts heal over better
then and the pruner can see how the buds are setting and use his own judgment
as to how much wood he wants cut out." — R. C. Kells, Yuba City, Suiter County.

"Cutting back the peach must be more severe, as the growth of the new wood
diminishes. Not more than five or six fruit buds should be left on a shoot,
and if the fruit all sets, it must be also thinned. The trees should be trained^
low and their vigor encouraged by permitting a reasonable amount of young"
shoots to grow around the lower part of the main limbs. When this method
is continued systematically every season, the trees will bear large crops of fruit,
of good quality, for many years. When they are allowed to overbear for one
or two seasons' the fruit will decrease in size, and soon become almost worth-
less ; the trees will be enfeebled, and in consequence very liable to be attacked
by disease. The only thing to be done in this case is to cut off the whole top
of the tree, allowing it to form a new head. I have seen old peach orchards
thus renovated, and the results are often very flattering, but it is far better not
to allow them to get into a condition where this desperate remedy is necessary."
— Leonard Coates, Morganhill.

Cutting Back the Peach Is not Shearing. — Some undertake the
annual pruning of the peach by a shearing process, treating a fruit
tree as one would a hedge — cutting everything to a line. There has
been a good deal of this done in California, but it is wrong neverthe-
less. Shortening in the new growth of the peach each year is a proper
practice. It is the first step toward preventing over-bearing of small,
unmarketable fruit and saving the tree from profitless and injurious
effort. Thinning the shoots by removing all but one when two or
three start from the same point is also working toward large fruit and
regular bearing in the tree. This shortening and thinning of the new
wood must also be followed by thinning of the young fruit just after
the natural drop and it is seen that the tree carries too many. Proper
pruning can not be done by shearing because it is apt to shorten the
strong shoots too much and the weak shoots too little. Each shoot
must be cut by itself according to its growth and its ability to carry
more or less fruit. Shearing, too, does not thin out the shoots but con-
tinually multiplies them until the tree is full of brush as a hedge.

THINNING PEACHES

Thinning out fruit on the peach tree is not only the secret of ob-
taining good, marketable fruit, but joins hands with pruning in pre-
serving the health and future production of the tree. The importance
of thinning has been urged in a previous chapter, but the following is a
very strong statement, by Mr. Culbertson :

242 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

In my own experience there is no single operation in connection with fruit
growing of more importance than thinning. The past season, in order to test
the difference in expense of preparing large and small peaches for drying, I
timed the cutting, and found it took double the time; hence, double the expense,
which meant a difference of about $15 per ton of dried fruit. Add to this a
difference of two cents per pound in price makes $55 per ton. Suppose an
orchard under good treatment produces a ton of peaches to the acre, then $55
would represent the difference in profits. Unthinned or small fruit is certainly
undesirable.

As to how much thinning should be done there are diverse opinions. Some
take off one-half, others three-fourths. Some growers thin to meet a certain
ideal, but find it difficult to explain in words. The common rule of leaving a
specimen of fruit every four or six inches is a safe rule; that means many must
come off. Different conditions of soils, climates, and irrigation vary the amount
to thin out, more or less. More may be left where the tree is on land giving a
strong, vigorous growth.

In thinning peaches I have been practicing a method that gives good results
and is easily learned. The peach bears on three sizes of branches, that are one-
eighth, three-sixteenths, and one-fourth of an inch in diameter. The first has two
peaches, the second three, and the third four; this, of course, after there has
been a judicious course of pruning and the trees under irrigation; trees on dry
land should have only one-half as many left. To reach this result often a dozen
may have to come off, allowing only two to remain. The more there are the
greater the necessity for thinning.

The time for thinning peaches is as soon as one can be sure which are likely
to remain on the tree and which will drop off of their own accord.

IRRIGATION OF THE PEACH

As the peach is the greatest deciduous fruit of the interior valleys
and foothills, it is also the deciduous fruit which is chiefly grown with
irrigation. Most of the specific conclusions set forth in Chapter XV
are based upon experience with the peach and the reader is advised to
consider them from that point of view. One of the most important
points of success in irrigating the peach is to use enough water earlier
in its growth so that application need not be made within about three
weeks of ripening. Enough water before that will usually insure size
on properly thinned trees and the withholding of water near ripening
will secure good quality. After the crop is gathered, irrigation can be
resumed to continue the late summer growth for next year's fruit buds
and to save the tree from injury during the long autumn drouth. Very
great disappointment in thrift and bearing of peaches has resulted from
lack of irrigation in the early autumn in the interior valley. Even in
places where the trees make a good crop by rainfall or underflow, there
may be great injury to the tree by inadequate soil moisture during the
remainder of the growing season.

WORKING OVER PEACH TREES

The fashion in peaches changes from time to time according to the
demands of the canners or the market for dried fruit. The grower
often finds varieties which he first selected, less healthy, less pro-

WORKING-OVER OLD PEACH TREES 243

ductive, or, for other reason, less desirable than others. There is,
therefore, often occasion for working over trees. Budding if often
resorted to, buds being successfully set in quite old wood, providing
buds from well-matured wood are taken. Wood buds from young
trees unaccompanied by fruit are best, but because of greater certainty
of securing the variety desired, it is common to take wood and fruit
buds together from bearing trees. A larger cut of bud and adjacent
bark is taken when working in old bark than for use on seedlings.
When a branch is budded, it is sometimes broken at a distance beyond
the bud and allowed to hang, the idea being to furnish the bud some
but not too much sap. Some growers thus bud and break part of the
branches, allowing others to remain unworked, to maintain the growing
processes of the tree. These branches and those in which buds have
not taken, are cut off and grafter the following spring. The almond
is successfully grafted over with the peach, and this course has been
followed with thousands of unproductive almonds.

Grafting the Peach. — Grafting the peach by the ordinary top-
grafting with a cleft graft seldom succeeds. A side graft with
saw and knife is better. It is described by J. W. Mills, formerly of
the University Branch Experiment Stations, in southern California, as
follows :

Saw grafting is rapidly taking the place of cleft grafting, for it does away
with all difficulties arising from splitting, and there is no cavity left in the heart
of the limb or tree. The process is to saw off the limb at the desired place as in
cleft grafting, then saw across the corner and down the side at an angle of about
45 degrees and trim out with a sharp knife. Place the knife blade a little to
one side of the saw cut, a little farther from the edge at the top than at the
bottom, and by pressing on the knife the whole sides of the crevice will be
trimmed smoothly at one stroke; this operation repeated on the other side of
the saw cut will make a neat notch in the end of a solid limb. By cutting a
little deeper from the saw cut at the top than at the bottom, and if the amateur
does not trim his scion at the right angle, he can insert it gently in the crevice or
notch and see just where to trim. If he is so slow that the fresh cut shows
signs of discoloration, he can make a fresh surface by placing his knife parallel
to the edges and shaving off a thin slice. He still retains the same angle, but the
scion will set a little deeper, which is no objection. By cutting a thin layer off
the top of the stump next to the notch will show exactly where the inside layer
of bark is. The inside of the scion must be even with the inside layer of the
bark of the stump or limb that is being grafted. If the scion is inclined slightly
out or in at the top, it will make a correct union at some point and be sure to
grow. If the inclination is very slight the union will extend over considerable
length, and will make a much better start than if the union is at only one point,
owing to the enlarged surface through which the sap is transmitted. One of
the most important points in grafting is to have good wax and go over the grafts
a few days after they are put in and rewax them.

DISEASES OF THE PEACH

Curl-Leaf. — The most prevalent trouble with the peach tree in
California is the curl-leaf. It was noticed from the first planting of
peach trees by Americans, nearly sixty years ago, and free conjecture
as to its cause was indulged in until it was shown to be a specific fungus,

244 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

and its prevention by washes of fungicidal character demonstrated.
The treatment will be described in the chapter on tree diseases. The
facts of its occurrence may be stated as follows :

Curl-leaf is much more prevalent in some sections than others, and
in one place than another in the same section, and some sections are
practically free from it. Some varieties are much more subject to
curl-leaf than others ; generally speaking, some curl nearly everywhere,
others curl in one place and not in another, others are practically free
from curl in all situations.

Curl-leaf occurs in various degrees. Mild cases do not seem to
injure either tree or fruit; severe cases destroy the fruit and sometimes
the tree itself. The disease is almost always at its height when the
young fruit is about the size of small peas. If the curl is "bad," the
fruit will fall to the ground, there not being healthy leaves enough to
afford the required support. If, however, the curl is moderate and
partial, only a part and sometimes none of the fruit will be lost. The
disease, as is well known, is of brief duration, say twelve to twenty
days, after which the trees resume a healthy appearance in every
respect, and if the fruit has been able to survice the ordeal, it also
appears to grow and become as perfect as if no check had been given
to its growth. But it is better to save the tree the burden of a new
foliage growth.

Mildew. — This disease, which occurs in the form of whitish
felted patches on leaf and twig early in the spring, and finally affects
the fruit, has long been troublesome in this State, and occurs on certain
susceptible varieties in many localities from the coast to the Sierra
foothills. Observation in this State has fully affirmed the statement of
Downing, that the serrate, glandless-leaved varieties are liable, and
those with good glands on the leaf stems are free.

The conclusion would be that where mildew prevails, varieties with
serrate, glandless leaves should be avoided. But it has been found that
some glandless-leaved varieties, although subject to mildew, resist
curl-leaf. Therefore it may be worth while to combat the mildew.
This has been done effectually by treatment which will be described in
a later chapter.

As with curl-leaf, mildew is prevalent some years and slight in
others.

The most serious disease which has thus far stricken the peach in
California is locally known as the "peach blight," the work of a shot-
hole fungus (coryneum). This also has been satisfactorily checked by
spraying, as will be described in the Chapter on Diseases of Trees and
Vines.

A common trouble of the peach known as "split-pit," has recently
been studied by the California Experiment Station and the tentative
conclusion has been reached that split-pits are physiological phenomena
and not caused by disease germs. Whether this abnormal growth is
due to weakness of variety or to cultural conditions is not determined.
It is true that varieties differ in amount of splitting, and selection is
being made to some extent on that basis.

TABULATED STATEMENTS 245

Peach Varieties Approved by California Growers.

Upper

Central

Interior

Mountain

California

VARIETIES. coast

coast

valley and

valley

Southern

valleys.

valleys.

foothill.

region.

Coast.

Alexander *

*

**

*

*

Amsden

*

*

Albright

. . .

*

Bergen

. . .

. . .

*

Bilyeu

*

Briggs' May *

*

*

*

*

California Cling

*

**

...

Decker

*

Early Crawford **

**

**

**

** —

Early York

*

*

*

Elberta **

**

**

*

** -

Foster

**

*#

*

**_^

George Fourth

*

George's Late Cling

*

*

*

Gen. Bidwell

*

*

Globe *

*

*

Golden Cling (Sellers)

*

*

*

Kale's Early *

**

**

*

* *•

Heath Cling

*

**

*

Henrietta (Levy's)

*

**

*

Honest Abe

*

'

Honey (Lukens')

*

*

Imperial *

*

*

Indian Blood

*

*

Jones's Large Early

. . .

*

La Grange

*

Late Crawford *

**

**

*

** —

Lemon Cling *

*

*

**

Lovell

**

**

*

** —

May Flower *

*

*

McDevitt Cling *

*

*

McClish Cling *

*

McKevitt Cling

*

Mary's Choice

*

Morris's White

*

*

*

Muir *

**

**

*

** —

Newhall

*

*

*

Nicholl's Cling *

*

*

*

Oldmixon Free

*

Orange Cling *

**

**

*

*#

Peen-to

**

Persian Cling

*

Phillips's Cling *

**

**

*

** —

Piquet's Late

*

*

*

Runyon's Orange Cling.... *

*

*

*

*

Salway *

**

**

** *.

Smock

*

Snow

*

*

St. John

*

**

*

Strawberry

*

*

*

Stump

*

*

**

Susquehanna

* .

**

*

Triumph

*

**

Tuskena (Tuscan) *

**

**

*

** —

Wheatland

*

*

Wylie Cling *

Yellow Tuscany

*

...

...

**

indicates that the variety is approved in the region designated.
*Most highly commended.

246

CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

VARIETIES OF THE PEACH

Nearly all varieties of the peach have been tried in California, and,
as with other fruits, it has been found that varieties must be chosen
with reference to their success in special locations. Choice also has
to be made according to the purpose of the grower, whether for early
marketing, for sale to canners, for drying, or distant shipment or for
late marketing. As with apples, there is little use of planting early
varieties (unless it be for home or local use) except in very early
regions. An early peach from a late region is killed by competition
with better middle season sorts from the earlier regions.

Dates of Ripening of Leading Varieties. — The relative ripening
of a large number of peach varieties, as noted at the University Experi-
ment Station, at Pomona, will be useful to planters in determining
proper succession of varieties, although of course the exact dates will
not widely apply.

VARIETY.

First Flower.

Full Flower.

Ripe.

Briggs' Red May

March

4

March

24

June

16

Amsden's June

March

8

March

25

June

17

Alexander

March

17

March

31

June

17

Large Early York

March

4

March

18

July

15

Yellow St. John

March

4

March

12

July

17

Crawford's Early

March

2

March

15

July

21

Foster

.1 March

4

March

15

July

21

Oldmixon Free

March

7

March

18

July

25

Morris White

March

4

March

15

Aug.

3

Muir

March

8

March

23

Aug.

5

Susquehanna

March

4

March

14

Aug.

5

Crawford's Late

March

2

March

14

Aug.

8

Newhall

March

4

March

14

Aug.

8

Rtmvon's Orange Cling

March

2

March

14

Aug.

8

California Cling

March

2

March

16

Aug.

12

Stump the World

, March

2

March

16

Aug.

12

Lovell

Feb.

28

March

9

Aug.

13

Nichols' Orange Cling

March

4

March

14

Aug.

14

Seller's Cling

March

2

March

14

Aug.

14

McDevitt's Cling

March

2

March

18

Aug.

16

McKevitt's Cling

March

2

March

19

Aug.

19

Wilkin's Cling

March

3

March

14

Aug.

20

Indian Blood

March

5

March

25

Aug.

20

Yellow Tuscany Cling

March

5

March

19

Aug.

21

Lemon Cling

March

14

April

1

Aug.

21

Smock's Late Free

March

4

March

18

Aug.

28

Picquet's Late

March

5

March

18

Sept.

1

Stalev's California

March

2

March

15

Sept.

6

Henrietta (Lew's)

March

6

March

15

Sept.

15

Heath's Cling

March

7

March

14

Sept.

15

Salwav

March

7

March

9

Sept.

18

In an early region one can plant early, middle, and late varieties
to advantage, and thus secure a very long-fruiting season. The peach
season in interior districts begins at the first of June with the Alexan-
der, and continues to the end of Nevember with local seedlings — giving
six months of peaches. Of course, the very early and very late sorts
are only of use for marketing as table fruit. The most important series

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PEACHES 247

is a fine succession of mid-season peaches suitable either for canning,
drying, or distant shipment. Such a selection can be made from the
tables and descriptions which will be given later.

Color is a most important item in the peach. While canners and
Eastern shippers use the beautiful white peaches to advantage, the
fashion for canning and drying is now strong in support of the yellow-
fleshed clingstone varieties. The yellow freestone peaches are also in
greatest demand. The color about the pit is also an important point.
Canners demand a peach, whether white or yellow, which is almost
free from color at the pit, because the extraction of the red color dyes
the juice; in drying, the demand just now is for a yellow peach with a
red center, because the colors give the dried fruit a more attractive
appearance. Of course there is a market for dried white peaches but
the preference is for the yellow.

PEACHES APPROVED IN CALIFORNIA

The following are the peaches chiefly grown in California, arranged
approximately in the order of ripening:

Briggs' Red May (California). — Originated as a chance seedling in nursery
row, on the farm of John G. Briggs, on the Feather River, about one mile from
Yuba City, about 1870. It was found to be about ten days earlier than the Early
Tillotson, which was then the stand-by for an early peach. Fruit medium to
large, round; white skin, with rich, red cheek; partially free, a standard errly
variety; subject to mildew.

Jones' Large Early (New York). — Large, roundish, flattened, white with
deep crimson.

Alexander (Illinois). — Most widely grown as best early variety. Fruit
medium to large; greenish white, nearly covered with deep red; flesh firm, juicy,
and sweet; bears transportation well; pit is partly free.

Triumph (Georgia). — Medium sized, early, yellow, partial cling; very good.

Amsden (Missouri). — Resembles preceding, but averages smaller; claimed by
some to be slightly earlier; rather less liable to curl-leaf.

Honey (Lukens). — Medium, oblong pointed, white mottled carmine; very
sweet; related to Peen-to.

Peen-to. — Flat peach or saucer peach of China; good in Southern California.

Early Imperial (California).— Originated by W. W. Smith, Vacaville, and
planted to secure a yellow freestone earlier or larger than St. John. Most
growers find it no improvement on St. John.

Yellow St. John (New Orleans). — Earliest yellow peach; averages smaller
than Yellow Crawford, but classed as large; roundish, orange yellow with deep
red «heek; juicy, sweet and high flavored; freestone.

Hole's Early (Ohio). — Medium to large, nearly round; skin greenish, mostly
covered and mottled with red when ripe; flesh white, melting, juicy, rich and
sweet ; fair for local market and shipping ; widely grown ; freestone.

Strawberry (New Jersey). — Medium size, oval; stem cavity deeply sunk;
suture extending half way round; skin almost wholly marbled with deep red;
flesh whitish, juicy, rich and delicate; tree healthy.

Bergen' s Yellow (New York). — Large, roundish; suture deep; orange yellow,
red cheek ; approved in Southern California.

Foster (Massachusetts). — Uniformly large, slightly flattened; slight suture;
stem moderately depressed; flesh yellow, very rich and juicy; color deep orange,

248 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

dark red in the sun; freestone; tree hardy and productive; very widely grown
in California and popular. Ripens before Early Crawford, which it sometimes
resembles, but is of better quality.

Crawford's Early (New Jersey). — Very large, oblong, swollen, point at the
top prominent, suture shallow; skin yellow, with red cheek; flesh yellow, rich,
and excellent ; freestone ; tree very healthy and productive ; probably the most
largely planted variety in California.

George the Fourth (New York). — Large, round, deeply divided by broad
suture ; sides unequal ; skin pale yellowish white, dotted with red, and red cheek ;
flesh pale, red at pit, from which it parts freely; quality good. Somewhat
troubled with curl-leaf.

Snow (American). — Large, globular; skin clear, beautiful, almost wholly
white ; flesh white to the free stone, juicy, rich, and sprightly.

Mary's Choice (New Jersey). — Large, yellow, resembling Early Crawford,
but ripening later.

Red Cheek Melocoton (American). — Large, roundish oval, swollen point at
top; yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow, red at stone, which is free, juicy,
good flavor. Approved in Humboldt and San Benito Counties.

Tuskena (Alabama or Mississippi). — Wrongly called "Tuscan" and "Tustin"
cling in this State ; largely planted in interior valleys and foothills ; very large
yellow cling; the earliest fine cling variety; very valuable for early shipping.
Ripens with Crawford's Early.

Oldmixom Free (American). — Large, roundish or slightly oval; greenish or
yellowish white, marbled with red; flesh white, tender, and excellent, juicy and
rich; high flavor.

Honest Abe (California). — "Originated at Healdsburg, Sonoma County.
Large, yellow, with red cheek; best quality; ripens between Crawford's Early and
Late. Does not curl." — James Shinn.

Morris White. — Large, oval; skin white with creamy tint when fully ripe;
flesh white to the stone, which is free; melting, juicy, sweet, and rich; especially
good for home use and canning; somewhat subject to curl-leaf.

Wager (New York). — Lemon yellow tinged with red; flesh yellow, rich, juicy,
sweet, excellent, having much the appearance and flavor of apricots ; stone small
and free from the flesh ; quality best.

Muir (California). — Originated as chance seedling on the place of John Muir,
near Silveyville, named and first propagated by G. W. Thissell, of Winters. Fruit
large to very large; perfect freestone; flesh clear yellow, very dense, rich and
sweet; pit small; tree a good bearer and strong grower, if on rich soil, to which
it is best adapted ; free from curl in Vacaville district ; fruit a good shipper and
canner, and peculiarly adapted to drying because of exceptional sweetness and
density of flesh ; yield, one pound dry from less than five pounds fresh. One of
the best California seedlings. Claimed by some to be identical with Wager.

Muir variations with large flowers, with fruit like Muir, but not splitting at
pit, reported by W. A. Rosander, Kingsburg; A. S. Coon, Fresno, and H. R.
Shaw, Selma.

Muir Cling by W. R. Fletcher, Green Valley, Sonoma County. Commended
by Green Valley Cannery; propagated by A. F. Scheidecker, Santa Rosa, 1907.

Wheatland (New York). — Large, roundish; skin golden yellow, shaded with
crimson; flesh yellow, rather firm, juicy, sweet, and of fine quality.

^Elberta (Georgia). — Very large; round-oval with deep suture; golden-yellow,
faint red stripes; flesh yellow, fine, juicy, rich and sweet; tree prolific; perfect
freestone.

Newhall (California). — "Originated with Sylvester Newhall, of San Jose.
Very large, skin yellow, with a dark red cheek; flesh deep yellow, juicy, and a
rich, vinous flavor; ripens about one week before Crawford's Late; tree very
hardy, healthy, vigorous, and not affected by curl ; freestone." — John Rock.

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PEACHES 249

Stump the World (New Jersey) .—Large, strong; skin creamy white, with
bright red cheek; flesh white, juicy, and highly flavored. Commended for
family use by the Southern California Nurserymen's Association. Curls some-
what in some localities; freestone.

Crawford's Late (New Jersey). — Very large, roundish, yellow with dark red
cheek; flesh deep yellow, juicy, and melting; flavor rich and excellent; a popular
and widely-grown variety, but very subject to curl-leaf in some localities; free-
stone.

Lemon Clingstone (South Carolina). — Large, lemon-shaped or oblong, having
large, projecting, swollen point like a lemon; skin fine yellow; flesh firm, yellow
with sprightly vinous subacid ; slightly red at the pit; which adheres firmly.

Orange Clingstone. — Large, round; suture distinctly marked and extending
nearly around the fruit ; no swelling at apex, like Lemon Clingstone ; deep orange
color, with red cheek; flesh yellow, firm, juicy, with rich flavor; somewhat sub-
ject to mildew. Though largely grown, this variety has been largely supplanted
by the following sub-varieties, which are seedlings from it.

Sellers' Golden Cling (California). — Originated on the farm of S. A. Sellers,
Contra Costa County, and introduced by James Shinn. Very large, rich golden
color ; tree healthy ; one of the very best of clings ; ripens with Late Crawford.

Runyon's Orange Cling (California). — "Originated with Mr. Sol Runyon on
the Sacramento River. Superior to the common Orange Cling. Runyon's
Orange Cling has globose glands, and is not subject to mildew like the common
sort. Fruit very large, yellow, with a dark crimson cheek; rich, sugary, and
vinous flavor. Highly esteemed and extensively planted in the Sacramento
region and elsewhere." — John Rock.

Nichols' Orange Cling (California). — Originated by Joseph Nichols, of Niles,
introduced by James Shinn. Large, yellow, with purple cheek; flesh yellow and
good. Tree healthy and a heavy bearer.

Peck's Orange Cling (California). — "Originated at Healdsburg, Sonoma
County. Improved seedling of Orange Cling, of Downing. Large, handsome,
yellow-fleshed, free from curl, hardy, vigorous, productive, superior for market
or drying; olanted more extensively in Santa Rosa Valley than in any other." —
Luther Burbank.

Stilson (California). — "Originated at Marysville (?). Perfect shape; very
large ; red cheek with crimson stripes ; yellow-fleshed, more highly colored than
Susquehanna; table and market quality excellent; ripens after Crawford's Late;
freestone."— P. W. Butler.

Susquehanna (Pennsylvania). — Large, nearly globular, suture half-round; skin
rich yellow, nearly covered with red; flesh yellow, sweet, juicy, with rich, vinous
flavor ; freestone ; tree healthy. Very widely distributed and popular.

McCowan's Cling (California). — Originated with Dr. McCowan, of Ukiah.
Yellow cling; round, smooth outline; no suture; no red at pit, which is small;
flesh firm, fine-grained, and sweet; not much subject to curl; fruit apt to run
small unless carefully thinned ; reported an irregular bearer in Alameda County ;
liked by canners ; approved by Placer County.

Lovell (California). — Originated as chance seedling with G. W. Thissell, and
named by him in 1882; propagated by Leonard Coates, of Napa. Yellow, free-
stone ; size uniformly large, almost perfectly round ; flesh fine, texture firm, solid,
clear yellow to the pit ; tree a good grower and bearer ; superior for canning and
shipping, and dries well. Said to curl in some places. "The richest peach I
ever saw on a tray." — E. A. Bonine, Los Angeles County. The most popular
yellow freestone for canning and drying. Sometimes reported as "heavier" than
the Muir.

McKevitt's Cling (California). — Originated as a chance seedling in apricot
orchard planted by M. R. Miller, on place owned later by A. McKevitt, Vaca
Valley; named in 1882 by nurserymen who propagated it. A white clingstone;
flesh very firm, fine-grained, sugary, and rich, high flavor, white to the pit; skin
strong, and fruit excellent for shipping or canning ; tree remarkably strong in
growth and free from disease. Widely distributed.

250 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

McClish Cling. — Yellow cling, grown in Sonoma County.

Wylie Cling. — An old seedling by John Wylie, Green Valley, Sonoma County,
increasing in popularity in northern Sonoma County as superior to Orange Cling
in not splitting at the pit, and not dropping from the tree. A fine peach for
canning and drying.

General Bidwell (California). — Originated from a short shoot from a peach
root upon which an apricot had grown and died, on Ranch Chico. Named by State
Horticultural Society, September 4, 1886, and commended for '.cultivation.
Ripens one week later than Late Crawford and ahead of Salway and Picquet's
Late. About the shape of the Orange Cling, but larger ; very yellow with reddish
cheek; flesh very solid, juicy, and rich; freestone and a small pit.

California; syn. Edward's Cling (California). — "Originated in Sacramento.
Very large, round, regular ; orange, nearly covered with dark, rich red ; flesh deep
yellow; flavor delicate, rich vinous." — C. W. Reed.

Picquet's Late (Georgia). — Large to very large; round, sometimes a little
flattened; yellow, with red cheek; flesh yellow, melting, sweet, rich and fragrant;
freestone; not subject to curl-leaf.

Smock Freestone (New Jersey). — "Large yellow, mottled with red; moder-
ately rich and juicy. A better drying peach than Salway." — E. A. Bonine.

La Grange (New Jersey) — Large, oblong; greenish white, some red on sunny
side; not desirable in coast regions; freestone.

Salway (English). — Large, roundish oblate; suture broad, deep, extending
beyond the apex; skin downy, creamy yellow, rich, clear, crimson cheek; flesh
deep yellow, red at the pit; juicy, rich, sweet, vinous; freestone; a standard late
peach in California ; tree very healthy.

Phillips' Clin? (California). — Originated with Joseph Phillips, of Sutter
County; propagated by J. T. Bogue of Marysville. Fine large yellow cling, no
color at pit, which is very small ; exceedingly rich and high colored ; described
by Mr. Skinner, superintendent Marysville Cannery, as the best peach he ever
used. The most popular yellow clingstone. Ripens progressively so that pick-
ing can cover two weeks without falling from tree. Requires good land and
ample moisture.

Persian's Cling (California). — "Originated in Visalia, probably from seed of
Heath Cling, and a few days earlier than its parent. Large ; clear white skin
and flesh, the latter very sweet; commended for canning." — /. H. Thomas, Tulare
County.

Heath (Maryland). — Described by Downing as the most delicious of all
clingstones. Very large ; skin downy, creamy white, with faint blush of red ; flesh
greenish white, very tender and juicy, with most luscious flavor, best adapted to
interior regions, 01^ places free from curl.

Steadly (Missouri). — "Large to very large; white skin; flesh white at the pit,
firm, rich, and good flavor ; freestone. Produces very heavy yield of dried fruit."
— /. H. Thomas, Tulare County.

George's Late Cling (California). — "Originated in Sacramento. Large; white
flesh, colored around the pit; beautiful yellow color, striped and splashed with
bright red ; a very heavy and uniform bearer ; a good shipper, and at its season
of ripening there is no peach grown in Placer County that yields the grower
so much profit." — P. W. Butler. Subject to mildew in some localities.

Yellow Tuscany {Dura cini, Tuscany). — A very large yellow cling; propa-
gated by G. Tosetti, formerly of San Leandro ; tree a strong grower and free
from curl-leaf; very productive. On the basis of its behavior at the University
Experiment Station at Pomona, this variety has recently been largely planted in
Southern California. It is counted the best yellow cling for canning in that
section. Ripens with Lemon Cling.

Albright's Cling (California). — "Originated with Mr. Albright, near Placer-
ville. Very large ; yellow, with bright cheek ; rarely equaled in quality and flavor.
Described as larger, more highly colored, of better flavor, better shape, and the
tree a more prolific bearer than the Orange Cling." — P. W. Butler. Endures long
shipment even after being well colored.

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PEACHES 251

McDevitt Cling. — "Originated with Neal McDevitt, of Placer County. Uni-
formly large, rich, golden yellow, becoming red when ripe ; flesh very firm and
solid; superior in flavor; excellent shipper; tree good and regular bearer.

Staley (California). — Very large; eleven and one-half inches in circumference;
somewhat elongated and flattened laterally; rich, creamy white with very faint
touches of light red ; suture shallow, but almost continuous around the peach ;
stone small and perfectly free, cavity considerably longer than stone; flesh white
to the pit, very juicy, fine, tender; flavor delicious. Originated as sucker from
peach root from which prune had been broken off in Selma, Fresno County.
Ripens twenty days after Salway, or four weeks after Susquehanna. A high-class
white freestone. Introduced by F. M. Nevins, Selma.

Levy's Late; syn. Henrietta (District of Columbia). — Above average size,
yellow flesh, red cheek ; late ; clingstone. Very popular in San Joaquin Valley.

Bilyeu's Late October. — "Large greenish white with red cheek; flesh whitish,
freestone ; tree a rapid grower and attains great size ; prolific bearer ; fruit ships
well, and where it will mature no peach can take its place ; does particularly well
in the foothills."— P. W. Butler.

Decker (California). — Grown for eastern shipment, in Vaca Valley, and in
Sutter and Butte counties.

CHAPTER XXI
THE NECTARINE

The nectarine reaches perfection under California conditions, as
does its close relative, the peach. The fruit is, in fact, as Downing
says, only a variety of the peach with a smooth skin; only a distinct,
accidental variety of the peach ; and this is rendered quite certain, since
there are several well-known examples on record of both peaches and
nectarines having been produced on the same branch. Nectarine pits
usually produce nectarines again, but they occasionally produce peaches.
Peach seeds occasionally produce nectarines; the Boston variety orig-
inated from a peach stone.* All these facts which are recorded of rela-
tion between the peach and nectarine have been verified by California
observation.

The practice of growing nectarines is also exactly like that employed
with the peach. It is propagated and pruned in the same ways, except
that, as pointed out by Mr. Culbertson, the nectarine has more of a
tendency to form short interior growths, and fruit buds are formed on
the larger new growths, thus enabling the pruner to cut them back
more closely, and yet have an abundance of fruit buds remain. The
peach and nectarines are the same in natural adaptations and require-
ments, and in diseases, so that what has been given concerning the
growth of the peach in this State has an apt application in the case of
the nectarine.

The success of the nectarine worked on almond stock, as has been
demonstrated by the experience of many, has led to the grafting over a
good many unprofitable almond trees to nectarine, though this has not
been done to the extent to which the French prune and some other
plums have been worked on old almond stocks.

Comparative Production of Nectarine and Peach. — It may be
wondered, considering the similarity of the peach and the nectarine,
why the former comes so near being our leading deciduous fruit and
the latter is the least grown, but one, of all temperate zone fruits, only
the lowly quince being less in importance. The explanation is that
the fruit buyer, both in California and at the East, prefers the peach,
whether it be fresh, or canned, or dried, and some of those who have
tried even a few acres of nectarines have found many occasions to wish
the ground had been given to peaches. How much of this preference
is due to lack of knowledge of the nectarine, and how much to its
somewhat different flavor, it would be difficult to actually determine.

That the nectarine would advance in popular favor has been prophe-
sied for some years, because of the wonderful excellence of the nectar-
ine as grown in our interior valleys, and the passing beauty of the
amber translucency of the dried nectarine, both when sun-dried and
when produced by machine evaporators. The excellence of the canned

*"Downing's Fruit and Fruit Trees," p. 565.

252

NECTARINE NOT COMMERCIALLY GREAT 253

nectarine has also figured in the anticipation. It is, however, question-
able how far this anticipation has been realized, for it is estimated that
the amount of dried nectarines is less than two per cent and of canned
nectarines less than one-half of one per cent of the respective forms of
peaches. Nor does the demand call for change in this proportion, for
there is a slight advantage in the market value of the peach even in its
great preponderance of supply. During the last decade many nectar-
ines have been rooted out to be replaced by peach trees, or have been
grafted over into peaches. There are, however, some growers who are
confident that the nectarine will in the future rank much higher in
the California fruit product. It would please growers and fruit driers
and canners to popularize the nectarine, for its smooth skin makes it
as easy to handle as an apricot, and the beauty of the product, which
certainly exceeds that of the peach and is rather more easily attained,
is very gratifying to the producer.

VARIETIES OF THE NECTARINE

Varieties of the nectarine, as of the peach, show different local
adaptations, and are valued by growers accordingly. The varieties
grown, are, however, comparatively few. The following have been
found most satisfactory in California; the descriptions are somewhat
condensed from Downing's treatise, modified to suit local growth, and
arranged approximately in the order of the ripening of the varieties.

Advance. — Large, round, green, marked with red and brown; flesh greenish
white; rich and well flavored. The earliest to ripen.

Lord Napier (English). — Large, pale, cream color with dark red cheek; flesh
white, melting, tender and juicy, separating freely from stone; leaf glands reni-
form and flowers large. Especially commended as a heavy and regular bearer ;
pronounced best in flavor at Pomona Experiment Station.

Downton (English). — Leaves with reniform glands; flowers small; fruit
large, roundish oval; skin pale green, with deep violet red cheek; flesh pale
green, slightly red at the stone, which is free, melting rich, and very good.

Early Newington (English). — Leaves serrated without glands, flowers large;
fruit large, roundish ovate, a little enlarged on one side, and terminating with an
acute, swollen point ; skin pale green, but nearly covered with bright red and
coated with thin bloom ; flesh greenish white, but deep red at stone, which
adheres closely, juicy, sugary, rich, and excellent.

Hardwicke (English.) — Leaves with globose glands; fruit very large, round-
ish, inclining to oval ; skin pale green, with deep violet red cheek ; flesh pale
green, slightly marked with red at the stone, melting, rich, and highly-flavored;
freestone. This variety is a favorite in Southern California; described by the
Southern California Nurserymen's Association as being the only satisfactory
bearer.

Boston. — Raised from a peach stone by T. Lewis, of Boston; tree hardy and
productive ; leaves with globose glands ; flowers small ; fruit large and handsome,
roundish oval, bright yellow, with deep red cheek; flesh yellow to the stone
(which is small and pointed), sweet, though not rich, with pleasant and peculiar
flavor ; freestone ; a general favorite in California.

New White ; syn. Large White. — Leaves with reniform glands ; flowers large ;
fruit rather large, nearly round ; skin white with occasionally slight tinge of red ;
flesh white, tender, very iuicy, with rich, vinous flavor; stone small and free
commanded wherever nectarines are grown in California, and more freely planted
than all other nectarines combined.

254 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Stanwick. — Originated in England from seed brought from Syria. Large,
roundish oval, slightly heart-shaped at base ; s^cin pale, greenish white, shaded
into deep, rich violet in the sun; flesh white, tender, juicy, rich, sugary, and
delicious.

Humboldt. — Very large, bright orange yellow vigorously marked with crim-
son, flesh orange, tender; juicy, and highly flavored. Described as one of the
best of the newer varieties. Ripens late.

As the future for the nectarine seems to rest upon drying and
canning of the fruit, the light-skinned, white or yellow-fleshed varieties
without color at the stone, are most desirable. For drying there has
been thus far a decided preference for freestone varieties, though pos-
sibly the present popularity for cling peaches for drying may extend
to the clingstone nectarines. Much color, however, either in skin or
flesh, will prevent the production of the beautiful translucent, amber
hue of the dried nectarine, which is attractive to consumers. Color in
the flesh is, of course, undesirable in canning, because of the discolora-
tion of the syrup. These facts have had much to do in fixing the popu-
larity of the varieties named in the foregoing list.

At present the largest orchards of nectarines are in the interior
valley locations, which are also fine for the peach and are perfectly
adapted both to the growing of the fruit and to the open-air, sun-drying
of it.

CHAPTER XXII
THE PEAR

The oldest deciduous fruit trees in California are pear trees, as has
already been stated in the account of fruits at the old missions, and
some of the trees are istill bearing, though it is a century and a third
since their planting. Trees planted by pioneers in the old mining dis-
tricts have actually assumed semblance to adjacent oaks. Notable
instances are found in the Stillwater district of Shasta County and
elsewhere. Near San Jose there is a tree over half a century old, with
a trunk seven and a half feet around and yielding annually about
fifteen hundred pounds of fruit, some of which was exhibited at the
Columbian Exposition. .;

The pear withstands neglect and thrives in soils and situations
which other fruit trees would rebel against. It defies drouth and exces-
sive moisture, and patiently proceeds with its fruitage even when the
soil is trampled almost to rocky hardness by cattle, carrying its fruit
and foliage aloft above their reach. And yet the pear repays care and
good treatment, and receives them from California growers, for the
pear has been one of our most profitable fruits. It is in demand for
canning, for drying, and for distant shipment, and its long season and
the slow ripening after picking allow deliberation in marketing, and
admit of enjoying low rates for shipment by slow trains. One of the
most striking demonstrations of the commercial suitability of the Cali-
fornia pear is found in successful marketing in London. Solomons,
who is called "London's greatest fruiter," said in 1903 that California
Bartletts from Block of Santa Clara are the "best in the world." Even
after crossing the continent they seemed to endure shipment across the
Atlantic better than eastern pears.

The most obvious marks of the California pear are size and beauty.
The most conspicuous example is the Bartlett, which is the pear of
California, judged by its popularity, fresh, canned and dried. When
well grown, its size is grand, and its delicate color, aroma and richness
unsurpassed. What extreme in point of size has been reached is not
known to the writer, but he saw at the San Jose Horticultural Fair, of
1886, thirteen Bartlett pears grown by A. Block, of Santa Clara, which
weighed fourteen pounds, the heaviest of the group weighing twenty-
two and one-half ounces. Other pears have made standard sizes in
California far in advance of their records elsewhere. There was in
1870 a Pound pear sent from Sacramento to the late Marshall P.
Wilder, president of the American Pomological Society, which weighed
four pounds and nine ounces, and was reported by Colonel Wilder to be
larger than anything previously reported in pear annals.* But Cali-
fornia has recently done even better, for a pear from near Marysville in
1904 was reported as nine inches high, sixteen inches around the base

*"Tilton's Journal of Horticulture, March, 1871, p. 87. An engraving of this fruit,
natural size, was given in Pacific Rural Press, November 8, 1873."

255

256 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

and five pounds in weight. Notes kept by the writer include five Vicar
of Winkfields weighing four pounds eight ounces; nine Easter Beurre
weighing twenty-four and one-half pounds, the heaviest single speci-
men weighing two and three-fourths pounds ; thirty-five Beurre Clair-
geau weighing thirty-seven pounds, the heaviest one, nineteen ounces ;
Seckel pears, nine and three-fourths inches in circumference — Down-
ing's figures make the Seckel five and seven-eighths inches around.

LOCALITIES FOR THE PEAR

The pear has a wider range than the apple in local adaptations. It
does as well as the apple in the coast regions, if suitable varieties are
grown; it thrives far better than the apple in the interior valleys; it
rivals the apple in the ascent of the slope of the Sierra Nevada, and
gains from the altitude, color and late keeping, as does the apple. By
rejecting a few naturally tender varieties, or by proper protection
against the scab fungus, in regions where its attacks are severe, one
can grow pears almost everywhere in California — providing pear
blight can be held in check, as will be discussed later.

The choice of location is governed more by commercial considera-
tions than by natural phenomena. The same facts which make the
Bartlett the favorite variety with planters, also should regulate the
choice of locality for growing it. These facts were expressed by the
late C. W. Reed, of Sacramento, who was in his time one of the lead-
ing pear growers and shippers of the State, as follows :

In the Sacramento Valley proper there is but one variety of pear that will
justify extensive cultivation, viz., the Bartlett. While nearly all varieties may be
grown successfully, and many varieties may be desirable for home purposes, yet
for profitable orchards we have to confine ourselves to this one variety, except in
high altitudes, or localities where the fruit only matures very late. The reason
for this will be better understood by the inexperienced if explained. The Bartlett
pear having qualities that make it a universal favorite for shipping, canning, and
for domestic market, no other variety is wanted while it is obtainable. With the
difference in the time of its ripening in different localities that are adjacent, our
markets are supplied with this variety about four months each season, viz., July,
August, September and October. While this pear is in the markets, any other
variety to compete with it must sell at very low prices.

Of course experienced pear growers, whose taste would soon cloy
with a continuous diet of Bartletts, and who know fully the superior
quality of other varieties which ripen soon after it, would dispute the
position taken by Mr. Reed, but for present California taste and trade
he is undoubtedly correct. As the canners and shippers and local con-
sumers all call for Bartletts, and as they usually sell at the East for
nearly twice the price of other varieties, the choice of location to secure
a Bartlett, either very early or very late, is the part of wisdom, for
either end of the season usually yields better prices than the middle.
Some growers are even opening the Bartlett season by growing Clapp's
Favorite, which sells well because it is taken for a Bartlett, and closing
the season with the Winter Bartlett, a local variety recently introduced.
The earliest Bartletts come from the interior valley sometimes as early
as the last week in June; the next, from the valleys adjacent to the

SOILS FOR THE PEAR 257

Bay of San Francisco ; the next, from the higher foothills of the Sierra
Nevada ; and the last, so far as present experience goes, although some
coast and mountain situations are quite late, reach the market from the
Vacaville district. It is an interesting fact that this district, which has
long been famous for marketing the first early fruits, should also
market very late ones. It is true, however, that early fruits hasten to
maturity and late fruits are retarded. Late fruits push along until
about midsummer, then stop growing for a month or two during the
hottest weather, and afterwards proceed on their course and finish up
well. W. W. Smith, of Vaca Valley, has picked Bartletts as late as
November 19, but that is unusually late. In years with heavy late
spring rains the Bartlett ripens earlier in the Vaca Valley than in or-
dinary seasons, and when the fruit sells well in the East, the Bartletts
are gathered green and shipped all through the season, as their first
growth usually makes them large enough for this purpose.

There is produced in some situations a "second crop" of Bartletts
and of other varieties, which is of account when pears are scarce and
is sometimes dried with profit. For such fruit the bloom appears upon
the tips of the shoots of the current season's growth. The fruit is
sometimes coreless and has led to claims of "seedless pears." Bartlett
pears have actually been picked in the foothills above Peatz in Butte
County on February 25, 1905, and described as "fine, delicious and
ripe." This fact must be regarded as a token of local climatic salubrity
and not of economic or pomological account.

Bartletts can also be successfully held in storage for a time if fitted
for it. The experiments of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, conducted in Southern Oregon, show that the Bartlett season can
be extended from six to seven weeks by leaving the fruit on the trees
two weeks longer than is at present the practice and by storing for four
or five weeks at a temperature of 32° or 34° F. after the fruit has been
precooled.

SOILS FOR THE PEAR

The pear, if it is not allowed to dry out entirely, will generally do
well on shallow soil and over a tight^ clay hard-pan, where most other
fruits would be unsatisfactory or fail utterly. The trees will thrive in
clay loams, and even in adobe, if properly cultivated. In laying out
fruit farms, which often include a variety of soils, even in comparatively
small area, the pears and plums (if on the right stock, as will be seen),
should be set in the lower, moister, stiffer soil, and other fruits on the
lighter, warmer, and better drained portions. The pear, however,
enjoys the better situation, though it will thrive on the poorer. The
tree seems to attain its greater growth and heaviest bearing on the
alluvial soils of the valleys and near the banks of rivers and streams.
All pears will be later in maturing and have better keeping qualities if
grown on a clay subsoil. Thus it appears that the pear will flourish
whether the water is near or far from the surface. On wet land the
apple is apt to die in a few years, or become worthless. On dry land
the apple lives longer, but the fruit is small and tasteless. But the pear
tree may bear good fruit, under the same conditions.

258 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

It has been learned by experience that the pear will flourish on soil
somewhat alkaline. At the University Agricultural Experiment Station
at Tulare, this subject was demonstrated in detail. It was shown that
though the pear endures a certain amount of alkali its limit of endur-
ance may be often exceeded and there is little warrant to select alkali
soil for pears, unless it be to fill a space that would otherwise be vacant
in the orchard. If it is not too alkaline the pears will thrive. If gyp-
sum be used in planting, somewhat stronger alkali will be endured than
otherwise.

PROPAGATION AND PLANTING

The use of dwarfing stock for the pear has been nearly abandoned
in this State, though in early years the quince was largely used. The
most prominent orchard on quince stock is that of A. Block, of Santa
Clara, where may be seen dwarf trees originally planted eight feet
apart in squares, but now wider spaced by removing part of the trees ;
the remainder doing exceedingly well under liberal manuring and irri-
gation. It would, however, require special investigation to determine
whether these trees are still dependent upon the quince or whether
they have developed roots from the pear wood above.

It is quite possible that, at least for gardens, there may be in the
future more use made of dwarf trees, but for commercial orchards
there appears no need of dwarfing. The common conclusion is that it
is better to have fewer trees and larger ones, but since the pear blight
became an issue in this State the Angiers quince has been advocated as
a means of maintaining a sound root and keeping the warfare above
ground.

The following varieties are commended for cultivation on quince
stock as dwarfs, experience proving them vigorous growers and abun-
dant bearers in suitable localities: Bartlett, Beurre Hardy. Doyenne
du Cornice, Duchess d'Angouleme, Glout Morceau, Pound, Beurre Diel,
White Doyenne, Easter Beurre, Winter Nelis, P. Barry, Winter Bart-
lett.

But the pear is usually grown in California on its own roots : that
is upon imported French pear seedlings. It comes into bearing early
enough, and is a long-lived tree unless badly attacked by blight. Trees
are grown by either budding or grafting, as described in the chapter
on that subject. Only good seedling roots should be used, and not
suckers from old trees. The Japanese stock, so called, being seedlings
from the Sand pear, of Asia, is now being widely used because of con-
fidence in it as measurably blight resistant, while it is also less subject
to attack by woolly aphis, has been used to some extent, but no definite
results reported. Propagation upon rooted cuttings of the Le Conte,
which has a measurable resistance to the pear blight, has been advised
for the purpose of securing less susceptible roots, but Japanese seed-
lings are easier to secure and to work with than rooted cuttings. Mr.
M. B. Waite, orchard pathologist of the United States Department of
Agriculture, has in progress a test of many cross-bred seedlings in the
hope of reaching a hardier seedling stock for pears than is now known.

PRUNING THE PEAR 259

He also proposes top grafting the Bartlett upon Winter Nelis, Seckel,
Angouleme, Lawson and other partially immune varieties to increase
the chances of securing a somewhat resistant tree-body and sound roots.
Fortunately the pear is readily grafted-over by the common methods,
and some growers are planting Winter Nelis on Japanese roots, expect-
ing to top-graft them with Bartlett in the orchard.

Distance in Planting. — If the pears are to have the whole
ground, it is usual to plant from twenty to twenty-four feet apart on
the square. As the tree is slower to attain size and full bearing than the
stone fruits, and as it is a long-lived tree, the pears are sometimes set
twenty-four feet with plums in quincunx. Peaches and apricots are
;ilso set between pears sometimes, when the soil chosen for pears suits
them also.

PRUNING

Usually the pear is grown in the vase form, as described in the
general chapter on pruning. With regular, upright growers, heading
low and cutting to outside buds results in a handsome, gently-spreading
top, and effectually curbs the disposition which some varieties, notably
the Bartlett, have to run straight up with main branches crowded to-
gether.

The development of the vase-form with a few continuous leaders, in
a general way as prescribed for the peach in Chapter XX, is practicable.
Such leaders are to be covered with short, fruit-bearing laterals. Thin-
ning and shortening of laterals can be done by summer pruning.

As with other fruit trees, the pear must be studied and pruning
must be done with an understanding of the habit of the variety under
treatment. Irregular and wayward growers, which, in windy places,
also have their rambling disposition promoted by prevailing winds,
often give the grower much perplexity. The general rules of cutting
to an outside bud to spread the tree, to an inside bud to raise and con-
centrate it, and to an outside bud one pear and an inside bud the next,
if a limb is desired to continue in a certain course, are all helpful to
the primer. But with some pears, of which the Winter Nelis is a con-
spicuous example, it is exceedingly hard to shape the tree by these
general rules, and some growers abandon all rules, merely shortening
in where too great extension is seen, or to facilitate cultivation, and
trust to shaping the tree when it shall have finished its rampant grow-
ing period. It will be interesting to cite a few methods of California
pear growers :

"The Winter Nelis pear is an uncouth grower. Let the trees alone until they
have borne a good, heavy crop, and the limbs come down and spread out nicely ;
this will occur in five or six years after setting. This will give you an idea
what you want to do with the balance of the top that is not borne down with
the fruit. My plan is to cut straggling branches, thin out so that the branches
will not wind around each other, but don't cut the top, for you will find that the
more you cut the more wood you get, and after the tree comes into full bearing
is plenty of time to head back." — A. CadweU, Pctaluma.

"Our orchard in Napa county was not in a very windy place, but still windy
enough to throw our Nelis trees out of form. To get any regularity of shape,
we cut off every year all the shoots growing low down on the leeward side,

260 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

shortening in what are left as occasion may require, to an inside bud. On the
windward side we rarely cut any branch out, but shorten in a little to an outside
bud, frequently being obliged to cut back a strong shoot to a lateral which is
growing outward." — Leonard Coates, Morganhill.

"It is hard to get a misshapen Winter Nelis tree into shape. Let the grower
take his shears and go around the tree and examine the difficulty until he is
conversant with it, and then commence to prune, not to heavily, though. Cut
the limbs that lean too far leewards back a little with an inside bud, and train all
future limbs toward the weather side of the tree; cut limbs this year so that
the coming buds will form limbs growing in the direction of the weather side of
the tree. But use moderation and take your time for it, and don't cut too many
big limbs off three-year-old trees — none, in fact, if it can be helped. In bringing
limbs to proper place, I have found a piece of cornstock the required length for
the intended place, inserted endwise between the limb and the body of the tree to
be spread, to be a very good brace, easily made, and not likely to injure the tree."
— T. E. Owen, Santa Cruz.

These methods will suggest others by which one can bring the most
irregular grower into shape. If the tree is cut at planting so as to form
the head low, it may be safely left until bearing age for shaping. The
tree naturally makes a viny growth of young wood, and the object of
leaving it alone is that one limb holds the others more upright until the
main limbs become large, or stiff enough to keep the shape ; so they
may be left, after being thinned out to form three to five limbs, as judg-
ment may direct. Some trees will be best with three or four, others
five.

The experience of pear pruning just cited has been secured in
regions more or less subject to coast influences. In the hot interior
valleys, with the pear as with the apple, care must be taken to prune
so as not to open the tree too much to the sun, but to shorten in and
thin out only so far as is consistent with maintaining a good covering
of foliage.

The pruning of bearing pear trees is much like that of the apple, to
be determined largely by the habit of the tree, and to secure a fair
amount of fruit on branches with strength and stiffness enough to sus-
tain it.

Summer pruning will promote fruiting either in a young or an old
tree and some practice it to secure early bearing of young trees, but
the common practice is winter pruning to secure strong wood and
prevent overbearing.

THINNING PEARS

It is quite important to attend to thinning the fruit on overloaded
trees. Even the popular Bartlett will often give fruit too small for
profitable sale unless thinned. With pears, as other fruits, thinning
should not be done until it is seen that the fruit is well set. Dropping
off from natural causes sometimes thins the crop quite enough.

IRRIGATION OF THE PEAR

In some situations the pear needs irrigation, though it will endure
drouth which would destroy most other fruit trees. There is no profit
in small, tough fruit. As stated in the chapter on irrigation the wood

PEAR BLIGHT AND ITS TREATMENT 261

growth and fruit show whether proper moisture needs are met or not.
Early pears are advanced in development by irrigation in some parts of
the State, and this is an important factor in their value.

BLIGHT OF THE PEAR

The pear blight appeared in the San Joaquin Valley about 1900.
In 1904, after having nearly wiped out bearing trees in the southern
counties of the San Joaquin Valley the disease began to devastate the
orchards along the Sacramento River through the vast area of rich
valley land which it traverses and on which is situated our most ex-
tensive pear acreage. In 1905 resolute warfare was made upon the
blight, with a large appropriation of State funds, by the plant disease
experts of the United States Department of Agriculture and of the
California Agricultural Experiment Station, with the assistance of the
local horticultural authorities. It was probably the greatest campaign
ever made against a single tree disease although some insect warfares
have been greater. The outlines of the plans followed and the results
attained are to be found in the publications of the institutions engaged.*

In a later chapter on Diseases of Trees and Vines, an outline of
procedure against pear blight will be given. It is apprehended that
neither paying crops nor living trees can be counted upon in the future
unless the disease is successfully kept under control by successful
fighting or by recourse to some form of natural immunity which can be
discovered or developed by plant breeding. It is probable that pears
can not be grown in the future as cheaply and profitably as in the
past and there is a certain amount of bravery or daring in pear invest-
ments at the present time. It is encouraging, however, to note that in
California the disease shows signs of relaxing the virulence which
characterized its first attacks and it is reasonable to believe that here as
elsewhere it may be possible to have the blight and pears also.f The
reader must keep himself continually of the various phases of the
problem as they will arise, by careful study of California horticultural
journals and of later publications from the official sources which have
been indicated.

The very exuberance of the pear in California seems to increase the
virulence of the blight. The long growing season with its continual
production of new soft tissue, the unseasonable bloom which attracts
bees to bring new supplies of blight germs, the break of new shoots
from root, trunk and main branches — all these make the tree subject
to repeated renewals of the disease in all its most vulnerable parts. How
far growth can be repressed by scant cultivation or by summer prun-
ing ; how far suppression of later shoots and blooms is practicable and
whether the tree can be depleted so that it can only make fair sized
fruit and no surplus soft tissue for blight invasion — all these are cul-
tural problems which make pear growing very interesting to the enquir-

*Reports of the California Commissioners of Horticulture, 1901 to 1906, including Reports
on California Fruit Growers' Conventions for 1905-6-7, Horticultural Commissioner, Sacra-
mento. Report of Plant Pathologist, University Experiment Station, Berkeley, 1906 and 1908.

fThe character of such a fight and what it costs is graphically portrayed by E. A. Gam-
mon in the Report of California Fruit Growers' Convention of 1909, and in Pacific Rural
Press, June 22, 1910.

262 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

ing mind. A Sonoma grower suggests that pruning may be used
to control pear blight in the following manner: It is the natural
tendency of the pear and apple while young to form fruiting spurs upon
the body and larger branches of the tree. These fruiting spurs produce
blossoms from year to year, which are in turn as liable to be visited
by bees or other insects carrying the destructive spores of the disease
as are the blossoms at the ends of the branches. It is evident, there-
fore, that a blossom situated upon the body or larger branches of a tree,
becoming infected, would communicate the disease directly to the
framework of the tree, with the result that it would be fatally injured;
but if these fruiting spurs are all removed from the body and larger
branches by pruning, the possibilities of infection in this way are over-
come. The available means of gaining entrance to the tree by this
parasite is confined to the smaller branches, which if affected can be cut
away without severely injuring or disfiguring the tree. All suckers at the
base of the tree should be removed at the point where they emerge from
the trunk or the roots as they favor the entrance of blight to the root.
The scab fungus which seriously affects some varieties, and notably
the Winter Nelis, in the Coast region, is identical with the scab of the
apple and will be mentioned in the chapter on tree diseases. Because
of the liability of the Winter Nelis, to this disease, and because of its
irregular bearing in the Coast region, there have been many trees
grafted over into varieties better suited to Coast conditions. The Beurre
Clairgeau, because of its health, prolific bearing, and acceptability to
shippers, was largely introduced in this way, but it has not sold as well
as expected. Ordinary top grafting succeeds admirably with the pear.
Clapp's Favorite and other varieties have also been worked upon
Winter Nelis but they are apt to be more susceptible to blight than
Winter Nelis so this old practice is now. of less value than formerly.

GATHERING AND RIPENING OF PEARS

Many pear growers make the common mistake of allowing the
fruit to hang too long on the tree, instead of gathering and ripening
in a cool, dark place. Pears should be picked at the first indication of
ripeness, the first sign being a tendency of the stem to part from the
spur when the pear is gently raised up. This test applies especially to
the Bartlett. Picking at this stage and laying away in the dark ripens
up the Bartlett well. When picked at this stage and sent overland by
slow freight, they ripen en route and the boxes open well on the Eastern
markets. There are a few varieties which shrivel if ripened under
cover, but the rule is a good one, and the grower will soon note the
exceptions. Many desirable varieties have, no doubt, been pronounced
poor and insipid because allowed to ripen on the tree.

To ripen well, pears should be packed in tight boxes or inclosed
in drawers. They do not do as well as apples on shelves open to
circulation of air. As already stated, the oily-skinned apple endures
exposure and maintains a smooth, ruddy cheek and sound heart in
spite of wind, rain and rough weather. The pear under similar
conditions decays rapidly.

BLOOMING DATES OF PEARS

POLLINATION OF PEARS

263

As very few varieties of pears are largely grown in California
and as the Bartlett generally bears well when grown in large acreages
by itself, the Eastern claim that the Bartlett is self-sterile does not
seem to be justified in California experience. Recent observations
indicate that even at the east the Bartlett is self-fertile when conditions
are favorable to setting of the fruit and self-sterile when they are
otherwise. As conditions are usually favorable in California this may
be the reason why its self-fertility is more conspicuous here than at
the east. It has been individually noted, however, that the White
Doyenne is a good fertilizer for the Bartlett. The Winter Nelis is
one of the pears commercially worth growing which is most apt to
be fruitless, but thus far association with other varieties has not
been demonstrated to be a full remedy. For the assistance of those
who desire to test pear pollination the following statement is made
of the relative dates of bloom of a large number of varieies, based
upon records kept in Tulare County :

VARIETY.

First Bloom.

Full Bloom.

Barry

March 10

March 20

Bartlett

March 14

March 24

Belle Lucrative

March 14

March 26

Beurre Clairgeau

March 11

March 22

Beurre d'Amanlis

March 10

March 20

Beurre d'Anjou

, March 16

March 24

Beurre Diel

March 20

March 30

Beurre Giffard

March 16

March 26

Beurre Gris d'Hiver

March 14

March 24

Beurre Hardy ,

March 18

March 28

Clapp's Favorite

March 14

March 24

Colonel Wilder

March 14

March 24

Counseiller de la Cour

March 12

March 22

Dearborn's Seedling

March 16

March 28

Doyenne d'Alencon ,

March 18

March 28

Doyenne d'Ete

March 18

March 28

Doyenne du Cornice

March 16

March 26

Duchesse d'Angoulene

March 12

March 20

Easter Beurre

March 14

March 20

Flemish Beauty

March 20

March 30

Forelle

March 2

March 10

Frederick Clapp

March 16

March 26

Howell

March 14

March 24

laminette

March 12

March 22

Joseph de Malines

March 12

March 22

Keifer's Hybrid

March 2

March 10

Kennedy

March 14

March 24

Lawrence

March 12

March 22

Lawson

March 16

March 26

Le Conte

Feb. 28

March 2

Louise Bonne de Jersey

March 10

March 20

Seckel

March 14

March 24

Sheldon

March 18

March 28

Souvenir du Congres

March 20

March 29

Swan's Orange

March 14

March 24

Vernon

March 8

March 19

White Doyenne

March 14

March 24

Winter Nelis

March 12

March 20

264 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

VARIETIES OF THE PEAR

Though large collections of famous Eastern and European pears
have been brought to California, the peculiarity of the local market
and demand for canning and shipping has led to concentration upon
very few sorts. The pears chiefly grown in California are the follow-
ing, arranged approximately in the order of their ripening:

Harvest; syn. Sugar Pear (American). — Small, roundish, pale yellow, brown-
ish in sun, brown and green dots; flesh whitish, rather dry but sweet; tree
upright, young wood olive yellow brown.

Madeleine (French). — Medium, obovate pyriform, stalk long and slender, set
on the side of a small swelling: pale yellowish green, rarely brownish blush;
calyx small, in shallow, furrowed basin; flesh white, juicy, delicate.

Wilder Early (American). — Small to medium, yellow with red cheek; sweet,
and good. Recently introduced and profitable for local sale in San Diego
county. Should not be confused with Col. Wilder, a California seedling which
has gone out of use.

Bloodgood (New York). — Tree short, jointed, deep reddish brown wood;
fruit medium turbinate, inclining to obovate, thickening abruptly into stalk;
yellow, sprinkled with russet dots ; calyx strong, open, almost without depression ;
stalk obliquely inserted, without depression, short, fleshy at its base; flesh yellow-
ish white, melting, sugary, aromatic; core small.

Clapp's Favorite (Massachusetts). — Tree a strong grower; young shoots dark
reddish brown ; fruit large, slightly obtuse pyriform ; pale lemon yellow with
brown dots; flesh fine, melting, juicy, with rich, sweet delicate, vinous flavor;
resembles Bartlett, but lacks musky flavor.

Dearborn's Seedling (Massachusetts). — Young shoots long, reddish brown;
under medium size; roundish pyriform; smooth, clear, light yellow, with few
minute dots; stalk slender set with very little depression; calyx spreading in
shallow basin ; flesh white, very juicy, melting, sprightly.

Lawson; syn. Comet (New York). — Medium to large, bright crimson on
yellow ground ; flesh fine, rich and sweet.

Souvenir du Congres (French). — Large to very large (exceeding Bartlett and
Clapp's Favorite, to both of which it bears a strong resemblance) ; skin smooth,
bright yellow when fully ripe, brilliant carmine in the sun; flesh resembling
Bartlett, but has not the musky flavor ; firm to the core ; tree a good grower, but
somewhat subject to smut.

Bartlett (English). — Tree a strong grower, early bearer, and healthy; fruit
large, smooth, clear yellow, sometimes with delicate blush ; stalk moderately long,
stout and inserted in shallow cavity; calyx open; flesh white, fine grained, juicy,
buttery, highly perfumed (musky), vinous flavor.

Beurre Hardy. — Large, long obovate, sometimes obscurely pyriform; skin
greenish with thin, brown russet; stalk an inch long; cavity small, uneven,
oblique, basin shallow; buttery, somewhat melting, rich, slightly subacid; tree a
strong grower.

Flemish Beauty (Belgian). — Large, obovate, often obscurely tapering to the
crown, very obtuse, surface slightly rough, with some reddish brown russet on
pale yellow ground; flesh juicy, melting, and good if picked early and ripened in
the house.

Seek el (Pennsylvania). — Rather small, regularly formed, obovate; brownish
green, becoming dull yellowish brown, with russet red cheek; stalk slightly

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DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PEARS 265

curved, and set in strifling depression; calyx small and set in a very slight
depression; flesh whitish, buttery, very juicy and melting, with peculiarly rich,
spicy flavor and aroma.

Hoiuell (Connecticut). — Rather large, roundish pyriform, light waxen yellow,
often with finely-shaded cheek thickly sprinkled with minute russet dots and
some russet patches ; stalk medium, without cavity and sometimes lipped ; some-
times in small cavity; calyx open in large, uneven basin; flesh whitish, juicy,
brisk, vinous.

Duchess d'Angouleme (France). — Very large, oblong obovate; somewhat
uneven, knobby surface; dull greenish yellow, streaked and spotted with russet;
stalk long, stout, bent, deeply set in irregular cavity; calyx set in somewhat
knobby basin ; flesh white, butterv. and juicy, with rich flavor.

Louise Bonne of Jersey (France.) — Larere oblong pyriform, a little one-sided;
glassy, pale green in shade, brownish red in the sun, numerous gray dots; stalk
curved, rather obliquely inserted, without depression, or with a fleshy, enlarged
base ; calyx open in a shallow uneven basin ; flesh very juicy, and melting, rich,
and excellent ; very prolific.

Beurre Diel (Belgium). — Large, varying from obovate to obtuse pyriform;
skin rather thick, lemon yellow, becoming orange yellow, marked with large
brown dots and marblings of russet; stalk stout, curved in rather uneven cavity;
calyx nearly closed in slightly furrowed basin ; flesh yellowish white, a little
coarse-grained near the core; rich, sugary, buttery, delicious.

White Doyenne; syn. Virgalieu (French.) — Medium to large, regular, obo-
vate ; smooth, clear pale yellow sprinkled with small dots, sometimes red cheeked ;
stalk brown, little curved, in small round cavity; calyx small, closed in shallow
basin; flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, rich, and high flavored.

Beurre Bosc (Belgium.) — Large pyriform, a little uneven, often tapering long
and gradually into the stalk; skin pretty smooth, dark yellow, dots and streaks
of cinnamon russet, slightly red on one side ; stalk long, rather slender, curved ;
calyx short, in shallow basin; flesh white, melting, buttery, rich, with slightly
perfumed flavor.

Onondaga; syn. Swan's Orange (Connecticut). — Large, obtuse, oval pyriform,
neck very short and obtuse, body large and tapering to obtuse apex ; flesh melting,
sprightly, vinous. A vigorous, upright grower, healthy; yellow shoots; sells well
in distant markets.

Beurre Clairgeau (France.) — Large, pyriform, but with unequal sides; yellow,
shaded with orange and crimson, thickly covered with russet dots, sometimes
sprinkled with russet ; stalk short, stout and fleshy, inserted by a lip at an inclina-
tion almost without depression ; when lip is absent, the cavity is uneven ; calyx
open; flesh yellowish, buttery, juicy, granular, sugary, perfumed, vinous; apt to
ripen early for a winter pear.

Beurre d'Anjou (France). — Large, obtuse pyriform; stem, short, thick, and
fleshy, in a cavity, surrounded by russet; calyx small, open in small capity, rus-
setted ; skin greenish, sprinkled with russet, sometimes shaded with dull crimson,
brown .and crimson dots; flesh whitish, not very fine, melting, juicy, brisk, vinous
flavor, perfumed ; tree a fair grower, but somewhat affected by fungus.

Dana's Hovey; syn. Winter Seckel (Massachusetts). — Small, obovate, obtuse
pyriform ; greenish yellow or pale yellow, with much russet and brown dots ;
stalk rather short; a little curved, set in slight cavity, sometimes lipped; calyx
open and basin small; flesh, yellowish, juicy, melting, sweet, aromatic.

Vicar of Winkfield (France.) — Large and long pvriform; pale yellow, fair
and smooth, sometimes with brownish cheek and marked with small brown dots ;
stalk slender, obliquely inserted without depression; calyx large, open, set in a
basin very slightly sunk; flesh greenish yellow, juicy, with good sprightly flavor.

266 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

Doyenne du Comics (France.) — Large, varying, roundish pyriform, or broad,
obtuse pyriform ; greenish yellow becoming fine yellow, shaded with crimson,
, slightly marked with russet spots, and thickly sprinkled with russet dots; stalks
short, stout, inclined and set in shallow cavity, often russetted ; calyx small, open ;
basin large, deep and uneven ; flesh white, fine, melting, aromatic. Very profitable
during last few years in eastern shipments.

Glout Morceau (Flemish). — Rather large, varying in form, but usually short
pyriform, approaching obtuse oval; neck very short and obtuse; body large and
tapering towards crown ; often considerably ribbed ; green, becoming pale greenish
yellow ; stalk stout, moderately sunk ; calyx large, basin distinct, rather irregu-
lar; flesh white, fine-grained, buttery, melting, rich, sweet, and fine flavor.

Block's Acme (California seedling, b^ A. Block, of Santa Clara). — Large and
very handsome, surpassing Beurre Clairgeau in size and color ; regularly formed,
pyriform, skin pale yellow, covered with russet all over, which becomes a line
glowing red on the side exposed to the sun; flesh white, crisp, and melting, juicy,
sweet, and slightly musky; a pear that will rank foremost with our best snipping
pears ; reserved by originator for his own export trade.

Winter Nelis (Belgium). — Medium, roundish, obovate, narrowed in near the
stalk; yellowish green, dotted with gray russet and a good deal covered with
russet; stalk rather long, bent, and set in narrow cavity; calyx open in shallow
basin ; flesh yellowish, white, fine grained, buttery, very melting, and full of rich,
sweet, aromatic juice.

P. Barry (California seedling, by B. S. Fox). — Fruit large, elongated pyri-
form, a little obtuse; skin deep yellow, nearly covered with a rich golden russet;
stalk of medium length and thickness, set rather obliquely on a medium cavity,
sometimes by a lip; flesh whitish, fine, juicy, melting, sweet, slightly vinous and
rich. An early and prolific bearer. December to January. P. Barry is recom-
mended for planting by the Southern California Nurserymen's Association. It
is, to some extent, displacing the Winter Nelis as a more healthy tree and a
more certain bearer. Has sold well in eastern shipments.

Easter Beurre (France). — Large, roundish, obovate obtuse, often rather
square in figure; yellowish green, sprinkled with many russet dots and some
russet patches ; stalk rather short, stout, set in an abruptly sunken, obtuse cavity ;
calyx small, closed, but little sunk among plaited folds of angular basin ; flesh
white, fine grained, very buttery, melting, and juicy, sweet, rich flavor; was suc-
cessfully shipped from California to England as early as 1872. Bears more
regularly but usually sells for less than Winter Nelis.

Pound. — Large, pyriform, yellowish-green with red cheek, esteemed for cook-
ing; reaches enormous size in this State, as already noted.

Kieffer and Le Conte. — These pears, recently introduced as especially hardy
varieties, are grown to a limited extent in all parts of the State, but are usually
condemned as inferior to the European varieties. The Kieffer is best in interior
regions.

Crocker's Bartlett (California). — Chance seedling on place of L. L. Crocker,
Loomis, Placer county. Introduced by Mr. Crocker in 1902. Described in year
book, 1905, of U. S. Department of Agriculture; medium to large, oblong, obo-
vate, pyriform ; rich golden yellow, somewhat russetty ; quality very good ; keeps
until March. Claimed to be blight-resistant and regula'rly productive.

Winter- Bartlett (Oregon). — Chance seedling in a dooryard in Eugene, Oregon.
Introduced in California by Geo. C. Roeding, of Fresno. Closely resembles
Bartlett in shape and appearance and flavor but a little coarser; ripens four
months later than Bartlett in interior situations in California and promising as
a winter pear. Abandoned by some growers for coarseness and disliked by
canners for developing a pink color.

TABULATED STATEMENT

267

Pear Varieties Approved by California Growers.

Upper Central Interior Mountain California

VARIETIES. coast coast valley and valley and Southern

valleys. valleys. foothill. plateaux. Coast.

Angouleme (Duchess) .... * * * * *

Anjou * * * *

Bartlett ** ** ** ** **

Bosc * * *

Clairgeau * * *

Clapp's Favorite ...

Cornice *

Easter Beurre * ** ** ... *

Flemish Beauty * * *

Glout Morceau * ** ... *

Hardy, Beurre * * ... *

Howell * * * ... *

Kieffer

Lawson ... ** * *

Louise, Bonne de Jersey *

Madeleine * * * *

P. Barry ** ** * * *

Seckel * * * ** **

Souvenir de Congres * * * ** ...

Vicar of Winkfield * *

Wilder, Early ... *

White Doyenne * * * ... ...

Winter Bartlett * * * ... *

Winter Nelis * ** ** * **

*Indicates that the variety is approved in the region designated.
**Most highly commended.

CHAPTER XXIII
PLUMS AND PRUNES*

The plums of California are exceptionally fine in appearance and
of high quality. Both tree and fruit have thus far escaped the parasites
which have wrought greatest injury on the eastern side of the
continent. The curculio has never been found here, and the "black
knot," though detected in some of the indigenous species of the
genus prunus^ has never been observed in our orchards. The tree
suffers, it is true, as do most other fruit trees, from various pests and
diseases but their work is a light affliction compared with the ravages
of the curculio and black knot which Eastern plum growers have to
contend against. Because of reduced planting during the last few
years, the plum stands second in point of number among the fruit trees
of California, for, as noted in Chapter XX, the peach now holds first
place. Of the plums, at least four-fifths of the acreage are those
varieties designated as prunes. This is, of course, owing to the profita-
ble shipping demand for our prune product, while ordinary dried, pitted
plums are expensive in production and do not always command good
prices. There is, however, a large trade at the East in our fine plums
in a fresh state. Some varieties stand shipment well, and are large,
handsome and in some cases possessed of unique characters, resulting
from Mr. Burbank's work with the Japanese species as will be noted
later. Considerable shipments of fresh plums have been made from
California to England.

By choosing varieties ripening in succession, the plum season
extends from May to December, thus enabling the California plum
grower to strike the Eastern markets both early and late. It is on
record also, that second crop plums have ripened. In 1904 Judge Leib,
of San Jose, sent to Luther Burbank, on December 1, ripe fruit from
a tree which ripened its first crop on July 4, of the same year.

There is also considerable demand for plums by the canners who
do not use, however, the varieties in chief demand for shipping.

LOCALITIES FOR THE PLUM

The plum has an exceedingly wide range in California. The trees
are thrifty and profitable even from the immediate vicinity of the coast
and in coast valleys, where the sea winds and fogs intrude eastward
across the great interior valleys, and upwards upon the sides of the
Sierra Nevada. In the upper half of the State, at least, wherever there

*A11 prunes are plums, but all plums are not prunes. A prune is a plum which can be
dried without the removal of the pit without fermenting: The result being a fleshy pulp
with a high degree of sweetness. All plums which will not do this are not prunes, even
though the word may appear in their California common names.

tFound on primus demissa, in Yosemite Valley and in Coast Range in San Mateo
County, by Dr. H. W. Harkness. Report State Board of Horticulture, 1883, pp. 54, 55.

268

LOCALITIES FOR PLUMS AND PRUNES 269

is sufficient moisture in the soil, good plums can be grown. The tree
is quite hardy, but in situations open to the sweep of the winds there
has been found to be decided advantage in belts of sheltering trees for
protection. At some points subject to direct coast influences, there is
sometimes loss by cracking of the fruit. It is seldom encountered in
the interior valley, except near the rivers or in draws where the damp
coast air makes its way through. It seems to be worst where there are
marked differences in atmospheric humidity within short periods of
time. Where the percentage is quite uniformly high or low there seems
to be less trouble. Some years conditions usually restricted to more
exposed coast situations prevail in the interior valley, and the result is
unusual prevalence of mildew and other moist fungi and cracking of
fruit also, though they have no relation to each other except that the
same conditions favor both. Only certain varieties are thus affected,
and they can be avoided where the trouble is found to exist.

It was for a long time held that southern California was not
adapted to the growth of the plum, but the experience of the last few
years has shown that the conclusion was too broad. The "French
prune" demonstrated its success adjacent to the Coast in Santa Barbara
County, and elsewhere, in the low, rich lands of the Santa Ana Valley,
of Orange County, in the interior at various points on the rim of the
San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, notably at Pomona, and
still farther inland in the San Bernardino Valley, but the Southern
California prune product is small because the land and water can be
more profitably used for other fruits. There is, however, difficulty in
some dry uplands where the tree is shy in fruiting and subject to serious
gumming ; but this is encountered locally in all parts of the State. Irri-
gation does not always overcome these troubles, and .yet, no doubt, the
arrangement of proper moisture conditions is important. The tree
should be helped to make one good growth and to ripen its wood in
the fall. To have growth checked by drouth and a second start made
later in the season is not desirable.

Still it must be admitted that prune planting in the interior, pro-
ceeding with such rapidity, has encountered some soils and situations
in which bearing has not been altogether satisfactory. New planters
should confer with older residents before making investments in prune
planting in interior valleys and foothills.

All the foregoing observations are based upon the behavior of
plums of European origin ; descendants of the prunus domestica. One
of the grandest contributions to the extension of the range of the plum
in California was the introduction of the Asiatic species, prunus
triflora and simoni. Varieties of these species directly introduced or
locally developed by Burbank and others, have proved productive in
places where the domestica varieties were abandoned as shy or sterile.
To estimate the value of these varieties one has only to visit the home
fruit gardens of southern California or inspect the fruit stands of Los
Angeles which are continuous exhibits of fine specimens of these
varieties in their seasons. Even in places where the domestica varieties
are largely grown the Asiatic varieties are also prominent as is shown

270 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

by the fact that the Wickson, a Burbank triflora-simoni hybrid, is the
leading shipping plum of California, and shipping plums are chiefly
grown in the central and northern regions of the State. Other notable
Burbank plums of recent introduction will be included in the descrip-
tions of varieties at close of this chapter.

SOILS AND STOCKS FOR THE PLUM

With the plum, as with the apricot, the subject of soils and stocks
are intimately related, but the whole matter has been wonderfully
simplified by the experience of the last few years. This relief has
come through the adoption of the myrobalan, or cherry plum (prunus
myrobalaria) has a general all-around stock for plums and prunes.
Before this practice was taken up the effort to grow the plum on its
own roots generally resulted in getting- an orchard full of suckers, and
to avoid this, plums were worked on peach roots wherever this root
would succeed in the soil to be planted. But some varieties of plums
do not take kindly to the peach, and then "double working" (putting
first on the peach a plum which is known to take well and then on that
plum wood the variety desired) was followed. The use of the myro-
balan does away with the suckering nuisance, and the need of double
working.

There was considerable discussion a few years ago as to what is
the true myrobalan, and it must be acknowledged that some of the
refined distinctions formerly claimed have been abandoned. Seedlings
grown from the seed of the myrobalan vary as do other fruit seedlings,
both in fruit and in foliage and habit of trees, and perhaps this fact
has given rise to the distinction between "true" and "false" myrobalan,
so-called. Practice has proceeded without much reference to the
discussion, and our nurserymen now have large, thrifty myrobalan
trees from which they secure their seed supply. Growing stock
from myrobalan cuttings is but little practiced. The myrobalan is now
the accepted plum stock for California, except in light, alluvial, well
drained soils, where, for the French prune, peach or almond may be
preferred. Though described by some authorities as a dwarfing stock,
it is found to be sufficiently free growing in California to suit all
purposes, and to form a good foundation for full standard trees, though
the peach and almond roots in proper soils give a quicker and greater
growth. Experience has shown that the myrobalan root thrives in
this State both in low, moist, valley lands; in comparatively dry lands;
if not too light and leachy? and in stiff upland soils.

In some soils especially adapted to the peach, peach roots are
preferred as stock for the French prune, but, as already said, all plums
can not be worked directly on the peach root, the Robe de Sergeant,
Columbia, Yellow Egg, Washington, and Sugar Prune, for example.
Sometimes the bud or scion may make a large growth, but the two
woods do not unite, and the trees break off sooner or later.

Some work the plum on the apricot root, and report success when
the soil suits the apricot root, and the gophers do not get at it. But it

PLANTING PLUMS AND PRUNES 27]

sometimes happens that the French prune parts from the apricot root
even after growing some time upon it. There are, however, instances
of the French prune thriving, and, apparently making good union with
the apricot root and some of the softer wood varieties, like the Sugar
Prune, take kindly to it.

Some plums do well on the almond root and some do not. The
French prune succeeds admirably both when worked on young almond
stocks and top grafted in old almond trees. Success is also reported
with the Fellenberg on the almond. But the almond root is suited
especially for warm, dry soils. Excellent results from the use of
almond stock are reported from the interior valley and the Sierra
foothills.

Propagating by Sprouts. — The French practice of growing cer-
tain varieties of the plum by means of sprouts from the base of old trees
was successfully followed in this State by Felix Gillet, of Nevada City,
and was strongly commended by him as securing a tree which will not
gum, which is one of the reasons why the same practice prevails in
France. Sprouts growing at the foot of old and large trees, and but
few are found to each tree, are taken off and planted close together in
a bed to make them root well, and the ensuing spring planted in nur-
sery rows, where they are trained like any other trees, and transplanted
where to remain, when branched. For this method it is necessary that
the parent tree should be upon its own roots, else one is apt to get
suckers from a wild stock. Sprout-grown trees can not, however, be
defended unless some special point like that claimed by Mr. Gillet can
be attained bv them.

PLANTING AND PRUNING

As with other trees, there is difference of opinion as to the best dis-
tance apart for plum trees. The present tendency is toward wider
planting; not nearer than twenty feet is the usual advice, and on rich'
land, twenty-two or twenty-four feet is better.

The plum, in California, is a most rapid grower ; six to ten feet from
the bud or graft in a season, and about as much after the first winter's
cutting back, is not at all unusual. At this rate of progress then, the
tree soon runs up and away, in a spindling, sprawling fashion, unless
severely cut back for the first few years. Neglected trees of some va-
rieties show long, streaming branches, arching outward, and exposing
the bark to sunburn (to which it is very sensitive), breaking the tree
to pieces as the fruit gets weight, and, even if supported by props,
breaking off at the bearing of the prop. This condition of the tree
can only be obviated by low heading and moderate cutting back each
year, with due regard to limiting the amount of bearing wood to get
large fruit. For such plum varieties the suggestions on forming the
tree and subsequent treatment in Chapter XII will be found helpful.
This reference to repressive treatment for brittle-wood plums is em-
phasized by experience with the Sugar Prune and Golden Prune, of
which Mr. Leonard Coates of Morgan Hill says :

272

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

"The sugar prune is a great bearer, but the tree must receive very different
pruning from that of the French prune. The annual growth must be shortened
in every winter from one-half to two-thirds, and all laterals and fruit spurs must
be cut back at every pruning. Of course, judicious thinning out of wood is also
needed. This will result in a very large, showy, product for long-distance ship-
ments, as fresh fruits, which have brought satisfactory returns."

Pruning the French Prune. — Growers of the French prune, and
other varieties of similar growth of strong and pliable wood, have
reached substantial agreement as to the best practice. The old method
of cutting back bearing trees has been abandoned. Cutting back the
young tree to secure sufficient low branching is followed by thinning

Pruning after first summer's
growth in orchard.

Growth during second summer
in orchard.

of shoots from this low head so that the tree shall not become too dense
or carry too much bearing wood. The strength in the head depends
upon proper spacing and arrangement of the branches as insisted upon
in the chapter on pruning ; and large, well-ripened fruit, which is essen-
tial to successful and profitable drying, is conditioned upon avoiding
excess of branches and admission of sufficient light to the tree.

A rather longer central stem is retained than in the old style, and
a central stem throughout is admissible if one prefers it and does not
desire to dispense with it as the first step toward securing a more open
tree. Some retain the longer stem at planting, others cut back to

PRUNING THE FRENCH PRUNE 273

eighteen inches, develop three side branches upon that and train the
branch from the top bud for a lengthening of the stem, and bring out
more branches upon that the second year, and then dispense with its
farther extension. The engravings on page 272 show this method of
developing the head of a young French prune. The tree was cut back
at planting in orchard to a straight switch about eighteen inches high.
At the end of the first summer this showed the form in the first picture,
which is marked for the first winter pruning. The second engraving
shows the branching developed from this during the second summer's
growth, also marked to prune away some undesirable branches. Upon
a tree of this form further cutting back is not desirable as it has enough
well-placed branches to form the tree.

How long cutting back shall continue depends partly upon the local-
ity and partly upon the notion of the owner. In interior localities the
tree grows with great rapidity and branches more freely. During the
third summer it will bear some fruit if not cut back the previous winter,
and, where growth is so rapid, there is little danger of injuring the
tree by early bearing. In the coast valleys cutting back may continue
another year, and fruiting be thus postponed a year to get another
summer's freer wood growth.

Though cutting back may properly cease early with the French
prune, it is a great mistake to allow the trees to go unpruned. Removal
of defective wood, prevention of branch crowding and overbearing
are of the highest importance, as insisted upon in the chapter on prun-
ing. Removing surplus laterals at their starting points, and cutting
back leaders to laterals already grown and not to encourage new branch-
ing will result in a more open tree, which is generally very desirable.

Special Studies of Varieties in Pruning. — The points just ad-
vanced apply especially to the management of the French prune. In
addition to what has been already said about the Sugar prune, the
grower must be exhorted to study the habit of the variety he has to
deal with. The general rules for handling trees with different habits
of growth are applicable to a certain extent to the plum. When to
apply a rule or make an exception must be learned by observation and
experience. Some plums, like the Silver prune, have something of the
growth habit of the peach, and this is also very true of some of the
Japanese varieties. Cutting back in winter and pinching in summer
are both useful facts in securing lower branching and low-growing
fruit spurs.

The formation of the vase-form with continuous laterals, as dis-
cussed in Chapters XII and XX is being successfully practiced by
some growers with plum varieties which need short pruning.

Grafting the Plum. — The plum has been grafted and regrafted
in the constant effort to secure varieties promising superiority in va-
rious directions. Within the scope of their affinities plums graft easily
by common top-grafting methods, and if the roots are strong the new
growth is so rapid as to need special attention. Mr. Luther Bowers
gives these hints about pruning such growths: "From practical ex-
perience I have found out that the Sugar prune wood should only be

274 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

summer pruned and only cut while the shoots are tender, or so soft
that the top can be pinched out; this will cause the top to be well
branched and this should be done at least twice during the first year
of the graft. This system will avoid long, slender limbs. After a
graft is two years old I would never cut the top off of a limb. If a
tree gets too thick a top, I would cut out some of the main branches."

THE PLUMCOTS

One of the most striking achievements of Mr. Burbank from the
fruit grower's point of view is the cross of the plum and the apricot,
which he has very fitly named the "plumcot." He has combined in a
single fruit enough of the diverse characters of two fruits so that the
ordinary observer can recognize the combination clearly and distinguish
the gift of each to it. Mr. Burbank has secured several such crosses,
the first of which to be made public is the "Rutland," introduced by
Mr. George C. Roeding in 1907. The fruit is about the size of an
ordinary apricot with a deep purple velvety skin. One of its striking
features is the brilliant red flesh possessed of a strong sub-acid flavor
rendering it suitable for cooking, jellies and jams, and it is in good
demand for such uses. When fully ripe, it is an excellent dessert fruit
possessing an apricot-plum flavor. The amalgamation of the apricot
and the plum has produced a fruit unique in character, and its economic
value is still to be determined by the exploitation of its uses.

HOW A PRUNE QUEST DISTURBED THE PLUM FAMILY
IN CALIFORNIA

Referring to the distinction between plums and prunes cited at the
opening of this chapter, and to the extent and methods of the great
prune industry of the State which will appear in Chapter XXXVIII, it
may be stated here that the California prune product was obviously
undertaken in emulation of the globe-trotting French prune, which
had attained position as the leading commercial dried fruit of the world
long before California arose on the horticultural horizon. Naturally,
French settlers in California bethought themselves of transplanting
this great industry to their new home, and Mr. Louis Pellier introduced
scions from the district of Agen to his place near San Jose in 1856.
the product was good, and planting for a large output was entered
upon, though slowly at first. There was disappointment over the fact
that, while all fruits came surprisingly large in California, the dried
prunes were smaller than the great French prunes in cartons and canis-
ters which sold for great prices. Had we secured the true French
prune ; did they not have larger ones which they were holding back
from us ? This was the great question of five decades ago. Some nur-
serymen of that day had spirits of enterprise larger than their con-
sciences. If the people demand larger prunes they must have them,

THE EFFORT TO GET A PERFECT PRUNE 275

surely. Because of the small average size of the prunes of Pellier's
introduction, they christened that variety "petite prune d'Agen," which
was subsequently corrupted into "petty prune" — a free translation and
a mispronunciation at the same time, for a prune which seemed to be
too small and inferior. The people must have something large, and
propagators offered trees of the "gros prune d'Agen," or the "Hun-
garian prune." It was a double misnomer, because Europe does not
have any "gros prune d'Agen" and the variety did not come from either
France or Hungary, but was the old large light red, English plum,
properly called Pond's Seedling, re-christened in California to meet a
long-felt want. But it did not meet such a want; it would not dry
sweet nor fleshy, but became merely a skin and pit, with a sour streak
between. Still the question persisted : Have we the true French prune ?
It was definitely settled by the late W. B. West of Stockton, who visited
France in 1878, and after close examination of the trees, announced
that the variety grown in California was really the prune d'Agen, and
that we had made no mistake so far as getting the main standard
variety of French prune was concerned.

But still we needed a variety which would run more to large sizes,
and how to get it, with sweetness and flesh, characters which would
resemble the best French product, was, and even now is, still a question.
One of the early introductions to meet this end is now generally known
as Robe de Sergeant. Here again confusion attends the name. Robe
de Sergeant is one of the synonyms of prune d'Agen, and yet the fruit
we secured was different. Much discussion was given to the elucida-
tion of this problem, and the conclusion seemed to be that the variety
is grown in France, but in another district, and is generally considered
inferior to the prune d'Agen. Still it runs larger, and has sold well,
even though of distinctly different quality, and would probably have
cut a much larger figure in California prune production if it had shown
itself to be more free and regular in bearing. Next came the "prune
d'ente, or Imperial epineuse," introduced at about the same time by
John Rock and Felix Gillet, which has been quite widely planted, but
because of shy bearing, especially when attacked by the thrips, and
because of the difficulty in drying such a large prune, this variety, of
which so much was expected, has fallen into disfavor for the low lands
of the Santa Clara Valley, though on the mountains west of this valley
and in the prune valleys north of the Bay of San Francisco it has
proved very popular and profitable when planted on uplands.

Other introductions made much earlier, like the German and Italian,
also fell out of the race very early, for shy bearing and for different
flesh characters. Although the latter leads in Oregon and other States
north of us, it is out of California calculations. The conclusion of the
whole matter now is that we have never secured from abroad a better
than the one which came fifty years ago — the true prune d'Agen. We
have learned to grow it better, to seek places where it grows larger
and in full quality ; to use irrigation when it is needed by the tree to do
its best ; to guard against overbearing by reducing the amount of bear-
ing wood and excessive branching ; to strengthen the soil by fertiliza-
tion, and to grade the fruit into sizes which commend themselves to

276 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

different demands. Here we are again, doing our main business at the
old stand, but knowing how to do it better. Have we anything more to
expect? Probably nothing from old varieties, for we have prospected
them all from a prune-making point of view, taking Coe's Golden Drop
plum, or its seedling, for the Silver Prune, and canceling all others as
possibly good plums for various uses, but not for prunes.

Probably our only expectation lies along the line of plant breeding,
although nothing to supplant the prune d'Agen has yet been attained.
The Giant prune is a large red plum ; several Oregon prunes are simply
large red plums. The standard of sugar in the prune d'Agen as grown
in California is from 15 to 23 per cent of sugar in the fresh juice, ac-
cording to degree of ripeness and localities in which the fruit is grown.
The sugar in Pond's Seedling and in the large red plums just named
is less than 10 per cent — sometimes very much less. But percentage
of sugar in the juice is not the whole story; there are tissue or flesh
characters which are essential also. Mr. Burbank's Sugar prune an-
swers the sugar requirement; it is a free bearer and early ripening
variety, and it dries easily though large, and the small dried product
thus far made has sold well, but it has not the fine grain nor distinctive
flavor of the prune d'Agen, and the pit is large and rough. It becomes
a good plum for shipping and possibly for other plum purposes. But
Mr. Burbank has held the plum family in training, and his latest intro-
duction, the Standard prune, seems to be making good, and in 1914 is
being widely planted.

Others are also working at the problem, and the next generation of
California prune growers may attain what the last and present have
striven for. .The most promising line at the present time is the search
for better types of the prune d'Agen which are found here and there,
arising from natural variation. Mr. Leonard Coates of Morgan Hill
is giving particular attention to this subject, and has demonstrated the
existence of very superior variations.

POLLINATION OF PLUMS

The shy bearing of certain plums is probably due to lack of pollina-
tion, either through the self-sterility of the variety or lack of acceptable
pollinating agencies. Bearing can be induced in many cases, no doubt,
by either planting or grafting-in of effective pollinating varieties. But
this is not always profitable. For instance, there are many instances
proving that the Tragedy can be brought to greater bearing by the
presence of Clyman, but an early variety like the Clyman is not worth
growing for sale in a late district, though in an early district both are
valuable as shipping plums and should be planted together. The Hun-
garian is well pollinated by the Peach and the Grand Duke plums. The
bearing of Wickson is greatly increased by association with Climax The
pollination of plums not not yet, however, been given as much attention
as of other fruits.

TABULATED STATEMENT 277

Plums and Prunes Approved by California Growers.

Upper

Central

Interior

Mountain

California

VARIETIES.

coast

coast

valley and

valleys and

Southern

valleys.

valleys.

foothill.

plateaux

Coast.

Abundance

*

**

Agen, Prune d'

**

**

**

**

**

Bradshaw

*

*

Burbank

*

**

**

**

California Red

*

Chalco

*

Climax

*

**

*

Clyman

*

**

.

. . .

Coe's Late Red

*

Columbia

*

*

*

*

Damson

*

*

*

*

**

Diamond

*

**

Formosa

*

**

German Prune

*

*

*

*

Giant

*

**

Golden Drop, Coe's....

*

*

*

*

Golden Prune

**

*

Grand Duke

*

**

Green Gage

*

*

*

Hale

*

*

Imperial Epineuse

*

**

*

Imperial Gage

*

Italian Prune

*

*

*

*

*

Jefferson '.

*

**

*

Kelsey

*

*

**

**

Peach

*

*

*

*

Pond (Hungarian)

*

*

**

*

*

Red June

*

*

*

*

Robe de Sergeant

**

**

Santa Rosa

*

*

*

Satsuma

*

*

*

**

Silver

*

*

*

Standard

*

*

Sugar

#

**

**

*

*

Tragedy

**

**

*

Washington

*

*

*

*

*

Wickson

*

**

**

*

Yellow Egg

*

**

**

**

*

*Indicates that the variety is approved in the region designated.
**Most highly commended.

VARIETIES OF PLUMS AND PRUNES

As with other fruits, comparatively few varieties of the plum are
largely grown in California, and the list is continually changing by
rejection of old varieties and introduction of new which are largely of
Burbank origin:

Simon (Prunus Simoni). — Medium to large, roundish, flattened, with cavities
at base and apex ; brick red, small yellow spots ; stalk stout and short ; flesh yel-
low, adhering to flattened pit; largely grown for shipment in early interior
regions where it has good quality ; lacks ' flavor and cracks badly near the
coast. Being displaced by Burbank varieties.

Climax (Burbank). — Large; very early; heart-shaped; deep red; flesh yellow.
Popular for shipping in places where it does not crack badly. Growing in favor.

278 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Clyman (California seedling introduced by Leonard Coates). — Large, round-
ish oblong, flattened suture indistinct; mottled reddish purple, beautiful blue
bloom ; freestone ; flesh firm, dry and sweet ; prolific ; the leading early plum for
shipment.

Red June (Japanese). — Medium to large, deep red flesh light yellow, firm,
good quality. The best of the early Japanese plums.

California Blue. — Seedling of Peach plum by W. W. Smith, Vacaville ; large,
good flavor; early; "first really good blue plum."

Tragedy (California seedling). — Medium to large, suture shallow, wide and
extending beyond apex ; dark purple ; flesh yellowish green, sweet and well
flavored ; freestone. Very valuable for shipping from early regions in all parts
of the State. Largest in amount of shipments in 1913.

Abundance (Japanese). — syns. Yellow-fleshed Botan, Mikado of Hinclay. —
Large, globular with point at apex ; cherry color covered with white bloom ;
flesh yellow, juicy anl rich. Popular for shipment from eary regions.

California Red (California seedling). — Introduced by J. T. Bogue, of Marys-
ville. Large, light red, firm flesh and small pit. A good shipping plum.

Peach (French, prune peche). — Very large, roundish oblate, regular, flattened
at ends ; suture distinct, shhallow ; color varying from salmon to light brownish
red; stalk very short, cavity narrow, shallow, flesh rather coarse, juicy sprightly,
free from the nearly round, very flat, much furrowed stone ; shoots smooth.
Becoming less prominent variety for early eastern shipment.

Femmonzi (probably domestica seedling). — Found in pioneer orchard of Mr.
Crooks, Madera county, foothills. Grown and made public by Frank Femmons,
for whom it was named by Leonard Coates. A very large, handsome, dark
plum, sweet and rich and good in shipment..

Royale Hative (French). — Medium roundish, slightly wider at base; light
purple stalk half an inch long, stout, scarcely sunk ; flesh amber yellow, with rich,
high flavor, nearly free from the small, flattened, ovate stone; shoots very
downy. Grown as an early market plum for eastern shipment.

Bradshaw. — Large, obovate, with obtuse suture on one side, sometimes with
very slight neck; dark purple, with light blue bloom; stalk three-fourths inch
long; ca~vity narrow; flesh a little coarse, becoming light brownish purple, at
first adhering, but becoming nearly free when fully ripe; juicy, good, slightly
acid; tree vigorous; shoots purple, smooth. Reported from Sacramento county
as blooming late and seldom injured by frost. Not in high favor.

Green Gage (French). — Rather small, round; suture faint green, becoming
yellowish green, usually with reddish brown dots and network at base; stalk
half to three-fourths inch, scarcely sunk; flesh pale green, melting, juicy, exceed-
ingly rich, and flavor excellent; shoots smooth.

Burbank. — Tree imported from Japan by Luther Burbank. Named "Burbank"
by Professor Van Deman. Tree usually vigorous, with strong, upright shoots,
and large, rather broad leaves ; comes into bearing very early. Almost globular,
being five and a half inches around horizontally, and five and five-eighths inches
around vertically; rich cherry red, slightly mottled with yellow, and freely
dotted with same tint; flesh deep yellow, juicy, very sweet, and of fine, somewhat
peculiar, but very agreeable flavor; pit is very small, three-fourths by a trifle
over half an inch in diameter. Next to Tragedy in amount of shipments to the
east in 1913.

Duane's Purple (New York). — Very large, oblong oval, longer on one side;
slightly narrowed towards the stalk; reddish purple, bloom lilac; stalk three-
fourths inch; slender; cavity narrow, flesh juicy, moderately sweet, and moderate
flavor, mostly adhering to stone ; shoots very downy and leaves large and downy
underneath.

Washington (New York). — Very large, roundish oval, suture obscure, distinct
at base; yellowish green, faintly marbled, often with pale red blush; stalk half
to three-fourths inch ; slightly downy ; cavity wide, shallow ; flesh rather firm,
sweet, mild, very rich and luscious, free from the pointed stone; shoots downy;
very vigorous.

Grand Duke. — Large oval, necked ; deep purple with blue bloom ; flesh greenish
yellow, fair quality. A good shipper, following Hungarian in ripening.

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PLUMS 279

Wickson. — A crossbred by Luther Burbank; form suggests the Kelsey, but
more symmetrical ; in ripening the color develops from a deep cherry red down
to a rich claret as full ripeness is attained. The color is solid and uniform. The
flesh is of amber tint, very juicy and translucent; the pit isf small and shapely,
the flavor is striking and agreeable, but likely to be deficient near the coast. The
most popular shipping plum in the State, judged by number of growers reporting
favorably, but not largest in eastern shipments in 1913.

Yellozv Egg; syns. White Egg, White Magnum Bonum (English). — Very
large, oval, narrow at ends, necked at base, suture disttinct; stalk one inch, not
sunk, surrounded by fleshy ring at insertion ; light yellow,- bloom thin, white,
flesh firm, rather acid until fully ripe, and then sweet, adheres to the pointed
stone.

Jefferson (New York). — Large, oval, base slightly narrowed, suture slight;
greenish yellow, becoming golden, with reddish cheek ; bloom thin, white ; stalk
one inch, but little sunk or not at all; flesh rich yellow, very rich, juicy, high
flavored and luscious, adheres partly to its long, pointed stone; shoots smooth;
tree a slow grower, but productive.

Columbia (New York). — Very large, nearly globular, one side slightly larger;
brownish purple, reddish brown where much shaded, with many fawn-colored
dots; bloom blue, copious- stalk one inch, rather stout; cavity small; flesh
orange, very rich and sweet, free from the stone, which is very small and com-
pressed. Shoots downy, stout, blunt, spreading; leaves nearly round.

Satsuma ; syn. Blood Plum of Satsuma. — Introduced and first fruited in this
country by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa. Described by Prof. H. E. Van
Deman, U. S. Pomologist, as follows: "Leaves more lanceolate than those of
Kelsey ; fruit averages about two. and a quarter inches in diameter, nearly round,
and but slightly sutured on one side; surface dark red, under a thick bloom;
dots rather conspicuous and numerous ; flesh dark purplish red, which has caused
the name of 'Blood Plum of Satsuma' to be given by some ; stone very small and
pointed." Chiefly grown in Southern California for local use and trade.

Red Magnum Bonum; syn. Red Egg. — Large, oval, tapering to the stalk;
suture strong, one side swollen ; deep red in the sun ; slight bloom ; stalk one inch,
slender, cavity narrow; flesh greenish, coarse, subacid ; shoots smooth.

Diamond. — Large, deep purple; handsome but not high quality; ripens after
Japanese and sells well at the east as a cooking plum.

Imperial Gage (New York). — Medium size, oval, suture distinct; stalk three-
fourths inch, slightly hairy, evenly sunk; green, slightly tinged with yellow, with
marbled green stripes; bloom copious and white; flesh greenish, juicy, melting,
rich, and delicious, usually free from the oval, pointed stone ; tree very vigorous
and productive ; shoots long upright, slightly downy ; leaves with slight shade
of blue. A popular canning variety.

Damson (English). — Small, roundish, oval; purple, with thick blue bloom;
melting, juicy, subacid.

German Prune (Common Quetsche, Germany). — "This name has been applied
in this State to numerous plums and prunes which are sold under it. The fruit
of the true German prune is long oval, and swollen on one side ; skin purple, with
thick blue bloom; flesh firm, green, sweet, with a peculiar pleasant flavor; sepa-
rates readily from the stone." — John Rock. Complaint is made in many localities
of the tendency of the variety to drop before ripening, almost the whole crop
sometimes dropping.

Kelsey, Japan. — Trees brought from Japan by the late Mr. Hough, of Vaca-
ville, in 1870, and purchased by the late John Kelsey, of Berkeley, who propa-
gated and fruited them for several years. First wide distribution was made by
W. P. Hammon & Co., in 1874, who named the fruit after Mr. Kelsey. The
following description is by H. E. Van Deman, U. S. Pomologist, from California
and Florida specimens : "Tree upright in growth, leaves narrow, twigs brownish
gray. Fruit from one and a half to two and a half inches diameter, heart-shaped,
with a distinct suture on one side from stem to apex ; stem is short, and set in
a depression at the larger end; colors mixed yellow and purple, which vary in
depth, but rarely make a brilliant appearance, covered with a bloom ; flesh yellow,

280 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

very firm, and clings to the stone, which is rather small, and nearly always partly
surrounded by a cavity; when1 fully ripe the quality is very good." Very widely
grown; is in less favor than formerly in interior valleys where color is not well
developed. Where the fruit is of good color it is profitable for shipping and is
highly regarded everywhere for domestic use.

Quackenbos (New York). — Large, oblong oval; deep purple; suture faint;
stalk short, slightly sunk; slightly coarse, sprightly, sweet and subacid; partly
freestone.

Victoria (English). — Large, obovate, suture distinct; color a fine light reddish
purple; stem half inch, cavity rather deep and narrow ; flesh yellow, pleasant;
clingstone; next to Pond's Seedling in size, beauty and productiveness.

Hungarian Prune; English Pond's Seedling; Gros Prune d'Agen (English). —
This variety was brought to San Jose probably about 1856, and .in some unac-
countable way was first contrasted with the French prune and called the "great
prune of Agen;" afterwards, also in a mysterious way, it took the name of
"Hungarian prune." It is still marketed by these names both here and at the
East. The true name is English Pond's Seedling. Fruit very large, ovate,
slightly tapering to stalk; skin thick, reddish violet, with numerous brown dots,
and covered with handsome bloom; rather coarse, juicy, sweet; a very showy
fruit; tree a strong grower and ^rolific bearer; fruit has a tendency to double;
sells well in local and distant markets on its style and is largely grown. Third
in amounts of eastern shipments in 1913.

Giant. — Burbank seedling ; very large, dark crimson upon yellow ground ;
flesh yellow, flavor good ; freestone. A shipping plum, disappointing as a drying
plum.

Splendor. — Burban'k seedling; medium size but larger than French prune;
clear red, drying dark, does not shake from the tree ; earlier than French prune.

Sugar. — Burbank seedling, introduced in 1898; large and sweet; sugar in
fresh fruit 23.92 per cent ; not of highest quality as a cured prune but sells well ;
also good for shipping; oval, slightly flattened; dark purple with thick white
bloom ; freestone ; early. Needs pruning and thinning to secure size.

Standard. — Burbank cross of Sugar and Tragedy. Large, purple, blue bloom ;
flesh fine grained, amber juicy and sweet; freestone; earlier than French prune.
Satisfactory shipping plum and considered of great promise for drying.

Imperial Epineuse syn. Clairac Mammoth. — Introduced in 1884 by Felix Gillet
and in 1886 by John Rock. Described by Mr. Rock as follows: "Uniformly
large size, reddish or light purple, thin skin, sweet and high flavor." Described
by Mr. Gillet: "Uniformly large, more oval than the French prune; nearly of
the same color but somewhat lighter or reddish nurple; earlier than the French
and with thinner skin." Fruit grown by Mr. Rock analyzed at the State Uni-
versity in 1898, showed 20.4 per cent of sugar against 18.53 per cent average of
three analyses of French prune. Blooms about ten days earlier and ripens about
three weeks earlier than the French prune.

There has been quite widely planted another prune called Imperial which is
very inferior in sugar content and likely to prove much less satisfactory.

Prune d'Agen; syn. Petite Prune d'Agen; French Prune, etc. — This is the
drying prune at present most widely grown in this State. It is described by
John Rock as follows : "Medium-sized, egg-shaped, violet purple, very sweet,
rich, and sugary; very prolific bearer." The leading drying-prune of California,
commonly called "California French prune." Its standing is sketched in detail
on a preceding page.

Robe de Sergeant. — Though this term is given in Downing as a synonym of
prune d'Agen, and seems to be in French a synonym for the d'Ente prunes;
another prune grown in this State from an importation by John Rock, is quite
distinct from the foregoing. Mr. Rock describes the variety as follows : "Fruit
medium size, oval; skin deep purple, approaching black, and covered with a
thick blue bloom ; flesh greenish yellow, sweet, and well-flavored, sugary, rich and
delicious, slightly adhering to the stone." This variety makes a larger, darker-
colored dried prune than the prune d'Agen, and has sold in some cases at a higher
price. It has recently been in disfavor in coast valleys for defective bearing, but
is more satisfactory at some interior points.

DESCRIPTIONS OF POPULAR PLUMS 281

Bulgarian. — "An undetermined variety grown under this name, chiefly in the
vicinity of Haywards, Alameda County ; above medium size ; almost round ; dark
purple; sweet and rich, with pleasant acid flavor; tree a vigorous grower, and
an early, regular and profuse bearer." — John Rock.

Coe's Golden Drop (English). — Very large, oval, suture distinct, one side
more enlarged, necked; light yellow, often dotted red to the sun; stalk three-
fourths inch, rather stiff; flesh yellowish, firm, juicy, and rich, closely adhering
to the pointed stone; shoots smooth, rather glossy. A standard late variety for
canning.

Silver Prune (Oregon). — Originated with W. H. Prettyman, who says: "It
is a seedling from Coe's Golden Drop, which it much resembles, but it is much
more productive." Profitable as a bleached prune, but defective in bearing in
some California districts. A red variety by bud variation is reported by Mr. J. G.
Grundel of Alma.

Golden Prune. — Originated from the seed of Italian prune by Seth Lewelling,
of Milwaukee, Oregon, and described by him as larger than Italian; light golden
color ; exquisite flavor ; dries beautifully. Chiefly grown in Contra Costa county.
Good for drying and canning. Requires short pruning.

Santa Rosa. — By Luther Burbank, described by S. F. Leib as follows : "It is
a fine grower, the wood is very tough and the limbs will not break. It is a sure,
regular bearer and bears always most abundantly. It does not have any off
years. The fruit runs remarkably fine, even in size, and astonishingly smooth
and clear of any defects. It is beautiful, delicious, and a very fine carrier to
Eastern markets. It will keep well in hot weather for a week after it is ripe,
so there is no occasion to pick it half ripe in order to ship. I intend to plant it
very largely myself, and to the exclusion of all other shipping plums." Intro-
duced by George C. Roeding. Largely planted for shipping purposes.

Formosa. — "Unusually large, thick, healthy, light green foliage ; strong, hard,
wiry wood; blooms with the Burbank and Abundance, and always escapes late
spring frosts, and alwavs bears profusely even when continuous rainy weather
prevents full pollination in most other plums. No disease has ever found lodg-
ment with Formosa. The fruit is of uniform size, averaging about six inches
in circumference one way by eight the other. Fruit yellow with a pale bloom until
nearly ripe, turning to a clear rich red. Flesh pale yellow, unusually firm, sweet,
rich, delicious, with a delightful apricot flavor, nearly freestone. Formosa has
been very thoroughly tested for its keeping qualities, which are unequaled except
by Santa Rosa, Wickson, Burbank. and a few others." — Luther Burbank. This
variety is notably making good in the Placer County foothills as a shipping plum.

Gaviota. — Burbank cross of Japanese and native American ; very large, deep
red ; flesh yellow, firm and sweet ; pit small ; rather late bloomer. Favored in the
Vacaville district for shipping.

Bavay's Green Gage; syn. Reine Claude de Bavay (French). — Large, round
oval, greenish yellow, spotted with red, with small violet-colored longitudinal
veins; flesh rather firm, juicy, sugary, rich, of fine quality, adhering slightly to
the stone ; shoots smooth, leaves roundish, shining ; a free grower and very pro-
ductive.

Ickworth Imperatrice (English). — Large to medium obovate, purple, with
irregular streaks of fawn color; stalk medium; flesh greenish yellow, sweet,
juicy, rich, mostly adhering to the rather small stone; shoots smooth; very late,
hangs long on the tree, and keeps well ; endures long shipment well.

Fellenberg, syns. Large German Prune, Swiss Prune, Italian Prune. — Medium
size, oval, pointed and tapering at both ends ; suture small, distinct ; dark purple,
with dark blue bloom; stalk one inch, scarcely sunk; flesh 'greenish yellow, juicy,
sweet, delicious, parts from the sto*»«; tree a free grower and very productive;
late, excellent for drying. But little grown in California, but largely in Oregon.

Coe's Late Red; syn. Red St. Martin. — Size medium, roundish, suture distinct
on one side ; skin light purplish red, or dark red ; bloom thin, blue ; stalk three-
fourths inch, scarcely sunk; flesh rather firm, crisp, rich, vinous; very late,
shoots downy.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE QUINCE

The quince enjoys California conditions to the utmost, and rewards
the grower with large crops of very large and beautiful fruit. A quince
weighing a pound is no curiosity, and it is unlikely that any city of the
world can show such fine quinces at such low prices as San Francisco.
The lesson from this fact is that the fineness of the fruit, and the evi-
dent adaptation of the State to its growth, should not alone be con-
sidered by the planter. The local consumption of quinces is naturally
small, and it is chiefly for home preserving jelly making. The com-
mercial jelly makers use apple juice as the basis of nearly all their
jellies, only using a little quince for flavoring, and some housewives
follow the same course. The hope for profitable sale of the fruit in
large quantities must therefore rest on distant markets, and though
those well acquainted with the growth and sale of the fruit in the cities
of the Mississippi Valley, have predicted a great demand for the Cali-
fornia quince in that territory, experiences of shippers thus far have
been varied, and not such as to induce the extension of our quince pro-
duction, at present at least.

But though the quince in California has at present narrow commer-
cial limitations, a few trees should find a place in every orchard, for
family use or local sale.

CULTURE OF THE QUINCE

The quince is readily grown from cuttings. Take good-sized shoots
of well-matured wood of the current year's growth, after the leaves
drop in the fall, and set out at once in nursery row in moist alluvial
soil, or in any loose soil which is well drained and can be kept moist
enough by cultivation or irrigation.

Quinces are planted at all distances apart, and are grown either as
bushes or trees. Undoubtedly the best way is to plant about fourteen
or sixteen feet apart, and prune into low standard tree form. This can
be done much as already advised for other fruit trees. An annual
cutting back of about half of the new growth, while forming the tree,
will strengthen the trunk and limbs and prevent the running out of long
leaders, which droop to the ground on all sides when laden with fruit,
and are often broken by the weight and the wind. Owing to the dispo-
sition of the quince to throw out several small shoots at a single point,
it is advisable, when forming the tree, to remove all buds but one, just
as the growth is starting. This will give one good, strong branch where
it may be needed, instead of several weak ones. Pinching off shoots
which start out too vigorously, or at undesirable points is, of course,
advisable.

282

POPULAR VARIETIES OF THE QUINCE 283

Soils for the Quince. — As the quince grows naturally in moist,
though not wet lands, many persons think it always does best in
springy ground or along the banks of rivulets ; but though moist soils
are preferable to dry, such positions are not essential to obtaining large
crops of fine fruit. In fact, the quince, like most fruit trees, prefers a
well-drained location, and does best on a soil which can be freely
worked. It thrives when fanned by the ocean breeze and does fairly
well in the interior, providing it has moisture in the soil, and in some
situations will doubtless require summer irrigation.

VARIETIES OF THE QUINCE

Though notably all varieties of the quince are introduced by our
nurserymen and carried by them in small stock, most plantations are
of the "apple" or "orange" variety. The following may be enumerated,
however, as growing in this State :

Apple or Orange. — Large ; bright yellow ; the best. August and September.

Rea's Mammoth. — A very large and fine variety of the orange quince; a
strong grower and very productive.

Smyrna. — Introduced from Smyrna in 1897 by George C. Roeding of Fresno ;
large, lemon yellow, handsome, tender and delicious after cooking; keeps well;
tree a strong grower, with heavy foliage.

Pineapple. — Originated by Luther Burbank and distributed by him in 1899;
the result of a long effort to secure a quince which would cook tender like an
apple. The name comes from its flavor, which is suggestive of the pineapple.
Resembles Orange quince, but is smoother and more globular.

Portugal. — Very large, and fine flavor, turns a fine purple or deep crimson
when cooked.

The Chinese Quince. — A most extraordinary fruit, oblong, of immense size,
often weighing from two to two and one-half pounds ; growth rapid and distinct.

West's Mammoth. — Originated by W. B. West, of Stockton, from seed re-
ceived from Boston in 1853 : of the Orange quince family ; round, clear yellow ;
very large; fine flavor and for the class a very good keeper.

Champion. — Fruit very large, fair and handsome ; tree very productive, sur-
passing any other variety in this respect ; bears abundantly when young ; flesh
cooks as tender as an apple, and without hard spots or cores; flavor delicate,
imparting an exquisite quince taste and odor to any fruit with which it is
cooked.

PART FOUR: THE GRAPE

CHAPTER XXV

THE GRAPE INDUSTRY IN CALIFORNIA

The grape grows in all parts of California, from near sea level on
the coast to an elevation of 5000 feet or more on the mountains. It is
contented, too, with nearly all fertile soils, from the deep galley loams,
where the great fat, firm-fleshed grapes are grown for raisin and table
grape shipments, to the shallow soils of the high foothills and mountain
slopes, where the grapes are less in quantity, but of superior aromatic
qualities. This wide adaptation gives an immense area suited for grape
culture, but the chief reason for the achievement and the promise of the
grape in California is in the fact that the European species, Vitis vini-
fera, thrives, and thus the California grower has command of all that
Europeans have accomplished in centuries by developing special varie-
ties of the species for special purposes. The grapes of the States east
of the Rocky Mountains are only grown in California in a small way
because the European varieties are the only ones from which raisins
can be made ; they also furnish the world's wine and brandy, and they
give size, beauty, and shipping quality beyond all comparison with
American varieties. Wherever wealthy Eastern connoisseurs choose
grapes for their glass houses, they select European varieties ; the Cali-
fornian grows his "hot house grapes" in the open air. He also grows
most of them without the cost of trellising, because the European
varieties generally will bear well in short-pruned, bush form. Cali-
fornia has a large acreage of grape vines, and planting has been very
active during the last few years, because good prices have prevailed,
especially through the increased opportunity for fresh grape shipments.
At the same time, new economic and commercial problems are continu-
ally arising and the industry has to readjust itself to new conditions,
discussion of such problems does not come within the scope of a cul-
tural treatise like this. It is the duty of the grower to keep himself up
to date on such subjects by faithful reading of California periodicals
and by participation in public assemblies in the grape interest. Con-
cerning cultural difficulties, the protection of vine from its enemies
and problems in vinification, special researches are constantly pursued
by the University Experiment Station at Berkeley and publications are
furnished on application.

The culture of the grape is one of the great branches of California
horticulture. Its three chief divisions are : Grapes for the table, grapes
for wine, and grapes for raisins. In all these branches the product has
far exceeded local requirements and has become an important item in
the export trade of the State. The attainments of the industry can be
roughly measured by the statistics of the shipments of grapes, raisins,

284

VALUE OF CALIFORNIA GRAPE PRODUCTS 285

wine and brandy, which are given at the close of Chapter VI. The
California Board of Viticultural Commissioners reports the quantities
and products of California grape products in 1913, as follows:

Table grapes, 7,363 carloads at $950 per car $ 6,994,850

Wine and brandy, 42,134,988 gallons, estimated selling for 15,000,000

Raisins, 65,000 tons (below normal), estimated selling for 4,840,275

Total $26,835,125

THE GRAPE AREA OF CALIFORNIA

The grape has a very wide range in California. If the immediate
seacoast and the higher altitudes on the mountains be excepted, the
grape may be planted with a good chance of success anywhere if soil
and local topography be suitable. As has been shown in Chapter I,
the vine can approach quite close to the ocean if some shelter from
prevailing cool winds be afforded, and quite high on the mountains if
one keeps out of depressions where late frosts are frequent. In plant-
ing the grape in doubtful situations much depends upon choice of
proper varieties. For example, in the cool air of the coast region and
the short summer of the higher altitudes, early maturing varieties must
be the main reliance, for late sorts will not receive heat enough to bring
them to full maturity.

Away from immediate coast influences, and up to perhaps three
thousand feet or more on the sides of the Sierra, the grape is success-
fully grown both upon the floors of the valleys and upon the hillsides.
But there is still need of choice both of special locations and of varieties
according to the purposes which the grower has in view. The coast
valleys of the upper part of the State produce good table grapes, but
they are unfavorable for the raisin industry because of the deficient sun-
shine and excessive atmospheric humidity of the autumn months. The
best raisins are made in the dry, heated valleys of the interior, and the
conditions which there develop the fullest quality of the raisin grape
also develop the sugar in some kinds of wine grapes beyond a desir-
able percentage. Here again the choice of suitable varieties intrudes
itself, for the varieties which yield light table wines in the coast valleys
may yield heavy "heady" wines in the interior. Valleys, too, as a rule,
although they yield larger crops of grapes and greater measure of
wine than similar area on the hillsides, must yield the palm for quality
to the warm soils of the slopes. And here enters the business proposi-
tion whether large amount and less quality is better than less amount
and higher quality. To this there can be no general answer. It de-
pends upon the disposition which is to be made of the crop, and the de-
mand for it.

The coloring of certain varieties is a matter underlying their profit-
able production for fresh shipments and this is determined by local
conditions concerning which the best information is actual observation
of their effects. These few facts out of many which could be stated
will serve to enforce the fact that wide as is the range of the grape, both
localities and varieties for certain purposes must be intelligently chosen.

286 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Much has been learned during the last few years, but it will require the
experience of another generation, perhaps, to make the matter clear.

Soils for the Grape. — The grape will thrive on a great variety
of soils, in fact, on any of those enumerated as fruit soils in Chapter
III. There are thrifty vineyards on the light, deep valley loams, on the
heavy clayey loams, on adobe, and on the red soils of the foothills.
Even on shallow soils the grape will do well if given sufficient moisture,
and on rocky subsoils it thrives if there be crevices for the roots to
penetrate, or if the rock be shattered to admit the roots to permeable
substrata. Standing water during the active period of the vine is, how-
ever, unfavorable to growth, and alkali is adverse to satisfactory results
in wine making. Almost any soil which does not hold excess of water
or is not tainted with alkali will do for the vine, although the plant
appreciates good, deep soil, and will grow and bear fruit in proportion
to its supply of it. Of course the economic question of ease of culti-
vation enters into the choice of soil for the grape, as for other fruits, but
its claims are obvious and need not be enlarged upon.

Length of Grape Season. — By choice of early and late varie-
ties the grape season extends over half a year in California, without
recourse to artificial means of preservation. Where the fall rains are
not very protracted, the late varieties sometimes remain in good con-
dition on the vines until the winter pruning. Good grapes have been
picked from the vines as late as the middle of January. In the Lodi
district of the San Joaquin Valley, a great center of the grape shipping
industry, overland shipping begins about August 10, with Black Prince.
Tokays from light soil soon follow, then from the heavy soil, and in
about two weeks everything is going at full blast, keeping up strongly
for nearly two months. Then it decreases greatly and continues into
November with the later varieties, like Cornichon, Emperor and Fer-
rara. There are also a number of other shipping varieties grown than
those named, but Tokays far outnumber all the rest put together.
There is much latitude in grape gathering, for grapes can stay on the
vine for some time without deterioration ; besides there is the "second
crop" from later blooming which is of advantage in shipping, but ob-
jectionable in handling for raisins, brings less price for wine making.
Tokays may be picked during a period of two months in the same
vicinity because of the "second crop" and because the ripening comes
earlier or later according to soil, as noted above. Even the intrusion
of a light fall rain, such as they have in the interior, may help size and
color, but a heavy rain is destructive and constitutes a constant menace
in the late ripening districts near the coast, while occasionally injurious
to the interior also.

Shipping Grapes in Sawdust. — The table grape industry of Cal-
ifornia seems to be entering upon a notable extension of its marketing
season and area through the demonstration by the United States Bureau
of Plant Industry, that California grapes can be profitably packed in
drums, holding about 35 Ibs. of grapes, packed in redwood sawdust,
properly prepared and held safely in cold storage for winter sale in the
East — as Spanish grapes in cork dust are handled. Better results are

SHIPPING GRAPES FOR LONG KEEPING 287

attained with sawdust than with cork dust. Full details are given in
Bulletin 35, U. S. Dept. Agr., December 31, 1913, which the interested
reader should secure. The shipments of 1912, about thirty carloads, or
8,596 drums, sold in New York at an average of $2.90 per drum, which,
after deducting all costs of packing, transportation, storage and com-
mission, would net the grower about $60 per ton for the grapes. The
grapes thus handled were Emperors. Thus far it seems to be dem-
onstrated that Muscats can be sold this way until November 15th,
Malagas until December 15th, Emperors until about January. It is
expected that if California can commercially grow the Almeria, the
grape used in Spanish shipping, it can be safely held in storage until
April 1.

IS

tl

290

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

The length will depend altogether on the soil and climate where
they are to be planted. They should be of such a length that when
planted the base of the cutting will be at the level where the conditions
are most favorable to root formation. If the base is too deep, it will
be too wet and too cold to develop roots. Roots will start higher up

Properly made cuttings.

and the bottom part will be wasted, or worse still, may decay and injure
the vine. If the base is too near the surface the whole cutting may dry
out and die before its roots have developed sufficiently to supply it with
water.

In the moister soils of the cooler districts a cutting 10 inches long
is sufficient for direct planting in the vineyard. In the drier and warmer

TREATMENT OF GRAPE CUTTINGS 291

interior a 14-inch to 16-inch cutting is better, while in the driest soils
of the warmest districts it is often necessary to have a cutting 18 to 20
inches long. For planting in the nursery a 12 or 14-inch cutting is
about the most convenient. If the soil of the nursery is wet and cold
more of the cutting should be left above ground; if, on the contrary,
the soil tends to be hot and dry the cutting must be planted deeper and
even covered up completely.

It is not necessary, or possible, to make every cutting of exactly
the same length, because they should all terminate at each end at a
node. A vine cane consists of nodes where the buds are and internodes
between them. The pith is interrupted at each node by a woody parti-
tion (called the "diaphragm") which extends through the cane at each
bud. In making a cutting, therefore, we should cut exactly through
a bud both at the top and at the bottom. This will leave the woody
partitions, which will prevent decay at the bottom and drying out at
the top. If removed, the pits in the upper internode will be exposed
to alternate wetting and drying, and may decay, thus weakening or
killing the bud below.

In planting, the cutting should be placed with just one bud above
the surface of the ground, as indicated by the dotted line in the accom-
panying engraving. It is a great mistake to leave more than one bud
out of the ground, as this increases the danger of drying out.

Making and Caring for Cuttings. — Cuttings can be taken from
the vines at any time after the fall of the leaf and before the spring
flow of sap begins. The earlier cuttings — those taken before January
— are more likely to make a successful start and after-growth than
those cut later in the season.

It is common, however, to defer preparation of cuttings till the
pruning is done, be it early or late, and this will generally answer the
purpose, if care be taken to secure the cuttings immediately at the
priming; but if the branches be allowed to lie upon the ground for
days, exposed to sun, wind, or frost, before the cuttings are secured,
their chances of growth are seriously lessened, and a good part of the
failures in planting are due to such cuttings.

Cuttings should be taken from the short- jointed, well-ripened wood
of the previous year's growth, cut squarely and smoothly as already
described. Cuttings from the outer ends of long canes are not so likely
to root, nor to grow so vigorously, as those from stronger wood, irom
three-eighths to five-eighths of an inch in diameter generally.

Keep them dormant until the time comes to set them in the vine-
yard, else the tender shoots may get broken. To keep them back, place
them, at the pruning in trenches, about as deep as the length of the
cuttings, on the north side of a close board fence or a building, cover
with loose earth, and over that throw some straw and boards. Take
care that the trenches are in moist but not wet ground as too much
moisture rots the cuttings. If the ground has not been moist enough,
and the cuttings seem dry or withered, plunge them in water to within
three or four inches of their top, for a few days before setting, and
do not let them dry again before planting.

292 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Rooting Cuttings in Nursery. — What has been written is in
reference to cuttings designed for placing in permanent position in the
vineyards, but, for the most part, applies as well to the preparation of
cuttings for the nursery. For nursery treatment, however, shorter
cuttings can be used than for field planting, because of the better cul-
tivation and more generous moisture conditions which are usually
provided.

In preparation of ground for the rooting of vines and the planting
of cuttings therein, the suggestions in Chapter VIII are directly appli-
cable, as, to secure rooting of the cuttings, there is just as great need for
deep and fine working of the soil, pressing of it around the cutting,
and for careful culture during the growing season, as there is for such
treatment of fruit-tree seedling or root graft. It is just as necessary,
too, that the rooted cuttings should be carefully lifted and guarded
from drying out while on the way from the nursery to permanent
place. The reader is, therefore, referred to Chapter VIII for sugges-
tions on preparation, laying out, and care of nursery ground intended
for the rooting of grape cuttings.

To secure vines upon resistant roots recourse has recently been
made by some growers to the cutting-graft which will be mentioned
presently.

There is a growing tendency to use rooted vines instead of cutting
in planting out vineyards, for, although the former costs several
times as much as the latter, either in the time of the grower or in cash
outlay, the balance is believed to be usually on the other side, when the
uniform stand and more satisfactory growth secured by rooted vines
are considered.

BUDDING AND GRAFTING THE GRAPE VINE

Working over the grape vine is largely practised in this State and
is easily accomplished. The occasion is twofold ; Replacing undesir-
able varieties with those of better quality, or in better market demand,
and in bringing the vinifera varieties upon roots which resist the attacks
of the phylloxera. The employment of resistant stocks has proved
eminently satisfactory in this State, the resistant stock having been
successfully installed even in the hole from which the dead vinifera
root had been taken. For this reason resistant roots are largely relied
upon in the planting of new vineyards in infested districts, and also
used to some extent in regions where the insect is not now found,
by those who fear and desire to provide against its coming. And yet
in the large planting of vineyard in the interior valley which has
recently been undertaken very little attention has been paid to resistant
roots. It is so cheap to proceed with simple cuttings of the variety
desired, and the vine comes into bearing so soon, that most planters are
willing to take the risk of infection with phylloxera for it may be long'
delayed and several profitable crops may be realized before its arrival.
This is a question which each planter must answer for himself.

Budding the Grape. — Buds can be readily made to grow in
grape canes, though budding is not largely used. Success can be had

BUDDING THE GRAPE VINE

293

with the same method of budding that is common with fruit trees as
described in Chapter IX. Insert the bud (which is taken from a cane
of the previous season's growth) in the spring as soon as the bark will
slip well on the stock, and before the run of the sap is too strong.
Keep the cuttings in a cool place so their growth will be retarded, and
then seize upon just the right condition of the stock, insert the bud
under the bark of a cane of the previous season's growth, tie it around
with a string, and the bud starts readily without further treatment,
when its growth shows its ability to take the sap, the top of the stock
is removed.

Herbaceous budding is also practicable. It consists of taking buds
from the current season's growth and working them upon canes also
of current growth by the usual shield budding process. Mr. Thomas

Budding from previous season's growth.

Casalegna of San Martin succeeds well with this under these condi-
tions: All buds put in from July 15 to August 15 start the same year,
but may be injured by fall frosts. Those put in from August 15 to
September 15 remain dormant until the following year, unless the
stock is exceptionally vigorous. Budding is most successful in the
month of August. The buds should be taken from canes which have
reached the stage of maturity indicated by the pith turning white and
just before the bark turns yellow.

Grafting the Vine. — Grafting in old vine roots is a simple opera-
tion, and is performed in various ways. The principles involved in
vine grafting are similar to those affecting tree grafting, as described
in Chapter IX. The processes employed are also similar, but the graft
requires less binding and waxing is dispensed with, because the graft
is made beneath the surface of the ground, and is, therefore, less subject
to accident, exposure, and drying out.

294 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Grafting in the Old Stump. — This is resorted to when the char-
acter of the vineyard is to be. changed. Out of the many ways for
working into old' stumps, one introduces the scion by a side cut into
the stock without splitting across as shown at C C in the adjacent
engraving. The earth is removed from the old vine down to its first
lateral roots, and the top is sawed off cleanly a few inches above the
first laterals. A cut is then made into the side of the stump with a
knife and mallet, as shown in the figure. The scion is then cut long
enough so that one bud will remain above ground when the surface is
leveled again, the bottom of the scion being given an oblique wedge-
shape, so as to fit the crevice in the stock. Some care is needed in
shaping the wedge of the scion, so that the surfaces are in contact will
give good results. If the stock is well made and the end of the scion
so adjusted that the stock will pinch it when it is pushed into place,
nothing more will be needed except to smear over the cut surface of
the stump and the joint of the scion and stock with clay or with a
mixture of two parts clay and one part fresh cow manure. If the scion
is held firmly and sealed in with this mixture, it usually needs no tying,
and the hole can be carefully filled with loose earth, with a strong stake
to mark the place of the graft, and to which the new growth can be
securely tied afterwards.

Another common method of grafting beneath the ground is to
split the stump across its center, as is done in top-grafting fruit trees
as shown in Chapter IX, and one or two scions inserted. If two are
used and both grow, the weaker one is afterward suppressed. In this
cross cleft graft some grafters rely upon the stock to hold the scion
without tying, and daub it over with the clay mixture, care being taken
to fill and cover the split in the stock to exclude water. Others put a
ligature around the split stump. Strips of cotton cloth answer well
for this purpose. Tying offers better security from knocking out the
graft with the cultivator.

In grafting into very tough old stumps, some growers leave a slim
wedge of wood in the cleft with the scion to prevent the stock from
closing too forcibly upon the scion.

Side Grafting. — Side grafting the vine is commended by some
growers. It consists in inserting a graft by a cut into the side of the
stock, the method being essentially the same as that employed with
fruit trees, as described in Chapter IX, excepting that in side grafting
the vine the top is not amputated, but is allowed to bear its crop and is
then removed the following winter. The next summer the scion will
bear a crop, and the vine is worked over without cessation in its
bearing.

Herbaceous Grafting. — This term is applied to a graft in which
the scion of the current season's growth is set by a cleft graft into
canes also of the current season's growth, while both scion and cane are
elastic, but not too soft. The method has not been usually successful in
this State, apparently because of the dryness of the summer air. Still
some satisfactory results are reported. Mr. Casalegna of Santa Clara
county whose success with herbaceous buds has been noted, does
well also with soft-wood grafting by the whip-graft method. He says

METHODS OF GRAFTING GRAPE VINES

295

it is most successful in June, provided the scions are hard enough.
The pith must be white. In a strong-growing vineyard grafting may
be done in July. The leaves are taken off the scions when they are cut.
If they are to be used immediately they are placed in water; if to be
carried some distance they are placed in a wet sack. Tie the grafts

cc

Methods of field grafting grape vines.

A. Whip graft for stocks 1-2 to 2-3 of an inch in diameter.
B, BB. Whip graft for stocks 2-3 to 3-4 of an inch in diameter.

Cleft graft for stocks 3-4 of a ninch in diameter and for old

c, cc.

stumps.

296 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

with German knitting yarn, not with raffia. The season for herbace-
ous grafting will, of course, vary according to the locality. Hot
weather immediately following the work is fatal to most of the grafts
If two or three cool days follows the insertion of the scions he obtains
an almost perfect stand.

Care of Scions. — Scions should be kept cool and moist enough
to prevent drying but not wet enough to cause decay, as has already
been described in the keeping of cuttings.

Time of Grafting. — Grafting into old vine stumps is done in
February, March and April in different parts of the State, March being
the month usually chosen for the work. If a spring graft fails, the
stump may be regrafted in August or in the following spring. In
regrafting, the stump is cut oft" again below the previous cleft. The
time for the work is when the sap has ceased flowing, usually from the
first to the tenth of August.

Resistance to Phylloxera. — The recourse to resistant roots to
escape the phylloxera has been attended with some disappointment
because the wild roots at first widely used proved only partially resist-
ant. Recently, in the main through employment of French selected
varieties of the American wild species, stocks with satisfactory resist-
ance, larger growth and vigor and adaptation to different California
soils have been secured. Notable success has been attained in the
habilitation of vineyards on the basis of resistant roots. As this under-
taking involves considerable outlay and as success depends taking
advantage of the latest demonstrations of the affinities of varieties, the
adaptations of roots to soils and the suitability of varieties for special
purposes, the latest information should be had from the University
Experiment Station at Berkeley, before making investments.

The Cutting Graft — Grafting the desired variety upon a resist-
ant cutting, putting these cutting-grafts through a callusing bed and
then planting the grafted cutting in nursery for rooting is an accepted
French method which is being successfully employed in California.
This has advantage in time gained and in securing a full stand of vines
as compared with grafting upon cuttings already rooted in place in the
vineyard though the latter has been successfully practiced.

If cutting-grafts are placed directly in the nursery many will fail.
For this reason it is always best, except at the extreme end of the
grafting season, to "stratify" the grafts in a "callusing" bed, where
conditions of moisture, temperature, and aeration can be controlled.
This callusing bed is usually a pile of clean sand placed in the south
end of wall or building surrounded by a board partition where there is
no possibility of its becoming too wet by the flow of water from a
higher level or from an over-hanging roof. It should be protected, if
necessary, by a surrounding ditch. It should be furnished , with a
removable cover of canvas or boards to protect it from rain and to
enable the temperature to be controlled by admission or exclusion of
the sun's rays. A waterproof wagon-cover, black on one side and white
on the other, is excellent for this purpose.

LAYING OUT THE VINEYARD 297

The bottom of the callusing bed is first covered with 2 or 3 inches
of sand. The bundles of grafts are then placed in a row along one end
of the bed, and sand well filled in around them. The bundles should be
placed in a slightly inclined position with the scions uppermost, and
the sand should be dry enough so that it sifts in between the grafts in
the bundle. The bundles of grafts are then covered up completely with
sand, leaving it at least 2 inches deep above the top of the scion. There
should be but little more moisture present for callusing than in the sand
used for keeping the cuttings over winter. Too much moisture will
stimulate the emission of roots and starting of buds without aiding
the callus formation, which is a perfectly distinct process from the
formation of roots.

Grafting of Resistant Stocks after Rooting. — Grafting on resist-
ant roots differs from working in old stumps in the size of the wood to
be operated on, and in the fact that the graft must be set higher up
because it is not desirable to have the scion strike roots of its own, for
the obvious reason that depending on such roots would make the vine
no longer resistant. The advantage of covering the graft with earth
is, however, still to be enjoyed, for the earth can be raised in a little
mound around the graft, to be removed when the graft has taken well.
For this reason grafting on resistant roots is usually done at or near
the surface of the ground.

The common cleft graft is used when the stock is large enough to
give a split strong enough to hold in the scion. In grafting smaller
stocks the whip graft is used both in making cutting-grafts and in
grafting cuttings already rooted. This graft is variously treated. It
is covered with clay by some, by others with grafting wax; but the
common experience is that grafting wax makes too tight a joint, and
holds in surplus sap, which begets disease. The use of a wax band
specially adapted to ruling conditions has proved very successful, but
the easiest and usually most satisfactory way is to wind with soft twine
or raffia which will decay and loosen as the graft enlarges, but care
must be taken to cut the band if it has not decayed at the time of
transplanting.

LAYING OUT THE VINEYARD

Vines are planted in rectangles, generally in squares, but some-
times at a less distance in the rows than the rows are from each, other.
The stakes which are to represent the future vines are in either case
placed by the same methods of measupring or marking off. All the
methods described for clearing and preparing lands, in Chapter VII,
and for laying off ground in squares, described in Chapter X, are
applicable to vineyard ground. The measuring wire therein described
is the means usually employed for laying off. A special contrivance
which has been used to some extent on level ground is thus described :

The marker most in use is made in the form of a sled, sixteen, fourteen, or
twelve feet long, with three runners so placed as to mark rows eight, seven, or
six feet wide. These runners should be made about three feet long, of some
hard wood (Oregon pine will do), two inches thick and firmly nailed to two
planks placed upon them of the lengths first above named. Upon these should

298 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

be bolted two strong pieces of joist in the form of wagon hounds projecting in
front far enough to receive a stout pole like a wagon tongue, well braced and
fastened with an iron rod. Care must be taken that the motion of the machine
is steady and true in all its parts. With a well-made marker, a gentle team, and
a careful driver, excellent work may be done.

Distance of Planting. — There is as much difference of opinion
and practice in fixing the distance between vines as between orchard
trees, but usually more room is given than formerly. Planted in
squares, the distance varies from seven to ten feet, with eight feet as
most prevalent, taking the State as a whole. Planting in rows is also
adopted to some extent. Such plantations are made with the vines
seven by ten or eight by ten feet, four and one-half by eleven feet,
etc. There is a great variation in the distances. Some advantages of
the row system are as follows : Greater space to spread trays for
raisin curing ; plowing can be done with double team and larger plows ;
the brush can be gathered and burned between the rows instead of
carrying it to the avenues ; sulphur and materials for spraying can be
brought in by team to any part of the vineyard ; empty boxes can be
distributed and filled ones gathered up without carrying, etc. Planting
in rows recommends itself not only for planting new vineyards, but
also for changing old vineyards from seven by seven feet to three and
one-half by fourteen feet, or from eight by eight feet to four by sixteen
feet, giving opportunity to change from a WHifero-root vineyard to
a resistant-root vineyard. This can be accomplished by planting resist-
ant roots in the alternate rows to be preserved, right between the two
old vines.

Number of Vines to the Acre. — However the vines be set, it
is very easy to calculate the number of vines which an acre will accom-
modate. Multiply the distance in feet between the rows by the distance
the plants are apart in the rows, and the product will be the number of
square feet for each plant, which, divided into the number of feet in an
acre (forty-tree thousand five hundred and sixty), will give the num-
ber of plants to the acre.

Avenges in the Vineyard. — For convenience of access with team
and wagon there should always be avenues through the vineyard. They
are usually arranged so as to cut up the vineyard into blocks about
twice as long as broad, if the vineyard be on the level land. Of course,
on hilly lands the avenues should be located for ease of hauling.
The avenue is made by leaving out a row of vines, and, therefore, the
exact size of the block will depend upon the distance between the rows.
Some advise having not more than forty vines between the avenues.
Planting in rows, with wide spaces between the rows, renders few
avenues necessary.

PLANTING CUTTINGS AND ROOTED VINES

Various means are used for planting cuttings. An essential condi-
tion to successful growth is to have the lower part of the cutting well
embedded in the soil, as it will not root unless in close contact with the
earth. To lack of care in this regard most failures are due, and for
lack of surety that such contact is made the various contrivances for

PLANTING GRAPE VINES

299

speedy planting, such as the planting bar, are widely condemned; an
excavation of the hole and refilling with fine surface earth, just as
advised in Chapter XI, for planting orchard trees, is commended as the
safest practice. Much, however, depends upon the soil. In loose, free
soil such a use of a bar or "sheep's-foot" as will be presently described
may be satisfactory, while it would be impracticable on firmer soils,
both because of the difficulty of insertion and because the packed condi-

a

V

Dibbles for planting vine cuttings.

tion caused by the forcing in would not favor root extension, and
not desirable on shallow soils because the contact of the better surface
soil with the bottom of the cutting will stimulate the growth of the
cutting, and is, therefore, very desirable.

The post-hole auger and a device for taking out soil as a "trier"
takes out a sample of cheese or butter, have also been used to some
extent, but not widely, in making holes for cuttings. '

300 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Other forms of dibbles for planting vine cuttings relate particularly
to the setting of cutting-grafts in a light deeply-worked nursery soil,
but may be also used to advantage in placing cuttings in the vineyard
if the soil favors such a method. They are described by Mr. Bioletti
as follows :

Two of the best forms of nursery dibbles are shown in the engrav-
ing. The first, "a" consists of a piece of round one-half-inch
iron, 18 inches long, furnished with a wooden handle at one end and
a curved double point with a V-shaped cleft in the other. The bottom
node of the stock is caught in the cleft and the graft forced down to
the desired depth. Unless the ground is very light the other dibble, "b,"
is preferable. It consists of a sword-shaped piece of iron 18 to 20
inches long and 2 inches wide, furnished also with a handle. The usual
way of using it is to press it into the ground to the desired depth, open
the hole a little with a lateral thrust, withdraw it and insert the graft.
The dibble is then pushed into the ground again at about an inch to one
side of the graft and by another lateral thrust the earth is pressed
tightly around the graft. This takes more time than is necessary with
the other form of dibble, and usually done carefully there is danger of
failing to make the soil close around the base of the stock, which is thus
left surrounded by an air space. Grafts left in this way are apt to
become moldy and fail to make good roots. The figure "c" is a planting
dibble to be used with hand and foot like a spade. All such contriv-
ances are only suited to light soils which crumble and settle easily. On
heavier soils, digging holes and placing the soil around the roots or the
base of the cutting by hand is indispensable.

Planting Bar and Sheep's-foot. — The following methods, de-
scribed by Dr. Gustav Eisen as prevailing in the raisin districts of the
San Joaquin Valley, on sandy, loamy soils, will well illustrate similar
methods wherever followed :

The planting bar consists of a bar of hard iron, sharpened at the lower end
and furnished with a cross handle at the other. The length of the bar is about
three and a half feet, width about two and a half inches, and thickness a third to
half an inch. If less than this the bar will bend. The planting is done by push-
ing the bar perpendicularly in the ground. After withdrawing it, insert the cut-
ting and push it down to the bottom. Fill up the hole by again inserting the bar
in the ground clos* by and pressing the flat side against the hole.

The sheep's-foot consists of a round rod with cross-handle at the upper end.
The lower end of the rod is slightly flattened, bent and forked. The planting
is done by fitting the forked end over the butt-end of the cutting, and immedi-
ately pushing cutting and rod together to the desired depth in the soil. A slight
twist is now given to the sheep's-foot. This loosens it from the cutting and
allows it to be withdrawn. A tamp with the foot fills the hole. Great care must
be taken in withdrawing the sheep's-foot, lest in doing so the cutting should be
lifted also, and this will leave a fatal air chamber at the lower end. The slight
twist given the rod before withdrawing loosens it and leaves the cutting
undisturbed.

For planting in dry situations some careful planters run water
and fine earth into the hole made by the bar after inserting the cutting ;
others run in fine sand dry and then pour on water. In using water
in this way one must take care that he uses sand or sandy earth, and
not clay, for a succeeding dry spell may bake it, and the cutting will be
worse off than if not puddled.

PLANTING GRAPE VINES 301

Planting Rooted Vines. — Planting rooted vines is governed by
the same rules commended for planting trees in Chapter XI, so far as
preparation of holes, care in placing and firming the soil around the
roots, etc., is concerned. In handling rooted vines there must be
greater care in packing and transportation to prevent the roots from
drying, and in carrying to the field it is generally advised that the
plants be kept in a pail or other receptacle with water. The vine roots
are very small and tender, and success will largely depend upon good
care of them. At planting all dead or injured roots should be trimmed
away, healthy roots shortened so that they can be placed well in the
hole, and the top reduced to a single cane cut back to two eyes.

When to Plant. — The exact time to plant can not be stated, for
the condition of the soil and the local season-points are the best guides.
Planting can be done much later as a rule in the coast regions than in
the interior, because the soil is usually later in getting into good condi-
tion of mellowness and warmth, and the late rains are usually heavier.
It is certainly not advisable to place cuttings in cold, wet soil, and
dry soil will quickly destroy their vitality. The suggestions given in
Chapter XI should be carefully considered. The planter must use
good judgment in choosing his time for planting, aided in forming it
by the best local experience he can get.

Cultivation of Vineyard. — General suggestions concerning the
cultivation of the vineyard have already been given in Chapter XIII.
in which methods employed in California, and which are practically
the same for all fruits, are described.

CHAPTER XXVII

PRUNING AND CARE OF THE VINE*

Most of the varieties of vinifera grown in California at present
thrive under the short pruning system. There are exceptions, however,
which will be noted later. The prevalence of the short pruning
system frees our growers from the expense and inconvenience of
trellises. Though in the early years of the vine stakes are used, our
older vines stand by themselves and are as independent of support as
our fruit trees. The vines are, in fact, shaped upon something the
same model as our fruit trees, the so-called "goblet form" of the French
being our prototype.

THE FIRST YEAR

During the summer of the year the vines are planted, no pruning
or training of any kind is needed in most cases. For this reason it is
nearly always unnecessary to stake the vines when they are planted.
The only exception to this is when strong-rooted vines are planted in
a rich, moist soil in which they will make a very large growth the first
year. In this case it is desirable, though not quite necessary, to
stake the vines immediately after planting to adopt the method of
summer treatment described below for the second year.

In most cases it is best to allow all shoots to remain to feed the
vine and to insure a good root growth the first year.

Staking. — In the autumn or winter following planting, the vines
should be staked, either before or after pruning, but in any case some
time before the buds start in the spring.

The kind of stake used will depend on the variety of vine and on
the method of pruning to be ultimately adopted. For ordinary short-
pruning, the stake should be of such length that, after being driven
into the ground, sufficient will be below the surface to keep it firm
and prevent its being loosened by the force of the wind acting on the
vine which is tied to it, and sufficient above the surface to extend one
or two inches above the height at which it is intended to head the vines.
It should be from one and one-quarter to one and one-half inches
square, according to the length.

In firm ground, for small-growing vines such as Zinfandel, a
stake 1*4 by 1^4 inches and 27 inches long will be sufficient. This
will allow 15 inches to be driven into the ground and leave 12 inches
above, which is enough for vines to be headed at 10 inches. If the
ground is loose or sandy a 30-inch stake driven 18 inches into the
ground will be needed. For strong-growing varieties, such as
Carignane or Tokay, especially when planted in rich soil, a stake
1^2 by l*/2 inches and 36 inches long will be necessary, and 15 or

*The detailed instructions and accompanying illustrations in this chapter are taken from
the excellent writings of Mr. F. T. Bioletti for the California Experiment Station, and
embody the teachings of long experience and wide observation.

302

PRUNING THE GRAPE VINE

303

18 inches of this should be left above the ground. This will permit
the heading of the vines at 15 inches.

If the vines are to be trellised with one wire, a 36-inch stake
driven 18 inches into the ground is the proper length. If two wires
are to be used, a 48-inch stake will be needed, leaving 30 inches above
the surface.

If the vines are to be pruned long and the canes tied to the stake,
a 5-foot stake will usually be needed, and this must be stronger, 2 by 2
inches square. This stake should be driven 2 feet into the ground.

These dimensions are all smaller than are usual in California,
but are quite sufficient for all practical purposes. The stake should
be placed 1 to 2 inches from the vine on the side opposite to the

a b c

Fig. 1. Treatment of an average vine during second season.

a. Winter pruning.

b. Spring pruning — removal of suckers (S) and thinning of shoots (W).

c. Summer treatment — tying to stake and topping.

prevailing heavy winds. The force of the wind will thus keep the
vine pressed against the stake and the tying material less liable to
break.

First Winter Pruning. — In California, the young vines may be
pruned at any time after the leaves have fallen, except in sections
very subject to spring frosts, where it is sometimes advisable to defer
the pruning until after the top buds of the canes start.

The way the vines are to be pruned will depend altogether on the
growth they have made. If the growth has been small the tops are
pruned exactly like rooted vines before planting. All the canes are
removed entirely, except the strongest, and this is cut back to two
buds, (see Fig. 1, a).

304

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Any vines which have made a strong growth and possess at least
one cane of which sufficient length is well ripened may be pruned
for tying up. All the canes are removed entirely, except the strongest,
and this is cut back to 10, 15, or 18 inches, according to the height at
which it is intended to head the vine (see Fig. 2, a). The top cut is
made through a bud, just as in making cuttings. This will facilitate
tying up and insure the healthy growth of the top bud.

Sometimes, even when the vine has made sufficient growth, the
canes are prostrate or crooked and none can be tied up straight to the
stake. In this case the vine must be pruned like a weak vine — that is,
thinned to one cane and this cane cut back to two buds.

Fig. 2. Treatment of an average vine during the third season or of^a
vigorous vine during the second.

a. Vine pruned to one cane and tied to stake.

b. Removal of sucker (S) and lower shoots (W) in spring.

c. Vine in summer at time of pinching.

In no case should two canes of any length be left, and in all cases
where it is impossible to obtain the full length of well-ripened wood for
tying up, the cane should be cut back to two buds. It is very bad prac-
tice to leave some of the canes of intermediate length, as this causes
the vines to head out at various heights and produces an irregularity of
shape which can never be remedied and which interferes with regular
pruning, cultivation and other vineyard work.

The idea to be kept in mind is to cut back each winter nearly to the
ground — that is, to two buds — until a cane is produced with a length
of well-ripened wood and good buds equal to the height at which the
vine is to be headed. It is very important that this cane should be

SECOND YEAR VINE PRUNING 305

straight, healthy and well-ripened, as it is from it that the trunks of the
mature vine develops. All the vines on which a cane has been left
should be carefully tied up. Two ties will be needed in most cases. A
half hitch should be made around the cane below the swelling left by
the bud which has been removed, and the cane tied firmly to the top of
the stake. Another tie is made about half-way down the stake. The
lower tie need not be very tight, and in any case the tying material
should not be passed completely around the cane, except above the top
bud, or the vine will be strangled when it commences to grow (see
Fig. 2 a) . Any kind of string or twine, sufficiently strong to withstand
the pressure of the growing vine in a heavy wind, may be used. Bind-
ing twine, or a single strand of good bailing rope, is suitable. No. 16
or 17 galvanized wire is preferred by some and is better than string, if
care is taken to remove the bottom ties the following year before they
strangle the vine. Wire is a little more expensive and takes a little
longer to put on than string, but holds the vines better and can be used
for several years.

SECOND YEAR

Summer Pruning. — The treatment during the second and third
spring and summer is of great importance to the future welfare of
the vine. A little judicious care at this period will avert many troubles
in later years. It will be necessary to go over the vineyard four or five
times to do the suckering, topping, and tying which are necessary.

The shoots starting from the vines which have been cut back to
two buds should be thinned to a single one. This thinning should be
done as soon as possible in such a way that it is never necessary to
remove a shoot more than 3 or 4 inches long (see Fig. 1, b). If the
thinning is deferred until the shoots are a foot or more long the vine
will be weakened by the removal of so much foliage. If the thinning
can not be done early, it is better not to do it at all. The object of this
thinning is to throw all the force and growth of the vine into the cane
which is to form finally the trunk of the vine. If it is done too late
not only does the growth not go into this cane, but the vine is weakened
so much that this cane does not grow so well as it would have done
without thinning.

The first thinning can be done with the first hoeing, and the second
with the suckering. The suckering consists of the removal of all
shoots which come from below the ground. These also should be
removed as early as practicable, both to avoid weakening the vine by the
removal of mature leaves and also because a young sucker is much
more easily separated from the vine at this time. Every sucker must
be cut or broken off at the point where it originates. If a little piece
of the sucker is left, several new suckers will start at the same place.
The more completely the suckering is done during the first two years,
the less trouble in this respect there will be in later years. This is
particularly true of grafted vines.

A few weeks after the first thinning, the single shoot which has
been left will have grown 10 or 15 inches. At this length it should be

306 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

tied up to the stake (see Fig. 1 c). If this tying is neglected or
deferred too long, a heavy wind is very liable to break off the whole
shoot. A piece of string tied rather loosely about the middle of the
shoot is all that is needed. If the vines are to be headed high (18
inches) another tie near the top of the stake may be necessary.

For vines which are making only moderate growth this is all the
treatment needed during the summer. Strong-growing vines in rich
soil, however, should be topped.

Topping. — The object of this is to force the shoot to send out
laterals at the right height above the surface of the soil, to be used as
spurs during the following year. This topping is an operation which
requires a good deal of judgment. If the topping is done too soon,
laterals will not start, but a new terminal shoot will be formed. This is
not a serious defect, however, but simply necessitates a second topping
two or three weeks later. Neither will the laterals start if the topping
is done too late, or if they start they will not mature, and the vine is
weakened by the removal of foliage without any compensating
advantage.

Until experience has shown the proper time for the variety and
locality, it is best to top when the shoot has grown to from 8 to 12
inches above the top of the stake, and if necessary top again
later.

The shoot should be topped within 1 or 2 inches of the top of the
stake, if the stakes have been chosen and driven as advised above (see
Fig. 1 , c). This will insure the growth of laterals just where they are
needed for the next winter pruning.

The vines on which a cane has been left and tied up during the
preceding winter must be treated a little differently. The removal of
underground shoots or suckers is the same. Instead of thinning out
the shoots to a sirfgle one, as for the vines just described, all the shoots
should be left to grow, except those too near the ground (see Fig. 2,

b).

As a rule, all shoots between the ground and the middle of the
stakes should be taken off. It is even more important that this should
be done early than in the case described above. If the lower shoots are
allowed to become large and then removed, not only is the vine weak-
ened by the removal of mature leaves, but the stem of the vine is
suddenly exposed to the direct rays of the hot sun and is very liable to
injury. This injury does not show by the peeling off of the bark as
with fruit trees, but by a general weakening and dwarfing of the vine.

The shoots coming from the upper half of the cane are to form the
spurs for the following winter pruning, and can often be left to grow
without further treatment.

If the growth is very rapid and succulent, however, it is necessary to
pinch them, or the first heavy wind may break them off (see Fig. 2, C.)

Pinching consists in the removal of 1 or 2 inches of growth at the
extreme tip of the shoot. This delays the growth in length temporarily
and gives the shoot time to strengthen its tissues before its length gives
too much leverage to the wind. This pinching usually has to be
repeated at least once.

THIRD YEAR VINE PRUNING 307

Pinching may be replaced by topping a few weeks later, but the
latter is somewhat weakening to the vine.

In all summer pruning — that is, the removal of green shoots and
leaves — of young vines, two things should be kept in mind : First that
all summer pruning is weakening; second that the object of summer
pruning of young vines is to direct the growth as much as possible into
those parts which are to become permanent portions of the mature
vine. The weakening effect is almost nil if the shoots or tips are
removed when they are very small, but may be very serious if large
shoots are removed or heavily topped. When a large shoot covered
with leaves is removed it is a total loss to the vine. When a small shoot
is removed the food materials which would have gone into that shoot
are diverted to the shoots that remain, and the vigor and size of the
latter are increased.

THIRD YEAR

Winter Pruning. — After the leaves have fallen at the end of the
third summer every vine should have a well-formed, straight stem with
two, three, or more canes growing from the upper part, and the forma-
tion of the "head" or crown should commence. Any vines which have
not been brought to this condition must be pruned like two or one-year-
old vines, as the case may be.

If the work up to this point has been well done, the formation of
the head is a simple matter. It consists in leaving two, three, or four
spurs, arranged as symmetrically as possible near the top of the vine.
The stronger the vine, as evidenced by the number, length, and thick-
ness of the canes, the larger the number of spurs and buds that should
be left.

A spur consists of the basal portion of a cane, ^nd normally of two
full internodes. This leaves two buds besides the base bud. The num-
ber of buds to leave on a spur depends on the strength or thickness of
the cane from which the spur is made. A thin, or weak, cane should
be cut back to one bud or even to the base bud. A strong cane, on the
other hand, should be left with three buds besides the base bud.

The pruning of each vine requires judgment, and it is impossible
to give an inflexible rule to follow. The ideal of a perfect vine should
be kept in mind and each vine pruned as nearly in accordance with this
ideal as circumstances permit. Fig. 3 represents nearly perfect three-
year-old vines consisting of two or three symmetrically placed spurs of
two buds each near the top of the stem.

Sometimes it is necessary to leave a spur lower down (see Fig. 3,
b). This spur will be removed the following year after it has produced
two or three bunches of grapes. Sometimes a vine may be very vig-
orous but have only two canes properly placed for making spurs. In
this case the spurs should be left longer — three buds and even in ex-
treme cases four buds long.

In stump pruning there is a difference of practice as to low head-
ing according to locality. In the interior regions the vine is now headed
almost at the surface of the ground ; in the coast regions there is usu-

308

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

ally a stump of one to two feet or more. As with trees so with vines,
the practice is to prune to make lower heads than during the early
years of California fruit growing.

Long Pruning. — Some varieties grown for market and for raisin
making do not thrive if pruned by the short-spur system. Notable
among these are the Sultana, Sultanina, (Thompson's Seedless), Em-
peror and Sabalskanski. There are also a number of wine varieties
which must be pruned long. Whatever the variety of vine and what-
ever the system of pruning to be ultimately adopted, the treatment for
the first two and even three years is practically identical and is that
which has already been described in detail.

year.

Fig. 3. Three-year-old vines after pruning.

a. Average vine with two spurs.

b. Vigorous vines with three spurs, the lowest of which is to be removed the following

c. Vigorous vine with three spurs.

Long pruning admits of degrees, but it usually signifies using a five
or six instead of a four-foot stake and leaving the selected canes from
eighteen inches to three feet longer instead of cutting back to two or
three buds, as in short pruning. These long canes are securely tied to
the long stakes.

With varieties needing long pruning the first two or three buds next
the old wood do not bear fruit, hence the need of leaving buds farther
removed from the old wood to secure it. This habit of the vine invites
the practice of growing a long cane for fruit and at the same time pro-
viding for wood growth for the following year's fruiting by cutting

LONG PRUNING OF VINES 309

another cane from the same spur down to two or three buds. By this
practice the wood which has borne the fruit is cut back to a bud each
winter and the cane which has grown only wood is pruned long for
the fruit of the following summer. A modification of the practice is to
prune the canes from some of the spurs long, and from other spurs
short, thus making the spurs alternate from wood bearing to fruit bear-
ing from year to year. Unless some method is adopted to promote the
growth of strong canes from near the head of the vine, long pruning
becomes unsatisfactory. According to the common way with those
vines which are known to require longer canes for satisfactory bearing,
such canes are selected when the vine is well established and two, three,
four, or more canes four or five feet long are tied up vertically to a high
stake. This process is repeated the next year and the next, and the
result is, with the Sultanina at least, that after the second or third year
all the bearing wood is at the top of the stake, and the vine must be
pruned short again or suckers and watersprouts left as long canes.
Neither way is satisfactory.

Two methods have been successfully used to insure the growth of
new fruit wood every year in a position where it can be utilized. The
first consists in bending the fruit canes into a circle. This diminishes
the tendency of the sap of the vine to go to the end of the fruit canes.
The consequence is that more shoots start in the lower parts of the fruit
canes. All the shoots on these canes are made weaker and more fruit-
ful by the bending, and at the same time the sap pressure is increased
and causes strong shoots to start from the wood-spurs left near the
bases of the fruit canes. These shoots are used for fruit canes at the
following winter pruning, and new wood spurs are then left for the
next year.

The tying and bending of the fruit canes require great care, and
repeated suckering and removal of watersprouts are necessary to insure
a strong growth of replacing canes on the wood spurs. This method
can be used successfully only by skillful hands.

The other method requires some form of trellis. The most prac-
ticable trellis is a wire stretched along the rows about 1^2 or 2 feet
above the surface of the soil. For very vigorous vines in rich soil a
second wire 12 inches above the first is advisable.

The pruning is the same as for the method just described. The
fruit canes, however, instead of being bent in a circle and tied to the
stake, are placed in a horizontal position and tied to the wire. The
horizontal position has the same effect as curving in promoting the
starting of more shoots on the fruit canes and the consequent production
of more bunches of grapes. At the same time the buds on the wood
spurs are forced to start, and not being shaded they tend to grow vig-
orously. It is best to tie the shoots from the wood spurs in a vertical
position to the stake, and they should not be topped. This system of
pruning is not only theoretically correct, but is easy to explain to prun-
ers, and can be carried out much more perfectly than the first method
with ordinary labor.

Whatever system of winter pruning is adopted with Sultanina,
careful summer pruning, suckering, sprouting, and topping are neces-
sary for the best results. This variety has a tendency to send out large

310 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

numbers of suckers from below ground and watersprouts from the old
wood. These shoots are usually sterile, grow vigorously, and unless
removed in time divert the energies of the vine from the fruit and
fruit shoots. Two or three times during the spring the vineyard should
be gone over carefully and all sterile shoots which are not needed to
balance the vine or to replace weak or missing arms should be removed.
This removal of shoots should be done in such a way that no shoot
longer than 12 inches is ever removed. If the watersprouts are allowed
to grow large their removal weakens the vine. The shoots which are
to give fruit canes for the following year should not be topped. The
shoots from the horizontal fruit canes on the trellises, however, will set
their fruit better and are less likely to be broken by the wind if they
are pinched or topped early.

SUMMER PRUNING AND SUCKERING

Summer pruning or topping of bearing vines is usually practiced.
Some follow the pinching process, by which the terminal of the grow-
ing cane is nipped off with the thumb and ringer when it has grown
out about two feet. Others wait longer and then slash off the ends of
the canes with a sickle. The tendency is to leave summer pruning until
too late and to slash off wood indiscriminately, to the injury of the vine.
Summer pruning, if done early enough, and this would be while the
growth is still soft at the point of removal, will induce the growth of
laterals and will shade and improve the fruit, and at the same time
thicken the growth of the main cane and strengthen its connection
with the spur. Slashing of canes too late in the season deprives the
fruit of the service of enough leaf surface for the elaboration of the
sap, often seriously checks the growth of the vine, and in hot regions,
induces sunburn. The first summer pruning should be done soon after
the bloom, but not during blooming. The second could take place
whenever the canes or laterals extend beyond the length necessary to
shade the grapes.

Suckering is an important process and usually has to be attended to
at least twice in the season. It consists in removing all shoots from
old wood which are not provided for at the previous winter pruning.
The growth of these suckers takes sap which should go to the other
canes. All such shoots should be rubbed or pulled off while they are
still soft ; if a sucker puts out at a point where it would be desirable to
have a spur to balance the head of the vine, it should of course be
allowed to grow, to be cut back to two buds the following winter. By
such selection of suckers new spurs are secured to replace old and
failing ones.

GENERAL NOTES ON PRUNING

Longer or shorter pruning produces effects not only upon the
amount of early ripening of the fruit of certain varieties, but upon
quality, as shown in the wines. Such effects have to be discerned by
local observation.

GENERAL NOTES ON VINE PRUNING 311

It is a very difficult matter to lay down any rule for pruning a vine-
yard, so much depends on the age of the vines, the different varieties,
and the quality of the soil. A basis on which to build a theory on the
subject might be found in and through an understanding of the quan-
tity of grapes that may be expected from a vine, as the secret of prun-
ing is to keep a just medium between the production of grapes to the
injury of the vine and its wood and an overproduction of wood to the
detriment of the crop. In older vines a proportion should be maintained
between the vigor of the vines and the crop desired ; each bud may be
considered good for two bunches of grapes the ordinary size, and
upon this estimate may be obtained. It must be borne in mind that the
result of overloading the vine is detrimental to its vigor and health,
while the reverse will not injure it, but will lessen the profits for that
season, often giving greatly increased returns in after years.

Close attention should be given to the growth of the wood and fruit
of the preceding year. If the canes are very large and the bunches of
grapes poor and there are many suckers, it indicates that more eyes are
necessary. On the contrary, if the canes are small, and the bunches of
grapes numerous and straggling, and the ripening not even, it indicates
that the number of eyes left should be less.

Pruning may be regulated to produce a good second crop of grapes
or to prevent the formation of a second crop. The second crop is
often desirable in raisin and table varieties, but undesirable in wine
varieties.

Attention should be paid to the tools used in pruning. Let the
blades be kept sharp and thin ; large shears are very apt to bruise the
wood more than small ones.

Pruning is done after the fall of the leaves and before the swelling
of the buds, usually in January and February. Early pruning has a
tendency to make the vines start growth early, consequently in frosty
situations pruning is often deferred till late in the winter — as late as
the middle of March in some cases. But it is inconvenient to do a large
amount of pruning so late. At any time in the winter the canes can be
cut back to 15 or 18 inches and the vineyard cleaned up. When the
outer buds on these long spurs start, cut back to the two buds next the
old wood and they will start 15 or 20 days later than if the vines had
been pruned short earlier in the season. This practice has been followed
with marked advantage in some regions liable to late spring frosts.
The bleeding which follows late pruning is no loss to the vine, accord-
ing to observation of late-pruned vines.

The proper treatment of vines injured by spring frosts is clearly
the immediate removal, by a sharp downward jerk, of the frosted shoots.
Careful experiment has proved that the vines that were not stripped
did not do as well as the others, as the dormant buds in many cases did
not come out, and those that came out were not healthy and strong, and
hardly had any grapes. The damaged shoots that were not removed
died gradually, and at the junction with the cane new shoots came out
without any grapes at all, while two-thirds of a crop came on the frost-
bitten vines, which were stripped of the damaged canes ; hardly and first
crop and only a second crop on the vines which were not attended to.

312 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

DISEASES OF THE VINE

One of the most prevalent diseases of the vine in California is caused
by a fungus which affects leaves, canes, and berries, and is locally
known as "mildew." This disease is recognized by grayish white color-
ing of the affected leaves, which, as the disease progresses, shrivel and
dry up ; the young cane also blackens and dries, and the berries show
whitish patches, which become darker colored and the berries crack
open. The usual remedy for the trouble is finely-ground or sublimed
sulphur applied several times during the season. Definite reference
may be found in the chapter on diseases of trees and vines.

The Bordeaux Mixture and other copper preparations are some-
times useful upon grape-vines, as will be cited in the chapter on plant
diseases.

Coulure. — A frequent misfortune of the vine, and for which no
remedy is yet known, is coulure, a term signifying the failure of the
fruit to set or to remain on the cluster. This occurs in varying degrees
from the loss of a few berries to the almost complete clearing of fruit
from the stem. It is worse with some varieties than others and in some
localities than others. The trouble is believed to arise from various
causes.

There is, also, occurring with more or less frequency, a reddening
and death of the vine leaves, supposed to be identical with the trouble
known to the French as "rougeole." The leaves show light-colored
spots at first, which afterward turn red and finally involve the whole
leaf or cane, and sometimes the whole vine. It usually occurs in mid-
summer, and is not necessarily fatal in its effects.

Root Knot. — An evil occurring on the main stem of the vine,
generally near the surface of the ground, is an excrescence of woody
character commonly called "black knot." There has been much dis-
cussion as to the cause of this abnormal growth, without full agree-
ment among observers. Some attribute the knots to injuries to the
stump in cultivation, others to outbursts of sap which the short pruning
system does not give top growth enough to dispose of, and to various
other causes, but the agency is now definitely known to be invasion by
bacteria. This is analogous to the "crown knot" of fruit trees which
will be mentioned in the chapter on plant diseases.

Anaheim Disease. — There has prevailed for several years in
California a mysterious disease of the vine known as the "Anaheim
disease," because its evil work first appeared in that vicinity. It de-
stroyed many thousand acres of vines and led to the abandonment of
grape growing in some regions in southern California. The fullest
statements concerning its performance can be found in Bulletin No. 2,
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Division of Vegetable Pathology, by
Newton B. Pierce, 1892, and Farmers' Bulletin No. 30, 1895. Fortun-
ately during recent years the trouble has been less aggressive but neither
its nature nor satisfactory treatment has been fully demonstrated. The
latest available information concerning it and other troubles of the vine
can be had by application to the University Experiment Station at
Berkeley.

CHAPTER XXVIII
GRAPE VARIETIES IN CALIFORNIA

Large collections of grape varieties have been brought into Cali-
fornia during the last forty-five years. They were sought in all grape
countries, and from such wide experimental planting a few have sur-
vived in popular esteem and are now chiefly grown. Being derived
from different countries, they came bearing many names. Some of
these have been preserved, some wholly lost, and replaced with local
appellations. The result is that our grape nomenclature is full of con-
fusion. Some varieties have been identified by the means of the stand-
ard French grape literature; others are apparently unknown to the
compilers of that literature. It is, therefore, impossible to-day to de-
termine a number of our most popular table and shipping grapes, as
well as some of the wine varieties. The relative importance of the
most popular table and raisin grapes is shown in the accompanying tabu-
lation of reports from growers who were asked to name the grapes
which they considered best worth planting in 1914:

TABLE AND RAISIN GRAPE VARIETIES APPROVED BY
CALIFORNIA GROWERS

Central Sacramento San Joaquin

GRAPES. Coast valley and valley and Southern

valleys. foothills. foothills California.

Muscat * ** ** *

Tokay * **

Cornichon * ** * **

Sultanina (Thompson) .* * **

Emperor ** **

Malaga * ** ** **

Feher Zagos ... *

Rose of Peru ** * *

Black Morocco * * * *

Verdal * ... *

Sultana

Mission * * * *

Black Hamburg * * * *

Black Ferrara *

Gros Colman ... *

Zabalkanski ... *

Palomino * * ...

S weetwater * ** *

Pierce ?... *

Concord *

Delaware *

Niagara * ....

Campbell's Early

Agawam

*

**

*

Indicates that the variety is approved in the region designated.

'Most highly commended.

313

314 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The last six named are grapes of popular eastern types. They are
of exceedingly small commercial importance and are chiefly grown in
southern California; not because eastern varieties are better suited to
local conditions there than in other parts of the State but because there
are more people who enjoy them.

In order to characterize our leading table grapes, descriptions will
be quoted from the best available local authorities, as follows :

Early Black July; syns. Madeleine, Madeline Noir, etc. — "Leaves rather small,
light green above and beneath; bunches small and compact; berries small, quite
round ; skin thick, black, covered with a blue bloom ; flavor moderately sweet,
but not rich nor perfumed. The earliest grape, and chiefly valued for dessert on
that account." — Hyatt.

White July; syn. Luglienga. — "Vine strong-growing and sensitive to frost;
leaves of medium size, deeply five-lobed, dark green, glabrous on both sides,
sharply toothed, the terminal tooth of each lobe very long and acuminate ; bunches
of medium size, well filled ; berries of medium size, oval, at first green, becoming
yellow with overripeness, with thin skin, crisp, firm flesh, and agreeable flavor." —
Bioletti. The Luglienga, which means July grape, is one of the earliest grapes
known.

Early Madeleine; syn. Madeleine Angevine. — "Moderate grower, with long-
jointed, brown wood; leaf medium, deeply lobed, dark green above, tomentose
below ; young points reddish, woolly, slender ; bunch medium, compact, should-
dered ; berry medium, oblong, yellowish green, transparent, rather thick skin,
sweet and juicy. Vine a shy bearer when frost is prevalent." — Husmann.

Chasselas Dore ; syn. Fontainebleau, Sweetwater. — "A rather vigorous grower,
with medium or somewhat slender canes of a reddish-brown color ; young shoots
of garnet color, nearly or quite glabrous; leaves rather below average size, a
little longer than wide, glabrous above and nearly so below, except for a few
hairs on the main nerves, with well-marked sinuses, the petiolar one often closed,
the petiole long, rather slender, and rose-colored; bunches of medium or over-
medium size, conico-cylindrical shouldered, more or less compact ; berries medium
to large, with firm but tender skin, small seeds ; of delicate flavor and texture, at
first crisp but becoming soft with full maturity. The grapes are of a clear green
color, tinged with a beautiful golden bronze where exposed to the sun." — Bioletti.

Chasselas Rose. — Fruit resembling foregoing, except that both bunch and
berries are usually smaller, and flavor is more pronounced.

Chasselas Victoria. — "Vine vigorous, very short- jointed and brittle, and bears
well with short pruning; wood grayish yellow, thick and strong, leaf light green,
deeply lobed and shining ; young shoots with numerous laterals ; bunch very large
and heavy, often weighing five pounds, shouldered, very compact ; stem brown,
very thick; berry medium, round, pale lilac, purple, with lilac bloom, juicy, vinous,
refreshing." — Husmann.

Palomino; syn. Golden Chasselas. — "The vine quite largely grown as 'Golden
Chasselas' is undoubtedly identical with the Listan, or Palomino." — Hilgard.
"Vine a fair grower; wood close-jointed; leaf medium, oblong, deeply lobed,
bright green above, grayish grain and tomentose below, stem short, young points
with reddish tint and woolly; bunch large, conical, rather loose and shouldered;
berry round, full medium, sometimes flat, pale green with yellowish tinge; thin
skin, juicy and sweet, resembling Chasselas." — Husmann.

Black Malvoise. — "Vine a strong grower; wood long- jointed, rather slender,
light brown ; leaf medium size, oval, rather evenly and deeply five-lobed ; basal
sinus moderately open, with parallel sides, upper surface smooth, almost glabrous,
lower surface lightly tomentose on the veins and veinlets ; bunches large, rather
loose, branching; berries large, oblong, reddish black with faint bloom; flesh
juicy, flavor neutral." — Hilgard. Widely grown as an early table grape.

Mission. — "This variety, grown at the old missions, has never been determined,
nor its exact source ascertained. It is regarded by some as a most delicious table
grape. It can be found in small areas in every county of the State adapted to
the grape. Vine a strong grower; wood short-jointed, dull dark to brown to

GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA 315

grayish ; leaf above medium size, slightly oblong, with large, deeply-cut, compound
teeth basal, sinus widely opened, primary sinuses, ^hallow and narrow, secondary
sinuses ill-defined, smooth on both sides, light green below with light, scattered
tomentum." — Hilgard. "Bunches slightly shouldered, loose, divided into many
small, distinct lateral clusters; berries medium size, round, purple black, heavy
bloom; exceedingly sweet, juicy, and delicious; seeds rather large; skin thin."
— Hyatt.

Muscatel; syn. White Frontignan. — "Vine of medium size, with strong, spread-
ing canes; canes reddish-brown, with short internodes; leaves of medium size,
thin, five-lobed ; glabrous except for a few hairs on the lower side of the well-
marked ribs; bunches long, cylindrical, regular, compact; berries round, golden-
yellow, becoming amber-colored, very sweet and of marked aroma. Ripens a
little later than the Chasselas." — Bioletti.

White Muscat of Alexandria* — "Vine a short, rather straggling and bushy
grower, well adapted to short stool pruning, as it forms rather a bush than a
vine; wood gray, with dark spots, short-jointed; leaf round, five-lobed, bright
green above, lighter green below ; young shoots a bright green. The laterals pro-
duce a second and even a third crop ; bunch long and loose, shouldered ; berry
oblong, a light yellow when fully matured, transparent, covered with white bloom,
fleshy, with thick skin, very sweet and decidedly musky." — Husmann. The lead-
ing table grape of California. Rejected for irregular bearing on some mesa lands
in Southern California.

Muscatel Gordo Blanco. — "Muscatel Gordo Blanco has a closer bunch and
rounder berry than the Muscat. The skin is softer and the pulp is not quite so
hard. The berry inclines to be a little darker in color and not nearly so green
when it is ripe, and I think not quite as long as the Muscat of Alexandria. If
the Muscat would set as well as the Muscatel, the difficulty would be obviated.
One very important difference is that when you come to dry them, the Muscat of
Alexandria loses the bloom very rapidly. The bloom comes off when you come
to dry and pack them. But the Muscatel does not lose its bloom. The Muscat
of Alexandria* has to be dried a little more than the Muscatel to bring it into a
keeping condition under the same condition of ripeness." — R. B. Blowers.

"The growth of the Muscatel or Gordo Blanco vine is low and spreading, with
no upright branches in the center ; clusters heavy, and, when perfect, close and
shouldered; berries round and large (the greatest circumference being at the
center), a crease often being found at the apex of the berry; color green, or, when
fully ripe, amber green or yellow. Distinguished from Muscat of Alexandria
by low depressed growth of vine, closer cluster, rounder berries, and by thicker
and finer bloom. The Muscatel is the choice raisin grape for the San Joaquin
Valley, and for the interior generally." — Dr. Eisen.

Huasco Muscat. — A variety brought from Chile, but after wide trial in Cali-
fornia, seems not superior to the other White Muscat varieties previously men-
tioned. Its dense cluster is not well adapted to raisin making. It is said,
however, to be less subject to coulure.

Feher Szagos. — "Vine a strong grower and heavy bearer; branches erect but
slender ; leaves glossy, entire ; bunches medium to small, pointed, and solid ;
berries greenish amber, medium oval, pointed, with thin skin and few small
seeds ; flesh not firm, but dries well and makes a good raisin." — Dr. Eisen.

Larga Bloom; syn. Uva Larga. — A variety of Muscat said to be named because
of the length of its berries, but held by some growers to be indistinguishable from
Muscatel Gordo Blanco. An excellent raisin grape, but now chiefly grown as a
table fruit in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

White Malaga. — "Vine a strong grower; wood reddish brown, short-jointed;
leaf medium, leathery smooth, deeply lobed, light shining green above ; bunch very
large, loose shouldered, long ; stem long and flexible ; berry very large, oval,
yellowish green, covered with white bloom ; thick skin, fleshy." — Husmann. Grown

*There is much doubt about the White Muscats as grown in California. Some claim
inability to distinguish between certain grapes of the Muscat type which are being grown in
this State under distinctive names; others pronounce them clearly different varieties. The
matter can not be adjusted at present.

316 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

in Southern California in situations where the Muscat does not do well; also
elsewhere as a table grape, and to some extent in San Joaquin Valley for raisins.
Sultana; syn. Seedless Sultaona. — "Vine vigorous, upright; leaves large, five-
lobed, with rather large sinuses, light colored, and coarsely toothed ; bunches
large, long-cylindrical, with heavy shoulders or wings, well filled when not cul-
tured, but not compacted ; berries small, round, firm and crisp, golden-yellow, and
without seeds." — Bioletti. In California the variety is apt to have some seeds.
It has more acid, and therefore greater piquancy of flavor, that Thompson's
Seedless, but the latter has recently far outstripped it in popularity among
growers.

Thompson's Seedless; syn. Sultanina. — Named by Sutter County Horticultural
Society, after W. Thompson, Sr., of Yuba City, who procured the cutting in 1878,
from Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, New York. It was by them described as
"a grape from Constantinople, named Lady Decoverly." When it fruited in
Sutter county, it was seen to be superior to the Sultana, and has been propagated
largely. It was first widely distributed by J. P. Onstott, of Yuba City, and
others, and is now to be found in all parts of the State. The variety is described
by Dr. Risen as follows. "Oval ; greenish-yellow ; as large as a Sultana ; seedless,
with a thin skin ; good, but not strong flavor, and without that acid which charac-
terizes the Sultana grape and raisins ; bunches large or very large ; vine an
enormous bearer." Mr. Bioletti considers the variety identical with the Sultanina
of Asia Minor, and gives this description : "Vine very vigorous and with large
trunk and verv long canes ; leaves glabrous on both sides, dark yellow-green
above and light below, generally three-lobed, with shallow sinuses, teeth short and
obtuse, bunch large conico-cylindrical, well filled, on herbaceous peduncles ;
berries under medium ; ellipsoidol, crisp, of neutral flavor, with moderately thick
skin of a fine golden-yellow color."

Flame Tokay; syn. Flame-colored Tokay, Flaming Tokay. — "Vine a strong
grower, large in all its proportions, wood, joints, leaves; wood dark brown,
straight, with long joints; leaves dark green, with a brownish tinge; lightly lobed;
bunch very large, sometimes weighing eight to nine pounds, moderately compact,
shouldered ; berry very large, oblong, red, covered with fine lilac bloom ; fleshy
and crackling, firm ; ripens late." — Husmann. The leading shipping grape of the
State, quality low. Defective in color in some localities.

Black Hamburg. — "Bunches very large, from six to ten inches in length, very
broad at the shoulders, tapering to a point gradually ; berries very large, round,
slightly inclining to oval; skin rather thick, deep purple, very black at maturity;
very sugary, juicy, and rich." — Hyatt. A very popular market grape.

Rose of Peru; syn. Black Prince (?). — "Vine a strong grower, with dark
brown, short-jointed wood; leaf deep green above, lighter green and tomentose
below ; bunch very large, shouldered, rather loose ; berry round, large, black, with
firm and crackling flesh, ripens rather late; a very handsome and productive
variety, of good quality, but not adapted for long shipment." — Husmann.

Moscatello Fino ; syn. Moscatello Nero, Black Muscat. — "Leaves of medium
size, with deep upper and shallow lower sinuses, glabrous above, slightly downy
below, and very hairy on the veins, teeth long and sharp ; bunches large to very
large, long, loose, conico-cylindrical, and winged; berries very large, on long,
thin pedicels ; skin well colored, thin but tough ; flesh soft and juicy, with delicate
Muscat aroma. An excellent table grape. It is a heavy bearer, and produces
very fine-looking bunches of dark colored grapes. Rather late." — Bioletti.

Purple Damascus; syn. Black Damascus. — "Vine a medium grower; wood
light brown striped with darker brown, short-jointed; leaf round, five-lobed,
smooth, light green above, tomentose beneath ; stem reddish, large, long and
woody ; bunch large, loose, shouldered ; berry very large, oblong, dark blue,
covered with lighter bloom, meaty, skin thick, ripens late." — Husmann.

Purple Cornichon; syn. Black Cornichon. — "Vine a heavy grower, with thick,
light brown, short-jointed wood; leaves large, longer than wide, deeply five-
lobed, dark green above, and lighter and very hairy below, coarsely toothed, and
with short, thick petiole ; bunches very large, loose, on long pedunckles ; berries
large, long, more or less curved, darkly colored and spotted, thick-skinned, and

GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA 317

on long pedicles. Desirable on account of its attractive appearance, curious shape,
excellent shipping qualities, and late ripening." — Bioletti.

White Cornichon. — Resembles Purple Cornichon in shape and flavor, but has
very thin and tender skin, which makes it better for the table, but poorer for
shipping. Leaves not deeply cut ; smooth on both sides.

Emperor. — "Vine a strong, vigorous grower; leaves very large, with five shal-
low lobes, short, obtuse teeth glabrous above, woolly beneath, light green in
color; bunches very large, long conical, loose, with large, dull purple, oval, firm
berries." — Bioletti. An excellent shipping grape, largely grown by R. B. Blowers,
of Woodland, Yolo county, by whom its merits were first announced. Pro-
nounced unsatisfactory because of irregular setting and non-ripening _ in localities
near the coast in Northern California, and generally condemned in Southern
California. Seems best adapted to interior situations and is chiefly grown for
shipping in the San Joaquin Valley.

Black Ferrara. — A large black grape ; large bunches ; berries cling well to the
stem, thick-skinned, flavor superior. An excellent local market variety and long-
distance shipper.

Gros Colman; syn. Dodrelabi. — "Vine strong-growing, with dark brownish
wood ; leaves very large, round, thick, very slightly lobed, shortly and bluntly
toothed, glabrous above, close-woolly below ; bunches large, short, well filled, but
not compact ; berries very large, round, dark blue, with thick but tender skin.
Remarkable as having the largest berries of any round berry variety known,
and is probably the handsomest black table grape grown. The grapes have good
keeping qualities, except that they are liable to crack." — Bioletti.

Black Morocco. — "Vine a strong grower, with thin, spreading canes, leaves,
under medium size, very deeply five-lobed, even when very young, the younger
leaves truncate at base, giving them a semi-circular outline, with long, sharp
teeth alternating with very small ones, glabrous on both sides, bunches very
large, short, shouldered, and compact; berries very large, round, often angular
from compression, fleshy, of neutral flavor, dull purple color or colorless in the
center of the bunch. Remarkable for the number of second-crop bunches which
it produces on the laterals. Late in ripening and of very fine appearance ; a fairly
good shipping grape, but difficult to pack on account of the size and rigidity of
the bunches. The grapes are of an agreeable crispness, but lacking in flavor."
— Bioletti.. Vine quite subject to root knot.

Verdal; Aspiran Blanc. — -"Vine of medium vigor and rather hardy; canes
somewhat slender and half erect; leaves of average size, glabrous on both sur-
faces, except below near the axis of the main nerves, sinuses well marked
and generally closed, giving the leaf the appearance of having five holes ; teeth
long, unequal, and somewhat acuminate ; bunches large to very large, irregular
long-conical, without any or with small shoulders, well-filled to compact; berries
yellowish-green, large to very large, crisp, with thick but tender skin, agreeable,
but without marked flavor." — Bioletti. Largely grown as a late table grape; in
good condition ; in some regions as late as November.

Almeria. — "Vine vigorous; leaves of medium size, round and slightly or not
at all lobed, quite glabrous on both sides, teeth obtuse and alternately large and
small ; bunches large, loose or compact, irregular conical ; berries from small to
large, cylindrical, flattened on the ends, very hard and tasteless." — Bioletti. The
grape cultivated at the University Experiment Stations under this name is one
of the several varieties which are shipped in such large quantities from Malaga
and Almeria packed in cork-dust. The grapes ripen late and attain about 20 per
cent of sugar. They have remarkable keeping Qualities. Vine needs long pruning,
and is only adapted to hot, interior situations.

There are many other mnifera varieties which are grown to a lim-
ited extent either for raisins or for table use. Among these are the
Canon Hall Muscat, the White Tokay, White Champion, Cinsaut, Za-
balskanski, etc., for table use; the White and Black Corinth, for dry-
ing, of which the white is much more productive than the black, but the
product sells for less than our other seedless raisins and therefore is

318 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

not largely undertaken. With grapes, as with other market fruits, the
planter usually confines his attention to a very few popular kinds. The
relative standing of grape varieties in the raisin industry is shown by
the California Board of Viticultural Commissioners' statement of the
raisin product of 1913 :

Pounds of raisins.

Muscats 96,588,798

Thompson (Sultanina) 18,290,922

Sultanas 12,159,861

Malagas 1,266,983

Faber Szagos 529,707

Black dried grapes 238,143

Total 129,074,414

EASTERN GRAPES

Though many of the improved varieties of the grape species indi-
genous east of the Rocky Mountains, and of the hybrids between these
species and the vinifera, have been introduced in California, their
growth for table fruit is almost of insignificant proportions, and does
not constitute even a respectable fraction of one per cent of our grape
area. The popular taste decidedly prefers the vinifera varieties. There
is, however, a variety believed to be of local origin, which is worthy
of mention as follows :

Isabella Regia — "A remarkable, giant-leaved, and very prolific sport of the
Isabella, originating by bud-variation with Mr. J. P. Pierce, of Santa Clara.
The berries, like the leaves, are of extraordinary size, and when ripe the fruit
is exceedingly sweet and strongly aromatic. It is, therefore, acceptable as a
showy, perfumed table grape, much liked by some, but readily surfeiting those
who are accustomed to the vinifera grapes.. The berries are too soft for ship-
ment to any distance, but all things considered, keep fairly." — Hilgard. Grown
as the "California Concord" in the Los Angeles region.

WINE GRAPES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

Progress is being continually made in the propagation of varieties
yielding wine, and in the manufacture thereof. The hosts of consid-
erations involved in this effort are beyond the scope of this work and
largely beyond the writer's knowledge. The grapes which are chiefly
commended by growers for the kinds of wine to which they are adapted
are as follows : Zinfandel, Alicante, Bouschet, Petite Sirah, Colombar,
Grenache, Valdepenas, Palomino, West's Prolific, Semillon, Carignane,
Green Hungarian, Burger, Mondeuse, Riesling, Cabernet, Chardonay,
Cabernet, Mataro, Sultanina, Blaue Elbe, etc.

PART FIVE: SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS

CHAPTER XXIX
DATE CULTURE IN OUR DESERT AREAS

Ever since the arid, semi-tropical regions of the United States be-
came known through the narratives of explorers, the date palm (Phoe-
nix dactylifera) has been projected as a plant likely to demonstrate
commercial value in American like that which it has held for centuries
in the arid regions of Asia and Africa. This idea was also cherished
even at an earlier date by the Spanish missionaries who brought the
palm to California, as will be described presently. During the last
decade the problem of introducing and establishing a date-growing
industry has been taken up more seriously and systematically than ever
before and must now be looked upon as approaching successful solution.
As, however, the undertaking is still in an experimental stage and
appeals to relatively few people as a line of investment, no attempt will
be made to discuss the date in detail. Instead, citation will be made of
sources whence the reader who desires them can easily secure informa-
tion of date-growing methods in the old countries, discussion of their
suitability to our conditions and suggestions of ways to enter upon date-
growing in California.*

The date palm was brought to California by the padres, and the
oldest date trees in the State are the survivors of their early plantings.
Such trees are found at the San Diego Mission. They are conjectured
to be more than a century old, and they, have survived drought and
neglect, making unsuccessful effort at fruiting, for, according to com-
mon report, the fruit does not ripen, but whether owing to the unfavor-
able conditions indicated, or to lack of fertilization of the bloom, is not
known. There are trees at Ventura, on the site of the garden of the
old mission at San Buena Ventura, about forty feet in height and ten
feet in circumference at the base, with long, graceful fern-like leaves,
which put forth about thirty feet from the ground.

The ill success of these old trees in the direction of fruit bearing
probably long prevented further attention to the date as a profitable
growth. Still there were date palms grown from seed of the com-
mercial date planted here and there for ornament or out of curiosity,
and in due course of time the fruit appeared. The first public exhibi-
tion of California dates known to the writer was made at the Mechanic's

*The Date Palm and its Utilization in the Southwestern States, by Walter T. Swingle,
Bulletin 53, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dpt. of Agr., Washington, 1904.

Date Varieties and Date Culture in Tunis, by T. H. Kearney, Bulletin 92, Ibid, 1906.

Date Growing in Southern California, by S. C. Masin. Report of Riverside Fruit Grow-
ers' Convention, State Horticultural Commissioner, Sacramento, 1908.

Date Growing in the Old and New Worlds, by Paul B. Popenoe, Altadena, California
1913. A fine, illustrated treatise.

Also publications of Arizona Experiment Station, Tucson, and California Experiment Sta-
tion, Berkeley.

319

320 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Institute Fair, in San Francisco, in September, 1877. The fruit was
grown on the south bank of Putah Creek, the northern boundary of
Solano County, the situation being slightly above the level of the plain
of the Sacramento Valley, which lies east of it. The plants were grown
by the late J. R. Wolfskill, from seed of commercial dates purchased in
San Francisco, and planted in 1858 or 1859. The seed germinated
readily, and the young plants were set out in a row about one hundred
feet south of Putah Creek, on a rich, fine, sandy loam lying about
twenty-five feet above the bed of the creek. The plants received good
cultivation but no irrigation. This treatment was combined after the
property passed into the hands of the late S. C. Wolfskill, the plants
being allowed to remain in the row as originally planted, and they have
attained great size, considering their crowded condition.

Another bearing date palm stands about a mile eastward of the
situation just described, near the residence of the late J. R. Wolfskill.
It was grown from seed of the date of commerce, which was planted in
1863, and the tree bore its first fruit in 1880. Near it stands a taller
date palm, which bears staminate bloom. This latter tree was originally
one of the row previously described, and was successfully moved to its
present situation after attaining considerable size.

The fruit of the two bearing palms differs notably in appearance.
That of the first mentioned tree is of bright yellow color and angular
outline ; that of the second tree is wine red, with smooth surface.

During recent years the date has fruited at many places in California
and Arizona. There is little doubt that it will succeed in any of the in-
terior regions which have a sufficiently high summer temperature, and
even the so-called Colorado Desert may be dotted with groves of date
palms as portions of it now are with groves of the majestic fan palm
of California.

Soils and Waters for the Date. — Until recently the date palm
has only been planted on good orchard land, but, according to experi-
ence in date-growing countries, the tree does not require rich soil, but
on the contrary, will thrive in a soil poor in humus — too poor and too
purely mineral for any other fruit tree ; and it produces the finest and
best flavored dates, nourished by water too alkaline for man and beast
to drink. These observations warrant the trials of the tree which are
now being made in situations not adapted to other fruits.

PROPAGATION OF THE DATE

The date palm grows readily from the seeds of the dried date of
commerce, and, as has been intimated, the trees now fruiting in this
State have been obtained in this way. By the use of seed one gets,
however, only seedlings, and the chance of thus securing a really fine
variety is probably not greater than with other fruit tree seedlings. In
date-growing countries the best varieties are propagated by rooting the
off-sets, sprouts, or suckers which appear at the base of the old palms,
To secure the best foreign varieties such plants must be imported. The
first successful enterprise of this kind was accomplished in the summer

&. -&L£B

Plate XIII. — Profuse bearing of vine by long pruning.
(See page 308.)

IMPORTATION OF FOREIGN DATES 321

of 1890 by the United States Department of Agriculture, under the
direction of H. E. Van Deman, then chief of the Division of Pomology.
The plants were divided between New Mexico, Arizona and California.
The plants for California were sent to the Department of Agriculture
of the University of California, and were planted at the experiment sta-
tions at Tulare and at Pomona, some of them being subsequently trans-
planted to the United States Date Garden at Mecca in the Colorado
desert region. Upon fruiting a number of these plants, they seemed to
be only seedlings and not the best foreign varieties, as represented.

A full account of this effort and its outcome is given in Bulletin 29,
of the Arizona Experiment Station.

The United States Department of Agriculture undertook arrange-
ments in 1899 for new importations, which were successfully made, but
all that was anticipated in securing valuable varieties was not attained.
Director R. H. Forbes, of the Arizona Experiment Station, writes in
Timely Hints No. 72 (April, 1908) :

"Several of the Old World varieties which have thus far fruited
have failed to make good for various reasons. Some have required a
longer growing season to mature ; others have soured in damp or cool
weather, and still others do not appeal to the American consumer. A
few varieties have proved acceptable in all respects, and to such as these
we must look for future commercial developments."

Of the foreign varieties thus introduced the following have been
produced in small commercial quantities : Rhars, Tedalla, Birket el
Haggi and Deglet Noor.

During recent years large importations for commercial planting in
southeastern California have been made by Mr. Popenoe, after search-
ing foreign investigations.

Growing Palms from Seed. — Seeds taken from the dried dates
of commerce germinate readily ; in fact, seedlings frequently appear in
the gutters of unpaved streets where the seeds have been thrown during
the rainy season. Director Forbes, of the Arizona Station, says that
seeds will come up more promptly if first stratified. This may be done
by taking a gasoline can or deep box and placing three inches of sand in
the bottom after making a number of holes in it for drainage. The
seeds are placed upon this layer and the can or box filled with sand, the
whole then being put in a sheltered place and kept moist from three to
six weeks, when the seeds will be soft and ready for prompt growth
when planted. The seedlings may be started in nursery rows for trans-
planting after one to three years, or if frequent irrigations may be
relied on, in the field where the trees are to remain.

Dr. W. T. Swingle, whose work on date growing has already been
cited, gives the following suggestions on the growing of seedlings and
their subsequent handling to determine sex and to select bearing palms
of desirable type:

The seed should be planted rather thickly in well-drained beds of fertile soil,
free from alkali. These beds should be watered frequently, as the young date
seedlings need an abundance of moisture. If properly cared for, the seedlings
will reach a height of from 12 to 18 inches the first year and can be transplanted
into the permanent orchard the second year.

322 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

These seedlings should be set out in rows about 30 feet apart and placed 5 or
6 feet apart in the row. Ordinarily field crops can be grown between the rows
until long after the palms come into bearing. After three or four years, when
the young palms begin to flower, the male trees can be dug up and destroyed, thus
thinning out about half of the trees Then when the female trees come into fruit,
those which yield decidedly inferior fruit can also be removed, so that finally
about one-fourth of the original number of seedlings will be left standing. The
spaces between the seedlings will be irregular and offshoots can be taken from
the best sorts and planted where the largest gaps occur. By preventing offshoots
from growing on the poorer sorts they will yield more fruit and finally can be
destroyed and replaced by offshoots from some of the better sorts. In this way,
by degrees, the orchard can be improved without expense for offshoots aside
from the labor of planting them.

Rooting Suckers. — Suckers taken off in warm weather and
watered freely usually take root readily. Care should be taken not to
let the plants dry. Director Forbes gives these points : Suckers should
not be taken from the parent tree until they have attained a diameter
of 5 to 6 inches and a weight of 15 to 20 pounds. Suckers should be
removed by cutting in and down along the line of cleavage between
them and the main trunk, with a strong chisel or a flat-pointed bar. If
possible the cut should be carried down so as to bring away at least
one or two sound roots. The leaves should be closely pruned and for
shipment the cut bases had better be protected against drying out by
layer of wet moss or similar material. In planting, the sucker should
be set in previously irrigated and well settled soil to the depth of its
greatest diameter, taking care that the center of the palm is not below
the irrigating water level.

For convenience in irrigating, a shallow basin of earth should be
made about the sucker, in which, to lessen evaporation and the rise of
alkali, a mulch of fine barnyard litter three or four inches deep should
be spread. The soil about the newly transplanted suckers should be
kept constantly wet by frequent irrigations. Suckers should be cut and
transplanted April to August, inclusive, but not during or approaching
cool weather.

Bearing Age of the Date. — There is much difference in the ages
at which the seedlings have come in fruit in the hands of different
growers. Fruit has been reported on seedlings six years old and even
on plants four years from the seed. Such early maturity must not, how-
ever, be generally expected.

Blooming of the Date. — The date palm is dioecious, and, its
staminate (male) and pistillate (female) blooms appearing on different
trees, it requires the association of the two for perfect fruiting. Grow-
ing plants from seed, as already stated, leaves the grower in doubt as
to the sex of his plants until they bloom. Usually one obtains a large
preponderance of male plants. In propagating from suckers the new
tree is of the same sex as the parent. It is advised to have about one
male to twenty female trees. The pollen can be transported long dis-
tances and maintains its vitality for a long time.

Artificial fertilization of the bloom of the bearing palm has been
found of advantage in this State and was probably first practiced by
J. R. Wolfskill. Though the staminate tree was but a few feet away
from the pistillate, the male bloom was broken in pieces and hung to

POLLINATING AND RIPENING DATES 323

the leaves of the female tree near to the pistillate flowers. It was found
that the parts of the date cluster which are nearest to the suspended
male blooms have more perfect fruit than the more distant parts. Other
California date growers have had similar experience.

In Winters the bearing date palms bloom in April and May, and the
fruit ripens in November.

Ripening the Date. — Dr. A. E. Vinson reports that the Arizona
Experiment Station has demonstrated that by pasteurization of the ripe
fruit, it is freed of the obnoxious insects that naturally infest the date.
The heat drives the small beetles from their shelter beneath the skins
and they drop to the bottom of the heater where they die. In pasteuriz-
ing, the temperature is raised sufficiently to destroy all insect eggs and
at the same time to improve the keeping quality of the fresh fruit by
checking fermentation. The date, heated after it has been ripened at
natural temperatures, becomes more palatable than the raw material
and does not cloy the appetite so quickly. These improvements alone
have greatly extended the possibilities of marketing the fresh fruit and
of its becoming a staple among the people of this country.

Beauty of the Date Palm. — The date palm in fruit is a beautiful
sight. The glauceous green pinnate leaves arch outward. Between
two of these emerge the bright orange-yellow polished fruit stalks,
which divide into a spray of slender bright yellow stems a foot or so in
length; and thickly set upon these in clusters are the various colored
fruits covered with a rich bloom. It is a sight not easily forgotten by
a lover of nature, and especially by one reared in a northern zone, the
characteristic vegetation of which is so different.

CHAPTER XXX
THE FIG

The fig is, perhaps, the grandest fruit tree of California. Its majes-
tic size and its symmetry make it a crowning feature of the landscape,
and its dense foliage renders the wide space embowered by it a harbor
of refuge from mid-summer heat, both for idlers and for the indus-
trious. On adjacent farms in Pleasant's Valley, Solano County, there
are large fig groves ; one serves as a shelter for the packers of fruit
from the contiguous orchard, and the other incloses and shades a cro-
quet ground. Measurements of large trees are abundant, for old trees
are numerous in the interior of the State, both in the valley and on the
slopes of the Sierra foothills. At Knight's Ferry, in Stanislaus County,
there is a fig tree sixty feet in height, with branches of such length as
to shade a circle seventy feet in diameter. The trunk at the base is
eleven feet around, and nine feet at a distance of three feet from the
ground. A little higher the trunk divides into seven or eight large
branches, each of which is nearly five feet in circumference. At thirty
feet from the ground the limbs are seven and eight inches through.
The largest grove is in the neighborhood of Knight's Ferry, and con-
sists of fifteen massive black fig trees, which, though set sixty feet apart,
mingle their branches overhead and form a network through which, in
the summer, hardly a beam of light can pass.

Such groves are frequently seen in the older settled parts of the
State. Perhaps the most interesting single fig tree is that on Rancho
Chico, quite near the residence of General Bidwell. It was planted in
1856, and has attained a marvelous growth. One foot above the ground
the trunk measures eleven feet in circumference; the wide-spreading
branches have been trained toward the ground and, taking root there,
banyan-like, they now form a wonderful enclosure over one hundred
and fifty feet in diameter, the tree is loaded every year.

The crop on these large trees is proportionate to their size and,
entering their area in the morning during the ripening season, one can
scarcely step without crushing figs, though the fruit may be gathered up
each day and placed in the sun for drying.

REGIONS SUITED FOR THE FIG

Though there are still many fine points to be determined as to what
situations and conditions favor the production of the very finest figs, and
there are indications that there is possibly much difference, it may be
truly said that a very small part of the State is really unsuited to its
growth. If one shuns the immediate coast of the upper part of the
State, where the summer temperature is too low for successful ripening,
and keeps below the altitude of the mountains where winter killing of
the tree is possible, he can grow figs almost anywhere.

324

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE FIG 325

Selections of varieties adapted to particular situations has much to
do with the success of the fig, as with other fruits, and, therefore, a
broad statement of adaptability must be received with such an under-
standing*. The intrusion of the coast influences borne eastward by the
winds of summer, as described in Chapter I, gives a night temperature
too low for ripening of some varieties, which turn sour upon the trees.
Present indications are that the finest dried figs, having the thinnest
skin and the nearest approach generally to the fig of Smyrna, the com-
mercial standard for dried figs, will be produced in the drier portions
of the valleys and foothills. Even in Southern California fig-souring is
quite prevalent, and selection of locations must be circumspectly made.
More time is requisite for the final demonstration of these matters,
although years have already been devoted to the problem.

SOILS FOR THE FIG

As it must be left with the future to determine the mooted point as
to the influence of special situations upon the bearing of the fig, and
the more minute characteristics of the fruit, so more experience is
needed to deconstrate the comparative effects of different soils. It
might seem, from the fact of the age of our trees in different parts of
the State, that time enough had elapsed to determine these points, but
it must be remembered that all our oldest trees are of the very hardy
variety found at the missions, and conclusions drawn from them as to
all varieties are unsafe.

The fig will thrive in any soil that one would think of selecting for
any of our common orchard trees, and, in fact, the fig succeeds on a
wider range of soils than any one of them. One is safe in planting figs
for family use, or for marketing, wherever the summer temperature is
high enough to ripen the fruit well, and the winter temperature high
enough to preserve the life of the tree. This applies merely to the
successful growth of the fig ; to secure ripening at a time when the fruit
can be profitably sold for table use, is another question.

The selection of soils especially suitable to the production of the
best figs for drying involves more considerations than rule in the growth
of table fruit. For drying, the fig should attain a good size, but should
not contain excess of moisture. In some parts of the State the first
crop of figs in the season has been found unfit for drying. The second,
and, in some localities, the third crop, appearing later in the season,
when the moisture supply of the soil is reduced, dry well. This condi-
tion of the first crop is, however, affected by local conditions, for there
are places in the Sierra foothills where the soil moisture has to be re-
plenished early in the season by irrigation to prevent even the first crop
from falling prematurely, and subsequent irrigation brings to perfec-
tion the second and third crops. The fig tree needs plenty of moisture
in the soil, but not too much. As with other fruits, if the soil does not
retain the needed amount naturally, it must be supplied by irrigation
wisely administered.

326 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

PROPAGATION OF THE FIG

The fig grows very rapidly from cuttings, and this is the chief
method of propagation. Cuttings should be made while the tree is fully
dormant, in the winter, of well-matured wood of the previous season's
growth, giving preference to the stocky, short-jointed shoots, and mak-
ing the cuttings about six to eight inches in length. The cut at the
lower end should be made at the joint, or where solid wood is found.
The planting and care of the cutting is essentially the same as of vine
cuttings, already described. If well made and cared for, a very satis-
factory growth is made the first season, and the trees are ready for
planting out in permanent place the following season.

Single Bud Cuttings. — If one desires to multiply a new variety
very rapidly single eye cuttings will make plants. This is, also, analo-
gous to single-eye grape cuttings, as already described.

Budding the Fig. — The foregoing means enable one to propa-
gate a fig so rapidly that recourse is not had to budding, as in propa-
gating other trees ; still, budding is feasible, either on small plants or
on young shoots of old trees which it is desired to bud over.

The fig may be budded by the common shield method, as used for
ordinary fruit trees, as described in Chapter IX, but owing to the
tendency of the fig bark to shrink in drying, the bud should be closely
bound in with a narrow waxed band, to exclude the air. As the bark
is thick, it is often desirable to cut out a little of the edges closest to the
bud when in place.

Another method of budding the fig is by annular or "ring budding,"
a method also relied upon with the walnut and chestnut. Annular
budding is done in the fall. A circular ring of bark is taken off from
the stock by the aid of a budding knife, by running two circular cuts
around the stock, and a longitudinal one between the two circular cuts ;
the ring of bark taken off must be at least one inch wide, and from that
up to two inches. A like ring of bark is taken off in the same manner
from the scion of the variety to be budded in, and from a branch of the
year, or preceding one, well in sap, and having about the same diameter
as the stock. The ring should have on its one or two buds. It must fit
exactly the space prepared on the stock, and more particularly at the
lower circular cut, so that both barks will exactly unite at that point.
When the ring is too long, a little bit of it might be cut off with a very
sharp knife till it fits well ; if the ring is too large for the stock, a longi-
tudinal strip would be cut out, and if too narrow, such a strip, if with
a bud on so much the better, will have to be used to fill up the empty
space. One must be vary careful while drawing the knife around the
stock not to go too deep into the wood to injure the cambium layer, or
to weaken the stock. Tie a bandage pretty firmly over the whole. After
two or three weeks the bandage has to be taken off, and, in the ensuing
spring, the top of the stock or limb is cut down three inches above the
budding.

Another way of working such trees is by "whistle budding," which
is done in the spring, when the sap is well up. The stock and the scion
must be both of the same size and well in sap. The top of the stock

BUDDING AND GRAFTING THE FIG 327

is cut down to several inches from the ground ; a circular ring of bark
is then taken off, and a corresponding ring from the scion, but without
a longitudinal cut, is put in its place. In inserting it care should be
taken that the top of the stock, which is to receive the ring from the
scion, be very smooth, and the latter is then easily pushed down around
it and bandaged. In the case of the fig, it is especially desirable to use
the latter method when the sap is up, because if the top of the stock is
not removed, the exudation from above sours around the bud and pre-
vents the union of stock and bud.

To prepare an old tree for budding over, the limbs may be cut back
in February to within two to six feet of the trunk, covering the ends
with paint or grafting wax. Allow two shoots to start near the end of
each of these amputated limbs, and rub off all other shoots. But the
shoots when they attain the thickness of one's finger, taking green buds
from the growth it is desired to introduce, or let them grow and bud in
the fall, whichever is most convenient ; or bud in the growing shoot, and
rebud in the fall where buds have failed.

Grafting the Fig. — The fig can be grafted by the cleft-graft
method, as described in Chapter IX, but the cleft should be made to one
side of the stub and not through the central pith. Especial care must
be taken in excluding the air. Fill the cleft between the scions with
warm wax, which will run in and fill the cavity. Then bind the stock
with wax bands, taking the greatest care to cover the exposed wood
surface, the cut end of the bark (which in the fig is very prone to shrink
and draw back), and as far down the stock as the bark has been split.

Cut the shield from a limb of about Y* inch in diameter, length of shield about
\l/2 inches, its thickness from l/£ to *4 inch, and its bud near the middle of the
shield. Do not remove the wood from behind the bud. Make a cut in the stock,
through the bark and into the wood, its length and width a little greater than
those of the shield. Insert the shield into the cut, so that the inner bark of the
top of the shield and cut will coincide, so that one side of the shield and cut—-and
both sides, if practicable — will coincide. Place the flap of the cut over the shield
(removing a part of the flap so the bud will not be covered), and fasten flap,
shield and stock together very firmly with twine, and protect them with paper
tied around them. They may be grafted in that mode, whenever dormant buds
are found, for the shields. Twenty-four shields were inserted at several times,
during one spring, and there was only one failure.

A method of bark grafting applied to the fig by George C. Roeding
of Fresno and approved by him after several years of successful ex-
perience, affords an excellent way of grafting over large trees. It does
away with splitting the stock and therefore hastens the barking-over
of an amputation. The branches to be grafted are cut off within 18 to
24 inches from the point of divergence from the main body of the
tree, allowing at least two branches to remain, one of which should be
on the southwest, if possible, so that the grafts will be protected from
the afternoon sun.

After having sawed off the branches, the stumps neatly smoothed
over with a sharp knife, so as to leave a clean, smooth surface, par-
ticularly along the edge, two, four or six scions should be placed on
tach stock, the number, of course, being regulated by the size of the
stump. Cut out a V-shaped piece of bark. The distance from the top
of the stock to the point of the V should be about 1% inches.

328 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Another method is to make slightly outward and downward cuts
into the stub with a sharp knife, so as not to cause a split, but rather
deep, clean cuts, into which the wedge-shaped scions are firmly pushed
and a cord wound around the stub to hold all strongly in place before
waxing thoroughly. This form of grafting will be shown in the chap-
ter on the walnut, for it is very successfully used on that tree also.

The form of side-graft with a saw cut as described in the chapter
on the peach is also available. A form of bud-graft, that is, budding
with a large shield into old bark, is also successful. Judge Rhodes of
San Jose describes his method, both with the olive and the fig, in this
way:

Select a scion of the proper size, never be smaller than an ordinary
lead pencil. As a rule scions from two-year-old wood, with very little
pith and with a diameter of about J^ inch, will give the best results.
The scions should have a sloping cut at the lower end, with the bevel
all on one side and not like a wedge. The bevel should be as long or
a little longer than the V-shaped opening in the stock and should fit
snugly into this opening, so that the bark on both edges of the scion
touches the bark of the stock. After the scions are placed, wrap tightly
with five or six-ply cotton twine, and cover the wounds as well as the
stub with liquid grafting wax. Wax the top of the scion to prevent
drying out. If waxed cloth is used it must be removed before the
warm weather sets in or the bark will be smothered and will die. After
the scions have become well united, which takes from two to three
months, the strings should be cut. This method of grafting can not be
made successfully until the sap begins to flow, say from the latter part
of February to the first of April. The scions should never be more
than four inches long.

Seedling Figs. — Figs are readily grown from the imported fig
of commerce. Dr. Gustav Eisen of San Francisco, our leading writer
on the fig, gfives the following explicit directions for growing the fig
from seed :

Cut open imported Smyrna figs; wash out the seeds in warm water, those
that float are empty and worthless ; those that sink are generally fertile. Sow
these in shallow boxes of sand and loam mixed, and place in a frame under
glass. In three weeks they will be up and must be very sparingly watered. Set
out next season in nursery row. In three years from the seed such plants wrll
be found to bear.

The tendency of the plants grown from Smyrna figs is to revert to
the wild type, and there is a small chance of securing good varieties.

PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG

The chief point to observe in planting the fig trees is to get them
far enough apart, because of the great spread of branches which they
attain. Of course they may be planted twenty feet apart if the owner
intends to remove alternate rows, but to plant at forty feet, or even
farther apart, with other fruit trees or vines between, on the plan of
alternate or double squares, described in Chapter X, would be the best

Plate XIV. — Bearing of the young date palm in California.
(See page 319.)

PLANTING AND PRUNING THE FIG 329

way to lay out a fig- orchard — the intermediate growths to be removed
as the figs require more room.

Very handsome effects are produced by planting the figs along
avenues to inclose orchards of other fruits. Fig trees are grand for
shade around buildings, and wild or Capri figs are desirable to plant in
this way for a purpose which will be mentioned later.

In transplanting fig trees extra care must be taken to keep the roots
from drying. After planting, the stem must be diligently guarded from
sunburn, to which it is liable in the warmer parts of the State.

Pruning the Fig. — The fig requires very little pruning after its
shape is outlined. There is difference of opinion and practice as to the
height at which the head should be formed ; some head nearly as low as
already advised for common orchard trees ; others, having in mind the
immense thickness attained by the limbs, and their disposition to droop,
head as high as four to six feet, which is the better way to proceed
when the trees are wide-spaced and expected to attain large size.

In shaping the tree, branches should be brought out at a distance
apart on the stem, so that there may be room for their expansion with-
out crowding each other, and care should be taken not to leave too many
main limbs. Three limbs, well placed around the stem, are enough. The
branches putting out on the under side of these limbs should be sup-
pressed, and those growing upright, or obliquely upright, retained. As
the fig has pithy shoots it is very desirable to cover all cuts with paint
or wax. After getting the general shape of the tree fixed, there is little
need of pruning except to remove defective branches or those which
cross and interfere with each other and to prevent the interior of the
tree from becoming too dense. It is better to remove branches entirely
than to shorten them ; or, in shortening, always cut to a strong lateral.
Stubs left at pruning are very undesirable in the fig.

Cultivation. — Young fig orchards are cultivated as are other
fruit areas. Old trees which completely shade the ground are usually
left to themselves, without cultivation, except cutting out weeds. Irri-
gation is governed by local conditions, as already stated. In starting
the orchard it is exceedingly important that the young trees should
not be allowed to suffer from drying out of the soil.

Bearing Age of the Fig. — The fig often, and, perhaps, usually,
begins its bearing very early, in the most favorable situations in this
State. Some fruit is often had the second year, and a crop worth
handling the third year. Still, it is wiser not to calculate definitely
upon such returns, for four or five years sometimes pass without a
satisfactory crop. We have, also, instances of "barren fig trees," which
persist in "dropping their untimely figs," year after year, during their
youth. How much of this is due to variety, and how much to locality,
is not definitely known, but successful fruiting has been secured by
grafting over barren trees, using scions from bearing trees growing
adjacent to them. This has no relation to the subject which will be
next discussed.

330 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

CAPRIFICATION*

Caprification consists in suspending the fruit of the wild or Capri
fig in the branches of the tree of improved variety, that the pollen may
be carried by an insect from the former to the later. Until the present
decade in California has never been able to produce dried figs equal to
the fig of commerce or the Smyrna fig. This was, at first, thought
to be due to lack of the Smyrna variety. After painstaking effort this
variety was introduced. Trees grew readily from the cuttings ; fruit
appeared upon them and dropped before maturity. Doubt then arose
as to whether importers had not been deceived, and other efforts were
made which resulted in other importations. These also cast to the
ground immature figs. Discussion turned then upon the fact of caprifi-
cation — the necessity of having the fruit of the Capri or wild fig
adjacent to the fruit of the Smyrna fig so that insects from the Capri
might visit the fruit of the improved variety and pollinate its inclosed
flowers, which, appearing upon the inner wall of an almost closed
cavity, could not be reached by ordinary visiting insects. The wild
tree had already been introduced and were freely growing near the
others, but this fact availed nothing — the figs fell just the same from
the Smyrna trees. In 1890 Mr. George C. Roeding, of Fresno, essayed
to demonstrate the fact that the lack of the pollination was the secret
of failure, and he succeeded in introducing the Capri pollen into the
eye of the Smyrna fig, and secured thereby the retention of such
pollinated figs upon the trees, and when ripened and dried these had
the Smyrna character. The demonstration was complete that Cali-
fornia could not grow Smyrna figs without the pollinating agency
found to be essential to success in Smyrna. This agent is a minute
wasp called the blastophaga — an insect so minute that it can make its
way through the mesh Of ordinary cheese-cloth and can enter the almost
closed eye of the young Fig — so minute that a magnifying glass is
necessary to give one any clear idea of its outline. For years constant
effort has been made by various parties to secure the introduction of
this insect. Urgent appeals were made to the United States Department
of Agriculture, after private undertakings failed, to secure the insect
alive or otherwise in form for permanent residence. In April, 1899,
the feat was accomplished, the blastophagas b.eing received from Algiers
as collected and forwarded by W. T. Swingle to Mr. Roeding. Their
offspring appeared in large numbers during the summer and fall of
the same year. On the basis of this achievement the commercial
production of a true Smyrna fig in California began and has rapidly
developed. Mr. Roeding gave his product the musical patronymic
"Calimyrna," which now adheres also the the variety from which it
is produced.

_ *In a general treatise like this only a passing reference can be made of this subject,
which is perhaps the most interesting in the whole realm of entomo-horticulture. The fie;
grower should secure the following monographs: "Smyrna Fig Culture in the United States,"
by L. O. Howard. Year Book of U. S. Dept. of Agr. for 1900; "The Fig— its History,
Culture and Curing," by Gustav Eisen, Bulletin No. 9, Div. of Pomology, U. S. Dept. of
Agr., 1901; "The Smyrna Fig at Home and Abroad," by George C. Roeding, Fresno, Cal.,
1903; "Some Points in the History of Caprification in the Life History of the Fig," by
W. T. Swingle; Report of Riverside Fruit Growers' Convention, 1908; "The Latest develop-
ment in Fig Culture," by G. P. Rixford, Pacific Rural Press, December 18 and 25, 1909;
also December 17, 1910, and July 13, 1912. The same journal has an excellent discussion of
Caprification methods in its issue of January 10, 1913.

VARIETIES OF THE FIG 331

It is an interesting fact that after this strenuous work was success-
fully accomplished it was ascertained that the fig wasp had really
reached California without assistance before 1880 and has been estab-
lished in San Joaquin county since that remote date.

To avail himself of the benefits of caprification, every grower
of varieties which require it must also grow suitable Capri figs and
establish the insect in them. California nurserymen supply these and
the insects also when the trees are of suitable age to receive them.

FOES OF THE FIG

The fig is freer from insect pests than other fruit trees, and yet it
is a mistake to consider it wholly free. The writer has seen the leaves
well covered with a lecanium scale and has found a moth larva boring
in the pith of the young shoots; still, practically, the fig tree in Cali-
fornia has not yet suffered from insects.

The gophers have a pronounced appetite for fig roots, and their
presence should be carefully watched for. Swine have a liking for fig
bark. The trees of the grand grove planted at Hock Farm, on the
Feather River, by General Sutter, were completely girdled from the
ground as high as a pig could reach by standing on its hind legs.
Figs make good food for hogs, and plantations have been made with
this in view, but if the hogs are to be harvesters, it will be well to
protect the stems of the trees from them.

VARIETIES OF THE FIG

The fig presents what may be termed an aggravated example of
the confused nomenclature which pervades California fruits. Dr. Eisen
has made a commendable effort to bring order out of chaos by a study
of foreign records and locally-grown fruit, and has published a cata-
logue of varieties chiefly grown in California, with descriptions of each
in Bulletin 5 of the Division of Pomology of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture.* The following enumeration is largely restricted to
varieties which have been commercially propagated:

Adriatic. — Size, medium, roundish; neck medium; stalk short; ribs obscure;
eye open, with red iris; skin very thin, greenish in the shade, yellowish in the
sun ; pulp bright strawberry red or white, with violet streaks in the meat ; varies
in quality according to location. Very productive and often very profitable as
dried product. Apt to sour if weather is dark or showery during ripening. This
variety is not identical with that known in Italy as Adriatic.

Agen. — Medium size, roundish; skin bright green, cracking longitudinally
when ripe, showing white bands; flesh deep red, very rich; a good bearer, but
very late, requiring a long hot season.

Angelique; syn. Angelica. — Medium, pyriform; ribs, prominent; yellowish
white; pulp white, with rose-colored center; leaves five-lobed. A very good
variety in some of the coast valleys.

*A much fuller discussion of fig varieties is to be found in Dr. Eisen's Bulletin 9,
already cited. Many notes are made of the fruiting in the late John Rock's collection on the
grounds of the California Nursery Co., at Niles, Alameda County, of many introduced varieties
which have not been commercially propagated in California.

332 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Bardajic. — "Very large, obovate, pyriform, long neck and stalk, skin very
thin, grayish green ; pulp rich crimson, fine table fig and largest of Smyrna
class." — Roeding.

Belloma. — Large, pyriform, dark purple, red flesh, fine flavor when dried.

Black Bulletin Smyrna. — Large, obtuse, pyriform, short neck, long stalk, light
purple, flesh pink, luscious.

Black Smyrna. — Small, globular, short stem, pulp dark amber, good for
home use.

Bourjassotte, White; syn. Barnissotte, White. — Medium, round and somewhat
flattened, eye large, sunk; skin waxy, green; pulp bright red. A very fine fig.
Tree very large.

Brown Turkey. — Large, turbinate, pyriform, with hardly distinct neck; stalk
short; apex flattened; ribs few; slightly elevated; eye medium, slightly open,
scales large ; skin smooth, greenish to violet-brown in sun, with darker ribs ;
pulp dark rosy red, quality good, and tree a good bearer. Brunswick is fre-
quently confounded with this fig. A distinct variety is grown in Vacaville as
Brown Turkey, which is named by Dr. Eisen "Warren."

Brunswick. — Very large, pyriform, with swollen cheeks, one of which is
larger than the other; apex very obtuse; neck and stalk very short; ribs distinct;
but not much elevated; eye medium, open; skin pale amber, with violet tint;
pulp amber. An early, large fig, but lacking flavor. Very common; requires
rich, moist soil.

Celeste, White. — Very small, amber ; suitable for preserves.

Celeste, Blue; syn. Violette. — Small, ovate, turbinate ; ribs few, but distinct,
especially near apex; eye raised, rough; color dark violet amber, without red-
dish blush ; bloom confined to the neck ; skin thin ; pulo deep rose ; meat amber,
sweet, but lacking in flavor.

Checker Injur. — "Roundish, oblate, short neck, flesh reddish, skin greenish
yellow, very thin, dries well." — Roeding.

Col. de Signora Bianco. — Medium sized, pyriform ; long ribbed neck ; skin
green, changing to yellow ; flesh deep red, very rich and luscious a strong grower ;
late, suited for a warm region.

Dauphine. — Large, round turbinate, purple with blue bloom; flesh amber.
Doree. — Medium, oblong, bright yellow, flesh rose-color.

Dottato. — Medium ovate, pyriform ; neck well set ; stalk very short or none ;
ribs low; skin smooth; eve medium; skin thin, yellowish green, meat white;
pulp yellowish amber, sometimes with violet flush. One of the best figs for
drying; tree a strong grower, requiring moist, rich soil. Lately introduced into
California.

Drap d'Or. — Large, pyriform, with very low neck and stalk; ribs elevated;
apex obtuse and concave; color light violet-reddish amber, not dark; pulp rosy
red. A fig of very fine quality; especially useful for confections and crystalizing ;
not identical with Brunswick.

Du Roi. — Above medium; round, pyriform; stalk very short; eye large or
variable, with scales standing out; skin smooth, pale bluish green; pulp amber,
with rosy streaks and exceedingly minute seeds. Related to Marseillaise and
Athens, and one of the very best figs in California for drying.

Early Violet. — Small to very small, round turbinate; neck distinct but short;
stalk medium to long; ribs distinct, elevated; skin rough; violet-brown, with
thin pearl-colored bloom; pulp red. This variety bears almost continuously and
is preferable to the Tschias and Celeste.

Genoa, White. — Above medium, pyriform ; neck small ; stalk short ; ribs indis-
tinct; skin downy; eye very small; skin pale olive-green; pulp pale rose. One
of the better figs, quite distinct from Marseillaise.

Gentile. — Very large; ovate pyriform; neck short but distinct; stalk very
short; skin uneven, with ridges; eye very large, open, with projecting scales;
color greenish yellow, spotted with white ; pulp amber, streaked with rose ; seeds

FIG VARIETIES GROWN IN CALIFORNIA 333

few but very large. Only the first crop of this variety ripens. It is of the San
Pedro tribe. One of the best early figs.

Grosse Grise Bifere. — Medium ovate pyriform; neck very short; stalk short;
ribs distinct; eye small; skin downy, dark violet amber, pale olive 'in shade; the
bloom is separate by a distinct line from the apex; pulp deep red. A tender,
good fig.

Hirtu du Japan. — Medium size, roundish with long stalks ; skin very dark ;
flesh opaline ; quality best ; very prolific.

Ischia, Black. — Small; neck short; stalk medium; skin smooth; color dark
violet black, greenish around the apex; neck dark; eye medium, open; bloom
thin, dark blue; pulp red. Of fair quality but small size.

Ischia, White. — Size below medium, round, with small neck; stalk very short;
eye open; skin smooth, bluish green, with brown flush, pulp rosy red. Common
in California.

Kassaba. — "Medium to large, globular, flattened, short neck and stalk, pale
green, pulp reddish, very sweet, dries well. Tree handsomest of Smyrna varieties."
— Roeding.

Ladaro. — Very large, oblong, pale yellow, brown cheek, flesh deep red, rich
and sugary.

Magdalen (Madeleine}. — Below medium, round; ribs distinct, rough, dis-
appearing around the eye; stalk longer than the fig, eye open, large; skin
greenish yellow; pulp amber white. A very delicious fig, superior to the Ischias
and Celeste. Not synonymous with Angelique.

Marseillaise, Long. — Large, longer than wide; skin thick, with brownish
shade; pulp dull red. Requires moist soils. A fair fig, which dries well. Not
related to either Black or White Marseillaise.

Marseillaise, White. — Medium ovate, pyriform; neck short; stalk medium;
ribs numerous and distinct ; apex flattened ; eye large, open ; skin downy, pale
yellowish green, mottled with white; pulp amber, with a few large seeds. One
of the best figs for drying. Requires sandy, rich soil.

Mission, Black. — Medium to large, turbinate ; neck long ; stalk short ; ribs
distinct; eye prominent, open; skin rough, deep mahogany violet, with red
flush ; pulp not fine, red but not bright or brownish amber ; sweet, but not high-
flavored ; common in the Southern States, California and Mexico. The oldest
fig in this country. Very regular and prolific in bearing, and free from souring
while sun drying.

Monaco Bianco; syn. White Monaco. — Large, rounded, turbinate; flattened,
neck small but very distinct ; ribs numerous ; eye very open ; skin dark bluish
green, with thin bloom; pulp dark-red rose. A most excellent fig for table, one
of the best in California.

Mouissouna.— -Globular, turbinate, flattened, dark violet, blue bloom, pulp red,
soft and sweet.

Pacific White. — An unknown variety found growing on a farm in Placer
county. Medium size, fine grained, very sweet, dries well, but the skin is thicker
and more tough than the imported fig. That and its small size are the only
objections to it. It is quite widely distributed in Southern California.

Pastiliere. — Large, 3 inches by 1%; elongated, pyriform, with long neck; stalk
short ; eye closed, surrounded by an elevated iris ; skin rough, hairy, with blue
bloom ; pulp red. Fine for preserves.

Ronde Noire. — Large, round, but, irregular; neck distinct, short; eye small;
skin smooth, waxy, dark violet brown ; pulp amber. Greatly to be recommended
as a table fig. Is not related to Black Ischia or Osborn Prolific.

Ronde Violette Native. — Large, globular, with no neck; glossy green, shaded
violet brown ; eye large ; flesh amber, surrounding rose center.

Rose Blanche. — Large, roundish, flattened ; long stalk ; brown or white ground ;
flesh bright red. Suitable for table and drying.

Royal Vineyard. — Medium, pyriform, long, slender neck; reddish brown, blue
bloom ; eye large, open ; flesh bright red.

334 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

San Pedro, White; syn. Brebas. — Very large, round, flattened at apex; stalk
and neck short ; eye open ; skin thick, tender, of a bright yellow color or greenish
in the shade, without bloom ; pulp amber. A remarkable and handsome fig.
Only the first crop matures without caprification. Suited only for table use.
Requires moist, rich soil.

San Pedro, Black. — Very large, elongated ovate, with no stalk, but with well-
set neck; skin smooth, violet black with green neck, pulp red, coppery, tinted
violet. For table use. The largest fig known.

Smyrna (Fig of Commerce, Drying Fig of Smyrna, Calimyrna). — Of several
attempts to secure the true Smyrna fig, or the variety which produces the well-
known Smyrna fig of commerce, that made by the San Francisco Bulletin, and
managed by G. P. Rixford, has achieved most prominence, and is now generally
conceded to have proved successful. Fourteen thousand cuttings were obtained
through United States Consul E. J. Smithers, in 1882, and a large part of these
were distributed throughout the State. A later direct importation of fig cuttings
from Smyrna was made by the Fancher Creek Nursery, of Fresno. These trees
have already borne fruit, as has been described in a preceding paragraph on
caprification. In the summer of 1890 cuttings imported from Smyrna by the
United States Department of Agriculture were sent to several parties in this
State. As the fig insect has fully established itself, as described on a previous
page, this variety will establish itself as the leading drying fig, here as a Smyrna,
and a very important industry will be established upon it. Other figs previously
called Smyrna in this State are misnamed.

The Rixford Fig. — There are, however, new varieties of direct Smyrna parent-
age attracting attention in this State. The planting of Smyrna fig seed by Mr.
E. W. Maslin, at Loomis, in 1886, has yielded several varieties which Mr. W. T.
Swindle described in the Pacific Rural Press of February 27, 1909, as of decided
promise. These new varieties, which might be called self-sealed figs, show a
drop of pellucid gum completely filling the very narrow mouth of the fruit when
it matures. As the figs dry and shrivel on the tree and fall to the ground, the
drop of gum hardens and hermetically seals the mouth. Such figs do not sour,
since the germs causing fermentation are unable to effect an entrance to the
pulp within. The skin is pale in color, very thin and tender, often translucent
and amber colored in the figs that have cured on the ground. The pulp is light
amber colored, full of fertile seeds, sweet and of excellent flavor. The drop of
hardened gum that closes the mouth it usually from one-sixteenth to one-eighth
inch in diameter, sometimes concealed just within the mouth, but usually partly
protruding outside.

Verdal, Round. — Below medium, round pyriform without stalk or neck; skin
smooth, waxy, bluish green; eye closed; pulp dark, blood red. A small fig, but
valuable for canning and preserves ; better than the Ischias or Celeste. It does
well in the Santa Clara Valley, but is inferior in the interior of the State.

White Endich. — A re-named variety. Medium, golden yellow, pulp white
tinged with pink; tree prolific and long ripening season.

Verdal Longue. — Medium, oblong, turbinate ; stalk and neck short ; eye closed ;
yellow, ribs brownish ; flesh red ; sweet aromatic.

Zimitza. — Large, pyriform, greenish, yellow amber flesh ; good grower and
bearer.

There are many undetermined varieties of the fig grown here
and there in the State. Some may be finally identified, others may
be new. Some of them yield an excellent dried fruit and should be
more carefully experimented with. The outlook for the fig seems to
rest upon successful caprification, although recently there has been
increased success in profitable drying of other varieties.

CHAPTER XXXI
THE OLIVE AND ITS GROWTH IN CALIFORNIA

The olive is another of the old mission fruits and though the
tree and its products have been constantly under discussion since the
American occupation, and though experimentation has been constant,
it was not until 1885 that the tide of popular favor turned strongly
toward the olive. For twelve years thereafter planting proceeded
with enthusiam amounting almost to infatuation, until the acreage
in olives ten years ago reached such a figure that even the most
enthusiastic ceased from further planting, because the future of the
products of the olive was by no means clear. The competition of olive
oil with cheaper salad oils worked greatly to the disadvantage of the
higher-priced article, but as deception is now ruled out by recent pure-
food legislation, cheaper oils can no longer be sold under the name of
the olive, and legitimate producers will henceforth be protected.

The difficulty of producing pickled ripe olives with good keeping
qualities is also vastly greater than anticipated. In addition to these
troubles the sterility of the trees in some situations, through frost or
other agencies, discouraged many growers. It is probable that during
the first decade of this century the uprooting of trees far exceeded the
planting and the olive acreage decreased considerably. At the same
time there was much progress attained in the building and equipment
of oil mills and pickling establishments, and in mastery of processes
which yield acceptable products — all of which have favorably influenced
the demand and price of the fresh fruit. The fact is, the olive was
boomed in California along spectacular and speculative lines, and the
industrv had to outlive the mistakes which were made. California will
produce profitably, good olives and olive products in suitable places and
through the efforts of masterful men and women who can rise to the
requirements of production. This view is justified by the experience
of the last few years. During the year 1913, the price for good pickling
olives ranged from $140 to $160 per ton, while fancy fruit reached
$200 and upwards. Such prices were never previously attained and
it is believed that even one-half of these values would be profitable, if
the trees were fairly productive. This is the ruling factor in the
business for olives have proved very shy bearers in many places. Wise
investments seems to be to enlarge profitable areas by planting under
conditions demonstrated to be favorable.

The olive tree has survived a temperature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit
in California, but the fruit is injured by a slight fall below the
freezing point. This may render unprofitable the late varieties which
carry their fruit-ripening into the winter months.

The olive tree will thrive throughout the larger part of California,
and it has been shown that it will grow in a soil too dry even for the
grape-vine, and too rocky for any other fruit tree, but the growth of
the tree and the bearing of fruit will be proportional to the amounts

335

336 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

of plant food and moisture, and it is idle to expect fruit without irri-
gation if the soil can not hold water enough for the tree. There
must be moisure enough in the soil to hold the fruit plump
and smooth. Olives shriveled by drouth will usually become smooth
again after fall rains, but shriveling, either by drouth or frost, leaves
the fruit not in the best condition for pickling.

On foot-hill slopes the trees bear fruit earlier than in the rich valleys,
although in the latter the trees attain larger growth. Trees in the
interior bear sooner than on the coast, and ripen their fruit earlier in
the season.

The olive tree is now thriving in California in a great variety of
soils. It is productive, if frosts are not too severe on moist valley
lands, while on hillsides, even where excavations had to be made
between boulders, or into disintegrating rock, the tree has exhibited
thrift and content with the situation. But the conclusion should not be
drawn that the olive relishes poor soil. It may thrive with loose rocks
or boulders, but it finds among them the elements it needs including an
adequate supply of moisture. It is not to be inferred that the olive
will succeed on sterile soil.

The olive is chiefly grown with clean summer cultivation. Growing
the tree in irrigated alfalfa, as discussed in Chapter XIV is objection-
able because of the danger of delaying the ripening of the fruit and
bringing it farther into the rainy season, which is a very great dis-
advantage.

Although the relations of soils to the qualities of oil have been
investigated by the University of California Experiment Station and
some interesting results published, we have not had experience enough
in this State to demonstrate the influence of soils on the quality of
the oil, but trade results have shown that good oil has been made from
fruit grown on some of our best valley fruit soils, deep and naturally
(veil drained, as well as from fruit grown upon drier uplands, and the
production on deeper, richer lands is much larger.

PROPAGATION OF THE OLIVE

Olives are propagated from seed, and from cuttings of various
kinds and sizes. The growth from seed is seldom practised in this
State, because growth from cuttings is easy, and furnishes the variety
desired without grafting.

Growing Olives from Seed. — The olives should not be planted
with the pulp, but cleaned of this either by letting them rot in a pile
or by putting them into an alkaline solution to cut the oil. A simple
way to hasten germination is to break the pits, taking care not to
hurt the germ. An instrument similar to the nut cracker has been
invented in France which is said to work well. When the kernels
are deprived of their shell, they may be kept moist in a compost, or
mixture of cow-dung and sandy soil, and sow thickly in the month
of April. If it is thought to be too much work to take the kernels out
of the pits, they must be soaked for twenty-four hours in a solution

OLIVES FROM SEEDS AND CUTTINGS 337

of one-half pound of concentrated lye to the gallon of water. Most
of the seeds sprout the first year. Planting the naked kernels gives
the quickest result. Without using this artificial means some of the
seeds may remain dormant at least for two years. Clipping the tip
of the shell, so as to open a small aperture so that moisture can enter
readily, will often cause nine-tenths of the seed to grow within three
months.

G. P. Hall, of San Diego, gives the following hints for those who
desire to experiment with seedling olives :

After the pulp has all been taken off with lye water (in order to remove all
the oil and to roughen the shell), the seed is washed in clean water and then
kept in moist sand till planting time, which is in February and March. They
will not all germinate the first year, so it is best to preserve the seed-bed.
Some assist the germination by cracking the pits in an iron vise ; one turn of
the screw generally splits the shell. Leave the pit in the cracked shell when
you plant in the prepared seed-bed. Some use boxes perforated to insure drain-
age ; the boxes are filled to within three inches of the top with good sandy loam,
then the kernels, cracked or otherwise, are spread over the top and an inch or
more of sand covers the whole, which must be kept constantly moist. The
cracking of the kernels greatly accelerates the germination, and a person can
prepare 600 or more seed in a day. Take seed from best trees and avoid
dwarfs of any kind. Use any good kinds of either pickling or oil olives as you
may desire.

Large Cuttings. — There are two chief methods of propagating
the olive from cuttings now practised in California. One uses well-
matured wood, and the other young wood which has just passed out
of the herbaceous state. Practice with hard wood proceeds by taking
cuttings of sound wood about a foot long and one-half to one inch
in diameter, and rooting them as already described for vine cuttings,
in Chapter XXVI. A fresh cut should be made at the bottom of the
cutting and if the bark has shriveled at all the cuttings should be
put in water for a time before planting. These large cuttings sometimes
remain dormant for a year or more, and recent propagation has been
largely by the small-cutting method.

Small Cuttings. — Propagating by small cuttings serves an
excellent purpose in rapid multiplication of varieties; it enables the
grower to handle a large number of plants in a small space, and the
plants from small cuttings have a symmetrical root system quite
resembling that from a seed. These cuttings are made from very
small shoots and both the tips and the lower cuts are used. In the
engraving the figure on the left is a tip cutting; the next, a cutting
lower down the shoot. These figures are about natural size, and show
clearly how the cuttings are made. They are placed closely in boxes
of sand about four inches deep, rooted under glass or in a lath house,
and after a few months are potted in small pots, or may be reset farther
apart in boxes of soil or in the open ground. In January or February,
the wood seems to be in the best condition in Berkeley, but such condi- '
tion, may come at other times in other parts of the State. From such
cuttings the trees will be of good size for planting in permanent place
the next year. It is very important to take the small cuttings just ,
when the wood is in the right condition, not too soft nor too hard.

338 CALIFORNIA FRUITS! HOW TO GROW THEM

Propagating the Olive by small cuttings.

How to determine this point can not be described ; it must be learned
by experience.

Growing Trees from Truncheons. — New varieties secured from
the south of Europe generally come in the shape of truncheons, which
are long sticks of hard wood. They may be planted entire, or be
sawn and split into large cuttings (for olive cuttings, even in firewood
shape, will grow if properly treated), though better trees come from
small cuttings. If the truncheons are bedded a few inches below the
surface in moist, warm soil, shoots will appear which can be worked
up into small cuttings when they reach the proper condition.

BUDDING THE OLIVE

Since the planting of a large area of Redding Picholines and the
fruit found to be that of a wild or poor seedling olive and not a superior
named variety, there has been a demand for working over the trees
into better varieties. Besides, many of the imported varieties have
proved disappointing and a change to a variety profitable in the region
is imperative. The method of budding commonly employed with fruit
trees does not usually yield a high percentage of success with the
olive, and other ways have been adopted with much better results.

Budding may be performed at any time of the year when the sap
flows freely. If done late in the summer, the buds lie dormant through
*he winter. Best results are obtained when the buds are inserted

TWIG-BUDDING THE OLIVE 339

early in the spring, as the operation can be performed to a much
better advantage, and the buds will grow to some height before winter.
When inserted in large orchard trees, or in limbs of large trees, the
shoots from the inserted buds are allowed to grow until they have
attained such a size as will justify in the removal of the entire top.

Twig Budding. — Twig budding is very successful. The bud is
cut deep into the wood, in order to give the bud as much bark as pos-
sible. The leaves are partly cut off ; then, with the sharp point of the
budding knife, the greater part of the wood inside of the bud is
removed, as shown in the picture. If part of the wood is not removed,
then the bud can not take, as the wood in it prevents the two barks
(the inner bark of the bud and the inner bark of the stock) from
uniting. When the wood has been partly removed from the bud, the
bud is inserted into the stock, as budding is done in the regular,

*4
Olive: Twig-Bud as cut. Olive: Twig-Bud Inserted.

ordinary way, and tied tight. A small tip-twig may be used or a longer
twig, cut back to the lowest bud and part of the foliage cut away, as
shown in the engraving. At the end of three or four weeks the string
is removed, and part of the top of the stock is cut back to force the
bud to start. As the bud grows, the foliage of the stock is gradually
removed, until the bud is able to take up the entire flow of sap; it is
then left to grow, and it may be protected by tying to a long stub of
the branch which may be left for that purpose above the point of
insertion. When the bud has grown out strongly, what remains of
the stock above the bud is cut smooth, close to the bud, to allow it to
heal over.

Flap-Budding the Olive. — Although the use of a twig with a
pushing bud is to be commended strongly a dormant bud can be forced
into activity quite successfully. Mr. C. A. Wetmore describes this
method :

Late in the spring, when advancing warmth has set the sap to moving freely,
observe a tree of the kind you desire to propagate. Notice parts of limbs with

340 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

vigorous growth and clean bark free from little lateral twigs. Where a leaf
adheres to such limbs or where one has been and fallen off, there is a small
bud or eye. Such dormant buds or eyes are lifted from the wood together with a
small piece of the bark about one-third or half an inch square. On the properly
selected limbs of the trees you wish to bud into, make three cuts with a knife
so as to include a space a little longer than the piece of bark to be inserted.
Two parallel cuts are in line with the limb; one is across the top. Lifting the
flap of bark thus made carefully with dull side of a blade, the cambium layer of
the wood will be exposed. Slip in the piece of bark with the dormant bud and
press it close with the flap made on the limb. Tie the flap firmly to cover the
whole piece inserted with raffia or strips of cloth or soft twine. At the end of
one week cut the ligatures and suffer the flap to curl up and dry. If the inser-
tion has united to the wood, it will remain green and fresh-looking about the
dormant eye. If this freshness continues after exposure, the bud has taken.
Then cut with a knife or saw into the limb above the bud to induce the sap
to force the growth. If any one fails, the limb need not be cut into, but may
be budded in another place. The following winter, cut off the limb above the
bud if it has sprouted well, and, as sufficient new wood is made, the old branches
of the tree may be cut away.

GRAFTING THE OLIVE

Grafting is also used in working over both large and small olive
trees. Good success can sometimes be had with the ordinary method
of top grafting, as described in Chapter IX, using scions not larger
than a lead pencil and inserting them in April. The olive can also be
successfully grafted in the bark according to the method shown in
Chapter IX. This graft is used for working in the top of the tree, but
it may also be used at the surface of the ground, covering the cut
surfaces with earth when the scions are in place. Judge A. L. Rhodes,
of San Jose, gives the following explicit account of his success with a
bark graft, as follows:

The stock, where cut off, may be from half to two and one-half inches in
diameter; the scion about one-quarter inch in diameter, the lower end to be
formed by an oblique cut of about one and one-half inches. Split the bark of
the top of the stock about one inch, raise the bark at the sides of the split
slightly, insert the point of the scion between the bark and wood of the stock,
at the split, and press it down the length of its oblique cut. Fasten it by binding
twine around both stock and scion, about ten times, very firmly. Apply grafting
wax to top of stock and scion.

If the bark of the stock be three or more years old, make two slits in it,
about one and one-half inches in length, the width between them equaling the
width of the oblique cut of the scion, raise the bark between the slits, cut off
about half of it, by a sloping cut, then insert the scion and press it down, and
bind with twine and apply grafting wax, as above directed. Cotton wrapping
twine is of sufficient strength.

Stocks the diameter of one inch or more should receive two or more scions.
Scions gathered a short time before their insertion are the most successful. The
twine around the stock and scion should not be loosened until it indents the bark
of the stock. Protect the graft from sun and wind. Wrap paper around stock
and scion, the paper to extend a few inches above the scion — or place the paper,
in the form of a bag, over scion and stock — and secure the paper with twine,
tied around the stock in a slip-knot.

Bark grafting may be performed at any time when the bark of the stock
can be readily raised — whenever the bark will "slip." I grafted in that mode in
each week of April and May and the first of June, and in September. Failures
not 5 per cent. Twelve scions inserted about the middle of last September are

TRANSPLANTING OLIVE TREES 341

all growing. Shield budding is the most successful in the spring. I prefer
the bark grafting, as the shield buds may not start for months, or even for
a year.

Side Graft on Small Wood. — A satisfactory graft can be made
with an oblique cut, as shown in Chapter IX, which is superior to a
split of the stock, because on a small stock the spilt is apt to continue
farther than desirable when the scion is pushed in. With the slanting
cut in the stock the scion can be firmly pushed into place without
splitting. The union of inner barks of scion and stock must be made
on one side when the stock is larger than the scion. This graft is tied
in and waxed, or a waxed band may be used. In working small wood
at the ground surface, the earth should be drawn up around the graft.

Grafting on Rooted Cuttings. — Good trees are made by grafting
in the nursery or rooted Picholine cuttings. Such cuttings are made
from wood, say, one-half inch in diameter. Using a young scion with
a starting bud. Such a scion makes a salable tree with one year's
growth.

PLANTING THE OLIVE

There is nothing gained by planting out the olive too early in the
spring. Both cuttings and rooted plants will do better if planted after
the soil becomes well warmed, and after the heavy rains of the winter
are well over. Of course the time when this condition comes is different
from year to year, and varies, also, according to locality and situation.
During the first summer the young plants will need occasional water-
ing in some situations ; in others, merely mulching, or keeping the
surface finely stirred, will suffice.

Olive trees are planted at differentdistances, but the ruling intervals
are twenty to twenty-five feet. This will allow the trees to bear a
number of years before they crowd each other; and then removing
alternative trees gives ample distance for future growth. But it is
clearly the part of wisdom to hold the olive to a low growth in order
that the fruit may be cheaply gathered, and this may be done by
proper pruning.

Transplanting Old Olive Trees. — It is often desired to move
olive trees of considerable size and the method outlined below is,
applicable to olives and citrus fruits and, in a general way, to all ever-
green trees :

After the heavy rains are over and the ground is getting warm — say
in February — cut back not less than one-half of the top. Trench all
around the tree to a depth of two or three feet, according to the size
of the tree ; the inside edge of the trench about two feet from the trunk
of the tree. At the same time remove top earth down to the roots
to reduce the weight. This trenching cuts off all side roots and gives
room to get in to handle the ball of earth, which rope up with barley
sacks under the ropes so as to hold the ball from breaking. When this
is done well, dig in and under the tree from the bottom of the
trench so as to cut off the bottom roots. Carefully pull and
pry the ball to see that it will wobble a little in the hole to
show that all the roots are cut. The get ropes and sacks under the

342 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

ball, rig up a derrick and block and tackle and lift the balled tree out
of the hole, land it on a low truck and haul it to a new hole previously
made ready, and lower it into place by the same tackle which lifted it.
Fill in with fine earth and water-settle it to fill all cavities — covering
with loose earth several inches to keep from drying. Be sure the tree
has plenty, but not too much, moisture during its first summer in its
new place.

Large deciduous trees can be removed when dormant with much
less labor, but it should be done in the fall-as soon as the soil is deeply
wet by rains. It should be understood, however, that moving large fruit
trees, either evergreen or deciduous, is seldom commercially desirable.

PRUNING THE OLIVE

Pruning policies as insisted upon in Chapter XII, have direct
bearing upon the commercial growth of the olive. The development
of the tree according to principles there laid down is practicable and
desirable. After proper low form is secured, satisfactory bearing will
depend upon regular pruning to secure new bearing shoots and
thinning to prevent the tree from becoming too dense and bushy. The
olive bears upon wood which grew the preceding year, and upon no
other. It is just as important, then, to secure a good supply of such
shoots as it is to secure new bearing wood for the peach, and the ways
to do it, by cutting back and thinning out, are much the same. Keep
the tree from running out of reach of a step-ladder; prevent it from
becoming a brush-heap, for both these acts are essential to the growth
of good bearing wood, low down. At the same time it must be remem-
bered that too severe cutting-back forces the growth of branches which
form only wood buds and fruiting is postponed. The secret is to
prune enough to induce plenty of new growth but so that not much
excessive, non-bearing, new growth results. This is secured by regualar
and moderate pruning; some growers systematically cutting back the
new growth one-half to two-thirds.

Trees which have been allowed to form umbrella-like tops may be
brought down to business again by cutting back the main limbs and
making selection from the many new shoots which appear, but by
proper, regular pruning a tree can be so trained that the removal of
large limbs is seldom necessary. The times to prune the olive are
just after the gathering of the fruit or just before new growth starts
in the Spring.

Developing the Vase Form. — Explicit suggestions as to the
development of a low, vase-form tree may be helpful to inexperienced
growers. The following is from a foreign writer, whose illustrations
are presented herewith:

When the young tree has attained some height, it is the practice to cut off
the top, so that the main stem shall be about four and a half feet in rich soil,
or three feet in poor soil or in locations exposed to strong winds. Six or eight
branches are left to form the head. The process of shaping the tree then pro-
ceeds, as shown in the engravings. Fig. 1 shows the young tree to be cut at the

OLIVE PRUNING ILLUSTRATED

343

B

Fig. 1.

Fig. 4.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

344 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

point marked by the dotted line C. Six branches, three on each side, are left, and
the lower twigs shortened. Each of the branches left develops, during the year,
as the one shown in Fig. 2, which is then cut at C again, and the shoots B and D
are shortened. This process starts out the upper shoots, and appears the follow-
ing year as A in Fig. 3, and it is again cut at C. This causes the two upper
shoots to develop, and at the end of the year they appear as shown at BB in Fig. 4,
Thus they stand at the fourth year's pruning, and each of them is cut at C, and A
is shortened and D allowed to develop. By this time the tree has a spherical
or vase form, and exposes much surface to the sun, which is desirable.

The young branches that spring in the form of a cross on the more vigorous
branches, bear only wood buds ; the others, which are weaker, bear fruit buds
on their whole length and burst into blossom at the spring of the second year.
The latter never blossom again in the same place, but the shoot extends itself
and forces two lateral ones. These new shoots bear the following spring, and
so on. It must therefore be always borne in mind that the olive bears only on
the two-year-old wood. If the new shoots are formed every year, the olive
will bear annually; but in years of good crops, the sap employed to nourish
the fruit only produces a number of very diminutive shoots, and the next crop
is a short one. The pruning ought to favor the growth of young lateral shoots,
either by shortening the terminal ones, suppressing the "gormand," or fruitless
shoots, or by reducing in a certain proportion, each year, the fruit-bearing
shoots, if we wish for a crop every year. The shortening of a branch is made
immediately above an outside bud in an oblique direction, the interior one
being suppressed. The suckers at the root of the tree should be continually
cut off.

Concerning the time for pruning, the best season is said to be when the
winter frosts are well over and just before the sap starts in the spring. By
early pruning the sap is made to act upon the buds unfavorably situated on the
tree, brings them out, and also develops latent buds on the old wood. Thus one
is enabled to prevent the tree from becoming covered with naked limbs.

THE FRUIT AND ITS PRODUCTS

The agricultural experiment station of the University of California
was occupied for many years in the growth of olives and close exam-
ination of olive products both by laboratory and practical test. The
publications of the station discuss the operations of oil making and
pickling and the suitability of varieties and for the purpose ot this
treatise outlines will be drawn from these sources.

Gathering the Fruit. — Olives should be picked carefully and at
the right time. For green pickles they should be picked very soon after
they obtain full size, but before they have begun to color or soften.
For ripe pickles and for oil making the fruit should be gathered when
it contains the maximum amount of oil. This is soon after the olives
are well colored, but before they have attained the deep black which
signifies overripeness. If the olives are gathered too green the oil
will be bitter; if too ripe, it will be rancid. When they can be easily
shaken from the tree they are ripe enough. If they commence to fall
without vigorous shaking they are overripe. For whatever purposes
the olives are to be used they should be carefully gathered by hand,
and imperfect, immature, or bruised fruit rejected. Sound fruit is
required for high-grade oil or for handsome pickles with good keeping
quality.

OLIVE OIL IN CALIFORNIA 345

THE MANUFACTURE OF OLIVE OIL

Olive oil is made in this State with apparatus of both Californian
and Europeon design, and, as a rule, there is made only one, and at
most but two, pressings of the pomace, which is then used for fattening
swine. In the frequent working over of the pomace, and the close
extraction of the oil, as practiced in Europe, we have done little as yet.

Olive oil is made on a small scale by a number of parties who use
home-made contrivances, or small, portable cider machinery for the
crushing and pressing. During the last few years quite a number of
mills have been erected at several points in California and they have
made a market for the olives produced by growers who do not care
to undertake manufacture. A detailed account of oil making, includ-
ing descriptions of buildings and machinery, published by the University
Experiment Station has been out of print for several years, but can be
consulted in libraries.* As this is available to those who desire such
specific information, only an outline will be undertaken for the informa-
tion of the general reader.

Drying. — Extraction of oil from fresh olives gives the best oil,
but it is somewhat troublesome, and it is customary to partially dry
them. This partial drying is also useful to keep the fruit for some
time or for shipment before crushing. Place the olives in layers not
more than three inches deep, on trays that are stacked in a dry, well-
aired room, protected from the wind and the direct rays of the sun.
Turn daily until the fruit becomes well wrinkled. This requires about
eight or ten days, according to the degree of temperature. The par-
tially dried fruit may be stored in a dark room where the temperature
does not rise above sixty degrees Fahrenheit, for three or four weeks
without any serious deterioration of oil. To hasten the drying process,
artificial driers, constructed on the same principle as the fruit or hop
driers, are sometimes used. The olives are placed in a single layer
upon trays, and the drier is kept at a temperature of about one hundred
and twenty degrees Fahrenheit ; at over one hundred and thirty degrees
Fahrenheit the quality of the oil may be impaired. The drying takes
about forty-eight hours — more or less — according to the nature of
the fruit.

Crushing. — The olives are usually crushed by heavy stone roll-
ers revolving in a circular depression in a bed of masonry into which
the fruit is placed. Chrushers with corrugated bronze or bronzed metal
rollers are now made that perform their work in a very satisfactory
manner, breaking up the flesh and pits very thoroughly. As they are
all of metal they absorb no oil and are easily cleaned. It is very
essential that the flesh should be crushed thoroughly in order to break
up the cells and permit the oil to be pressed out.

Pressing. — When the revolving crusher has reduced the olives
to a mass, the pomace is shoveled up from the bed of the mill and pre-
pared for pressing. Instead of the fabric of woven esparto grass which
is used abroad, coarse linen cloth is used. A certain amount of the

* "California Olive Oil: its Manufacture," by G. W. Shaw, Bulletin 155, University
Experiment Station, Berkeley, Cal.

346 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

pulp is put in each cloth, so that when the cloth is folded back it makes
a cheese about three feet square and three inches thick. Ten or more
of these cheeses are placed one above the other, with slats between, and
the pressure applied gently at first. From the liquid which runs out
first is made the very finest oil, known as "virgin oil." The pressure is
then increased very gradually until the full power of the machine is
reached. This presses out the second quality of oil, which is generally
mixed with the first. After obtaining all the oil possible by the first
pressure the "cheese" is taken out, thoroughly broken up in hot water,
and again pressed. This yields the third quality, which is very much in-
ferior to the first and second. Sometimes the "cheese" from the first
pressing is thoroughly broken up with cold water and pressed again
before being treated with hot water. In this way a little oil is obtained
that differs a little from the second quality, and may be mixed with it.
After this a certain amount of oil still remains in the "cheese," but it
can be extracted only by very powerful hydraulic presses, or by chemical
means, and then is of very inferior quality, and suitable only for burning
or for soap making.

Settling and Clarifying. — The liquid from the press is dark col-
ored, and it is conducted into a receptacle for settling. Much of the
foreign matter quickly separates, the oil appearing on the top. The oil
is removed to other receptacles in which it can stand from two to five
months for perfect separation of undesirable sediment. These settling
tanks may be of well-tinned metal, or of cement lined with glass or other
impervious substance. The first settling is conveniently made by means
of a funnel-shaped apparatus, which by its conical shape facilitates the
rapid deposition of sediment. After standing for twenty-four hours
in this apparatus the major part of the sediment is deposited and can
be drawn off at the bottom. It is well, before running the oil into the
settling tanks, to pass it through two or three inches of cotton wool.
This is accomplished by means of a funnel with a perforated, horizontal
cross partition, upon which the cotton is placed. It takes, generally,
about one month for the oil to settle sufficiently in the first tank, after
which it should be drawn off carefully into the second, and so on until
it is sufficiently bright. Three rackings are usually sufficient.

Olives are sometimes ground and pressed in portable cider mills or
ground in barley crushers for oil manufacture on a small scale. As the
above description shows, oil making is a simple process, and may be
carried on at home with rude devices. It is, however, a process requir-
ing care and cleanliness, and intelligent personal attention.

PICKLING THE OLIVE

Olives are pickled in a green state, as is the case with the imported
olives ; or in a ripe state, as largely undertaken in California. No one
had any conception at first of the difficulties attending the production
of pickled ripe olives which would have the keeping quality demanded
in an article of commerce. It is now clearly seen that treating olives to
extract the bitterness and to secure firmness, good flavor and keeping

OLIVE PICKLING METHODS 347

quality is one of the most difficult propositions in our horticultural
manufacturing, and we can but admire the wisdom of the Spaniard in
teaching Anglo-Saxons to enjoy green olives. To succeed with the ripe
olive requires the utmost patience, experience, and intelligence, and one
who undertakes it must not get weary of the most exhaustive study of
difficulties that may arise and how to meet them. When the most care-
ful picklers with the best appliances sometimes lose hundreds of dollars
worth in spite of all they know about it, the difficulty of the matter
may be appreciated.

The following is an outline of the pickling of olives as drawn from
the University publications by Professor Bioletti :

The pickling of olives involves three steps : I. Treatment with lye to neutral-
ize the acidity and bitterness. 2. Repeated soaking in water to remove the
excess of lye. 3. Salting by soaking in brines of gradually increasing strengths.

(1) Neutralization. Soak the olives for twelve hours in a solution made by
dissolving 1% pounds of caustic potash in 12 gallons of water. Very bitter
olives may require a second treatment with fresh lye (Mission, Manzanillo,
Sevillano) ; sweeter olives may require a weaker lye (Ascolano, Columbella).
With soft olives, \l/2 pounds of salt should be added to the lye. The olives should
be kept submerged by means of a floating cover and the lye drawn from the
bottom and poured over the top two or three times to insure equal treatment.

(2) Soaking. When, by examination of the color of the flesh of the olives,
it is found that the lye has penetrated nearly to the pit, they should be removed
to pure water. This water is renewed at least once a day until the lye is removed,
which requires two or three days. With soft olives, a brine containing about
two pounds of salt to twelve gallons of water should be used for removing the lye.

(3) .Salting. When the lye and most of the bitterness have been removed
the olives should be placed in stronger brine. If the olives are to be canned or
bottled, a brine containing about five pounds of salt to twelve gallons of water
is sufficiently strong. If they are to be kept in barrels ten or twelve pounds of
salt will be needed. The olives must be prepared for the strong brine gradually
by being placed in new brines every three to four days. Each brine should be
about two per cent stronger than the last.

Precautions. — Strong lye tends to soften the fruit. A second
treatment is weak lye is better for bitter olives than a strong lye. Salt
has a tendency to harden the fruit and can be used to counteract the
softening effect of the lye with very ripe olives. Strong brine will
shrink and shrivel the olives, unless they are prepared for it by solu-
tions of gradually increasing strengths.

Color. — With ripe pickles, the object is to have the color as uni-
form and dark as possible. Uniformity is obtained by pickling each
variety by itself, by having the fruit as evenly ripe as possible and by
exposing the olives to each solution in as uniform a manner as possible.
Spotting comes usually from unevenness of the lye treatment, and
especially from allowing some olives to float on the surface. Depth
of color is obtained by having the olives thoroughly ripe. By exposing
the olives to the air for several hours between the various solutions,
both the depth and uniformity of the color are increased.

With green olives, the air should be excluded as much as possible,
until the final brine is reached. A little vinegar improves both the color
and flavor of green olives. Some picklers advise the addition also of a
few bay leaves.

348 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Pure- Water Process. — The best pickled olives are made without
the use of lye, but this process is only practicable with olives whose
bitterness is easily extracted, and where the water is extremely pure
and plentiful, and even then it is very slow and tedious. It omits the
preliminary lye treatment. The olives are placed from the beginning
in pure water, which is changed twice a day until the bitterness is
sufficiently extracted. This requires from forty to sixty days or more.
The extraction is sometimes hastened by making two or three shallow,
longitudinal slits in each olive, but this modification, besides requiring
a large amount of expensive handling, renders the fruit peculiarly
susceptible to bacterial decay and softening. Altogether the pure-water
process can not be recommended for California, as it is too expensive
and uncertain.

Green Pickles. — Green pickled olives are made by essentially
the same processes as are used for ripe olives. The extraction of the
bitterness requires the same care. The olives are pickled soon after
they have attained full size, and before they have shown any signs of
coloring or softening. They contain at this time comparatively little
oil, and are in every way much inferior to the ripe pickles in nutritive
value. They are not a food but a relish. They are rather more easily
made than the ripe pickles, as there is less danger of spoiling.

CANNING THE RIPE OLIVE

The use of heat and hermetical sealing after the pickling process is
completed is a recourse to avoid the difficulties of ripe pickling and
canned olives, put upon the market in the same form as other canned
fruits, have recently become popular. There are special canneries for
their preparation at several points in the State and the general can-
neries are also handling olives in considerable quantities. The process
is in the main like that of canning other fruits, but special points have
to be learned through experience. The University investigation of
the effect of heat on the olive shows that ripe pickled olives, heated to
175 degrees F., kept perfectly for thirty-two months. By heating them
still higher in sealed cans on bottles they can be kept indefinitely with
as great facility as any other food product. The heating does not in-
jure the flavor and the texture, but, on the contrary, improves them.
Olives, preserved by heating do not require such strong brine, and it is
only necessary to add as much salt as the palate requires. The heating
causes some of the coloring matter to diffuse into the brine, so that the
olives are made a little lighter colored. With time, however, the
colored matter diffuses out in the same way from unheated olives, so
that at the end of a year the heated olives are actually darker in color
than the unheated.

VARIETIES OF THE OLIVE GROWN IN CALIFORNIA

tMany varieties of the olive have been brought to California from
southern Europe during the last thirty years. Fifty-seven varieties
have been analyzed and elaborately reported upon by the University

POPULAR VARIETIES OF THE OLIVE 349

experts, and of these about fifteen varieties at first promised to rise to
commercial account but many of them have been dropped. It is an
interesting fact, however, that in spite of all the efforts put forth to
secure a better olive than the old Mission variety, this old sort still
heads the list. Several varieties at first popular have been abandoned
because of an interior decay of the pulp.

The following are the varieties now favored in California on a
commercial scale, arranged approximately in the order of their present
popularity : Mission ; Manzanillo ; Ascolano ; Sevillano ; Nevadillo.

Other varieties sometimes used for pickling are : Oblitza ; Macro-
carpa ; Picholine ; Columbella ; Regalia ; Goodal ; Atro-rubens ; Verdale ;
Santa Caterina.

These may be taken, then, as practically all the varieties to which
planters are giving attention. Of course future experience may pro-
duce changes in this list, but there is little present indication that it will
be much enlarged. Descriptions of many other varieties are retained,
largely for old acquaintance sake :

The Mission Olive. — By this name is signified the variety found growing at
the old missions in California. Samples of the fruit and leaves sent by F. Pohn-
dorff to Don Jose de Hidalgo Toblada, a noted Spanish authority on the olive,
led to the classing of our mission varieties with the Cornicabra-Cornizuelo
varieties of Spain, and its value was confirmed. It has long been known that the
s>called Mission olive embraced several varieties, or sub-varieties at least.

Common or Broad-Leaved Mission Olive. — The variety of olive most generally
known as the Mission; ovate, oblique — sometimes very much so — the pit straight
or slightly curved, fruit very variable in size, growing singly or in clusters of two
or three, or even five ; time of ripening, late, in the coast region sometimes not
before February, but generally in December; in warm localities in November;
tree vigorous and a good bearer, preferred by picklers.

Redding Picholine. — Imported by the late B. B. Redding. A perfect oval in
shape, ripens early, several weeks earlier than the common Mission ; dark purple
or black when ripe; in pickling the pulp loses the bitterness quickly, the fruit
beinsr very pleasant. This variety was propagated extensively, in the State and,
until fruiting was supposed to be a large pickling variety, but it proved to be a
small seedling — a shoot coming from the root below the graft, probably. It has
produced oil of good quality. The smallness of the fruit is its irremediable
defect. It roots very readily from cuttings and is used as a stock on which to
graft improved varieties.

Picholine d'Aix. — Fruit medium, enlongated, tapering toward apex which is
pointed; reddish black when ripe.

Picholine de Stt. Chamas. — Oblong, reddish black ; highly esteemed in France
for quality when picked.

Oblonga. — Imported by John Rock from France. An olive of a peculiar,
club-like shape, being narrow at the stem end, broad at the point, rounded and
strongly oblique; generally pointed at both ends. The pulp loses its bitterness
comparatively quickly in picking. This olive ripens quite early — at least two or
three weeks earlier than the Broad-leaved Mission; color, dark purple.

Pendoulier. — Large, oval, slightly curved at apex end; desirable for pickling
early ripening in October in the interior valley and in November in coast
valleys.

Manzanillo No. I. — Imported by F. Pohndorff from Spain, large regular
rounded oval ; pit straight, strongly pointed at the apex, nine-sixteenths of an
inch long, five-sixteenths of an inch thick. Ripens early, several weeks' earlier
than the Broad-leaved Mission. The fruit grows on long stems. The pulo parts
readily with its bitterness, and. is exceedingly rich when pickled. Excellent in
the San Joaquin Valley both for oil and pickles.

350 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Manzanillo No. 2. — Imported by F. Pohndorff from Spain. As the name
("small apple") indicates, this variety is nearly round, with a pit of rounded
oval shape, rather squarely cut off at the base. This variety ripens early — •
several weeks earlier than the Broad-leaved Mission olive; the fruit grows
generally singly on long stems; a trifle larger than Mission; quality of pickles
excellent; not a good bearer in all places and ripe fruit subject to rot in hot
regions.

Gordal. — A popular pickling olive in Spain, medium size, early.

Rubra. — Imported by John Rock from France; ovate, slightly oblique, looks
a good deal like a small Mission olive; pit straight, pointed; ripens three to
four weeks earlier than the common Mission variety; is of a jet black when
ripe. This tree begins to fruit quite young, and is a prolific bearer. Very hardy
and prolific even in dry situations.

Atroviolacea. — Medium size, black, chiefly valuable for oil.

Uvaria. — Imported by John Rock from France. Oval, regular, and rounded
on both ends; pit straight, heavy, late; later than the common Mission olive;
color dark purple or black when ripe. The name, "grape-like," is well chosen,
the fruit growing in clusters, as many as seven together, and in shape them-
selves resembling the grape. Very prolific.

Pendulina. — Imported by John Rock from France. An even, oval shape,
rounded at both ends, quite variable in size, many fruits remaining small and
undeveloped ; pit has small, sharp points often at both ends. Fruit grows in
clusters of from two to five; the pulp parts very readily with its bitterness.
Larger and more ovate than Pendoulier. Tree a strong grower; fruit desirable
both for oil and pickles.

Columbella. — Imported by John Rock from France. General form, broadly
oval ; very even in size, remarkable for the peculiar pale yellow color which all
the fruit assumes before turning fully ripe and becoming dark purple ; pit small,
straight and sharp pointed ; the pulp contains little bitterness ; flavor very rich ;
ripens late, later than the Broad-leaved Mission. Tree hardy in dry places and
a prolific bearer. Also called "Columella."

Polymorpha. — Imported by John Rock from France. Very large, ovate,
oblique, and pointed ; light colored ; pit square at the base, strongly pointed at
the apex ; flesh firm ; ripens very early ; fruit grows on strong stems in clusters
of two or three. Tree not a strong grower, but productive.

Lucques. — A variety specially adapted for pickling, though producing oil of
good quality; strong-growing tree and hardy; sometimes shy bearer when young;
fruit shiny black, curved; product called "Crescent Olive."

Nevadillo Blanco. — Imported by F. Pohndorff from Spain. Oval, slightly
oblique, pointed, resembling somewhat a Mission, but is generally more elongated
in proportion to its diameter than the latter; pit small, curved, and generally
pointed at both ends ; the fruit is borne in clusters of three to five ; ripening not
much earlier than the Mission ; a fine oil olive, largely planted, but disappointing
in some regions as a shy bearer and subject to frost injury.

Oblitza. — Imported by the late G. N. Milco from Dalmatia ; resembles the
Pendoulier, and may be identical ; fine in the San Joaquin Valley ; very large
oval, but broad and rounded at both ends; grows in clusters; tree a good
grower, hardy and productive ; fruit excellent for pickles ; ripens in November in
the interior — about the same as the Mission.

Sevillano. — Recently largely planted as the variety exported from Spain as
the "Queen olive." Very large ; only useful in pickling ; when ripe, bluish black ;
clingstone. Tree a strong grower, leaves deep green, greenish white underneath.
Described by Mr. Roeding as a regular bearer, but requires deep, rich, well-
drained soil, and will not stand much cold. Sells at high prices because of
great size ; ripens early.

Ascolano. — "White olive of Ascoli." Very large, "large as a French prune

and much like one in shape" (Bioletti). Excellent for pickles, but not desirable

f in color of either green or ripe pickles, and has to be carefully handled in

pickling. Reported a good bearer and has recently been quite largely planted.

CHAPTER XXXII
THE ORANGE

The orange leads all fruits of California. Near the close of Chapter
VI will be found the numbers of trees and value of product, as reported
by the United States census of 1910, and the railway shipments beyond
State lines for a term of years, upon which the supremacy of the orange
rests. In view of this leadership it seems fitting to take a little wider
range in the discussion of the significance of the orange in the develop-
ment of California than has been indulged in the consideration of other
fruits, and this is justified by the fact that the orange is the chief ex-
ponent of the horticultural resources of the State and its attributes in
this direction are shared in varying degrees by the other fruits. The
greatness of orange growing in California becomes, then, in various
ways the token of our advancement in one of the highest of the agri-
cultural arts, and in the mastery of long-distance commercial distribu-
tion of fresh fruits. These achievements are also a demonstration of
the quality of our agricultural citizenship.*

The estimate of total production in boxes, and of market value at
selling points, of California citrus fruits for a decade is as follows, the
citrus year being from November 1 to October 31 :

Year. Oranges. Lemons. Returns.

1903 8,094,720 826,500 $ 9,995,375.55

1904 10,246,656 868,000 11,505,895.43

1905 10,225,809 1,333,500 15,773,190.14

1906 8,973,342 1,182,200 21,024,814.16

1907 10,290,729 1,097,300 22,267,344.14

1908 10,742,944 1,585.000 21,238,213.26

1909 13,441,011 2,019,898 23,121,231.27

1910 11,187,792 1,627,480 25,011,027.85

1911 15,645,168 2,315,376 33,613,927.01

1912 13,680,612 2,146,550 28,240,135.64

1913 6,346,692 866,304 20,998,105.04

The descending scale since the maximum product of 1911 is due
to frosts in 1912 and 1913, in which the decreased quantity was only
partly covered by higher prices prevailing in those years. The 1914
product is expected to occupy its proper place in a regularly ascending
series.

THE ORANGE INDUSTRY OF THE WORLD

From the beginning the orange has reigned as king in the inter-
national fruit trade of the world. The grape has always been and is
still, greater in the value of its contribution to commerce and in the

*The Orange Industry "Encyclopedia Americana," Scientific American, New York, 1904.
"The Orange in Northern and Central California," California State Board of Trade, San
Francisco, 1903, etc., by the author.

351

352 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

f

distance is safely traverses, but the grape rules not as fruit, but through
its manufactured products, while the orange carries its natural beauty,
fragrance and flavor unchanged around the world. From the earliest
times the orange has not only been accepted in northern climes as a
symbol of tropical and sub-tropical salubrity and sumptuousness, but
by its own distinctive characteristics as a fruit it has won recognition
as befitting the highest uses of mankind. By its nature too the orange
ministers to its own commercial popularity. It endures long shipment ;
it ripens slowly and through a season of several months which constitute
the winter in northern latitudes when local fruits are scant or absent
and the refreshment in the citric juices most welcome. The production
of such a commercial commodity has from the earliest times constituted
an important industry.

It is a significant fact that though the orange thrives in the tropics
it does not resent the slight touch of frost which characterizes semi-
tropical situations. It is also significant that the fruit grown in semi-
tropical countries, especially those which have a more or less distinctly
marked two-season climate, differs in character from the strictly
tropical orange and is firmer, heavier, more sprightly in flavor and with
much better keeping and carrying qualities. The tropical orange has
but small commercial importance ; the semi-tropical orange rules in the
markets of the world. That the semi-tropical orange should have this
distinctive character is most fortunate, for it ministers directly to the
will for industry which is superior in semi-tropical countries. By the
seven degrees of frost which the orange tree will endure without injury,
it has^gained the seventy degrees of north latitude through which its
fruit freely seeks a market. Because, though the tropical orange
would reach most distant markets in small quantities, it could never
attain the commercial supremacy which the fruit now enjoys.

The sweet orange is a native of eastern Asia and was carried thence
to India and to Asia Minor. It possibly reached Portugal from India
through the early Portuguese navigators. Thus the distribution of the
fruit was westward. The history of modern commercial orange grow-
ing consists of a series of progressive movements always trending
westward and gaining in volume — the .newer centers of production
outstripping the older and ultimately largely displacing their product
from the greatest markets of the upper divisions of the temperate zone.
When the Moors introduced orange growing into Algeria and Spain
they displaced the traffic from Asia Minor and gave the Mediterranean
region for several hundred years undisputed possession of the markets
of the north of Europe and possession also of the American demand
when that arose. When the Spaniards and Portuguese carried the
orange to the West Indies and to Florida they laid the foundation for
an industry which American enterprise developed in Florida until that
district not only contended with the Mediterranean region for American
markets, but was planning to invade northern Europe by direct ship-
loads when the demonstration came that the climate of northern Florida
and of the Gulf coast westward was too treacherous for commercial
ventures in orange growing — at least with the then popular varieties
and methods of propagation. But as the Florida supply failed through

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THE ORANGES OF THE WORLD 353

the severe freezing of 1895, California came forward and, though
Florida has re-established her citrus industry, California is now not
only supplying the larger part of the oranges consumed in the United
States, but is selling the highest priced oranges in the London market
against a world of competitors.

In support of this contention let it be noted that the most important
statistical statement of the world's citrus fruits in the English language
was published April 15, 1914.* It shows that the annual citrus fruit
crop of the world is equal to from ninety to one hundred million boxes
of California size, which would fill two hundred and thirty to two
hundred and fifty thousand carloads of California capacity. Of these
the United States and Spain produce thirty per cent each ; Italy twenty-
five per cent ; Japan and Palestine each less than five per cent ; the bal-
ance, scattering. The acreage both in California and Florida is in-
creasing. The normal product of the United States is approximately
78,000 carloads, and California, in view of recent plantings, 50,000
carloads. All the countries thus mentioned as contributing to the
world's commercial product are endowed with semi-tropical and not
with tropical climates.

RELATION OF CALIFORNIA TO THE WORLD'S
ORANGE PRODUCT

Competition with the product of California is working hardship in
the Mediterranean region because this region can more than supply
Europe, and needs American markets as an outlet. Italy has exported
six million dollars worth of oranges and lemons in a year, but recently
prices have declined and the interest is depressed. Every effort is being
made to secure relief from local taxation and from duties imposed by
north European countries. The Spanish product of oranges and lemons
which ranks with that of the United States, has to meet heavy tariffs
in all countries except the United Kingdom and the belief at Valencia
is (U. S. Commercial Relations, Vol. 2, 1902, page 686) that the limit
of British consumption of Valencia oranges at paying rates has been
reached; in fact, the British markets collapsed under the heavy ship-
ments of 1901. When it is stated that the value of oranges imported
into the United Kingdom in 1900 was $10,603,950, and such a free
buyer has more than enough, it can be realized how important it is to
the Mediterranean producers that the populous countries of central
Europe should hold less strictly to agrarian interests which aim to
hamper the entrance of food supplies even if they can not themselves
produce them. Manifestly the American product can only enter such
markets with a fancy product which will win an extra price, except
as a little difference in the ripening season may afford an opportunity.

The commercial position of the orange in the United States is also
such as to awaken apprehension, because of the decreased import duties
under the tariff of 1913. It will require tkne to demonstrate what the

*Bulletin 11, California Citrus Protective League. Los Angeles, "The World's Produc-
tion and Commerce in Citrus Fruits and Their By-products," by F. O. Wallschlaeger,
Secretary.

354 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

full effect will be. The product of the West Indies is a direct menace
to the Florida product, which meets it in point of market season, and
the American product, which is undergoing expansion at the hands of
American capitalists, is constantly feared by the California growers
because the Mexican railway will give it quick entrance to the great
central states and constant advantage in distribution to the East and
the Northwest. The orange from the West Indies and South Florida
is different from the California orange in main ripening season and
in character of the fruit, but the differences do not give full relief.
With the late ripening varieties, the California grower extends his
shipments into the autumn and thus laps upon the early fruit from
Florida and Jamaica, while the parts of California which bring earliest
maturity to the fruit are shipping before the southern fruit is cleared
away. In fact, California can keep the markets supplied with oranges
fresh from the trees and in prime condition the year round.

As to the difference in oranges grown under humid and arid con-
ditions, the moisture being supplied by rainfall in one case and by
irrigation in the other, there has been shown in the arid region orange
a superior density, thinness and texture of rind, higher sugar and
higher acid percentages and a more sprightly or vinous flavor. The
popular conception of the superior sweetness of the orange grown in
humid countries is due not to a greater amount of sugar in the juice,
but to less amount of acid. The following are the determinations of
sugar and acid of fully ripe Southern California and Florida navel

oranges : _ '

Total sugar, Citric acid,

per cent. per cent.

California Navel 9.99 1.45

Florida Navel 7.46 0.95

Of course, the quality of an orange is largely inherent in the variety,
but all varieties are similarly changed by growth under humid or arid
conditions of climate and soil, and this modification becomes a factor
of much industrial importance. This fact is strikingly illustrated by
the standing of the navel orange in California. This variety has been
grown for a century or more as the chief orange in Bahia, Brazil,
whence it was taken to California. In Brazil it demonstrated no ship-
ping qualities, and according to Burke (U. S. Special Consular Re-
ports, Vol. 1, page 411) would need to be picked before maturity if to
be shipped, while as grown in California and Arizona it is picked at full
maturity and is successfully shipped all over the United States and to
Europe. An examination of the Bahia district in 1913, by A. D.
Shamel and associates, showed that the orange which is the foundation
of the export industry of California is, in its home, only an article of
local trade.

Orange growing in Florida is recovering from serious reverses.
The product of 1894 was about 4,000,000 boxes. Then came the dis-
astrous freezing in December of 1894 and February, 1895, with a tem-
perature of 14 degrees Fahrenheit at Jacksonville, and in the latter
year only 75,000 boxes were shipped. In 1912-13 the product was
about 8,000,000 boxes, produced in the central and southern parts of
the State. In Louisiana the freezing of 1895 nearly annihilated the

BREADTH OF CITRUS CONDITIONS IN CALIFORNIA 355

citrus fruit interest and only recently has there been any disposition to
resume production on a commercial scale. In Texas there is a rising
orange industry on the basis of hardy Japanese varieties, largely. Its
future is a matter of conjecture. In the southwestern corner of Ari-
zona there is a small orange industry which is successfully shipping
navel oranges to distant markets. Conditions favor early ripening and
an advantage is secured by sale in advance of the main California
product. From California the shipments of oranges beyond State lines
in 1911 were about 16,000,000 boxes. The orange industry of the
United States is now largely supplying the home demand for the fruit.
Imports of oranges reached their highest value in 1883 at $3,010,662,
and have since then declined. The value in 1913 was $227,827.50—
much less than one-tenth of the imports of thirty years ago.

The orange industry of the United States is unique in the high
social and financial standing of those who have engaged in it, and in
the striking features of its development. Both in Florida and in Cali-
fornia large scale production was first undertaken by northern men
who had gained wealth and had lost health in the pursuit of it. They
brought capital and commercial ability to the ventures which they
exploited. The professional classes of the north also participated
largely in the work, bringing scholarship, insight and experience in
organization. There were a few also who possessed horticultural ex-
perience, but the other classes largey predominated. The result has
been the development of an industry characteristically American in
spirit and new in methods. It has borrowed very little from the prac-
tices of old world orange growers. Free from tradition and prejudice
it proceeded rapidly upon the results of original investigation and ex-
periment, establishing a system of culture and of commercial handling
of the product which are without precedent in the older orange regions
of the world.

THE ORANGE A STATE AFFAIR IN CALIFORNIA

Thus far the discussion has been based upon the achievements of
Southern California and the efforts made to assign them due credit for
greatness and uniqueness. The relation of Southern California to other
parts of the State in orange growing is not less' important and signifi-
cant.

Citrus fruit trees have been successfully grown in suitable situations
in northern California for nearly half a century. There is a famous
orange tree at Bidwells Bar, in Butte County, which was started from
an Acapulco seed in Sacramento in 1855, and planted out in Butte
County in 1859, which has been generally made to stand sponsor for
the demonstration of citrus conditions north of the Tehachapi Moun-
tains, but it is not entitled to all the distinction which has been heaped
upon it. In the fifties there were other orange and lemon trees growing
in widely separated northern localities — in the valleys of the San Fran-
cisco Bay region, also near the rivers and among the low foothills on
both sides of the Sacramento Valley. It was, even in early days, the
proper thing to include citrus trees among ornamental dooryard plant-

356 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

ings and one reason why the demonstration at Bidwells Bar was so
widely accepted as complete, when it was brought forward as a guar-
anty for commercial planting in the later eighties, was because similar
instances of successful old trees existed in many and widely separated
places.

This question naturally suggests itself : Why, if such early demon-
stration was had, was large commercial planning of the orange delayed
at the north until after southern California became famous for its
orange product? Several good reasons can be adduced. In the first
place a disposition toward wider planting did at one time arise and
quickly subsided. In the later seventies when the general rush to fruit
growing, which has resulted in the present vast extension of the inter-
est, began, citrus fruits were not overlooked. There was a sharp de-
mand for orange trees. Southern California nurseries had a large over-
stock of trees budded on China lemon roots which southern California
planters had learned to despise as forcing excessive growth of tree,
and large, coarse fruit. The natural tendency of such a root, exag-
gerated by excessive irrigation in the nursery, gave a stem as thick as
a broom stick and higher than a man in a few months' time, and these
soft monstrosities were sent north by carloads, by astute tree specula-
tors, and sold to unwary planters, who thought they were getting a great
deal for their money. Such trees were planted in all sorts of situations
and their broad leaves made a fine display as soon as planted. There
were fond anticipations of evergreen orchards everywhere from the
swamps to the hillsides. Then came the cold winter of 1878-9. The
temperature in places reasonably situated was not very low — not lower
than is frequently encountered in southern California and not low
enough to injure well placed old trees, though it did destroy some ill-
placed ones and helped to define suitable situations for citrus culture
in the north as such temperatures have also defined them at the south.
But the degree reached was fatal to those soft trees on a lemon
foundation almost everywhere, and the disappointment of the new
planters who based calculations upon them, discouraged them from
further efforts toward citrus culture for some time. It was not a
logical conclusion because a careful inquiry made after the frosts in 1879
elicited careful written statements from sixty-nine orange growers,
living in thirty counties and fully justified this conclusion, which was
at that time published: "this mass of testimony shows that orange
growing is no longer an experiment in the north, and that, notwith-
standing the severe frosts of such winters as this, orange and lemon
trees can be profitably cultivated in nearly every county in the State,
and by selecting favorable localities, no district, except it be situated in
the high Sierra, need be without these most beautiful and useful fruits."

But there was another and more logical reason why the well suited
lands in the central part of the State were not at that time given to
citrus fruit culture. Citrus fruits require irrigation everywhere ; decid-
uous fruits, including the grape, do not require irrigation except in
places of shallow soil or light rainfall. Without waiting for irrigation
facilities then, hundreds of thousands of acres of deep valley loams
were immediately available for the planting of deciduous fruits. The

RELATIONS OF DECIDUOUS AND CITRUS FRUITS 357

growers understood these fruits, while the orange to an English-speak-
ing people was an unsolved problem. The long list of deciduous fruits
had varieties to suit the taste and ambitions of all planters and the
opportunity for selling many different fruits and their different products
seemed illimitable. "The world for a market" seemed a reasonable
proposition, for deciduous fruits and their products had been shipped
to eastern markets since the first overland railway was opened in 1868,
and very large prices were attained, just often enough to be alluring.
No citrus fruits had been shipped out of the State on a commercial
scale, and no one knew that they could be, profitably. The central and
northern districts threw their full strength into the deciduous fruit
interest and the result has justified the effort, for, at the present time,
the annual shipments of deciduous orchard fruits fresh dried and
canned ; the grape, both fresh, as raisins and as wine and brandy, has
reached a total value of about sixty millions of dollars — almost all of
it from the regions of California north of the Tehachapi Mountains.
The engrossing requirements of this grandly successful undertaking
gave northern growers, packers and capitalists no leisure to think seri-
ously of citrus fruit planting — that was left for a decade and a half to
the special attention of the southern California people, and they de-
veloped it splendidly for the settlement and upbuilding of their portion
of the State — reaching a total value of product sold beyond State lines,
of about eighteen millions of dollars. The chief reason, then, why,
although citrus adaptations were demonstrated very early in the upper
part of the State, the commercial planting was largely postponed to
the present decade, was that the people were too busy developing a
greater fruit industry to which their conditions were superlatively
suited.

During the last few years new interest has arisen in citrus fruit
growing in northern California and all the scattered experiences of the
last half century are becoming of inestimable value in guiding this
planting aright. There are several important reasons why the north
has now turned to the orange.

First : Deciduous fruit production has reached large volumes, mar-
gins have become reduced to those which assert themselves in any
well established and extensive industry, and some of the early glamour
has gone out of it. It will henceforth proceed soberly, and consequently
safely, to grand aggregates which no one can foresee, but it is readily
demonstrable that with the present rush of population to the more
wintry districts of the Pacific slope, the opening of Asiatic connections
and the victories being attained each year in the distant East and in
Europe, our production of deciduous fruits and their products will go
steadily forward. Increased interest in citrus fruit planting in northern
California is in no sense a menace to the deciduous fruit industry. It
is merely a new graft upon a very vigorous industrial stock.

Second : Owing to natural conditions which will be briefly ex-
plained presently, orange growing can be pursued at the north without
competition with the main crop in southern California. The northern
California crop will be consumed before the bulk of the southern crop
moves from the trees.

358 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

Third: All California oranges have characteristics and qualities
which are recognized as of distinctive excellence, and therefore have
a commercial advantage which enables them to compensate the high
grade American labor which is employed in their growth, packing and
marketing, and leave a reasonable return to require the grower's effort
and investment. This being so, the production, so long as protection is
continued in adequate amount, justifies extension of the effort to pro-
duce an American orange for Americans.

Fourth : Semi-tropical fruits are nature's demonstration of the ex-
istence in a place of a climate which promotes health, comfort and a
maximum of physical and intellectual attainment in mankind. Prob-
ably all that is urged against tropical climates as enervating and de-
pressing of human standards is true, but not a word of it applies to an
arid semi-tropical climate, in which the blessing of dry air and freedom
from the debilitating effect of temperature extremes rejuvenate the old
and weary and bring the young to stature and stalwartness which all
newcomers notice in the rising generation of Californians. Of the exist-
ence of such conditions a well-grown orange of the California type is un-
impeachable evidence. It has brought a hundred thousand people and a
hundred millions of capital to southern California which would not
have come otherwise. In the conscious strength with which northern
California has recently awakened to make systematic effort for settle-
ment and development, the orange is accepted as an exponent of the
possession of those natural characters of sky and air and soil, constitut-
ing the most desirable environments of human life — the highest desira-
bility in the location of a home.

Fifth : It is but a corollary of the foregoing that the successful and
profitable production of citrus fruits is par excellence the motive force
in promoting colony efforts and in drawing into horticulture the class
of people which constitutes the most desirable element in the upbuild-
ing of a great State — people who know what is noble and desirable in
human life and desire it for their children ; people who know how to se-
cure what their aspirations and tastes approve ; people who by intellect-
ual force and training and by successful professional and industrial
experience are prepared for attainment in the higher horticultural arts
and in the new commercial efforts which make those arts profitable.
The splendid development of southern California communities upon a
horticultural bases points the way to achievements in other suitable
parts of the State, and the citrus fruits become then the token, not alone
of superior natural endowments, but of the type of manhood which can
use them to the best advantage. None know this better than the south-
ern California people themselves, and it is a demonstration of the desir-
ability both of the natural resources of northern California in citrus lines
and of citrus fruit culture itself, that in all the newer citrus regions
at the north, there are to be found among the leading planters and
promoters, southern Californians who have sold their early plantings at
the south at high prices to newer comers and have started anew in the
northern districts, where they find cheaper land, more abundant water
supply and fruit which is marketed at an earlier date.

CITRUS CONDITIONS NORTH AND SOUTH 359

DISTRIBUTION OF CITRUS CONDITIONS IN
CALIFORNIA

The claim has been made above that citrus culture conditions exist
in suitable situations in central and northern California from Shasta
to San Diego county, and historical evidence has been cited to prove it.
It is so surprising that practically the same climate should be found
through a distance of between seven and eight degrees of latitude that
many, even of those who have lived in California, do not appreciate the
fact, nor know the explanation of it. An effort is made toward such
explanation in Chapter I of this work. Even at the risk of repetition
the subject will be reviewed with special reference to the occurrence of
conditions affecting the growth of citrus fruits.

First: California is not only blessed with benign ocean influences,
but northern California is additionally protected from low winter tem-
peratures by the mountain barrier or the Sierra Nevada, extending
southward from the multiplied masses of protecting elevations in the
Shasta region, while Southern California enjoys the protection of the
Sierra Madre and other uplifts on the north and east of her citrus
region. Northern blizzards are, therefore, held back from entrance to
California and are forced to confine themselves to southerly and easterly
directions over the interior parts of the Pacific slope, while the great
blizzards of the northwest traverse the Mississippi Valley and, if they
have sufficient impetus, extend to the gulf and carry destruction to
semi-tropical growths even in northern Florida. The ocean then bring-
ing warmth and the high mountains defending against cold, combine
their influences to give nearly the whole length of California semi-
tropical winter temperatures.

Second: Although this striking similarity does exist, in citrus dis-
tricts north and south, there is another even more startling proposi-
tion involved and that is the influence exerted by the presence of the
coast range as the western boundary of the great interior valley of the
State, and intervening between that great valley and the ocean. The
several ridges of the coast range with their enclosed small valleys serve
as a colossal wind-break against northwest winds, which might other-
wise, now and again, bring a temperature too low for citrus fruits,
where now they are safe from injury. The chief effect of these moun-
tains is to protect the northern interior valleys and foothills from the
raw winds of early springtime and to allow the sun as he crosses each
day higher in his course, to expend the increasing heat directly in pro-
moting vernal verdue. The result is a protected interior region in
central and northern California, of quick growth in all lines — early
pasturage, early grain harvest and early fruit ripening. The valleys
of southern California, which have thus far been largely developed,
have no high range between them and the ocean. They are open on the
west because the coast range of mountains takes a sharp turn eastward
in the southern part of the State and afterward curves southward, pass-
ing along the eastern side of the chief productive region. The influence
of this opening of the valleys of southern California is not so unfavor-
able as such opening would be at the north, because ocean winds are

360 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

gentler and warmer there, and there is winter service rendered by this
eastward trend of the southern California mountains, as has been said,
but the fact remains that the absence of high barriers against ocean
influences retards the springtime and causes a slow development of
summer conditions and late ripening of fruits, while the presence of
high barriers at the north so hastens springtime and summer heat, that
early summer fruits in California are shipped from the north to the
south — a thing which does not occur anywhere else in the northern
hemisphere. It is due to this same early start which the local topog-
raphy gives to the orange, followed by the high summer heat which
is essential to the development of a good orange, that the orange reaches
an acceptable commercial condition at an earlier date in suitable
interior places at the north and is at present being almost wholly shipped
to eastern markets before free movement begins at the south. This
early marketing also relieves the growers of much anxiety and costly
frost righting, because the fruit, which is always more susceptible to
injury that the tree, is out of the way before the frost period, which
usually begins about Christmas, is reached.

There is in southern California, east of the mountains, a district
which has thus far been but scantily developed where protection from
ocean influences tends to early ripening of fruits. The same is true of
some parts of Arizona adjacent, and small quantities of early fruits
move westward and northward from that region. That region is not
in view in this discussion, for too little has been accomplished in citrus
lines to warrant conclusions which the present confident planting in
that part of the State will soon supply.

Third : Still another feature of local topography must be mentioned
as influencing citrus conditions north and south and explaining why
winter temperature has fallen no lower at the north that at the south.
At the north the snow fields of the high mountains are farther from the
valleys and mesas, where citrus fruits are grown than they are at the
south. The benches and low foothills of the Sacramento Valley, for
instance, are forty to fifty miles from the high range to the east of them
and there intervene countless ridges of high foothills and small valleys,
and before the citrus plantations can be reached by the descending air
currents they are considerably warmed by rustling over so much land
which has been warmed by the ampler winter sunshine. From many of
the southern citrus regions one looks almost directly upward and out-
ward upon the grand snow-clad mountains, whose crests are but fif-
teen to twenty-five miles away. It is a splendid scenic effect — ripening
oranges and dazzling snow fields in the same glance of the eye, but it is
sometimes not so grand as a pomological proposition.

Fourth: Another protective influence for citrus fruit trees during
the frosty period of December and January, is the low canopy of land
fog which covers the interior valley of central and northern California
much of the time at that season of the year and checks the radiation
of ground heat which is apt to take place rapidly under a clear sky.
Though the nights are thus often protected from frosts, the day tem-
perature is held low, which is also of account, because the citrus trees
are held dormant, which is desirable, as there is no fruit to ripen. On

THE ORANGE OUTLOOK 361

the other hand, the higher day temperature in southern California is
valuable in that district because the later fruit is still maturing. The
winter aspects of the trees in northern and southern California are
therefore quite different ; in the north, the dark green of dormancy ; in
the south, the gold of the fruit and the oft-protruding light green of the
winter wood growth. In both regions all growth conditions seem
good ; each after its own kind, and the two, in a sense, complimentary.
During the last few years there has been rapid extension of orange
planting, particularly in the suitable lands on the eastern rim of the
San Joaquin and on both sides of the Sacramento valley. The orange
product of the northern district is normally about one-eighth of the
State product, though in 1913 it rose to about one fourth of it because
it was marketed before the frost period. It will increase rapidly, for
of about two million trees now growing, only have half attained bear-
ing age and planting is still being freely undertaken. Three-quarters
of all the trees north of the Tehachapi mountains are in the citrus
districts of eastern Tulare County.

THE GENERAL OUTLOOK FOR THE ORANGE

At the present time orange growing has a very promising outlook.
The prospect for much larger consumption, at the east and abroad, is
very encouraging. The orange is passing from its old status as a lux-
ury to its proper recognition as a staple winter fruit for dwellers in
cold climates. For such use the agreeable acid and sprightly flavor of
the California fruit especially commends it. The consumption of the
fruit per capita, away from California, is still small and will be greatly
increased when people know better its desirability and the reasonable
prices at which it can be secured. This wider distribution is to be con-
fidently expected and the rapid increase in population through the great
west and north is each year giving California growers nearer markets
of growing consumptive capacity. It will be of great advantage to the
whole country, as well as to California, to have production steadily
increased.

Some considerations in this line are given to the closing pages of
Chapter VI. To fully appreciate the advantage of California in supply-
ing the whole northern half of the North American continent, especially
with early fruits and semi-tropical fruits, one should calculate the
exceedingly small area of suitable fruit land in California as compared
with the area of the half-continent indicated, which is our logical con-
suming territory and in which development and population are now
increasing so rapidly. Take a map of the continent, place your thumb
over the area of California and gaze at the uncovered area, north of
the fortieth parallel, if you please, and estimate the duty of California
in coming decades. Millions will multiply on the continent, but the
safe area for tender fruits will never increase an acre. From this point
of view, it really seems impossible for California to create an over-
supply of fruits which are distinctively her province to grow. There
are likely to be temporary surpluses and problems in distribution, but
a general oversupply seems unreasonable.

362 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The development of the orange industry in California to utilize the
splendid natural adaptations which have been discussed, to make good
the large investments which have been made, and to afford a field for
the profitable employment of the high quality of American citizenship
which has entered the list of producers, several things are essential.
First, the advancement of horticulture art and science. Second, the
maintenance for a time at least, of a sufficient protective tariff, as has
already been suggested. Third, the extension of co-operative handling
and distribution of the product as now embodied in the successful
operation of the California Fruit Growers' Exchange and its auxiliaries
in all the producing districts. Fourth, the pursuit of systematic and
intelligent inquiry and experiments into the durability of the fruit in
transit as affected by cultural and commercial practices, and the
reformation of ponies and methods in accordance with the results of
such investigation as conducted by Mr. G. Harold Powell, formerly of
the United States Department of Agriculture and his associates. Every
grower of oranges should familiarize himself with this work.*

SOILS AND SITUATIONS FOR THE ORANGE

While citrus conditions do exist through large areas of California,
there is still danger of loss and disappointment through unwary indi-
vidual investments and unwise locations of citrus colony enterprises.
The tracts of land for orange planting even in a favorable citrus climate
are limited in area and every citrus climate has numerous places where
local meteorological conditions will prove destructive to the profit of
the enterprise, if not to the life of the trees. The orange is a "hardy
tree, judged within its temperature limits, but there is no money in a
tree which is subjected to any kind of hardship. For this reason the
selection of a good depth of strong, free loam should be made, for such
is essential not only to good growth of the young tree, but to its
support through the long productive life which the orange enjoys.
Depth of good soil is not only a storehouse of plant food, which will
postpone the use of purchased fertilizers, but it is a reservoir of water
so that irrigation can be applied* in larger amounts at longer intervals.
While it is quite possible to grow an orange tree and to secure good
fruit on shallower soils, if conditions are kept just right by frequent
use of water and fertilizers in just the right amounts, such conditions
impose heavy burdens in their constant requirements of extra care
and expenditure, and these are handicaps of no small economic import-
ance. The tree can not live upon climate as a man may, because a
tree can not speculate ; it must have a good foundation in the earth as
well as a good outlook in the sky.

Growing orange trees on defective soils has brought disappointment
and loss in all parts of California. Ample supplies of irrigation water
available have encouraged over-irrigation where trees have been planted
above hardpan, and drainage is absent. Dying-back and yellow leaf

*"The Decay of Oranges While in Transit from California," by G. Harold Powell,
Pomologist in charge of Fruit Transportation and Storage. Bulletin 123, Bureau of Plant
Industry, U. S. Dept .of Agr., Washington, D. C., 1908.

REQUIREMENTS OF CITRUS FRUITS 363

have appeared in some groves and have been accounted for by digging
to find the roots bedded in mud and slush. All plantings over clay sub-
soils should be guarded against this danger. Digging deep holes and
filling them with good soil is setting a trap for the future failure of the
tree unless the deep hole is properly drained by the nature of the sub-
soil or by artificial provision. On the other hand, planting over a
gravelly sub-soil is often disappointing, because the water passes
through the sub-soil as through a sieve and the tree shows distress
although generous amounts are applied to the surface. Wide observa-
tion through the State teaches that such warnings are needed by the
unwary. There has also been injury to the trees from planting over
sub-soils carrying excess of lime.

Local temperature conditions even in sections generally suited to
orange culture should be carefully ascertained. Frosty places must be
avoided. A few feet difference in elevation may change profit to loss,
but one must not therefore draw the hasty conclusion that all small
elevations are favorable. The experience of the last few years shows
that nothing is, on the whole, more dangerous than the warm bottom
land in a small elevated valley which seems naturally protected on all
sides. There are many such places which are far more treacherous than
the uplands of the broad valleys, which may be considerably lower.
The benches around the sides of the small valley may be safe and the
bottom of the same valley dangerous because there is no adequate
outflow for cold air to the large valley below. Look out for small
valleys which have divides of crumpled hills where they debouch into
the main valley. Cold air can be dammed and held back ; consequently
the low land of a small valley may be worse than lower land in the main
valley, because in the latter there are air currents which prevent
accumulation of cold air in particular places. These air movements
make some plantings on the upper plains of the main valley safe, though
the whole region may seem to the eye rather flat and low, but, of course,
broad sinks of the main valley may also be dangerous. Too great
elevations are to be guarded against. Where one approaches the
reach-down of mountain temperatures and loses the warming influences
of the valley mesas, the danger line is at hand.

An ample water supply is essential. Small waterings which may
bring satisfactory growth to a young tree are no measure of the needs
of a bearing tree. The orange is using water all the year, as discussed
in Chapter XV. Its crop requires nearly a year to reach maturity.
Both in leaf growth and fruit growth it nearly doubles the activity
of the deciduous tree and all the time it is pumping water with its
roots and pouring forth water into the air through its exposed surfaces.
No investment in orange planting can be profitable without assurance
of adequate water supply.

PROPAGATION OF THE ORANGE

The orange is grown from cuttings, layers and seeds. Growth from
the seeds is the method almost exclusively followed, and by far the best,
but the others will be mentioned briefly.

364 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Growth from Cuttings. — The method of propagation is described
in Chapter VIII.

Growth from Layers. — The orange roots readily by layering, the
drooping branches being partly cut through, buried in the soil with
the terminal shoots above the ground. Layers must be kept moist.
Layering may be employed to obtain a few plants easily, but, other-
wise, it cuts no figure in propagation. Layers and cuttings, of course,
reproduce the original variety without recourse to budding.

Growth from Seed. — The orange is grown upon seedlings of the
bitter orange or orange of Seville, generally called "Florida sour stock" ;
of the common or sweet orange and of the pomelo or Grape Fruit.
Good plump seed should be selected in growing orange seedlings either
for their own fruitage or to use as stocks for budding.

When seedlings for fruiting are grown, select seed from a choice
variety in a situation where other citrus species are not grown ; but the
orange can not be trusted to come true from seed, and, more than this,
the seedling class for fruiting purposes has been practically abandoned
as unprofitable to plant, though fruit from old seedling trees is occa-
sionally sold at a profit.

In securing seed the fruit is allowed to rot and when thoroughly
decayed, it is pulped by mashing in a barrel, and the mass is washed,
a little at a time, on a coarse sieve, the pulp passing through, and the
seed being caught on the wires, and pieces of skin thrown out. The
plump seed will sink if thrown into water, and the imperfect can be
skimmed from the top. The seed should never be allowed to dry, and
unless it is to be sown at once, should be stored by mixing with moist
sand, from which it can be afterwards removed by sifting; or it can
be kept for a time in water, changing the water from time to time to
prevent souring. The best time for sowing orange seed is after the
ground has become warm in the spring.

Orange seedlings are grown either in boxes or in the open ground.
In either case a rich sandy loam which will not bake should be secured
or artificially made by mixing sand with rich garden loam. Boxes of
about two square feet area and six inches deep are convenient to handle.
The bottom should have holes, or sufficient crevices for good drainage.
Fill the boxes about four inches with the prepared soil, place the seeds
about an inch and a half apart each way, sift over them about an inch
of the soil, or a little less of the soil, and a layer of clear sand if it is at
hand. It is essential that the soil should be kept moist, and light
sprinkling daily, or every other day, with water that has been
warmed by standing in the sun, is desirable. Seed can be sown in
boxes in the house at any time if plenty of light and heat are given.
If the boxes are to be out-of-doors, it is best to sow in the spring, and
to rig up a cover of cheap cotton cloth, suspended about a foot above
the surface, to prevent effect of frost at night, and of burning by sun
heat by day. The seedlings usually appear in about six weeks, and
with good care in weeding and keeping sufficiently, but not excessively,
moist, they will make a growth of about a foot the first season. Some
growers collect the boxes in a sheltered place, and build over them a

THE CITRUS NURSERY 365

lath house, tacking on old sacks or other cloth, to shield them from the
sun and frost. The lath house keeps animals from running over the
boxes, etc.

Growing seedlings in an open bed involves about the same opera-
tions. To guard against intrusion, it is advisable to make board sides
to the bed about a foot high, and to make lath frames which will reach
across, resting on the edge boards. A cloth sun-and-frost shade is
also desirable, to be laid over the lath frames when it seems needed.
Beds should be made narrow enough so that one can easily reach half
way across from each of the long sides for weeding, etc. In open seed
beds it is usual to broadcast the seed evenly, using about one gallon
to 200 square feet, which should give about 5000 seedlings.

The Orange Nursery. — Planting out in nursery is usually done
after the ground is thoroughly warmed in the spring, and the seed-
lings are then about a year old. The preparation of nursery ground
and the planting out of the seedlings can be done as described in
Chapter VIII. Orange seedlings should, however, be given greater
distance apart than is usual for deciduous trees, because the orange
remains longer in the nursery, and because it is often desirable, when
taking up, to sack the ball of earth embracing the roots. If the roots
are not to be sacked, about nine inches will do between the plants;
if to be sacked, the distance should be twelve or fifteen inches. The
rows should not be too close in the orange nursery. If horse cultiva-
tion is to be used, at least four feet between the rows should be
allowed, and even greater distance is desirable. In taking the seedlings
from the seed beds, a few should be lifted at a time, and their roots
kept shaded and moist until the ground closes on them in the nursery
row. To get an even stand in the nursery, small and weak plants
should be placed by themselves, or set in boxes to take another year
before going into nursery.

Young trees in nursery are very liable to frost injury, and it is wise
to protect them by some sort of a cover during the winter. A frame-
work covered with cypress brush is often used, the whole being cleared
away in the spring, to allow of summer cultivation. Cultivation of
trees in nursery is about the same as with deciduous fruit trees. The
horse should be used, and the surface kept perfectly pulverized. The
cultivator should follow irrigation as soon as the soil will admit of it.
Frequency of irrigation of nursery depends, of course, upon local con-
ditions. Some give two or three irrigations, by running the water in a
little trench alongside the rows, at intervals of two weeks, "for a time
after planting, and then irrigate once a month during the summer. It
is important that irrigation should not be continued too late into the
fall, because the young tree should harden its wood before cold weather.
Nor is it desirable that the growth be too rapid. A good growth of
sound wood is better than extra size.

Length of Time in Nursery. — Seedlings are usually budded after
being one or two years in the nursery, or at two to three years from the
planting of the seed. At a convenient time in the winter the lower
shoots and thorns are removed from the seedlings, so as to leave a
clear stem of about six inches for the convenience of the budder.

366 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Intensive Work in the Citrus Nursery. — In addition to the fore-
going general reflections the reader may be interested in a specific
sketch of pushing a citrus nursery as described by Mr. R. E. Hodges :

Mr. Allen Dodson, of Los Angeles county, put 17 hay-rack loads of the rottenest
manure he could find on a sandy space 290x60 feet. This had to be worked and
reworked to leave no lumps of manure. The sand is necessary to prevent baking.
Then he planted 8% bushels of seed, watered carefully about every other day
and kept the weeds down for six weeks before they came up. They grew about
a foot before cold weather came. Around the seedling bed were set upright
2x4s twenty feet apart and 6 feet out of the ground for head-room. From post
to post were 1x3 boards on which lath were nailed upright about 1^ inches apart.
Above these laths is a two-foot open space and then a roof similar to the sides
but made in 20- foot squares so it may be easily removed. This open space (to
get head-room) should also be lathed, on the south and west at least, because
the low winter sun shines directly onto the seedlings and may turn them yellow.
The shadows under the lath are perpetually moving with the sun so that direct
light never stays long at a time on a given tree. The movable roof makes it
easy to set up the outfit on new ground. One year Mr. Dodson sold 185,000
seedlings from a certain plat and tried it again the next year on the same place,
getting only 4000 salable ones. He had used only a third as much manure the
second year, thinking to have some advantage from that applied before.

BUDDING THE ORANGE

The orange root is the best foundation for an orange tree, and the
seedling sweet orange has been the main reliance. The seedling of the
Florida sour orange is now being used almost to the exclusion of other
stock, for its general hardiness and thrift and to escape gum disease.
It has not been entirely free, though conceded to be less subject
to the trouble. Oranges have also been worked upon pomelo seedlings,
which force a strong growth, root deeply and are satisfactory. Of
course, many lemon, and recently many pomelo trees, have been worked
over the orange, but in these cases the orange root was below the
other wood. All lemon roots are not suitable for the orange. The
Japanese practice of dwarfing with the citrus trifoliata has never pre-
vailed in this State. Recently the trifoliata stock has been used to a
small extent to secure earlier ripening of fruit, and the tree claimed to
be sufficiently free growing, but the experience favors the other roots
for standard trees.

Budding is almost exclusively adopted for working in desirable
varieties. The best time to bud is about the time the new growth
starts on the seedling in the spring, though some practice budding in
midsummer and fall. Good, well-matured buds only should be used;
those from both base and tip of the shoots are frequently defective.
Buds should be taken only from fruiting branches; not from sterile
sucker growth, and from trees which are known to bear abundantly
a good type of fruit. For spring budding, buds can be taken from
fruiting trees and kept dormant in moist sand in a cool place until
the seedlings show a sap-flow suitable for budding.

The method of budding described in Chapter IX is that usually
employed in budding citrus trees, and the rules for loosening the liga-
ture, etc., are similar. Midsummer buds are apt to have soft growth
at the coming of cold weather ; fall buds remain dormant until spring ;

BUDDING-OVER OLD CITRUS TREES 367

spring buds start to grow almost immediately, and have the benefit
of the whole summer season for growth and maturing of wood.

After the bud has started out well, the top of the stock should be
removed at a short distance above the bud, and suckers on the old
stock should be continually looked for and removed. The tender
shoot of the bud may be protected by tying to the stub, and when the
growth of the bud has become strong enough to support itself, the old
stock is smoothly sawn away above the bud and the wound covered
with liquid grafting wax or paint.

The care of budded trees in nursery is similar to that of the seed-
lings of the previous year. If too great a tendency to branch low
down is observed, the tips of the lower shoots should be pinched, but
it is not desirable to under-prune much; the retention of the lower
branches thickens the stem. Sometimes a very rank growth on the
bud will need a stake to strengthen it or to protect it from blowing out.
The intrusion of gophers and other vermin should be resolutely and
persistently guarded against.

Working Over Old Trees. — Old orange trees can be transformed
into improved varieties either by budding or by grafting, as described
at the close of Chapter IX, though re-working by grafting has been
almost entirely superseded by budding. The common way to bud over
an old tree is to cut back part of the branches and force out new shoots,
the best of which are selected for budding and the others removed.
Sometimes only a part of the tree is removed at first, and when the
new buds have grown out on that, the other part is similarly treated.
Others remove the whole top except a single low branch to maintain
sap circulation until after the new buds start.

Recently the practice of budding into old bark has been widely
adopted as the quickest way to secure a new tree. As with working
into old bark in other trees, it is necessary to take an older bud and
a larger, thicker shield of bark behind it, than when budding into
younger stock. Some remove the wood from the back of the shield,
but generally it is not done. The following is an outline of practice
approved by the Redlands Horticultural Club :

Keep the buds carefully in a damp cloth. Slide the bud upward, above the
cross section. Bind around the bark, steering clear of the buds proper, a
wrapping of waxed cloth, already prepared, three-fourths of an inch wide.
When enough of this has been wrapped about the tree trunk or branch to
keep the bark and the bud in place, rub the end of the muslin strip with the
handle of the budding knife, down upon the muslin already wound about the
bark. This will hold the waxed wrapping firmlv in place. From ten days to
two weeks after the buds have been inserted, cut off the entire top of the tree,
above the buds, and cover the stump of trunk or large branch with grafting wax
— applied hot — with a brush.

As soon as the wax is put on — and it must be put on as soon as the top
is sawed off — whitewash the tree, over the waxed cloth, also over the bud, over
every part of the tree that is left, except the stump ends, to which the hot
wax has been applied. Immediately the buds will begin to grow. From ten days
to two weeks after whitewashing take off the muslin wrap, and,, if the work has
been done carefully in accordance with the above directions, 90 per cent of the
buds will develop — perhaps more. A prime necessity for this work is a razor-
sharp budding knife.

368 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

There is a variation in practice in cutting back the stock above the
bud. Instead r»f cutting back at once, heroically, as just described, some
girdle the branch or cut back part of the top at a distance above the
bud, cutting down to the bud after it shows good strong growth, tying
the young growth to the stub at first to protect it. Others insert the
bud in the fall, cutting back to start the bud after the fruit on the old
top is gathered. It is very important to watch for suckers below the
bud and remove, to pinch them back, to make a bunch of leaves. The
growth from the bud itself often needs pinching to induce low branch-
ing. Twig-budding can also be used on the orange by the method
already described for the olive.

Budding in old trees is best done in the spring, when the sap flow
is strong, but, as stated, can be done in the fall and the bud allowed to
lie dormant until spring.

PLANTING ORANGES IN ORCHARD

As already stated, orange trees are planted out a greater age than
deciduous' fruit trees. Budded trees are given one or two years'
growth in nursery and one or two years' growth on the bud, which,
added to the year in seed bed, makes them three to four years of age
from the sowing of the seed. Seedlings, to be planted out as such,
are allowed two years' growth in the nursery, which makes them three
years old from the seed. For this length of time and the unusual
care involved in their growth, taking up from nursery and the prepara-
tion for carriage, orange trees of planting age are of much greater
cost than deciduous fruit trees.

Since the growing of seedlings for their fruit has practically ceased,
the distance between the trees in orchard planting has ranged from
twenty to twenty-four feet. All the varieties now propagated are quick
to bear fruit, and if properly shaped will find ample space in these
distances — the greater distance on the richer soil as a rule.

Preparation of land for orange planting by deep and thorough cul-
tivation and laying off to secure straight rows by the square, quincunx,
and hexagonal methods have been quite fully discussed in Chapter X,
and Chapter XI has suggestions for planting, many of which are
applicable to the setting of orange trees. There are, however, special
methods employed in lifting the orange trees from nursery rows and
in placing them in permanent position, which will be outlined.

The orange, in common with other evergreen trees, is exceedingly
sensitive to exposure of its roots, and for this reason the handling of
the young trees is very different from that of ordinary orchard trees.
Three ways are employed for securing this constant moisture of the
roots, as follows:

Packing in Wet Straw. — As fast as the trees are lifted from the
nursery ground by digging carefully so as to loosen and secure all the
roots possible, they are packed in damp and partially rotten straw,

TRANSPLANTING CITRUS TREES 369

proper receptacles being at hand so that the roots are not exposed by
carrying them any distance. In taking up, all roots bruised by the
spade are cleanly cut with a sharp knife. The tap-root is cut away at
a depth of a foot or so from the surface. This use of wet straw, if
faithfully carried out, will answer well in taking trees short distances
for planting, but the use of a puddle on the roots before packing in
damp straw gives additional assurance of success. Large shipments
of trees have been made by packing roots in damp moss in specially
made chests holding 100 to 125 trees. These chests have top and
one side on hinges so that the roots can be thoroughly bedded in the
moss as filling proceeds. The hinged side and top are then brought
together and closed with hasp and staple.

Puddling the Roots. — This method is also used for deciduous
fruit trees, as mentioned in Chapter XL It consists in having a thin
puddling of loamy soil with preponderance of sand rather than of clay,
into which the roots are dipped as soon as the tree is lifted from the
nursery. This mixture, which should be about as thick as cream, may
be made in a hole in the ground', or, better still, in a box or cask large
enough to allow complete plunging of the roots. As soon as dipped,
and with all the mud which will adhere, the roots are packed in wet
straw. If the trees are to remain thus packed for any length of time
the greatest care must be observed to keep the straw damp, and water
must be applied gently to avoid washing the puddle from the roots.

Sacking the Roots with a Ball of Earth. — This is a very satis-
factory way to move orange trees, and if it is well done, the tree does
not wilt, and may be moved long distances and handled more freely
than the puddled roots. To ball and sack trees, dig a trench along one
side of the row about six inches away from the trees, and about a foot
and a half deep. By careful digging under each tree from this trench
the tap-root is reached, and severed by a cut with a sharp spade. The
side roots are also cut by thrusting the spade down on the three sides
not opened by the trench. The top earth is carefully removed nearly
down to the highest lateral roots, and after being sure that the roots
are severed all around, the tree is lifted out with the ball of earth which
encloses the remaining roots. This ball is rounded off carefully and
then placed on a half of a grain sack or other piece of burlap, the
corners of which are drawn up and tied around the stem of the tree
with baling rope. It is also an additional surety of safety to allow the
baling rope to run under and around the ball to aid in holding it
together. The balled trees must be carefully handled so as not to
break the ball which would result in tearing to pieces, as well as expos-
ing, the roots.

The manner of handling the trees depends somewhat upon the
character of the nursery soil. Successful balling of course requires a
certain amount of adhesiveness in the soil.

One can not be too careful in the handling of orange trees. Though
they will stand harsh treatment when in permanent place, they must be
most carefully transplanted. Lifting from the nursery when the soil

370 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

is too dry, exposure of the roots, or careless planting, will consign the
tree to a slow, sickly growth, and often kill it outright.

Cutting Back at Transplanting. — The rule of reducing the top
to compensate for the loss of roots, is vital in moving orange trees,
but sometimes cutting back is carried too far and subsequent growth
is checked rather than promoted. Some growers cut back the young
trees a little while before lifting them from the nursery. Some take off
all leaves after planting out, and claim that growth starts sooner and
more strongly, but it is doubtfull whether defoliation is advisable, except
in case of wilting, when it is necessary.

Digging Holes and Setting Trees. — The same considerations
which require extra care in lifting trees for nursery, rule in putting
them in permanent place. All authorities on the subject specify excep-
tional care in preparing the tree holes as a profitable investment on
the part of the planter. Large and deep holes are commended, provided
the planting is done in a deep, free soil. Deep holes would be more
injurious than beneficial in a tight sub-soil, unless drainage were
furnished, but there are good orange trees now bearing in such places
— good enough at least to be an ornament and acceptable fruit pro-
ducers for family use.

On large-scale planting in deeply prepared soils, holes large enough
to allow good spreading of the roots are sufficient. Handling the soil
at planting has been fully described in Chapter XI, and the importance
of bringing the soil into firm contact with the roots has been urged.
The use of water in planting citrus fruit trees is especially desirable.
Trans-planting should be done just as the growth is starting in the late
spring1 or early summer, and this is the opening of the dry season and
rains can not be expected. Therefore, when the roots are arranged and
the top soil lightly trampled around them, water is run in the hole and
the earth compacted around the roots by water settling. After the
water has settled away, the hole is filled and the surface left loose to
prevent evaporation.

These instructions apply to the planting out of trees which are
taken up with long roots and puddled. In planting out balled trees,
the sack is not removed, but after the tree is embedded in the earth,
the tying rope is cut. The sack soon decays in the soil.

Orange trees can be successfully transplanted at different times
of the year, but the best time, as just stated, is after the ground gets
well warmed by the spring sunshine. The date at which this condition
arrives depends upon locality. Experience seems to indicate that the
young orange tree is in best condition to transplant just as the new
growth is starting out, and preferably when it has not grown out more
than two inches. In setting the tree, it should stand not lower than in
the nursery. Root injury is sometimes due to deep planting.

Great care must be taken that transplanted orange trees do not
become dry after planting. The methods of irrigation are described
in Chapter XV. Good cultivation should also attend the orange from
its first planting onward. This subject is fully discussed in Chapter
XIII.

STARTING CITRUS TREES IN ORCHARD 371

PRUNING THE ORANGE

All the considerations urged in Chapter XII in favor of low-headed
and strongly branched trees apply to the orange, though the habit of
the tree in growth and bearing requires different pruning policies.
The orange tree is more disposed naturally to assume a good form than
most other trees, and for this reason most experienced growers declare
their belief in pruning as little as possible. This is unquestionably good
policy providing attention enough is given to securing a shapely and
convenient tree, and to overcome the tendency in the young tree to run
out very long shoots which result in unsymmetrical shoulders with
hollows beneath them and obviate a weeping habit, which interferes
with irrigation and cultivation and prevents the development of good
bearing space above. It is so easy to bring the orange tree into good
form by a little hard thinking about what shape is desirable and a little
timely cutting and pinching to secure it.

It has long: been held that the orange tree should assume a com-
pact wall of foliage. The interior of the tree being considered merely
the framework to support this and pump sap into it. Recently the
importance of removing dead wood from the center of the tree is
being urged, even though the cost is considerable, and a rational thin-
ning of branches to admit light and air in sufficient amount to secure
good fruit nearer the center of the tree is also being advocated and
practiced to some extent. All these progressive tendencies carry the
orange nearer to the application of the principles of pruning which are
discussed in detail in Chapter XII, including the rational recourse to
more severe pruning or cutting back to induce a growth of new and
stronger wood for subsequent bearing. In other cases cutting back
of varieties inclined to make a rank wood growth, like the Valencia Late
to encourage a better supply of fruiting wood, is being advocated. It
seems clear that there are important ends to be gained by more pruning
of the orange tree, and by earnest thinking and close observation along
this line.

It has been held that it was necessary to prune the young tree to
quite a high head at first to allow for the natural droop of the branches
and the result is seen in many young trees with slim stems and um-
brella-like tops. It is better, to develop a stout stem by allowing for a
time a low growth upon it and then raise it later by removal of the
lower growth which has done good service and outlived its usefulness.
By wise under-pruning it is possible not only to secure a shapely and
convenient tree but also to so train the lower growth that it shall pre-
sent good, low bearing wood without groveling in the dust.

Unquestionably the drooping habit of budded orange trees is largely
due to their treatment. A grower who does not believe in pruning
allows the branches to extend too far horizontally, and the weight of
the foliage and the early fruiting brings the branches to the ground,
To relieve the lower branches of the young tree of a part of this weight
will enable them to assume a better direction, and this slight relief at
first will prevent much branch-sawing in later years. The young tree

372

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

as it comes from the nursery usually starts upon an upright course. If
stopped at about three feet it can be brought along to develop strong
and well-arranged branches, much as has been described for deciduous
fruit trees in Chapter XII. The adjacent engraving, Fig. 1, shows a
young tree in planting condition, stopped at three feet and needing
only a slight cutting back of the laterals to be ready to begin its orchard
life. If young trees are transplanted short distances and at the right
time they do not need so much cutting back as is commonly given them.
If allowed to grow from the start shown in Fig. 1, pruning only to

-PH4 —

Fig. 1. Orange tree at planting
in orchard. Three feet high

prevent long branches from running out at random, and removing
branches which may start strongly from near the base, the tree will
assume the branch-form shown in Fig. 2 and at from two to three
years after planting in the orchard. At about this age the removal of
lower branches begins, as they have served their purpose in shading the
trunk and bearing the first fruit. These branches are removed one by
one until, when the tree is five years in the orchard, it has lost all
branches below the two-foot line except the one branch marked "a" of
which the upright-growing part will be retained. The higher branches

DEVELOPING BRANCH-FORM OF ORANGE

373

Fig. 2. Branch form of orange before
removing lower branches.

assume the more horizontal habit, too great out-shooting is repressed
and at about five years orchard-age the tree attains a height of about
twelve feet and if of the general form shown in Fig. 3. The next few
months will bring its foliage to the ground to remain there or to be
under-trimmed, as the notion of the grower may be.

Fig. 3. Good form of five -year-old
orange tree.

Good form secured by training

374 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

BUILDING DOWN AND NOT SAGGING DOWN

It is perfectly feasible and rational to secure a good form of low
tree without removal of large branches and without relying upon the
sag of the branches from a high head. It requires rather more watch-
fulness and attention and study of the subject than some growers desire
to give, but the results when attained are very satisfactory. The method
is that of J. H. Reed, of Riverside, and has been followed by him for
a number of years with his own orchard and others of which he has
had charge. It will be found readily intelligible with the help of the
sketches. Mr. Reed would begin with a young nursery tree like that
already shown in Fig. 1. He does not believe in much cutting back
before planting providing a fair amount of roots are left in the ball at
transplanting. If the tree has been properly planted and cared for, it
will soon begin to put out new growth, usually first along the stem, the
strongest growth being lowest down. As many of these young branches
along the stem as are not desired for permanent branches, are rubbed
off, the earlier the better, at least before woody fiber is deposited in
them. Mr. Reed rubs off promptly all below a point about two feet
from the ground, if there is a prospect of getting sufficient good
branches above that point. If not he saves them down to eight or even
twelve inches lower if need be.

Mr. Reed's idea is to build the head along a considerable length of
the trunk and not have the branches bunched at the top, and this is
the same idea that is urged in the development of the trunk of the
deciduous fruit tree in Chapter XII. He finds it impossible to do this
in the nursery because if it is attempted to form a head 18 or 24 inches
along the upper portion of the stem instead of one bunched near the
top of it, the lower branches will appropriate most of the sap and the
upper portion will not be well developed ; while if this upper story is
well established in the nursery the lower portion can be built on with-
out detriment to the upper, if nutriment sufficient for both is furnished.
Fig. 4 will show approximately the branch-form of the young tree at
about six months from planting and the shoots with which the building-
down is begun. The first step is to check the drooping habit. Upon
this point Mr. Reed says :

The common notion that the branch of the Navel orange naturally tends
down is a mistake which grows out of the fact that in its rapid growth the new
part of the stems and large leaves are so loaded with sap that they pull the stems
from their natural upright position, and, unless relieved, hold them there till the
deposit of woody fiber fixes the branches in the drooping or unnatural position.
If the tips of these rapidly growing branches, with their heavy leaves be clipped
at the right time, the branches will spring back to the erect position, where they
will remain to send out new branchlets. It is wonderful how the orange tree can
be molded like a thing of wax by pinching and clipping here and there, if done
at the right time.

Fig. 5 shows the result of this clipping of heavy shoots to allow
them to assume a more upright growth and the encouragement of new
shoots below the two-foot mark. Fig. 6 gives the branch form of a
five-year-old tree, with its lower story of bearing wood well developed,

DEVELOPING BRANCH-FORM OF ORANGE

375

Fig. 4. Branch form of orange six months
after planting.

Fig. 5. Tendency of clipped branches to rise.

376

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Fig. 6. Branch form of five-year-old
tree built down.

and Fig. 7 is the foliage-form of the same tree, about fifteen feet high,
with its leaves and fruit reaching to the ground. As to how low the
branches should be allowed, Mr. Reed says that until recently he has
thought it best to keep the lower branches clipped back so that the fruit
would not touch the ground, but he is persuaded that it is better to let
them come to the ground even if considerable fruit rests on it. He finds

Fig. 7. Foliage form of five-year-old tree.

that many of the best orchardists do this, and claim that there are really
less culls among the fruit on the ground than on the less-protected
branches above.

Later Pruning of the Orange. — After the form of the orange is
well established the aim should be to preserve a compact, symmetrical
and convenient form. It is desirable that weak wood should be re-

PRUNING BEARING-ORANGE TREES 377

moved; dead interior branches, which have given up the struggle for
the light, should also be removed. It is an appalling undertaking to
get into the inside of an old orange tree and saw off and drag out the
dead wood but, as already stated, the conviction is growing that this
should be done. Of the growing shoots there is a reasonable amount
of thinning to be done. The clipping back of ambitious shoots multi-
plies laterals. There should be a good cover of leaves, but the crowd-
ing of leaves on leaves excludes light and air and weakens the tree by
lessening the vigor of leaf action. Dead twigs which appear among
good bearing shoots should always be removed.

The gourmand shoots <or suckers should be repressed, unless, by
clipping, one can be turned into a branch where a branch is needed.
The importance of resolutely removing sucker growths even from trees
in wrhich the wood may have become hardened is being recognized as
a fixed policy in pruning. Good trees have been diverted from bearing
fruit of good type to that which is in all respects inferior, by allowing
supremacy to sucker-growths. Growth of new fruit wood from old
is desirable, but suckers from stem or main branches, showing the
marks of wild growth should be extirpated.*

PRUNING FROZEN TREES

The widespread freezing of citrus trees which occurred in January,
1913, demonstrated that the orange tree is hardier against a drop of
the mercury to 12 or 15 degrees Fahr. than any Calif ornian supposed.
V'ery few trees were seriously frozen, though very many lost good
fruiting wood, even with the temperature lower than has been experi-
enced for sixty years, and the crop being gathered in 1914 demonstrates
the quick recovery of the trees. Policies in the pruning of frozen trees
and in treatment of rare injuries like bark-splitting, are being carefully
studied through field studies and actual tests, by the citrus experts of
the California Experiment Station, and popular instruction will appear
in due time through that channel, even though the occasion for the use
of it may not recur for half a century.

DISEASES OF THE ORANGE

The orange is thus far subject to few diseases in California. The
most grievous is the so-called gum disease, which is analogous to the
gumming of other trees and will be discussed in the chapter treating
of tree diseases. Cracking of the fruit is a trouble which has never been
fully explained.

There are several serious insect enemies of the orange, which will be
discussed in the chapter on that subject. The "black smut," which
makes leaves and fruit unsightly in some parts of the State, is a fungoid
growth upon the exudations of insects, and can be prevented by remov-
ing its cause.

*Detailed discussions of the subject are given in the Pacific Rural Press, January 17
and March 14, 1914.

378 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

VARIETIES OF THE ORANGE

Though many varieties of the orange have been introduced in Cali-
fornia, but few are largely grown. During the last fifteen years there
has been a pervading disposition to concentrate upon the Washington
Navel, and, except to get other varieties either earlier or later to extend
the season, there seems little reason to go beyond the Navel for com-
mercial purposes. Not only have recent plantings been predominantly
of this variety, but old trees of other kinds have been very largely
budded over to it, and this work is still going on at a rapid rate.

As already claimed in the opening pages of this chapter, the Wash-
ington Navel is the greatest commercial orange in the world. As it
goes from California into the world's commerce it is a combined
product of grower's skill and climatic conditions operating upon its own
natural qualities and characters. Neither of these factors alone could
achieve its present position. The navel mark is neither peculiar to it
nor determinative of it, for there are other navels which are inferior
here and our navel is inferior elsewhere ; and even in Bahia, whence it
came, it has no such quality and standing, because in coming to Cali-
fornia it passed from humid, tropical to arid, semi-tropical environ-
ment. As already suggested, the tropical orange is not in the same
class with the semi-tropical from the point of view of commerce. Trade
in tropical oranges is local or limited ; trade in semi-tropical oranges
is world-reaching. The orange produced in an arid, semi-tropical
climate is dense and compact, firm and better in keeping and carrying
characters. It is also of more sprightly flavor and richer composition,
as shown earlier in this chapter. Such an orange, enclosed in a thin
skin of silky texture and beautiful finish, comes very close to an ideal
upon which to found an industry.

Although California has apparently no need for changes of type in
oranges and has worked diligently and long for the attainment of the
types which are at present supreme in her industry, there is still oppor-
tunity for improvement within the types. Such improvement is prob-
ably to be attained not by hybridizing, but by selection. The Washing-
ton Navel, like other members of the citrus family, is keenly disposed
to variation and some of its variations have been named and propa-
gated as the lists below will show, but variations appear as degradations
as well as improvements. The pursuit of such and other improvements,
and their opposites also, is now being systematically taken up at the
Citrus Experiment Station at Riverside which is a branch of the Uni-
versity of California Experiment Station at Berkeley, and by the
Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department of Agri-
culture. Preliminary publications by Mr. A. D. Shamel in the Reports
of the California Fruit Growers' Convention for 1911 and 1912, are of
deep interest and can be had from the California State Commissioner
of Horticulture, Sacramento.

Relative Importance of Orange Varieties. — The relative import-
ance of the orange varieties grown in California, and the shipping sea-
son of each, are indicated by the Citrus Protective League as follows:
Washington Navels, 27,000 carloads in November and December from

POPULAR ORANGES IN CALIFORNIA 379

northern and central California and from December to June in south-
ern California; Valencias, 8,500 carloads, from June to October in-
clusive; Seedlings, 1,000 carloads, from March to July inclusive; Medi-
terranean Sweets, 2,000 carloads, from March to July inclusive. Other
varieties, including St. Michaels, Thompson Improved Navel, Ruby
Blood, Malta Blood, Jaffa,- Tangerines and Navelencias, comprise about
1,500 carloads.

DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES

Washington Navel (Bahia, Riverside Navel}. — Fruit large, solid, and heavy;
skin smooth and of a very fine texture; very juicy; high flavored, with melting
pulp ; is practically seedless, only in exceptional cases are seed found ; tree is a
good and prolific bearer, medium thorny, a rapid grower, although it does not
attain a very large size ; bears when very young; commencing to bear as early as
one year old from the bud ; ripens early. This variety was imported from Bahia,
Brazil, in 1870, by Mr. W. Sanders, of the Department of Agriculture at Washing-
ton, and in 1874 two trees were received from Washington by Mrs. Tibbetts, of
Riverside, Cal. Trees were also received about the same time by Alexander
Craw, but the Riverside trees were first in fruit, and the excellence of the variety
being at once recognized, it was propagated rapidly and took the name Riverside
Navel from the place where its characteristics were first made known. As it
came to be grown largely in other districts as well, a broader name, Washington
Navel, recognizing its receipt from the national capital, was adopted.

There is much tendency to variation in the Washington Navel, and sub-
varieties are to be found involving departures in the direction of thinness and
silkiness of rind, etc., as well as interior characters. The first to become promi-
nent of these is Thomson's Improved Navel with A. C. Thomson, of Duarte,
Los Angeles county, claimed to have produced by a process of propagation, but
which is believed to be a natural variation. It is a very refined fruit; generally
held to be too fine for ordinary handling, and not otherwise superior to the
Washington Navel.

Golden Buckeye Navel. — Introduced by Mr. R. M. Teague, San Dimas. Young
wood, slender but strong; tree of striking appearance; fruit marked with bands
of deeper color, skin very smooth ; pulp aromatic with suggestion of pineapple
flavor.

Golden Nugget Navel. — Also by R. M. Teague. Young wood willowy and
slender, tree umbrageous ; fruit smooth, solid, thin-skinned, rather oblong and
good size, rich golden color ; pulp free from rag, and delicious ; said to average
larger than common Washington and to be very promising.

Navelencia. — Another navel variation held to be a cross with Valencia by
Thomson. Resembling Navel but more drawn out at the stem end. Large,
handsome and later than Navel. Growing in favor.

Australian Navel. — A coarser type of the Navel introduced from Australia
in 1874 by Lewis Wolfskill, of Los Angeles, and largely propagated formerly.
It has now been practically abandoned for the Washington Navel. It seems
to be of more account at some points in the San Joaquin Valley than elsewhere.
Recently held to be undistinguishable from inferior types produced by sucker
growths on Washington Navel trees.

Jaffa. — A variety introduced in early years but largely discarded. It has
been recently propagated in the San Joaquin district, where it has shown
desirable characters. Resembles Valencia. Late but is earlier in ripening —
following the Navel.

Valencia Late (Hart's Tardiff}. — Medium size, oblong, pale yellow; flesh
rich, deep yellow, sprightly and crisp ; tree a strong grower, slightly thorny.
Ripens late, and valuable for late shipping.

380 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Malta Blood. — Fruit small to medium, oval; flesh fine texture and flavor,
streaked and mottled with red ; few seeds. The tree is thornless and regular
and heavy bearer.

Ruby. — Medium size, roundish; when ripe often reddened by deep red pulp
within; juicy and snrightly, often rather acid; tree vigorous, thornless and a
good bearer.

Mediterranean Sweet. — Fruit medium to large, pulp and skin of fine texture,
very solid and few seeds ; ripens late, often not until May or June. The tree
is thornless and of dwarf habit of growth and is inclined to overbear. It was
at one time the most widely-distributed variety in the State, next to the Wash-
ington Navel, but has recently been largely budded over. It was introduced and
named by T. A. Garey, of Los Angeles.

Paper Rind St. Michael. — Fruit small, round, very firm and very juicy; pale,
thin skin; very elegant in appearance. It ripens late and keeps well on the
trees as late as August; tree is of dwarf habit, medium thorny, a good bearer,
and very desirable.

Kumquat (Citrus Japonica}. — Fruit very small, oblong or olive shaped, rind'
thick, yellow, smooth ; sweet-scented ; very little pulp ; containing many seeds ;
tree dwarf (a bush), a prolific bearer. Chiefly used for conserves.

Dancy's Tangerine, or Kid Glove. — Leaves broad, fruit flat, small to medium,
reddish; skin separating readily from the pulp; flesh juicy and aromatic.

Satsuma (Unshiu Oonshiu). — A considerable acreage of this variety, planted
ten years ago on dwarfing stock, has availed very little commercially. At
present there is disposition to grow the variety on sweet orange stock because
of its earliness, but this practice has been recently condemned by Florida experi-
ence, where it is held that it must be grown on the trifolicata root. Tree quite
hardy, fruit irregular in size, but usually medium size, flattened ; rind easily
detached ; fine texture, sweet and nearly seedless.

Mandarin, Willow-Leaved. — Medium sized, flattened, deep yellow; flesh dark
orange, skin loose; tree compact, ornamental.

King. — Of the Mandarin class; large, rough skinned, skin and segments
loose, pulp high flavored, sweet, aromatic.

STANDARD PACK FOR CITRUS FRUITS

A standard orange box in California is 12 x 12 x 26 inches outside
measurements with a fruit space 11^ x 11^ x24 inches, and its weight
is usually estimated at 72 pounds. A standard California lemon box
is 10^ x 14 x 27 inches outside measurements, divided also into two
compartments. Pomelos are packed in the orange box, while the
Tangerines, Mandarins and other kid glove varieties are packed in
half boxes of the orange size, two of which are cleated together for
shipment. In rare instances they are packed in quarter boxes, four
being cleated together.

A carload of packed oranges varies some in number of boxes in
keeping with the size of the car. A 36-foot car will take 336 boxes,
the 40-foot car 384, and the 42-foot 408. In lemons the 36-foot car
will take 288 boxes, the 40-foot car 312, and the 42-foot car 336. When
packed the boxes are placed on end two tiers high and six rows wide,
with a space for ventilation between each and every box, made feasible
by nailing small strips of lumber of sufficient strength crosswise of the
car.

In oranges the regular sizes are 126, 150, 176, 200, 216; small
"off-sizes" 250, 324, 360; large "off-sizes" 64, 80, 96, 112. The relative

UP TO DATE HANDLING OF ORANGES 381

value of the different sizes in the regular trade is given by Mr. Powell,
whose excellent publication on the marketing of oranges is cited in
the chapter on that fruit, in this way: "A car of Washington Navel
oranges may contain boxes of all sizes. A car is called a "standard
car" when it contains not more than ten per cent of each of the fol-
lowing sizes : 96, 112, 250, and not over twenty per cent of the 126 size.
The remainder of the car may be divided among the 150, 176, 200 and
216 sizes. If a car is sold to a dealer at a fixed price per box it is usual
to allow a discount of 25 to 50 cents per box on the excess in the 96,
112, 126 and 250 sizes, and a discount of 50 cents per box on the 48,
64, 80, 288, 300, 324, 360 and 420 sizes. The rule concerning the sizes
in a standard car may vary with the season, with the section and with
the general size of the fruit taken as a whole. When oranges of either
the large or small sizes are scarce, they are at a premium, and the pro-
portion in a car may be raised without discount.

A CITRUS PACKING HOUSE

To convey an idea of the systematic handling of citrus fruits in the
California packing houses, with the advantage of the best architectural
construction and arrangements and using up-to-date machines and
processes, is beyond the scope of this treatise. At some future day, no
doubt, some one will undertake an adequate publication on that subject.
To give the reader a glimpse of this branch of the citrus industry, the
following description by Mr. J. F. Adamson of the new plant of the
Pomona Fruit Growers' Exchange, the second of two large houses
owned by that association. There being nearly 300 active members, it
becomes necessary that the fruit be handled with expedition, and at
the same time with extreme care, the first so that there be no conges-
tion of of teams, and the second to prevent injury to the fruit :

The fruit in the field, or picking boxes, is hauled in on spring wagons
covered from the sun by canvas wagon sheets, and is delivered directly to a
gravity conveyor, on which the boxes roll without jar to the point where they
are piled. It is manifestly impossible to regulate the delivery to the rate of
packing, so the fruit has to be piled as it comes in and taken to' the washer .as
needed. Passing through the washer, the fruit is rinsed off under a spray
of clean water, and goes directly to the drier, in which it remains for fifteen
minutes, being moved along under a gentle blast of dry air. At the end of this
time it is delivered to the sorting table, dry, and without having been handled
or bumped, except the handling of the boxes from wagon to conveyor, . and
from pile to washer.

The sorting of fruit must of necessity be a hand job, as after all, there 'is a
certain amount of expert human judgment used in the separation of grades
in fruit or other produce which can not be done by machinery. In the sorting
table of this house, there is, however, an element of novelty. The fruit comes
before the sorters on the usual belt, but the similarity ends there. In the
ordinary sorting system the fruit is carried along in front of the sorters, and
each man picks off the grades of fruit as the belt moves along. The man at
the farther end of the belt picks over the fruit left on the belt by the first,
second, and third or fourth man, making an extremely limited system. In the
new table, however, the first man has a small table in front, of him to which
he switches as much fruit as he can handle, and from that table he sorts into
grades, and the fruit that passes him to the other man has not been picked

382 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

over, and there is no limit to the men that can be worked without the drawback
of repetition.

I;rom the sorters the fruit goes to the usual sizers, over a complete set of
automatic weighers. All grades and culls are weighed and recorded on the
grower's load check, and the fruit has lost its individuality, being mixed by
grades, and handled and sold only under those grades and the brands corre-
spond to them.

In all this travel the fruit has been guarded from the least bump. No long
steep inclines are used which would set the fruit in motion that would require
stopping, but is carried through almost every stage of the proceeding on belts.

Under the sizers are located the empty packing boxes, fed in from the base-
ment by conveyors and always handy to the packers. The full boxes are carried
from the packers by power-conveyor to the nailing presses, where the covers
are put on the box strapped with steel ready for shipment.

Fruit that is to be pre-cooled then goes by gravity conveyor to the refriger-
ator-rooms in the basement, where they are kept for three or four days in a
cold blast until the temperature of the fruit is lowered to 35 degrees Fahren-
heit, when it is loaded into the cars by means of a power conveyor.

This packing house is actuated by one of the latest models of crude-
oil engines, of 90 horsepower, and costing for fuel about ten cents per
hour. This power is used to operate a 25-ton refrigerating machine,
two large fans for air circulation, all the conveyors, and an ice hoist —
an estimated load of 85 horsepower. The establishment cost over
$65,000, and is evidence that the citrus-fruit industry has passed from
temporary expedient to permanence, just as the handling of fruit has
passed from slipshod methods to a system characterized by the utmost
care and forethought.

CHAPTER XXXIII
THE POMELO OR GRAPE FRUIT IN CALIFORNIA

This citrus fruit achieved a very sudden interest in California be-
cause of the prices commanded by Florida pomeloes about twenty years
ago. When this supply of eastern cities was cut off by the serious frost
injuries in Florida there arose a passion for planting the trees in Cali-
fornia, and a considerable acreage was planted, and as the tree is a very
rapid grower and precocious in fruit-bearing, large shipments were
made in 1898, but the results were not satisfactory, and since that
time, although pomeloes sometimes sell to good advantage, the demand
is on the whole light and irregular. The local consumption of pomeloes
in California is increasing but does not warrant much acreage. For
these reasons early plantings have been largely grafted over to the
orange.

The fruit is a Shaddock (Citrus decumana). Varieties have been
secured of smaller size and of blander flavor than the coarse, sour
and acrid fruit which is suggested by its name. An effort has been
made to secure the favorite varieties, and a large list has been planted
in this State, but the fruit does not command the place at the East
which was awarded to the Florida product. As a tree the pomelo most
nearly resembles the orange and its culture is the same. As for varie-
ties, California experience has been too brief and fitful to demonstrate
particular value or adaptation in them. Among growers there is no
wide agreement as to superiority from a commercial point of view.
Amateurs can find many desirable sorts in our citrus nurseries.

Mr. A. P. Griffith of Azusa is perhaps the most enthusiastic and
confident of California growers that the pomelo grown in this State
will attain wide popularity in the United States. His grove is now
seven acres in extent, nearly all of the Nectar variety which is of the
type which he believes should be grown to win public favor. He con-
cludes that the market wants a fruit not smaller than 80's and prefers
them to stop at 64's. A fruit flat-round that will cut up in two halves
each of which will stand upright on a plate, cut side up, seems especially
desirable. A fruit that is spherical or pear-shaped is not desired.
There are several varieties whose similarity in type would seem to
warrant including all under one name. These, with the addition of
the seedless, comprise all there is of intrinsic value among California
pomeloes. If all other varieties not of this type were budded over, and
thus taken out of the market, Mr. Griffith believes the demand would
increase.

Marketing Grape Fruit. — The California problem seems to be
not only to grow grape fruit acceptable to consumers in distant markets
but to place the fruit upon those markets when they are not otherwise
well supplied. Recently better results have been attained by shipping
during the Valencia season than earlier. When California growers
383

384 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

give as much attention to meeting the demand as they have to the
orange and the lemon, it is to be expected that the grape fruit will be-
come commercially more satisfactory.

Varieties. — The following comprise about the only varieties
grown in this State. Most growers prefer the Marsh Seedless :

Nectar. — A Florida seedling, grown at Duarte ; flat-round, heavy ; peel smooth
and bright, pale-lemon color ; oil cells small and numerous ; flesh dense, firm
texture, abundant juice, vinous, excellent, bitter-sweet element distinct; few
seeds and little rag; sizes from 42 to 80 to the box.

Imperial. — Medium to large, peel very smooth, medium thin and of fine
texture; little rag, juice abundant, fine aromatic flavor, good keeper and shipper.
Tree upright and heavy bearer.

Marsh Seedless. — Medium size, 52 to 64 to the box ; thin rind ; almost entirely
seedless; flesh dark and rich, a late keeper and early and abundant bearer.

Triumph. — Medium size, peel smooth, clear, thin and fine grained; very juicy,
heavy and good flavored; juice free from bitterness; very little rag; an early
and prolific bearer.

CHAPTER XXXIV
THE LEMON AND MINOR CITRUS FRUITS

Lemon growing is a very unique and distinctive branch of Cali-
fornia horticulture, which in the present advancement of culture and
preparation for the market, well illustrates the originality and invention
which the California fruit grower has displayed in his undertakings.
Lemon growing in California is old because it rose at the old missions
in the second century back of us, but successful lemon growing as a
great industry is new and constantly assuming new phases. For the
old seedling lemons were bad, and though enterprising growers soon
learned that fact and set about getting better ones, it took years to
secure them and to learn how to grow and handle them so that the
Californian could compete with the Sicilian fruit in the markets of the
United States. Nor was time the only thing sacrificed — hundreds of
thousands of dollars were lost before the California grower could put
upon the market a good lemon, fit to stay good for a sufficient length
of time. Unprofitable plantings; expensive curing houses, which did
not cure well; countless experiments which yielded only loss and dis-
appointment— all these are wrecks upon the rock of American lemon
growing.

Naturally Californians sought first to know how lemons were grown
and handled abroad. At cost of great effort and outlay they learned
practically nothing that they could do and a great deal that it was not
necessary to do. Then they assumed a more rational mood — a dispo-
sition to discern what principles are involved in the problem, and to
apply them in their own way according to conditions locally prevailing.
Along this line grand success has been attained by a few masterful
men conducting large lemon enterprises or smaller undertakings of
their own, while the mass of lemon planters, for one reason or another,
have never reaped the reward they expected. On the whole, it may be
said that lemon growing is a much harder and more exacting enterprise
than orange growing, and for this reason many have new-topped their
trees to oranges and thus escape difficulties which they could not over-
come.

With the aid of the protective tariff the most resolute and capable
have attained success, and the California lemon became known and
highly esteemed upon its merits everywhere. The tariff has somewhat
reduced the effect of cheap labor in Italy and cheap water transporta-
tion from the Mediterranean region, and our lemons could sometimes
compete with the foreign product not only in the west but even in the
cities of the Atlantic seaboard. All this has been accomplished within
two decades and it is a notable result. One measure of this fact may be
found in the shipment of over six thousand seven hundred carloads
during the season of 1910-11. The California lemon has, however, not
yet attained such mastery of American markets as the orange has, for
there is a value of about six and one-half millions of dollars in imported
385

386 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

lemons, while imported oranges are only worth one-twenty-fifth as
much. The California contention that the lemon should be encouraged
with increased protection to enable producers to push the issue of an
American lemon for Americans to a successful termination, was re-
jected by the tariff of 1913. In 1914 the future of the California lemon
is not clear. The product of 1913 was reduced by frost to the figures of
a decade ago, though in 1911 it was four times as great. The exact
figures are given at the opening of Chapter XXXII. Whether the
lemon can weather the storms of all kinds which have arisen remains
to be demonstrated.

The best pack of California lemons has a uniformity of size, a finish
of skin, a juiciness and keen acidity which is unrivaled in the world.
Numerous careful tests have been made of the California lemon in
Atlantic cities in comparison with the best south European product,
and the superiority of the American fruit has thus been demonstrated.

SITUATIONS AND SOILS FOR THE LEMON

The lemon does best in a practically f restless situation. Such places
are found in largest area in the southern half of the coast regions of
California, but also exist at favoring elevations in the interior. The
moderating influence of proximity to salt water, and the effect of local
topography and environment, which give frost-free nooks or belts, are
elements favoring the lemon grower. In such situations the lemon
blooms and fruits continuously throughout the year.

While the lemon requires a less extreme of low temperature than
the orange, it also thrives with a less extreme of high temperature and
less duration of it. It apparently does not require as much heat to
develop acid, which is the charm of the lemon, as it does sugar, which
is essential to an acceptable orange; therefore, a coast situation which
may not yield a sweet orange may produce a good lemon, although it
is a fact that in the southern coast region, where the largest commer-
cial production of lemons is now achieved, the orange also does well.
Another advantage of the lower summer temperature is that the con-
tinuous ripening is not interfered with, as it is by high summer heat,
which hastens maturity and brings the mass of the fruit to marketable
condition in the winter — a season when the demand for the lemon is
very small. This objection is, however, being measurably overcome
by the proper storage and treatment of the fruit for sale, at a consider-
able interval after picking, as will be mentioned presently. But both
the curing and storage of lemons are more easily secured in the more
equable temperature and moister air of the coast region.

The lemon delights in a sandy loam, and probably our best orchards
are on such soil, but the trees thrive in other soils. There is a differ-
ence of opinion among growers as to what soil is to be especially sought
for. There are profitable lemon orchards in southern California located
upon deep clay loams, and even upon strong red clay soils. As with
some other fruits, the choice of soil is, to a certain extent, governed
by the stock on which the lemon is worked.

GROWING OF THE LEMON TREE 387

PROPAGATING AND PLANTING

The prevailing stock for the lemon is the orange seedling, either
the sweet or sour stock, under the same conditions that each is preferred
for the orange, the sour stock resisting measurably the effects of ill-
drainage of heavy land or flat, low places. The orange root thrives on
a greater variety of soils than the lemon, and produces a healthy lemon
tree where the lemon on its own root would fail. The growth of orange
seedlings for budding has been described in the last chapter. If lemon
seedlings are desired they may be grown in the same way. Plants
either for permanent growth or for stocks for budding can be grown
from cuttings, as explained in Chapter VIII. The budding of the
lemon is practically the same as of the orange, which has been described.
An old tree can be changed from one variety to another by the methods
described for the orange, and oranges can be worked into old lemon
trees and good fruit secured if the lemon itself be growing upon an
orange root, which is likely to be the case with trees planted during the
last decade.

Planting of the lemon is the same as that of the orange. The dis-
tance in planting varies from twenty to twenty-five feet. Irrigation of
lemon and orange trees is also similar.

PRUNING THE LEMON

The pruning of the lemon is essentially different from that of the
orange, because the habit of the tree is different. The lemon requires
constant attention to bring it into good bearing form and keep it there ;
the orange, after it is well shaped, simply needs attention to encourage
it to retain the bearing form to which it seems naturally disposed. The
orange provides itself with satisfactory bearing wood, as a rule ; the
lemon devotes itself, even when it is old enough to know better, to a
rangy rambling wood growth with bearing wood upon the ends of
willowy rods where it is swept about in the wind and burned in the sun,
instead of nestling it neatly among the leaves as the orange does.

The rational proceeding with the lemon is, then, to develop it at first
into a low, stocky and strong form, such as is described in Chapter XII
for deciduous tree. This may be secured by pinching so as not to allow
running out of long branches at first, or it may be secured by severe
cutting back of the long growths of the young tree. In either case low
branches will be secured. Make good selection from these branches to
form a symmetrical tree and cut back the growth which comes upon
them to cause it to branch in its turn. In this way plenty of good,
strong wood is secured low down, and with short distances between the
laterals. Strong, upright shoots (wrongly called "suckers") which
break out at points where branches are not desired, should be rubbed
off or cleanly cut away. Having secured about the right branching in
about the right places no strong sprouts should be allowed, and the
tree should be encouraged to make smaller laterals, which will be the
bearing wood. It must be admitted, however, that this rational plan of
restricting wood growth and directing the energies of the tree to fruit

388 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

has in some cases been pursued too far and the tree has resented repres-
sion by diminished thrift. The pruner must allow freer growth of shoot
to secure better foliage. The pruning of the lemon as of other trees
must always be pursued with judgment rather than by recipe.

When the adequate growth of bearing wood within reach is borne
in mind it appears that the pruning of the lemon involves many of the
considerations urged in Chapter XII for deciduous fruits; the method
of making a strong, short trunk, the arrangement of branches, the pre-
vention of long growths, the encouragement of low, bearing twigs, the
thinning of twigs to prevent the tree from becoming too dense, the
points to be observed in cutting back, not by shearing but by treating
each branch according to its position and vigor — all these must be borne
in mind by the lemon pruner. It must also be remembered that the
work must be resolutely continued and the tree always prevented from
wild growth and kept down to bearing on the smaller twigs, which are
promoted and retained for that purpose. The building-down process
described for the young orange is easily applicable to the lemon.

Old lemon trees which have been allowed to grow away into a long,
rangy form and to bear fruit too high for profit, can be brought down
to good form by severe cutting back and after-treatment of the new
shoots, keeping the smaller horizontal growths and cutting out cleanly
the strong upright shoots, or cutting them back if more branches are
needed. The time for pruning the lemon depends upon the end in
view ; if a young tree, to promote wood growth, prune at the opening
of the growing season in the spring; in older trees, to repress growth
and advance fruiting, prune in midsummer.

When it is remembered that harvesting lemons is a continuous
operation as will be stated presently, keeping the bearing wood of the
tree within easy reach is more imperative from an economic point of
view than with trees from which fewer pickings gather the crop.
Adjacent engravings give suggestive views of rationally controlled
lemon trees. Pruning is also related to preventing infection of the
fruit with lemon rot fungus spores from the ground. Fruits which
touch the ground or upon which dirt is splashed by rains is first in-
fested. The whole question is discussed in Bulletin 190 of the Cali-
fornia Experiment Station.

PREPARATION OF LEMONS FOR MARKETING

The lemon as taken from the tree is not in condition for marketing
except to packers who wish to undertake the curing. To secure best
results in quality and in keeping properties, the lemon should be care-
fully cut from the tree as soon as proper size is reached. To allow the
fruit to hang upon the tree until lemon color is assumed, gives a lemon
which is deficient in juice, oversized, apt to develop bitterness, and
prone to decay. Two and five-sixteenths rings are used for winter
pickings and 2l/2 for spring and summer, never more than six weeks
being allowed to elapse between pickings, and the fruit is usually
picked once a month. By careful attention to this, desirable sizes and
good-keeping stock are obtained. Neglect of this is the weak point of

PREPARING THE LEMON FOR MARKET 389

many of the lemon growers of California. Mr. C. C. Teague, manager
of the Limoneira Company of Santa Paula, Ventura County, the
largest lemon growing concern in California, has made close examina-
tion of practice among lemon growers, and concludes that the care-
lessness with which picking is done is almost criminal. In grove after
grove which he visited at least 50 per cent, of the values had been lost
by allowing the fruit to hang on the tree too long. Not only on ac-
count of large sizes would it have to be discounted 50 cents per box,
but the keeping quality of the lemon which is allowed to mature on the
tree is never good. Good results can not be obtained, even by the best
methods of keeping lemons, unless the fruit is picked at the proper
time and properly handled. Mr. Teague says a lemon should be
handled as carefully as an egg.

If gathered before the color begins to turn properly cured lemons
may be kept for months, and they will improve in market qualities, by a
thinning and toughening of the skin, and by increase of juice contents.
This curing of the fruit, as it is called, is accomplished in many simple
ways. If the fruit is gathered and placed in piles under the trees,
where, with low-headed trees, it is completely shaded by the foliage, it
processes well and comes out beautiful in color and excellent in quality,
providing it is a good variety. Some have trusted wholly to this open-
air curing under the trees, merely protecting the fruit by a thin cover-
ing of straw, or other light, dry materials. Others let the fruit lie a
few days under the trees, carefully shaded from the sun, and place it in
boxes or upon trays, and keep it months in a darkened fruit-house, pro-
viding ventilation but guarding the fruit against draughts of air.
Gathering the fruit while still green and packing with alternate layers
of dry sand, has given excellent marketable fruit, but of course the
handling of so much sand is too expensive nor is it at all necessary.

Much attention has been given to lemon storage in southern Cali-
fornia, and many curing and storage houses have been constructed.
Naturally there is great variation in design and method of operation.
The essential conditions to be secured are exclusion of light ; regula-
tion of temperature; ample ventilation, under control, however, so as
to prevent entrance of air which is too dry or too hot ; convenience and
cheapness of handling, for the lemon is expensive in handling at best
during the months of storage which is often desirable. Some of these
conditions are relatively of much more importance in the interior than
in the coast region, because heat and dry air reach occasionally ex-
tremes which are not experienced near the ocean which is a great
regulator of temperature and atmospheric moisture. For these reasons
a much simpler system of storage is now in large use in the coast dis-
trict, while in the interior suitable special buildings or basements are
apparently necessary. Anyone entering upon lemon handling should
certainly visit establishments now in satisfactory use and learn by
careful observation of their suitability to his purposes.

Near the coast, and so far toward the interior as ocean influences
extend in adequate degree, the building of special curing houses has
been abandoned and some quite expensive structures have been turned
to other uses. An objection to house-storage lies in the fact that the

390 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

fruit it is apt to be massed in the house and that which is just picked
given the same ventilation as that which has been in the house several
months, when, as a matter of fact, lemons in different stages of curing
require radically different treatment as regards ventilation. As a result
of this treatment some of the fruit is usually wilted from receiving too
much air, while the greater portion of it is badly decayed from receiving
too little.

Proper ventilation is the keynote of success in keeping lemons, and
after extensive and expensive experience along the old lines, Mr.
Teague of the Limoneira Company, already cited, concluded that lemon
handlers had been on the wrong track in believing a low temperature
first in importance. If the ventilation is right the temperature will
take care of itself. Mr. Teague decided that proper conditions for
keeping lemons lie just between the points where they wilt and where
they sweat, inducing neither if possible, for too much moisture induces
decay and too little causes shriveling. The fragment of the stem left
on the fruit by the cutter may be used as a test ; if it adheres, the con-
ditions are right for slow curing; if it detaches easily, the best keeping
quality is not being secured.

The Limoneira Company was first to equip a house on the open air
plan. The house is 300 x 100 feet. The flooring is 2-inch planking and
the roof covered with gravel-paper roofing. The building has no sides
whatever, allowing free circulation of air. The fruit for storage is
put into regular shipping boxes, piled in blocks of 560 boxes. There
is a double row of these blocks on either side of a 20-foot space which
extends to the entire length of the building, and which answers the
double purpose of a work room and an air space. The boxes are so
piled as to permit of the circulation of air around each box. Each
block of fruit is covered by a canvas 10 x 10 x 20, made box shape by
a canvas cover and four canvas curtains on rollers, the openings at the
corners being closed by lacings as desirable. The ventilation is con-
trolled by raising or lowering the canvas, and each block of fruit can
be given exactly the ventilation that it requires, irrespective of the
other fruit in the house. By this method 50 or 100 cars of fruit can be
handled and kept in as good condition as if there was only one. Each
block being numbered, a complete record of the lemons from each of
the six sections of the ranch is kept from the time it is picked until the
fruit is shipped. The fruit is all washed in a lemon washing machine,
and is piled up in the house wet, just as it comes from the machine.
The canvas covers are not dropped over it, however, until it is thor-
oughly dry. An idea of these curing tents can be had from an ad-
jacent engraving which shows them on both sides of a central space
which is used for packing the fruit in the shipping boxes.

With proper curing facilities lemons picked in November and De-
cember may be kept until the following July. Later pickings may not
keep so well and may be marketed first. Of the finer points in lemon
handling, however, there is much which must be learned by experience.

Forced curing of lemons, by which green fruit may be colored in
about two weeks, is done by burning oil stoves in a closed room. The
change is effected by the products of combustion and not by the heat

THE LIME IN CALIFORNIA 391

alone. The process is described in detail in Bulletin No. 232 of the
Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States Department or Agricul-
ture, February 13, 1912.

VARIETIES OF LEMONS FOR CALIFORNIA

During1 the earlier years of California lemon growing there were
continuous efforts put forth to secure better lemon varieties. During
the last decade three varieties have been accepted as satisfactory and
nearly all others have been dropped. The three are Eureka, Lisbon, and
Villa Franca, arranged according to present degree of popularity in
Southern California, where nearly the whole commercial product is
now made, although some plantings have been undertaken farther
north, chiefly in the citrus belt on the east side of the San Joaquin
Valley.

Eureka. — A native of California, originated by C. R. Workman, at Los
Angeles, from seed imported from Hamburg in 1872, only one seed growing,
from which buds were put by him on orange stock. Distributed by T. A.
Garey, of Los Angeles. Tree very free from thorns. Fruit medium size, sweet
rind, a good keeper, few seeds; very popular, especially in coast regions. Less
popular in the interior because of scant foliage.

Lisbon. — Imported from Portugal; first grown by D. M. Burnham, of River-
side. Fruit uniformly medium size, rather oblong, fine grain, thin sweet rind,
strong acid; few seeds; a good keeper; tree is a strong grower, with compact
foliage, prolific bearer, but starts bearing late; quite thorny, but thorns decrease
in size as the tree grows older; popular at interior points especially, and Eureka
trees in the Tulare region are being grafted over to Lisbon.

Villa Franca. — Imported from Europe. Medium size, oblong, slightly pointed
at the blossom end, rind thin, without bitterness, acid, strong, juicy, nearly
seedless. Tree thornless, branches spreading and somewhat drooping, foliage-
abundant; withstands lower temperature than other imported varieties.

THE LIME

The lime (Citrus medica acida) has proved much less hardy than
the lemon. It has been killed in situations where the orange and lemon
have not been injured. Unless adequate protection is thought worth
the effort, there is little use in planting the lime, except in a frostless
situation. Such localities are found near the ocean in southern Cali-
fornia, and here and there at proper elevation around the Bay of San
Francisco and in the interior both north and south ; still the growth of
the lime must be counted very hazardous. There is less inducement to
experiment with the fruit from the fact that the Pacific Coast markets
are well supplied with Mexican limes, usually at prices which leave no
opportunity for competitors.

Limes are grown from seed, the variety usually coming true from
seed. The trees are small and are frequently grown in hedge form.
The common variety is the Mexican. The Imperial, a large, rather
hardy variety, is favorably reported by several growers. Bearss Seed-
less is being successfully and profitably grown by Mr. R. Gallegos at
the Mission San Jose in Alameda County.

392 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

THE CITRON

This fruit (Citrus medico, cedra) is little grown in California,
although it is quite hardy and could be produced over a large area.
The only use for the fruit, which resembles a monstrous lemon, is in
its candied rind, and no one has deemed it worth while to push com-
petition with the imported candied citron, though very fine experi-
mental lots have been produced, and the interest of the fruit-preserving
establishments in the product recurs periodically. There have been col-
lections of citron trees imported from the Mediterranean region by the
United States Department of Agriculture planted at several points in
southern California. As yet no considerable product has been reached.
There is, however, no cessation of interest, and experimental planting
continues, with a prospect of satisfactory attainment ere long. Samples
of the candied article have been approved by experts as very satis-
factory.

An outline for the preparation of candied citron is as follows : The
fruit, before assuming1 a yellow color, and also when bright yellow, is
picked and placed in barrels filled with brine, and left for at least a
month. The brine is renewed several times, and the fruit allowed to
remain in it until required for use, often for a period of four or five
months. When the citrons are to be candied they are taken from the
barrels and boiled in fresh water to soften them. They are then cut
into halves, the seed and pulp are removed, and the fruit is again im-
mersed in cold water, soon becoming of a greenish color. After this it
is placed in large earthen jars, covered with hot syrup, and allowed to
stand about three weeks. During this time the strength of the syrup
is gradually increased. The fruit is then put into boilers with crystal-
lized sugar dissolved in a small quantity of water, and cooked; then
allowed to cool, and boiled again until it will take up no more sugar.
It is then dried and packed in wooden boxes.

ORNAMENTAL CITRUS SPECIES

There are grown in this State for curiosity or ornament various
minor citrus species, including the Bergamot and the dwarf ornamental
sorts from Asia. There are, of course, the ornamental species grown
by florists for their fragrant bloom.

CHAPTER XXXV

MINOR SEMI-TROPICAL FRUITS IN CALIFORNIA

A number of interesting fruits are now grown in this State which,
for one reason or another, have not yet attained any great commercial
importance, although some of them are rapidly advancing in popular
esteem and likely to gain much higher place in the markets. Others
will probably never be grown except for home use and garden orna-
ment.

THE BANANA

The banana has been a favorite plant for experimental culture for
many years, and though good fruit has been grown at various points
in the State, the culture is too hazardous to warrant large investment,
and if this danger was not present, the abundant supplies available
from the islands of the Pacific would probably reduce the profits to a
narrow margin. The banana can be trusted only in protected situations
and in small numbers which can be given special attention. With these
conditions the banana may yield very acceptable fruit for home use and
be an ornament to the garden. Its beauty is, however, seriously im-
paired by winds, which whip its tender leaves into shreds and give the
plant an unkempt appearance.

The largest number of bananas are seen in Los Angeles and Santa
Barbara, and one grower at an elevation near the latter place reports
his table supplied daily throughout the year with the fruit of the
Cavendish species, which is the most commonly grown sort. The Yel-
low Martinique or Yellow Costa Rica, the Orinoco, the Hawaiian Lele,
Hart's Choice, and a large-fruited variety known in Los Angeles
County as the Baldwin, are also approved by growers. How to grow
bananas in the garden, according to the experience of the late S. H.
Gerrish, of Sacramento, is as follows :

By experiment I have found that the banana will live — if in a proper soil —
without injury to the roots, at a temperature as low as sixteen degrees Fahr. ;
the stalk will stand a temperature of twenty-five degrees without injury, and
the leaves are not wilted until the air is chilled to thirty degrees. My method
has been to supply the richest food for this gigantic plant and force it to its
extreme growth. Every one has old chip dirt, ashes, boots, shoes, clothes, and
manure, which are often a nuisance. Dig a big hole, bury this up, in the center
of the mass place a pailful of sand, and plant the fresh bulb. This is to
preserve the dormant plant from the wire-worms and insects, which will not
attack the growing plant. As the plant grows, give it an abundance of water
and all the slops of the house. Any kind of manure, fresh or old, ashes, leaves,
and vegetables will soon disappear and be absorbed by this gigantic king of
plants. As the rainy season approaches, pile all the leaves and twigs of trees
around the plants. It protects the bulbs and makes the soil rich for next season.
393

394 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

THE CHERIMOYER OR PERUVIAN CUSTARD APPLE

The oldest cherimoyer (Anona cherimolia) is growing in Santa
Barbara. The fruit was introduced about fifty years ago, and the parent
tree has for many years produced abundant fruit in such perfection
that the seeds have readily germinated, and the trees thus propagated
have been in successful bearing in several Santa Barbara gardens.
The leaves are oval and pointed at both ends; flowers solitary, very
fragrant, and having a greenish color. Good specimens of the fruit
are three or four inches in diameter, often heart-shaped, grayish brown
or nearly black when fully ripe. The flesh, in which thirty or forty
brown seeds are found, is soft, sweet, and pleasant to the taste, being
most palatable when near decay. Mr. I. H. Cammack, of Whittier,
describes the pulp as of the consistency of ice cream or a custard
flavored with a blending of pineapples and bananas. If it has a fault
it is too rich. Apparently it has no particular season for ripening, yet
the best specimens seem to be found in Santa Barbara in April and
May. The cherimoyer is also found in gardens in San Diego and Los
Angeles counties. It needs a well-protected situation. The fruit has
been marketed on a limited scale in Los Angeles, and larger plantations
have been made, especially in the Cahuenga Valley, near Los Angeles.
The plant comes true from seed and the tree bears in its fourth year,
and should have as much room as an orange tree. Mr. C. P. Taft, of
Orange, points out the fact that much can be gained by selection and
propagation from the most satisfactory trees, as follows :

Cherimoyers found in the gardens of southern California are almost always
seedlings, and generally shy bearers. There is but one named variety, so far
as I am aware, the Golden Russet. This is very prolific and frequently attains
large size. Specimens above one poimd in weight are not uncommon. The
qualit^ is as good as any, but is variable owin~ to the season and time of
ripening, much cold having a marked deteriorating effect. The normal shape
is like that of the strawberry, and the variations from the normal are equally
abundant; in fact, in this respect the cherimolia is quite extraordinary, as the
same tree will have on it fully matured fruit from less than an inch in diameter
up to six or eight inches. In size the tree averages about the same as the
peach. The market is a good one, large fruit commanding $3 per dozen or
more, while the smaller ones sell by the pound at a relatively lower price.

THE CHOCHO OR CHAYOTA*

The chocho plant is fruiting in Santa Barbara County, for Mr.
Kinton Stevens, of Montecito, who obtained the seed from Samoa.
Sechium edule is the botanical name of this plant, but it is perhaps
better known as "choco," "chocho," "chayota," and "Portuguese
squash." It belongs to the order cucurbitacae, and is a perennial vine,
resembling in growth and fruit our summer squash or vegetable mar-
row. It is a very prolific bearer. Both the fruit and the great yam-
like tuber are used as food by man and beast in the West Indies, where
it is considered a wholesome article of diet. The roots often weigh as
much as twenty pounds. They have a flavor similar to the yam, and

*An interesting illustrated account of this plant by K. A. Ryerson may be found in the
University of California Journal of Agriculture, April, 1914.

THE GUAVA AND ITS USES 395

are considered a greater delicacy than the fruit, which in a raw state
resembles the chestnut in flavor, and under favorable conditions weighs
over three pounds. The proper way to grow them is to plant the whole
fruit, as they have but one seed, and they produce fruit in three months,
under favorable conditions. The vine is exceedingly rapid in growth
and may cover a thousand square feet in one summer.

THE GUAVA

Two species of guava have been quite widely tried in this State —
the strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum) and the lemon guava
(Psidium guayava). The former is the hardier, and, in fact, seems to
be about as hardy as the orange, and it has fruited in widely-separated
parts of the State; the latter is quite tender, and is at present only
grown in favorable places along our southern coast, and even there it
is found inferior in quality and usefulness to the strawberry guava.

Mr. C. P. Taft, of Orange, has confidence in the lemon guava
through the selection of better varieties. It is far larger than the
Strawberry, and of quite attractive appearance. Sometimes the color
is almost white, sometimes quite green, and frequently of a bright
yellow, often with a red check. These variations are only what is
naturally to be expected from seedlings, and almost no others have yet
been planted. Mr. Taft has fruited quite a number, perhaps a hundred,
and finds it to possess qualities which if properly selected and developed
will cause it to equal the Strawberry guava in hardiness and flavor and
early ripening.

Mr. D. W. Coolidge, of Pasadena, president of the California Asso-
ciation of Nurserymen, at the annual meeting of that body in Fresno,
November, 1913, gave his judgment of the standing of the guava in
California as follows :

The guava is a plant of great value as an ornamental. Its glossy green
foliage is scarcely less attractive than Us large snowy white, jasmine scented
flowers. While many varieties of the guava are found growing in our section,
few of them to my mind have any real value. The strawberry guava type is
the hardiest and by all odds the best, and all that have had opportunity to test
it agree with me in saying Guava lucidum is the best. This is a yellow straw-
berry guava of a distinctive flavor, and were it not for the large seeds possessed
by all guavas would be considered an ideal desert fruit. This particular
variety, too, is most prodigious in its bearing qualities. I have known a plant
three years from seed to nroduce more than a quart of fruit, and we have had
in our nursery plants eighteen months from the time the seed was placed in
the ground with a number of fruits on them. The fruits will average an inch
or more in diameter, always round, and are of a bright lemon color. The
ordinary strawberr^ or red guava is worth while growing for jellies. Another
desirable strawberry guava is the Guava araca. This in appearance is similar
to lucidum, but is much later. While lucidum ripens from September to
November, I have never known araca to ripen before the middle or last of
December. This one is the more susceptible to frost.

The guava grows quite readily from the seed, and grows from cut-
rings under glass. In regions of generous rainfall and on retentive soil
it does not require irrigation, but it must have sufficient moisture at
command. A light loam seems best adapted to the shrub.

396 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

THE FEIJOA

Along with the guava should be mentioned the Feijoa Sellowiana,
a member also of the myrtle family. In habits of growth it is much
the same as the guava and while the foliage is not so handsome, being
of a generally silver gray effect, the flower is very showy. In May it
sends forth a great profusion of blossoms, which may be called red,
white and blue, unless one desires to be perfectly accurate, in which
case the blue would have to be changed to purple. The petals are un-
usually thick and fleshy and are very sweet to the taste. The highly
perfumed fruit, about one and one-half to two inches or more in length,
comes in November. The flavor is delicious, like the strawberry, but
lacking the acid. The seeds are very small, almost unnoticeable ; quite
a contrast in this respect to the guava. F. W. Popenoe, Altadena, Los
Angeles County, has published an excellent monograph on this fruit.

Mr. Coolidge gives this appreciative sketch of the plant and fruit:

For eight years I have been watching a fruit which was introduced sup-
posedly as a tropical or semitropical fruit, but we find it does not belong
to this class at all. Feiioa, comiri~ from Uruguay and Southern Brazil, is a
fruit of extreme hardiness. I have in mind one plant that has stood a tempera-
ture of four degrees above zero without any injury whatever. I know of other
plants growing on the desert that have endured a week's temperature of 115
degrees without any injury, so we can safely class it as a hardy fruit. So far
nothing but seedlings have been grown, and these vary greatly as to bearing
qualities and size of fruits, but there are individual plants growing in our
section that fruit regularly and produce fruits of a good size. Within a few
years we will have plants of the feijoa producing fruits on the average as large
as an ordinary hen's egg. The fruit ripening in December gives it a status
that no other fruit of its character has. I have kept the fruits in good condi-
tion for four weeks after picking. It is one of our finest ornaments with its
grayish green persistent foliage and charming "white and red flowers.

THE GRANADILLA

The granadilla is the term applied to the edible fruit of a species of
passion vine (Passiflora edulis) which is quite hardy, and is growing
in different parts of the State. The fruit is about the size of a small
hen's egg, purple exterior when ripe, the thin, brittle shell inclosing a
mass of small seeds covered with a brilliant yellow pulp, mildly acid,
and of very agreeable flavor. Very good jelly has been made of the
fruit. Another passion vine with large pink flowers is very widely dis-
tributed in California, and bears a large, yellowish-brown fruit with
edible pulp.

THE JUJUBE

The jujube (zyziphus jujube), from the fruit of which the delicate
paste of the confectioner is, or should be, made, was introduced by
Mr. G. P. Rixford in 1876, and is fruiting regularly and freely in sev-
eral parts of the State. The plant is easily grown from seed or cuttings.
The orange-red berries are produced three years from planting, and
ripen in November and December. They are edible fresh or dried.
As yet the fruit has not been turned to commercial account.

LOQUAT AND PERSIMMON 397

THE LOQUAT

The loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica) is widely grown in California as
an ornamental plant, and a small amount of fruit is profitably marketed
each year. During the last twenty years a very marked improvement
in loquats has been achieved by painstaking effort by Mr. C. P. Taft, of
Orange, whose experience is freely drawn upon in this chapter. Mr.
Taft's work has demonstrated that this fruit is susceptible of improve-
ment in size, flavor, appearance, in bearing habit of the tree, and in
direction of early and late varieties, and in all these directions not only
in the line of better fruit, but fruit which commands in the market
several times the value of the common types. Upon the basis of the
new varieties the season for the loquat is from February to June, the
bulk of the crop coming in April and the first half of May. The Ad-
vance Loquat was the first of the new varieties to attract attention. It
is very prolific. The fruit is often as much as three inches in length,
and from one inch to one and one-half inches in diameter ; it being of
a peculiar pear shape. The clusters frequently contain twenty speci-
mens. Its color is a bright orange yellow when fully ripe, and it should
never be picked until it is so. The flavor is distinct and very sweet.
Many compare it to the cherry. If not bruised when handled it will
keep easily two weeks, growing sweeter by the process, and will eventu-
ally shrivel up without decay, thus proving itself capable of being
shipped long distances. Mr. Taft has named the following varieties :

Blush. — Very large, much like Advance resistant to diseases.

Advance. — Yellow, pear-shaped, from two to three inches in length, clusters
very large, very sweet when fully ripe.

Premier. — Salmon-colored, oval, large, but not as large as the Advance,
sweet, but peculiar flavor .

Victor. — Largest, color pink to red, probably the best for canning.

Pineapple. — Very large, round, immense clusters; flesh white, skin yellow.

Commercial. — Very large, pear-shaped, yellow with white flesh.

THE PERSIMMON

The persimmon of the southern states (Diospyros Virginiana) was
introduced into California in early days some time ago, as there are
trees thirty to forty feet high growing on Rancho Chico. The widely-
distributed species, however, is the Japanese (Diospyros Kaki), of
which many varieties are now fruiting in different parts of the State.
The tree is quite hardy, and fruits freely both along the coast region
and in the interior. It easily takes the form of a low standard, and
with its large, glossy leaves during the summer, and its immense, high-
colored fruit clinging to the twigs after the leaves have fallen, it is a
striking object in the orchard or in the house garden.

Persimmons grow readily from seed, but in most cases the improved
varieties must be reproduced by grafting on seedlings either of the
Japanese or American species. The tree seems to thrive in any fair
fruit soil, taking very kindly to close soils if well cultivated. The
amounts of fruit now reaching our markets are increasing and a de-
mand is found for certain amounts at fair prices, but there is no object

398 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

now apparent for large increase in production. This fruit, so highly
esteemed in the Orient and so highly praised by travelers, has not be-
come as popular as expected on this coast, nor have the great markets
at the East required more than a carload or two a year so far. Such
limited shipments have, however, sold well in the large Atlantic coast
cities, where a considerable number of Orientals have congregated.
Americans who wish persimmon at all seem to prefer the smaller but
more piquant Virginia species.

Recently, however, the local demand has increased because of the
large numbers of Japanese who are now upon the Pacific Coast and
a shipping demand for the fruit from Seattle to the Hawaiian Islands
and other Pacific ports, has arisen. Local sale in San Francisco and
Los Angeles is profitable in a small way. The removal of astringency
while the fruit remains firm has been successfully accomplished by
Mr. George C. Roeding of Fresno, following a Japanese method. It is
simply to place the fruit in tubs, from which saki, or Japanese "rice
beer," has been lately removed. The tubs are hermetically sealed, and
the fruit left in them from eight to ten days. When it is then removed,
it is found to have altogether lost the puckering power. Mr. Roeding
says that he used eight large saki tubs, each of which would hold
twenty-five gallons, and in those treated one thousand pounds of per-
simmons.

Perhaps the largest single persimmon-producing proposition in Cali-
fornia is that of Ira Avery, in Placer County, which is thus described
by Mr. R. E. Hodges :

A mile down grade into the American River canyon, protected on all sides by
magnificent hills, Ira Avery's father-in-law planted Japanese persimmon trees
in 1876, and three of them are still thrifty and bearing. It was in 1887 that
Mr. Avery bought the ranch and planted 50 more. In the years since then,
many persimmons have been planted in whatever nooks of the ranch were
available until he now has 1500 trees ranging from one to 38 years old. Four
hundred were planted last snring, and one of these bore fruit the same season,
the first four or five years, however, all fruit should be picked off. It is during
this time, too, that all the pruning is done, just to shape the tree. Picking
begins the middle of September and lasts till December. The fruit is then
unripe, hard as a green tomato, colored, but not the same as they become later.
They are wrapped in papers like peaches, and packed in peach boxes, holding
about 30 Ibs. ; the largest size being highest priced. The Tane Nashi variety pays
best on account of its size and earliness. Seven main varieties are grown and
shipped, as follows: Tane Nashi, Hachiyu, Hyakume (the most important),
Maru Kaki, Mikado, and Edoishi.

Some trees yield over 30 boxes, many are not yet in bearing; the crop in
1912 was 2200 boxes, in 1913 1500, because the trees bear lighter in alternate
years.

New York is the best market, Pittsburg, Philadelphia and Boston being
good, while the demand is light in the Middle West. Many are sold in San
Francisco, where the average net in 1913 was $1.08>< per box, while the net on
eastern shipments was $1.35. The fruit is too hard to eat even after shipment
to New York, where it must be stored some time until well ripened.

THE PINEAPPLE

Casual experiments with the pineapple in the open air in this State
have been made for a number of years, the fruit being occasionally
produced. Most has been accomplished by Mr. J. B. Rapp, of Holly-

PINEAPPLE AND POMEGRANATE 399

wood, Los Angeles County. Mr. Rapp's place is in the Cahuenga
Valley, and in that part of the valley which is famed as frostless, where
even beans and tomatoes survive winter temperatures. Mr. Rapp set
out his first twenty-five plants in 1891, and a number of his neighbors
also set out groups of plants, but two years finished up all but his. In
1893 the first of his plants fruited, but they did not seem to take kindly
to the situation at first. They grew very slowly and the first fruit only
weighed half a pound. After setting out his own acclimated plants,
they have done better each year, and the fruit which Mr. Rapp has sold
recently has weighed from two to four pounds each. If the strongest
offsets or suckers are planted they bear inside of a year, and Mr. Rapp
is endeavoring to have his fruit set from May to November, as the fruit
setting at other times in the year is usually undersized on account of
the slow growth during the winter and early spring. It seems probable
that the pineapple resents the dry air of our summer as well as the lack
of winter heat, and a lath covering and a summer spraying may be
desirable. It is very doubtful whether the fruit can be profitably grown
in this State on a commercial scale.

The pineapple thrives best on a fine sandy loam, but will grow well
on many soils if well drained and cultivated. The plants can be set
three by three or four by five feet, so as to allow cultivation both ways
while the plants are young. Plants are secured from "suckers," which
come from the root, from "slips," which grow on the stem just below
the "apple," and from "crowns," or the tufts of leaves at the top of the
fruit. Suckers are said to bear in one year, and slips and crowns in
two years. Strong suckers are best for planting, and they should be set
out early in the spring as soon as the danger of cold weather is over.

THE POMEGRANATE

This fruit (Punica granatum), famed in literature and art, is grown
in various parts of the State, and certain amounts are profitably sold.
The shrub or low tree, in good soil, will reach the height of twenty
feet. It is a hardy plant, easy of propagation from seed or cutting.
The beauty of the tree, not taking the fruit into account, has caused it
to be planted in many gardens. Exposed to the raw sea winds it does
not bloom well not set with fruit, and is best adapted to the warmer
regions of the interior, where it is an early and abundant bearer. The
variety chiefly cultivated is a bright orange color, but there is found a
large variety of them, varying from almost pure white with a faint
blush, to dark red. The fruit ripens in the warmer parts of the State,
north and south, in October.

Pomegranates for eastern shipment are proving profitable in the
Porterville district, whence nine carloads were shipped in 1913, and
the packers reported the supply scant of the demand. In that year the
greater part of the fruit shipped netted about $2.00 for four-basket
boxes, or at the rate of approximately $75 per ton net to the growers.
An especial feature was made of fancy packages, which proved accept-
able to the trade.

400 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

THE STRAWBERRY TREE

The Spanish madrono (Arbutus unedo) is now quite widely grown,
chiefly as an ornamental shrub or tree. The growth is exceedingly
beautiful if kept free' from scale insects, the fruit ranging as it ripens
through shades of yellow, orange, and deep red, and contrasting beau-
tifully with the glossy evergreen foliage. The fruit is of pleasant
flavor.

MELON SHRUB

This plant (Solanum Guatemalense) is a small, half-herbaceous
shrub from the table-land of Guatemala. The fruit is yellow, splashed
with violet, somewhat of the shape of the egg-plant, but is usually
seedless, and is readily propagated from cuttings. There are thriving
plants in many protected places in the State, and some fruit reaches the
market, but few seem to like the flavor, which is something like a
tomato and melon mixed. Its greatest use will probably be for salads.

THE MELON TREE

The melon pawpaw (Carica papaya) has been widely introduced
experimentally in this State, and many situations are found unfitted
for its growth, but satisfactory fruiting has been secured at several
places in southern California, especially if protected the first year it
will stand light frosts afterwards. With Mr. Cammack, at Whittier,
Los Angeles County, it ripens fruit the third year from the seed — the
fruit being pleasant to eat as one would a mushroom. The large fig-
like leaves and the peculiar markings of the trunk make the tree a
very striking object.

THE PRICKLY PEAR

The tuna, or fruit of the cactus (Opuntia vulgaris), is produced in
nearly all parts of the State except on the mountains. It was one of
the old mission fruits, and was enjoyed by the early mining population
until better fruits were available. It is about as large as a medium-
sized pear, and has a pleasant acid flavor is one succeeds in escaping
the prickels in getting at the interior of the fruit. The tuna is still a
commercial article in a small way.* Plants are grown readily from cut-
tings of the fleshy leaves.

Quite a distinction must now be made between the foregoing and
the smooth or spineless fruits which are superior in quality as well as
unarmed with prickles, and therefore readily handled and eaten. Varie-
ties more or less innocent in this respect were introduced from the
Mediterranean region many years ago, and propagated to a limited
extent. Recently Mr. Luther Burbank of Santa Rosa has undertaken
special work with the cactus, both for fruiting and forage purposes,
and has attained remarkable results which are attracting wide attention,
and upon which producing enterprises are being undertaken.

*The tuna as food for man, by David Griffiths, Bulletin 116, Bureau of Pjant Industry.

AVOCADO OR AGUACATE 401

THE ALLIGATOR PEAR

The avocado, or Aguacate of the Mexicans (Persea gratissima) has
proved hardy in several districts in the State, north and south. It is
not likely that it will be satisfactory without high summer heat and
freedom from heavy frosts. It is, however, one of the most promising
of its class of fruits, as it is known to epicures, and its marketing at a
high price is reasonably assured. Mr. J. C. Harvey, of Los Angeles,
gives this interesting account of it :

It is a handsome evergreen tree, and, in the typical form, bears elliptical
leaves from two and one-half to three inches in width, narrow toward the base,
and about six inches long. In some varieties the new growth is of a reddish
brown, ultimately becoming deep green. The fruits are pear-shaped, about the
size of a Bartlett pear, and contain a single, rather large seed. When ripe, the
skin, which is much thinner than that of an orange, parts easily from the pulp,
which is of a moderately firm though buttery consistency, and forms, with lime
juice or pepper and salt, one of the most delicious salads known to epicures.
Indeed, the fruit is a perfect mayonnaise in itself. Few persons fail to like it,
even at first, and in countries where it is common, it is esteemed above all
other vegetable productions, both by natives and foreigners alike. The pulp is
quite rich in a bland and most agreeable oil, said to be very nutritious. The
tree attains a height of from twenty-five to thirty-five feet, and forms a hand-
some object when liberally cultivated. The tree, is a gross feeder. Good-
sized trees carry a large crop, which, after attaining a certain size, can be picked
at intervals of a week or two, extending over a period of two or three months,
the fruits in each instance ripening in a week or ten days after gathering;
and a very remarkable fact is that the quality or flavor of the last picking
seems just the same as the first.

The alligator pear must be considered as one of the most promising
fruits included in this chapter; it is now being planted largely and it
may prove the most profitable of the group. Efforts are in progress for
improved varieties by selection from fruiting seedlings and propagation
by budding.

The seeds may be started in small pots,, and shifted before they
become potbound into small redwood boxes. As the plants attain the
size of a lead pencil and larger, bud them at any time during the reason
when the bark will slip and when budwood is obtainable, using care not
to cut or injure the cambium layer. The bud is tied with wax cloth,
and trained up as in any other budded tree. As the bud unites, say in
from two to four weeks (as the case may be) the seedling is partly cut
back to force out the bud. The strings are left on until the bud starts.
Care must be taken not to use too much water in growing the young
trees.

The literature of the alligator pear is increasing and should be
consulted.*

Two general types of avocado are, in 1914, being rather sharply
contrasted ; the thick-skinned, being advocated as more likely to be
profitable in California because its covering favors long shipment and
because it is better known at the east, as the Florida product is of that

*The Avocado, by G. N. Collins. Bulletin 77, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept.
of Agr. 1907. Consult also Yearbooks of Ihe U. S. Dept. of Agr. for 1905 and 1906. The
Avocado in Southern California and the Development of the Avocado Industry by F. W.
Popenoe, Altadena, Los Angeles county. New varieties of the Avocado for California, by
K. A. Ryerson, University of California Journal of Agriculture, November, 1913. Mr.
Ryerson gives original descriptions of fourteen varieties which he considers superior for
commercial planting.

402 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

type ; the thin-skinned, because of its greater frost resistance. Califor-
nians have still much to learn of this fruit both in its cultural and com-
mercial aspects. At the California Nurserymen's convention of 1913
Mr. J. S. Armstrong of Ontario gave the following review of varieties
now being propagated :

The thin skinned sorts are much the hardier, some excellent types of which
are now fruiting with us. The best of these I may mention : The Harman, the
Ganter, the Northup, the Fowler and the Chappelow. Last winter (1913) young
trees of these hardy types withstood from five to fifteen degrees of frost without
serious injury where the trees had been allowed to harden up. One twelve-
year-old seedling tree in the colder part of the valley withstood a temperature
of 12 degrees above zero. The ends of the branches were nipped, but the main
branches were not injured.

The thick skinned varieties are not as resistant to extremes of heat or cold,
however, as the former mentioned types, hence are recommended only for
planting in more favored localities. Among the best known thick-skinned
varieties are the Taft, Lyon, Wagner, Meserve, and Walker. Of these the Taft
is undoubtedly the best. It is pear shaped, weighing a pound or over. On Mr.
C. P. Taft's grounds near Orange the original is a large spreading tree which
usually bears several hundred fruits annually.

As there is an uncommonly great variation in the time of blooming
and also in the period required for the fruit of different types of trees
to come to maturity, an orchard may be obtained by selection which
will bear continuously. This is of course very desirable to the con-
sumer and immaterial to the market grower, as there is plenty of
demand at all times.

THE WHITE SAPOTA

There are two old trees in Santa Barbara, one believed to have
survived from the mission planting in the early part of the last century,
the other half as old, of the white sapota (Casimiroa edulis). Dr.
Franceschi commends the tree for every garden. Mr. Harvey of Los
Angeles describes the sapota as growing with him from seed from
Vera Cruz as follows:

This tree endures slight frosts unharmed. It is indigenous in northwest Mex-
ico and is remarkable among the Aurantiacea, producing green colored flowers,
and superficially bears little resemblance to an otherwise well-marked order of
plants. The fruits are the size of apples, and are esteemed in that portion of
Mexico where it is common; according to some botanical authorities it is not
considered altogether wholesome, possessing narcotic properties. The pulp is
described as possessing a delicious, melting, peach-like taste.

Mr. Taft reports the sapota as bearing well with him. The tree is
an exceedingly rapid grower, much after the habit of the walnut, but
evergreen. In August and September the peach-like fruit, greenish
yellow, with large seeds shaped life those of an orange, matures well
and is excellent, this being the normal season for ripening. At other
times fruit is often found, but is apt to be worthless and even dangerous.
As it will not ripen well off the trees and must be quite soft when
eaten, it will never be of much market value.

OTHER MINOR SEMI-TROPICALS 403

THE TREE TOMATO

This plant (Cyphomandra betacea) is a native of Central America
and is of shrubbery habit, growing five or six feet high, with large,
shining leaves, often a foot long. The flowers are fragrant, of a pale
flesh color, with yellow stamens, and are followed by fruit the shape
and size of a duck's egg, at first of a purple tint, but gradually assuming
a warm, reddish color as it ripens. When ripe the fruit may be used
raw as a tomato is. If the skin is removed and the fruit stewed with
sugar, it has a slight sub-acid flavor which is very refreshing. It
makes a fine jelly. The plants bear the second year from the seed and
the fruit ripens continuously for several months. The seeds should be
started just as are those of the common tomato, and the plants set out
eight or ten feet apart.

THE KAI APPLE

This name is applied to the fruit of Aberia Caffra, a native of Natal
and Kaffaria, a tall shrub, yielding an edible fruit of a golden yellow
color, about an inch in diameter. It is commended as a hedge plant, as
it is densely clothed with strong dry spines. The leaves are small and
of a rich green hue. The fruit, which is produced freely in the warmer
parts of the State, is chiefly used for making preserves.

OTHER FRUITS

The foregoing enumeration does not include all the exotic fruits
which have found a place in California soil. There are many more,
some of which are demonstrating their fitness to add to the graces or
the gains of our horticultural life. The caricas, carissas, eugenias,
hovenia, etc., are all gaining places in California gardens. Even the
more strictly tropical mango, the monstera, sapodilla and the like are
claiming the attention of amateurs. Of the mango in southern Cali-.
fornia the best account is by F. W. Popenoe, Altadena.

PART SIX: SMALL FRUITS

CHAPTER XXXVI
BERRIES AND CURRANTS IN CALIFORNIA

In suitable soils and situations, and with proper care and cultivation,
the small fruits sustain the general reputation of California by the size
and quality of the product, and by the long-continued and abundant
fruiting of the plants. Probably nowhere else in the world do small
fruits better repay generous treatment than in this State, and probably
nowhere do they suffer more from neglect. There are parts of the
State, of course, where some small fruits, left to their own resources,
thrive and bear abundantly, but, speaking of the State as a whole, the
price of success is intelligent devotion on the part of the grower.

There are localities in California which favor almost continuous
growth and fruiting of some of the small fruits, and it is no fiction to
say that in such a place one may have raspberries and strawberries
upon his table every month of the year. Such situations are the thermal
belts, which are practically frostless, and, by securing favoring moisture
conditions in the soil and proper varieties of the fruits, the existing
temperature conditions will produce the results indicated. Though this
be the case, the profitable growth of small fruits is not, of course,
restricted to such situations, but the largest commercial enterprises are
carried on in places where the summer-crop rule prevails, but the bear-
ing season is much larger than in the eastern States.

Small fruits for family use may be grown on all fertile soils, and
therefore they should be produced on every farm. Growing for market
on a large scale involves considerations of suitability of soil and climate,
ease of cultivation, water supply, and facilities for transportation, which
will probably occur to any one who gives the matter the thought and
personal observation of existing small fruit farms, which such an
important commercial venture should command.

It is often claimed that soil for small fruits should be deep and rich
of the types generally called garden soils. There is an advantage in
this because of amount of plant food and retention of moisture when
well cultivated, but at the same time shallow soils even when overlying
hardpan, which may not suit deep rooting trees or garden roots, can
be profitably used for small fruits if water and fertilizers are intelli-
gently used. This will be stated more fully in the discussion of the
strawberry, but the general fact is pertinent to the growth of other
small fruits also.

Preparation of soil for small fruits should be most thorough and
careful. Even more generous work than that commanded in Chapter
X for trees and vines should be done. It is the more necessary to
work deeply because subsequent culture of small fruits must be shallow.

404

CALIFORNIA BLACKBERRY GROWING 405

THE BLACKBERRY

The blackberry is a great favorite in California markets. It thrives
in all parts of the State, and the plant is best suited of all small fruits
to yield generously without irrigation, though it relishes sufficient mois-
ture and repays it with fruit. There is great difference in practice as to
supplying water artificially. The growth of cane, and the size and
appearance of the fruit, will show the observing grower what should
be the practice in his situation, and the general suggestions as to irriga-
tion in Chapter XV are applicable. There are regions in which blacK-
berries are irrigated weekly throughout the summer, and others in which
the berries are gathered from June to November without irrigation. Of
course, with such wide local variations there can be no general rule for
practice. Let the grower simply bear in mind that if he does not get
good, plump, and glistening fruit and good strong growth of new canes
at the same time, he should give irrigation. The requirements of the
plant during the fruiting season are great, and they must be met. Many
failures are due to lack of irrigation when needed.

Propagation. — Blackberry plants are secured by digging up the
shoots which come late in the summer from old stools ; securing there-
with a bunch of fibrous roots with a portion of the main root three or
four inches long. To propagate on a large scale dig up the roots
entirely, and, cutting them up with pruning shears into pieces about
two inches long, plant them in a well-prepared bed in the garden or
nursery. Place the root cuttings about two inches apart and cover
about three inches deep with well-pulverized soil, the depth being
regulated, of course, according to the nature of the soil, deeper in light
than heavy soils. A light mulch will assist in retaining moisture. The
time for this work is at the dormant period of the plant. One summer's
growth gives good plants for setting out.

The Mammoth and Crandall are propagated by rooting tips of
canes.

Planting out Blackberries. — Blackberries should be planted in
rows far enough apart to admit; of the use of the horse and cultivator.
As the constant tendency of the plant is to extend itself in the growth
of new canes, the rows should not be less than six to eight feet part,
and the plants about three feet apart in the row. The plants soon
occupy the full space in the row, and cultivation is only possible between
the rows. Some growers plant blackberries as they do grapevines,
seven or eight feet apart both ways, and then cultivate with the horse
both ways. Planting in rows is usually thought better. The number
of plants to fill an acre at different distances can be calculated as
described in Chapter XXVI for grapevines.

D. Edson Smith, of Orange County, who had much experience with
small fruits, described his method of laying out and planting on a large
scale, with a view to irrigation, as follows :

Plow deeply and harrow thoroughly several times before setting out. Lastly,
open a trench with your plow where the row is to be, twenty inches deep; go
along with a basket of plants, a four-foot lath and a shovel, and set a plant in
this trench every four feet and fill the dirt around it with the shovel. If this
trench is too deep in places for the length of the plant root, fill in with a little

406 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

dirt; if not quite deep enough in places, scoop out a shovelful. Aim, in prepar-
ing the ground with plow and smoother, to leave it dishing each way toward
the row of young plants, so that irrigating water turned in at the upper end will
run along the row of plants as in a trough. Aim to have the ground around the
set plants a few inches below the general level of the land. After the plants are
all set in a row, go along with a rake if there are but a few plants, or with a
horse-hoe is there are many, and fill in the trench between the plants. It is a
pleasure to set out plants in this way, and such deep, rich, well-stirred soil
delights the plant roots, so that they grow rapidly in every direction, and the
plants throw up their heads in a manner entirely satisfactory to all concerned.
If the ground is dry, or there is no rain soon after setting out the plants, irrigat-
ing water should be turned down the row or at least a quart or two of water
poured around each plant; then, before the soil hardens, stir it well with cultivator
and hoe. All future care resolves itself into frequent waterings and frequent
stirrings of the soil. Allow no weeds to appear, and keep three inches of surface
soil well loosened with the horse and hoes. These small fruits require frequent
waterings, especially when forming fruit and during the fruiting season.

Cultivation. — Thorough cultivation of the surface soil is essen-
tial for retention of moisture. After the plants attain size, cultivation
should be secured with as shallow-cutting tools as possible so as to
prevent injury to the roots, which not only weakens the plant, but
increases the growth of suckers between the rows. A horse-hoe with a
long knife running horizontally, or with duck-foot teeth, well sharpened,
answers well in keeping the ground clear of weeds and suckers, and the
surface loose. Due regard must, however, be paid to securing sufficient
depth in this surface layer to prevent the soil beneath baking hard and
drying out, as discussed in the chapter on cultivation.

Frequency of cultivation depends upon irrigation, for the cultivator
must always follow the application of water. The spaces in the row
which can not be reached with the cultivator must be kept clean from
weeds, and free from baking, by the use of the hoe. It is advisable
that the cultivation be the cleanest possible, for moisture exhaustion by
weeds can not be afforded.

Pruning and Training. — There is a little difference in the way
of training blackberries practiced in this State. Of course this does
not include the "let alone" system, which is not followed by any good
grower. The difference lies mainly in the use or disuse of artificial
supports for the canes. In either case the pruning of the canes is
similar in kind but different in degree, for if no supports are used, the
canes are headed lower.

At planting out, cut back the cane to near the surface of the ground
and mark the plant with a small stake. At first the top growth should
not be checked, but when new canes grow out strongly they should be
pinched at the tip to force out lateral branches for fruiting the next
year. Those who intend to tie canes to a stake or trellis let them attain
a height of five or six feet before pinching off the terminal bud ; those
who intend to teach the cane to stand alone pinch when it is about four
feet high. All agree to pinch off the ends of the lateral branches at
about eight to twelve inches from the main stem. This pinching of
blackberry canes may be done by the watchful grower of a few plants,
with the thumb and finger, but thrifty blackberry plants are such rapid
cane growers that in large plantations cutting back is often done with
a sickle or corn hook or sharp butcher-knife, several times in the course

PRUNING THE BLACKBERRY 407

of the summer. It is also advisable to thin out the suckers with the hoe
while cutting out weeds, leaving only about as many as it is desired
to have for fruit the next season. This method gives stout canes, with
plenty of short side branches, well supplied with buds, which will send
out fruiting shoots the following spring. If supports are used, the four
to six canes which are left to each stool are gathered within a loosely-
drawn bale rope and tied to the stake ; or if a trellis is used, the branches
are brought up to the wire or slat so that the distance is about evenly
divided between the shoots.

Mr. Claud D. Tribble of Elk Grove gives the following advice for
handling the Lawton, which is the chief upright variety grown in
California :

Give the plants some support the first season by a stake, and the second season
the permanent stakes are put in, one on each side of the plant. In driving them,
allow the tops to be wider than the bottom so the berries can be picked easily.
Large wires or wooden cleats are used to support the vines or canes. The posts
are about six feet long and driven in the ground until solid, making the top
about five feet high. During the first season's growth there is very little pruning
except thinning to the desired number of canes. The second year the canes are
allowed to grow above the stakes and then tipped to cause laterals to form,
which are cut back to less than 12 inches to produce berries the following season.
The old wood is cut out each season and the new shoots trained as before.
If the old canes are cut out as soon as the crop is gathered, it is done more
economically and the young plants grow better.

Though these systematic methods of summer pruning are practiced
and advocated by the most careful growers, it should be stated that
there are large plantations which are conducted upon a more simple
system. The pruning consists in cutting out old canes in the winter,
and the only summer pruning is slashing off these canes which interfere
with cultivation. The canes are sometimes held up by tying bunches
of them together with ropes. Of course this system costs less than the
more careful one which has been described, and yields profit enough
to induce adherence to it. No doubt quite as great weight of berries
could be had from a smaller area by a better system of growing.

After the leaves fall, the canes which have borne fruit during the
summer are all cut off even with the surface of the ground with long-
handled pruning shears or with a short hooked knife with a long
handle, and all debris removed from the rows.

Application of Manure. — The blackberry loves very rich ground,
and plenty of well-rotted stable manure or compost, as described in
Chapter XIV, should be applied. It is a good plan to apply in a thick
covering all over the ground and between the canes as soon as the
patch is cleaned up in the fall. The early rains carry down the soluble
parts of the manure, and later in the season the whole is plowed in
between the rows, leaving a foot or more next the plants to be carefully
forked in, as the digging fork does not cut the roots like the spade.

Mulching. — The mulch, to keep the ground moist and to obviate
summer cultivation, is very satisfactory where it is thoroughly done.
Apply coarse manure or partially-rotted straw and the like, after the
last spring cultivation, and use the hoe to keep down weeds and suckers
which come up between the rows. Some growers use mulch close to
the canes, cultivating the remainder of the ground between the rows.

408 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Bearing Age and Longevity. — If blackberry plants are well
treated the first year after planting out, there will be considerable fruit
the following summer. How long the plants will bear satisfactorily
depends, also, on situation and treatment. Sometimes the plants fail
early; even with good, generous treatment in good soil, the old stool
becomes weak, the shoots are thin, and the fruit small. Some count
about eight years as the profitable age of the plant, and then cut out
plants and give the land a change. Of course berry growers prepare
for this by frequently making new plantations.

Irrigating Blackberries. — Though a good part of the blackberry
crop is grown in regions of heavy rainfall without irrigation, the use
of water is sometimes very profitable. Mr. T. B. Cannon, near Los
Angeles, works in this way :

Mr. ^ Cannon aims to get Crandall blackberries from June 15 to November,
which is possible by his system of irrigation and pruning. So the water is
applied in winter and about every ten days until the berries are as big as peas,
cultivating between times. The rows are eight feet apart and the plants four,
so that one-horse cultivation is possible until the fruit gets so heavy as to bend
over into the onen space. When ripening time begins in June, a ditch is dug
close to the vines on each side of the row, for irrigation. This gets water
pretty well where it is needed, the ditches are out of the way of the cultivator
after the first crop is off, and they are shaded so as to avoid evaporation in the
hot summer. Water is applied every four or five days during the heavy picking,
then every ten days till the main summer crop comes on, when it is applied
twice as often again. Irrigation when the berries are turning black makes them
larger and of better color. While the juice might thus be considered diluted,
this is the sort of berry people buy, and the proportion of juice to seeds is what
makes a desirable market berry, when markets are near by. Such practice might
make undesirable fruit for canning or shipping.

Varieties of the Blackberry. — Comparatively few kinds are
largely grown. The Wilson Junior, Lawton, and Kittatinny were for-
merly the prevailing kinds, ripening in the order named. The Erie is
favored by some as a middle season variety. The Early Harvest has
been favorably reported by a number of growers. These have, however,
been largely superseded by a renamed variety, Crandall's Early, which
is the earliest of the improved varieties, and has a very long fruiting
season. The fruit was named after Dr. J. R. Crandall, of Auburn, who
first fruited the variety from plants given him by a stranger hailing
from Texas, and the proper name of the variety is probably Texas
Early. It is a strong, vigorous, hardy plant, very productive, of firm,
handsome berries; resembles Lawton in canes, leaves, and flavor of
fruit ; not given to sprouting from running roots.

Another variety which has advanced in favor is the Oregon Ever-
green, introduced from Oregon but not native nor originated in that
State. The late John Rock described it as follows : "Origin unknown ;
beautiful ; cut-leaved foliage, which it retains during the winter ; berries
large, black, sweet, rich, and delicious. It continues to ripen from July
to November, which makes it one of the best berries for family use."
It loses size and quality notably on scant moisture.

Some effort has been made to secure improved varieties of our
native blackberry, and a most striking result has been secured by Judge
J. H. Logan, of Santa Cruz, by crossing the wild berry with Crandall's

PRUNING TRAILING BLACKBERRIES 409

Early, producing a fruit so large that it has been named "Mammoth"
by its originator. The canes of the Mammoth are very peculiar, being
very large and thickly covered with small, short spines. The canes
start early in March, grow thick and stout until about five feet high.
They then take on a running habit and grow from twenty-five to thirty
feet in a season. Late in the fall the tips or stolons seek the ground
and take root. The Mammoth is not an evergreen like its Texas parent,
although it does not entirely lose its leaves in winter. It begins
to grow and flower very early in spring and ripens its fruit the last
of May, some weeks earlier than the Lawton. The fruit is more
acid than the Lawton, but, when perfectly ripe, is sweet and of superior
flavor. When cooked or canned the flavor is identical with the wild
berry of California. This variety is often wrongly called "Black
Loganberry."

The Himalaya is a blackberry of wonderful growth and prolificness,
highly praised by amateurs, but not yet fully made out from a com-
mercial point of view. It is magnificent on a garden fence or trellis.

The Dewberry. — The improved varieties of the dewberry, or
trailing blackberry, are now quite widely known and highly praised, but
are chiefly grown for home use. Some growers use trellises; others
train the vines along rows on the ground surface. The following is
the method of Mr. A. M. Munger, of Fresno, and includes irrigation
arrangements :

For planting the Lucretia dewberry, prepare the ground by plowing deen and
cultivating until the dirt is thoroughly pulverized. Set the plants about three
inches deep: and four feet apart, in rows, leaving a space of six feet between the
rows. Plant between February 15th and March 15th. Irrigate as often as once
a month, always thoroughly cultivating after each irrigation. By so doing a
sufficient growth is secured to produce a good crop the second year. Immedi-
ately after the first rainfall, generally in October, the vines should be pruned
by cutting back within about sixteen inches of the base of the vine.

In February of the second year, plow between the rows with a small one-
horse plow, turning the furrows toward the vines, but using a shield so as not
to cover them. Follow immediately with a hoe, drawing the dirt up under the
vines and forming a ridge. This ridge should be high enough to keep the vines
up out of the water when irrigating. After this ridge is formed, water should
be run quite often, as the dewberry requires a great deal of water to mature
properly. The vines should be irrigated as often as three times at least during
the spring. The fruit begins to ripen in Fresno about May 25th, and continues
about one month. The dewberry roots readily from the tips without covering
if the soil is loose and moist. If many plants are desired it is advisable to
cover slightly, and the tips will root as soon as the soil is moistened by the fall
rains.

A trellising method for dewberries consists in driving posts to stand
about three feet high for the dewberry can not be trained up as high as
other berries. Make a half hoop of coarse wire extending from the
root of the plant over the arms at top of the post and training the
plants on this. The rows are usually six feet apart and the plants six
feet apart in the rows. The vines should be well thinned to produce
large berries.

The dewberry which has recently been most largely planted in cen-
tral and southern California is known as the Gardena because of the

410 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

prolificness and profitability of a patch grown by W. M. Gray, of Gar-
dena, Los Angeles county. Its qualities are vigorous growth, hardiness,
regular and profuse yield of large, early berries.

Pruning and Training Trailing Berries. — With reference to the
handling of trailing blackberries and the blackberry-raspberry hybrids
which are continually becoming more popular, it may be said that there
is no one best way. There are several good ways, according to the
desires and convenience of the growers, and this is the reason why
there is an apparent conflict in which all contestants may be right, each
from his own point of view. The varieties are sufficiently alike to be
discussed together. What seem to us the essentials in pruning them
are these :

First, they all bear on canes which grow the previous year, and the
fruit comes on laterals which break from them. In this mild climate
there is continuous break of laterals which may cover quite a long
period and the same wood may seem to be bearing twice. This second
bearing is of so little account that the general rule to remove old wood
after its main fruiting is a good one.

Second, the wood which grows this year will therefore bear next
year, and will send out bearing laterals sufficiently with a number of
treatments. The new cane may be pinched at any time during growth
and it will then send wood laterals (not fruit laterals) at once and
each of these laterals will have the same character that the main shoot
would have had if it had not been pinched ; that is, it will send out fruit-
ing laterals at the same date the following season.

Third, it does not matter whether you make the new growth bunchy
by laterals following pinching or whether you let it run out and cut off
part of it at the end of the growing season or whether you shorten it
in and at the same time cut away closely all the laterals which it may
have made on its own account when it was running out. In all cases
there will be dormant buds enough to give fruiting shoots on whatever
part of the cane you reserve.

Fourth, the way you prune, then, depends upon serving your own
convenience in the training of these shoots up to a post, along on a
wire or along on a ridge on the ground — whatever suits you best to
keep the fruit out of the dirt, and to promote such cultivation as is desir-
able, etc., will be accepted by the plant as not interfering with its
starting fruiting shoots from whatever dormant buds you have allowed
it to retain on the wood which it matured the previous season.

Fifth, there is in addition the application of the principle that good
large fruit is the product of a plant which is not carrying too much
bearing wood ; that is, is not endeavoring to perfect too much fruit at
the same time. For this reason, as well as for convenience, it is desir-
able not to allow a plant to retain all the cane it grows, but to shorten
it or to remove the laterals or part of them or to shorten the laterals or
in any other way to require the plant to direct its energy to the better
development of fewer fruits.

Sixth, growers are, of course, influenced by different considerations.
Amateur growers delighting in running vines on fences or trellises

GROWING CRANDALL BLACKBERRIES 411

would not prune as would a commercial grower, who can not have canes
running all over his fields. The amateur can pinch a main shoot and
send the laterals up the arms of a fan-shaped trellis if he likes and make
an object of rare garden beauty, and he can reduce the excess of bearing
wood by cutting away the parts of the laterals which run beyond his
arms or extra ones beyond those he can carry on his trellis. From the
point of view of the plant, he does the same thing that the commercial
grower does when he comes along with his scythe or sickle and cuts
away indiscriminately all the growth which goes beyond the space
where it is convenient for him to have the fruit.

Seventh, do not be too particular about exact methods to imitate;
try rather to discern principles which may be served by many different
methods.

Six Months Fruiting of Crandalls. — One way in which the prin-
ciples just outlined may be applied to Crandall's Early which is our
leading blackberry, considering the State as a whole, is described by
Mr. R. E. Hodges as the practice of Mr. T. B. Cannon, of Los Angeles :

Briars eighteen to twenty-four inches tall, having good root systems, are set
with a spade in finely pulverized soil as soon after they are dug as possible to
avoid wilting, to the same depth as they were before, four feet apart in rows
eight feet apart. The first year they require no pruning. The space between
rows is occupied by cabbage, beans, corn, potatoes, etc.

In the second year three or four new canes come up. When these are four-
feet high, cut off six inches, and laterals start from the leaf axis. When these
are thirty inches long their end buds are cut off and they send out blossoms
which bear fruit that fall. These same laterals bear the main crop in their
second year, besides sending out new laterals near the base of the old ones
about the time the berries are well set. The new laterals bear the second crop,
which comes on about the time the first crop is gone. The third crop, borne
on the new canes, which have been cut back meanwhile to three and one-half
feet, blossom from August till freezing, and the berries ripen from Septem-
ber on.

Mr. Cannon has followed this plan with satisfaction on two or three patches,
the largest of which is a half-acre set seven years ago in the young family
orchard. The first crop from this half-acre in 1913 was 180 crates. The second
and third crops usually together equal two-fifths of the first. The second is
about half of the third. Two years ago the third alone almost equaled the first.
And the berries sometimes sell at $2.80 per crate after October.

Growing Crandalls in Hedge Rows. — A method which aims at
economy in getting a main crop, without providing for succession, is
that of Mr. J. B. Wagner, of Pasadena. He uses no trellises, but leaves
the old canes in the hedge-row to support the new growth, in this way :

On the day before berry-picking, all protruding new growth is cut back as
close as possible to the blanket of bearing canes which covers the mat of dead
ones. This removes all hindrance to picking. Do not leave stubs of new wood
above the bearing vines, because it raises the general level of bearing wood in
a year or two, so high that the pickers can scarcely reach over and up to the
center of the row. When picking is over, both sides of the hedge-row are
trimmed off clean till it is left only two feet wide. New growth soon leans out
over this and covers it, ready for a crop next year with the berries well outside
and handy for the pickers. Every six years he trims the whole hedge back to
a height of two feet and clears out all the cane over a year old, and this renews
the plantation.

412 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Training the Mammoth. — A good way with the Mammoth,
grown in a commercial way, is described by Mr. Tribble as follows :

The Mammoth is one of the earliest of blackberries, very productive and is
one of the most delicious. The plants are propagated from rooted tips which
appear on the ends of the vines during the winter months. Mammoths are
usually trained on a wire trellis made by driving posts at each hill and nailing
on cross-arms to support the wire, which is stapled to each end of the cross-
arms. The laterals are trained along the wire about half way between the hills,
and then cut off to cause them to throw out fruit spurs. As soon as the crop
is taken from the old canes they should be taken out and the new canes trained
on the trellis as before.

Training the Himalaya. — Success with the Himalaya blackberry
is wholly dependent upon proper pruning, and whether it be grown
upon an arbor or a fence or upon a low trellis, the same principles
must be applied. This variety bears on the same laterals each season
and reaches its maximum production the fourth or fifth year. This
variety is the latest to ripen with us, coming in after the Mammoth
blackberries have all gone. Methods of high and low trellising are thus
described :

The high trellis is made on posts 7 feet high and 30 feet apart. Two wires
are stapled on the posts, one 3l/2 feet from the ground and the other at the top.
Rows should be planted 10 to 12 feet apart and about the same distance in the
rows. The long runners should be trained and woven in these wires to hold
up the load of fruit. The second year the runners will throw out laterals
thickly along the main canes; these fruit spurs are from 2 to 2y2 feet in length,
projecting outside the main canes where the berries are all exposed to the
picker's reach. Not over four canes should be allowed to grow in each hill.
After reaching the desired length they should be tipped.

The low trellis method is as follows : New vines grow from the roots some
30 or 35 feet in a single season. These are trained on the ground by stakes
under the wires which support the bearing vines, so they do not interfere with
cultivation and picking. Not too many are allowed to grow. They will throw
out a fruit bud about every eight inches, a large number of which will develop
next year into spurs bearing 30 to 60 berries. It will also throw out numerous
laterals which are cut off before laying the vine on the wires in winter. If they
were left, and wound around the wires, they would tend to choke out the fruit
spurs, besides beiner dangerous to pickers. Suckers are kept down, and there
is a clear path for the pickers, lined shoulder high with luscious blackberries.

THE CRANBERRY

Though attention has been given to experiments with the growth
of the cranberry in California for many years, it has not been demon-
strated that the culture is successful or profitable. Cranberries have
been produced, and the fruit shown at fairs, but beyond this nothing
has yet been accomplished. It would seem to be a fair conclusion that
even in the most moist regions our summer air is too dry to suit the
plant.

THE CURRANT

The currant reaches perfection in size and quality in parts of Cali-
fornia adapted to its growth, but its area is comparatively small. The
plant does not thrive in the dry, heated air of the interior either at the
north or south. It does well near the coast, especially in the upper half

GROWING THE CURRANT 413

of the State, and is grown for market chiefly, on lands adjacent to the
Bay of San Francisco. The comparatively cool and moist air of the
ocean favors it, but even here the sunburn, which is the bane of its ex-
istence in the interior valleys, occasionally injures the fruit. Away from
the coast, currants are grown to a limited extent along the Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers, near their confluence, but not in the hot val-
leys whence they flow. On the foothills, too, where the plant has a
northerly slope, or other cooling influence, and sufficiently moist soil,
it will do moderately well. It is quite possible that the currant may be
satisfactorily grown for home use, or for local market in parts of the
State where at present one does not find it, providing the moderating
effect of elevation and northerly exposure, coupled with the shade of
trees; be secured, but even then the hot north wind of the early summer
may often injure the fruit. So far as the metropolitan market is con-
cerned, it does not matter that the currant area is limited, for existing
plantations produce all, and sometimes more, than can be profitably
disposed of at present. It is possible, however, that the future may
show a larger demand, for the pure food laws are likely to prevent the
further selling of apple jelly with a currant color and flavor under the
name of currant jelly.

Propagation. — The currant is readily grown from cuttings. As
soon as the bush drops its leaves, and the ground is in condition, as to
moisture, secure the cuttings about a foot in length from straight wood
of the last growth, and place them in nursery or in permanent place, in
good sandy or garden loam, deeply spaded and well broken up. Set the
cutting firmly in the earth, six or seven inches deep. If they are to be
trained as small trees, every bud below where the lowest limb is to
start should be cut out — even to the end of the cutting underground —
otherwise they will be continually throwing up suckers. If they are to
grow as bushes, the natural and more productive form of the currant,
set them as they are taken from the parent bush.

Planting and Care. — Currants are usually grown in rows about
five or six feet apart, the plants standing two and a half or three feet
apart in the rows. Most of the currant plantations are between orchard
rows, the partial shade of the trees being considered desirable. It is
claimed that currants do best when interplanted with cherry, apricot,
apple, and pear, not so well when associated with plum and peach, and
the almond is least desirable — possibly because the almond is often
given less cultivation than the pulpy fruit or is grown on lighter, drier
soils. The cultivation is such as is usually given to the orchard, except
that in heavy soil the plow is not allowed to come near the cuttings
the first season for fear of tearing them from their rooting. After the
first year the plow is used in the winter and the cultivator in summer.

Currants will repay generous applications of well-rotted manure,
and relish sufficient moisture in the soil. Where this can not be had
from rainfall, and retained by cultivation and mulching, irrigation must
be resorted to.

Pruning. — If the currant is to be grown in tree form, the
branches from the upper buds of the cutting should be shortened in at

414 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

the end of the first summer, and branches growing horizontally should
be removed. The weaker shoots in the head are thinned out, but not
so much as to leave the top too open. If the plant is to grow as a bush,
the only winter pruning will consist in removing dead wood, and thin-
ning the new shoots as may seem desirable, and cutting back about half
of the new growth. Summer pinching of the new growth is desirable,
as it causes the fruit to set closely and tends to a thick growth of foliage
also, and this is necessary, for the bark is liable to sunburn, and the
best fruit is that which is well sheltered by the leaves. Another ad-
vantage of the bush form is the less likelihood of killing by borers,
which is imminent when the growth depends upon a single stem. Well
cared for bushes will bear profitably until about ten years old. Replant-
ing should be made on new ground.

Bearing. — The currant bears a quantity of excellent fruit the
second year from the cutting, and reaches its fullest product about the
fifth to the eighth year, when the yield in the Hayward region is said to
range from one and a half to three tons to the acre.

Varieties. — The Cherry currant is the prevailing variety, al-
though the old sorts, the Red and White Dutch, the Red and White
Grape, etc., are grown in some localities, and Fay's Prolific is approved
by some growers. Pomona is one of the best of the newer red varieties
and the old Fertile de Palluau is reported as doing better than others
in hot, interior situations. Black currants are but little grown, the
market demand for them being very light.

THE GOOSEBERRY

The Gooseberry is another fruit with somewhat circumscribed area
in this State. In localities which favor it, the fruit is often found very
profitable, but the demand does not warrant any great increase of prod-
uct. Though the gooseberry thrives in some situations which do not
suit the currant, they may both be described as averse to the hot and
dry parts of the State. Still, for home use or local sale one can grow
certain varieties of gooseberries successfully, by protecting them from
too great exposure to the sun, and by keeping the soil sufficiently rich
and moist. The choice of varieties is of the greatest importance, as
will be mentioned presently. At present the chief supplies of the goose-
berry, as of the currant, are produced in the country adjacent to San
Francisco Bay, though thriving and profitable plantations are found
elsewhere near the coast, here and there in the interior, and at consid-
erable elevations on the slope of the Sierra Nevada.

Propagation, Pruning, etc. — The gooseberry is grown from cut-
tings, very much as already described for the currant. The common
and the best method is to start the cuttings early in the winter, though
some have succeeded with cuttings taken in the spring just as the new
growth is starting out. Disbudding the lower part of the cutting if it is
desired to train in tree form is also practiced with the gooseberry, but
a smaller percentage of cuttings is found to grow after disbudding.

GROWING THE GOOSEBERRY 415

Gooseberries are planted out and cultivated as already described for
currants, and the requirements of the plant in soil, moisture, and ma-
nuring, are much the same.

If the gooseberry is to be grown in tree form, constant attention to
removal of suckers is necessary ; if in bush form, it will only be neces-
sary to remove too old wood and thin out the new shoots. Suckers
should be removed clean from the stem, so as to eradicate the latent
buds, and pulling off with a gloved hand, when the suckers become
woody enough to withstand breaking, is advised. As with the currant,
the borer is a constant menace to the life of a gooseberry plant confined
to a single stem.

Diseases and Pests. — The gooseberry is subject to insect depre-
dation both in wood and fruit and leaf. The prevailing trouble, how-
ever, and that which causes the failure of so many foreign kinds, is me
mildew. To escape this nothing is usually done except to select varieties
not subject to the disease, but susceptible varieties can be protected by
spraying just as the leaves are opening and once a month afterwards
with potassium sulphide half an ounce to the gallon of water. This does
not stain nor poison the fruit. The cooler and moister the air the less
the mildew.

Varieties of the Gooseberry. — The American varieties, Downing
and Houghton's Seedling, chiefly the latter, constituted for a long time
the main varieties marketed in San Francisco. Early experiments with
collections of English varieties showed that most of them were fail-
ures because of mildew ; still a few of the green and white sorts, nota-
bly the Whitesmith, have succeeded. The proportion of large berries
now being marketed is much greater than formerly, and the superior
price warrants especial effort to produce them.

A large English variety, which was brought to California many
years ago by the late John W. Dwinelle, is now the most widely dis-
tributed large kind. Its true name was lost and it has been propagated
under various names, viz., Dwinelle, Kelsey, New French ; but the name
Berkeley, adopted by W. P. Hammon, in his wide distribution of it in
1884, now prevails. It is large and handsome, very prolific, ripens
early, and is usually free from mildew.

The Champion, an Oregon seedling grown by Seth Lewelling, is
medium sized, very smooth, and thick fleshed, the seeds being few and
small. They are entirely free from mildew, and are clean, bright and
beautiful. The Columbus, a New York variety, is large and of good
quality and resists mildew well.

THE MULBERRY

Nearly all varieties of the mulberry have been introduced in Cali-
fornia and grown rapidly and thriftily. Most attention has been paid
to those varieties most suitable for feeding silk-worms, but the fruiting
varieties are also grown here, though the fruit has assumed no com-
mercial importance. The mulberry is grown readily from cuttings.
The fruiting varieties thus far chiefly distributed are the Downing,
Everbearing, the Persian, the New American, the Russian, and the

416 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Black Mulberry of Spain. All these bear large and desirable fruit. The
last named, introduced by Felix Gillett, of Nevada City, is grown quite
widely. The mulberry has a long season ; the Persian ripens in Tulare
the last of May and continuously thereafter until October.

THE RASPBERRY

The raspberry is another of the great small fruits of California. It
thrives over a great area of the state ; in fact, there are few situations
in which it can not be grown with at least a measure of success if
proper attention is given to retention of moisture in the surface soil,
and to giving the plants partial shade in the heated valleys, and the
cooler exposures in the foothills. The raspberry, skillfully pruned and
generously fed and cared for, is almost a constant bearer, as has already
been intimated. It is a continual delight in the home garden, and al-
ways brings a high average rate in local and metropolitan markets.

The culture of the raspberry is in the main like that of the black-
berry, as already described. The red varieties, which are the kinds al-
most exclusively grown in this State, are propagated by suckers and
root cuttings like the blackberry, but the "black caps" are propagated
by layering the cane tips during the growing season, and this method
is also necessary in the Loganberry and other blackberry-raspberry
hybrids. Bending down a cane with its branches and covering lightly
with soil and with a light mulch to retain moisture, will result in free
rooting of the buried parts, and one can sometimes secure a dozen
plants by the layering of a single cane with its laterals.

The pruning of the raspberry is also by the renewal system, as ad-
vised for the blackberry. The topping off of new canes, when they
reach about three feet in height, the subsequent pinching of the laterals
which are thus forced out, the resolute thinning out of sprouts so that
but three or four strong canes are allowed from one root, the faithful
repression of all weeds, the maintenance of a loose surface layer of the
soil by very shallow cultivation, the free application of manure and of
water unless a continually moist condition near the surface can be se-
cured by cultivation and mulching — all these are among the essentials
of cultivation which will secure abundant fruit and a long bearing sea-
son. However, as has already been stated with regard to blackberries,
there are large plantations which pursue a less careful system of culti-
vation especially in the moderate heat and drouth of the coast district.

Continuous bearing of the raspberry may be secured in those varie-
ties which endure the treatment, by cutting out a cane as soon as its
fruit is gathered, the force of the plant being then devoted to the fruit-
ing of a second cane, which has previously been pinched, and a third
shoot is pinched and allowed to mature its wood to carry over and bear
the first crop of the following year. A succession of sprouts is gained
by pinching off the tips of some as soon as they have grown up a few
inches, which results in the growth of later shoots lower on the stems.
In this way a succession of fruit is obtained.

The Cuthbert and other strong-growing varieties, after the pinching
at about three feet from the ground, will send out laterals which will

Plate XX.— The Mammoth Blackberry.— (See page 408.)

GROWING THE RASPBERRY 417

bear late in the fall, and the same cane will bear a crop early in the fol-
lowing spring, when its career is ended and it should be removed.

Raspberries are planted about three feet apart in rows, and the
rows about six feet apart. They can be well grown nearer together
than is required for blackberries.

A Raspberry Trellis. — Mr. Louis F. Scribner, a well-known
berry grower of Pasadena, commends a double-wire trellis made in
this way:

At each end of a row a post should be deeply set and firmly anchored by
brace or anchor wire, and a 2x3 redwood or cedar post should be set about
every 20 feet in the row and a wire stretched on each side about three feet from
the ground. These wires when stretched will be the width of the post in distance
apart, and serve to keep the canes erect and in the row where they belong, so
that cultivation and picking will not destroy the tender growth. The field
should be gone over at intervals and canes drawn up between the wires when
long enough.

Behavior of varieties under pruning varies greatly. Surprise can be pruned
to advantage when dormant, but if cut back when sap is flowing and weather is
hot they often die. This variety will bear two crops if handled right and none
at all if abused. A variety like the Idaho needs very little if any cutting back,
and the Superlative likes to swing gracefully over the trellis. The good old
Cuthbert should be cut back with care, leaving as much cane as can be supported
by the wires. The Red Antwerp is much like the Cuthbert. The Ruby, Miller,
London, Herbert and St. Regis are all good varieties and require about the
same care. The latter variety gives out an abundant sucker growth, which is
not desirable when not confined.

Varieties of the Raspberry. — The old varieties have been largely
replaced by the Cuthbert, which is the universally popular and most
largely-planted sort, having been found trustworthy as a grower and
as a free and constant bearer. The good points of the Cuthbert, as
representing the experience of many California growers, include the
following: A profuse grower, with healthy and rich foliage, which
protects fruit from sunburn ; an excellent bearer with the fruit well dis-
tributed through the bush; the fruit comes off easily, and does not
crumble, is of fine flavor, arjjd ships well. The Hansel and Red Ant-
werp and several newer varieties are grown to a limited extent ; and the
Barter, a renamed variety, the identity of which is unknown, has always
retained a degree of popularity in the foothill region of Placer County,
where it first appeared.

The Black Cap varieties thrive fairly in most parts of the State but
do not sell well in the markets, and are only grown for home use. The
golden or yellow raspberries are also out of favor because they are shy
bearers and cut no figure in the California product.

Blackberry-Raspberry Hybrids. — Two crosses of California ori-
gin have been widely distributed and have demonstrated great value.

The Loganberry was originated by Judge J. H. Logan of Santa
Cruz, and is a cross between the California wild blackberry and a red
raspberry, thought to be the Red Antwerp. It was a chance hybrid de-
veloped by growing plants from the seed of the wild blackberry in 1881.
The plant was multiplied by its originator and fruited for more than
ten years, plants being meantime given to Mr. James Waters, of Wat-
sonville, who grew it on a commercial scale and was gratified at the
results of his marketing of the fruit. The variety was first given to the

418 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

public through the University of California in 1893 and has since then
been propagated by nurserymen and sold in large quantities. It has
proved a most valuable fruit in all parts of California, and has com-
manded the attention of pomologists and growers all over the world.
The Loganberry is an exceedingly robust grower, and has unique foli-
age and cane growth as well as fruit. The fruit is strikingly large and
handsome; sometimes an inch and a quarter long, with the shape of a
blackberry, and sometimes the hue of a dark red raspberry. Its flavor
is unique and peculiar, and gives to many tastes suggestions oithe com-
bination of blackberry and raspberry flavors. The culture of the Lo-
ganberry is like that of the dewberry — both in growth and propagation,
rooting readily from cane tips without covering, unless many plants are
desired and then a covered cane will root at each joint.

The Phenomenal is a hybrid which has recently been largely grown
for a trade which prefers a less sharp acid than that of the Loganberry.
It is one of the notable achievements of Mr. Luther Burbank, of Santa
Rosa, and is a cross between the California dewberry and a red rasp-
berry. It is exceedingly large, bright crimson, very productive and of
delicious flavor. The fruit comes in large clusters and single berries
have weighed four to the ounce. In shipping it holds shape and color
well. The Phenomenal is counted about one week later than the Logan-
berry.

Trellising for Hybrid Berries. — The discussion and methods for
training the trailing blackberries, already given at much length in this
chapter, apply also to the Loganberry and Phenomenal. A special ar-
rangement commended for the Loganberry is the following :

Plant the rows eight feet apart and vines four feet apart in the row. Use
common fence posts for trellising, setting them sixteen or twenty feet apart,
four feet high after they are set ; then measure from top of post one foot down
and nail a two-foot crosspiece ; use three wires, stapling one to the top of the
posts and one on each side to the end of the crosspieces. This gives a nice oval
surface with three times the room as having the wires one above the other on
the post. In the spring raise the vines and distribute them evenly and tie them
firmly to the wires.

THE STRAWBERRY

"Strawberries all the year round" is the trite expression by which
the charms of the California climate are characterized. It is no fiction,
for in the wonderfully-even climate of regions adjacent to the coast and
in thermal belts in the interior, the strawberry plant blooms and bears
almost continuously, providing proper moisture conditions are main-
tained in the soil. There are, however, more or less well-defined crops,
and "strawberries all the year" does not mean a uniform supply ; nor
does it mean that everywhere in California can one expect such constant
fruiting. In the very hot interior situations the plant rebels against the
atmospheric conditions of midsummer, even though the ground be
moist; and in frosty places the plant becomes dormant during the
wintry portion of the year. The conditions of constant growth and
bearing are moderation of temperature and of atmospheric and soil
moisture throughout the year.

GROWING THE STRAWBERRY 419

Situations and Soils for the Strawberry. — Bearing in mind the
conditions described, the strawberry can be grown anywhere in Cali-
fornia. The native species, as mentioned in Chapter V, flourish from
the sand of the ocean beach to the rich valleys of the Sierra, just below
the line of perpetual snow, and the deduction is that wherever fertile
soil and sweet water can be brought together in California, the straw-
berry will reward the grower.

Strawberries do well on a variety of soils, but as a rule a deep,
moist, loamy soil will yield best results. Boggy or swampy spots should
be avoided unless drainage is provided, and in this way most excellent
strawberry ground may sometimes be secured. Land which will pro-
duce good potatoes or corn will generally yield good results with straw-
berries, provided irrigation is furnished. In many regions the plants
will hardly survive the summer without irrigation and everywhere a
succession of crops during the season depends upon irrigation. It is the
common experience that light, warm soils yield the earliest and highest-
flavored berries, and heavy soils the later and larger ones ; but the size
of the berry depends more upon the supply of available moisture, and
immense fruit can be produced on loose, open soils by free irrigation.
And yet the heavier soil, both because of its usually superior fertility
and retention of moisture, is preferred for the strawberry. The largest
producing regions for the San Francisco market in the Santa Clara
and Pajaro Valleys are comprised mainly of low-lying, heavy valley
soils, naturally moist and rich, and furnished with abundant water sup-
ply for irrigation. And yet in southern California the chief market
crops are produced upon light sandy loams with water equal to the
needs of the plants upon such a footing. It must be remembered that
the strawberry is a shallow-rooting plant and must have moisture re-
tained near the surface. Some loose soils, especially on uplands, are
almost out of the question for strawberry growing. They are so leachy
that they will not hold moisture near the surface though one should
stand with a hose and almost continually pour it on. The plants would
also dry up though the water were running near by in a ditch. To grow
strawberries it is often an advantage to have a shallow loam over a clay
or hardpan, for then the tight layer below will prevent the escape of the
water below the reach of the roots. If this can not be had, the best
way to grow strawberries on leachy soils for home use is to mulch and
sprinkle.

Propagation of the Strawberry. — Seedlings undertaken in the
hope of originating valuable new varieties are easily grown by taking
off the outside layer of the choicest berries, which carries with it the
small, yellow seeds. Wash these from the skin and cover them slightly
in a sandy soil partially shaded and kept moist by sprinkling, or a light
mulch, and the plants are readily grown. As with seedlings of other
fruits, few, if any, will be found superior to the parent variety.

Plants for setting out are secured by taking off the small growth?
rooted from runners. The strongest plants are those nearest to the
parent plant. When these are allowed to root in small pots plunged
into the soil, they are called "pot-grown," and are superior for plant-
ing out, but they are not largely used in this State. When plants of

420 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

any variety are desired for new beds or fields, a row or more are
allowed to send out runners, during the summer, and these are fit for
taking up and replanting the following winter or spring.

Laying off Ground for Strawberries. — The essentials are deep
and thorough pulverization of the soil and grading of the surface so
that water will flow slowly in the ditches. Suggestions as to location
of grade lines may be found in Chapter XV. The inclination which
answers for water distribution may be very slight ; about two inches to
the hundred feet answers on the level lands of the Pajaro Valley, while
in the foothills much greater fall is made use of, and on hillsides rows
are located on contour lines and not in straight lines. A grade of three
and three-quarters inches to the hundred feet is sometimes used. The
triangle described in Chapter XV can be used to fix the grades.

Of course, in grading the field it is often necessary to give adjacent
blocks opposite inclinations to provide for the return of the water. On
hillsides, where the water is carried down a ridge to a flume, it is usual
to keep the water always running away from the flume, and only enough
is taken out to reach the ends of the small ditches. A grade of six
inches to the rod is practicable for hillside irrigation, but of course only
a small flow of water is employed.

There are various ways of laying out strawberry beds and planta-
tions. Some give flat cultivation and lay out in single rows two and a
half to three and a half feet apart, and in some districts flat culture is
unquestionably the best. Others lay out in double rows a foot and one-
half to two feet apart, and between each pair of rows the soil from the
center is drawn up to each side, making a low ridge or level a little
higher than the surface on which the plants are set. This levee serves
as a walk between the beds and holds back the water upon the bed
when irrigated by flooding. Another, and generally adopted plan, is to
have the plants in double rows on a slight ridge, while between the
beds is a furrow which serves as a walk and for irrigation. This is
accomplished by throwing up the soil with the plow into ridges about
two feet wide, with a double furrow between. On the sides of these
ridges the plants are set, and often on the top of the ridge between the
rows of strawberries a single row of onions or lettuce, or some other
vegetable, is grown the first year. In irrigation the water is drawn up
from the trenches by the roots and by capillary attraction, and the upper
surface does not bake as it would by flooding if the soil be heavy. In
hoeing out weeds and in fruit gathering, the workman walks in the ditch
and does not pack the soil around the plant by tramping. This is the
best method for laying out for large plantations. The rows are a uni-
form distance apart across the field, whether the space between be a
ridge or a ditch. The method of making the beds a little lower than
the general surface of the ground, answers best on free, open soils with
perfect drainage. Cultivation can be reduced by covering the depressed
surface of the bed with mulch of fine, clean litter, such as chaff, cut
straw, etc. This retains moisture and gives the berry a clean surface
to rest on. Such a bed is an excellent arrangement for the home garden.

In all arrangements the plants are set at less distances in the rows
than the rows are from each other. Probably the prevailing distance is

PLANTING STRAWBERRIES 421

one foot between the plants ; the range is from eight to eighteen inches
in the practice of different growers, and determined, of course, largely
by the habit of the variety. A vine like the Sharpless, with a spreading
growth and long fruit stem needs, perhaps, sixteen inches which some
growers give it, while the smaller, more compact, Longworth Prolific,
may do well with half that distance.

Planting Strawberries. — Strawberry plants are set out either in
spring or fall, or at any time in the winter when the ground is warm
or in good condition. Fall planting usually gives a fuller spring crop
though planting as late as February has brought two crops the follow-
ing spring and summer, and planting in April has secured fruit the
same year, but it is better to prevent it and induce more growth. Spring
planting is in April and May. In the drier parts of the State, early fall
or winter planting is more essential than elsewhere. If the ground is
dry, water should always be used in planting. This may be given by
thorough irrigation of the ground before planting, or a little water may
be used in setting each plant. At planting it is usually best to remove
all leaves from the plant, shorten the roots to three inches or less, and
be sure the plants do not dry while planting progresses. As with han-
dling rooted grape-vines, it is advisable to carry around the plants in a
vessel which has water in it. If the plants have been received by mail
they are invigorated by soaking in water a few hours before planting.

In setting the plants, scoop out a little excavation with the hand or
a trowel, spread the roots well, cover with fine soil, being sure that the
crown of the plant shall not be below the surface when the soil is leveled.
Too many strawberry plants are buried, not planted. Some plant very
rapidly by using a dibble to make a hole, into which the roots are
dropped and soil pressed around them by using the dibble alongside;
others set the plants on the side of the furrow, trusting to the next fur-
row to complete the covering. Nearly all ways succeed if the plant is
not set too deeply and the ground is moist at planting and not allowed
to dry out afterwards — providing good, strong plants are used. In
buying plants it is often poor economy to buy the cheapest.

Staminate and Pistillate. — In associating varieties be sure the
pistillate varieties are not set by themselves. Some sorts have perfect
flowers and are self-fertilizing; others have only the pistillate element
in the bloom and must have the staminate adjacent in another variety.
Several varieties largely grown in California have perfect flowers,
though some pistillate sorts have been locally approved. This matter
should be looked into before planting a variety. Pistillate varieties
should have staminate kinds in every fourth row.

Care of the Strawberry Plantation. — Herein lies the secret of suc-
cess with the strawberry : Neglect has led to disappointment and con-
demnation of the strawberry, where intelligent care would have ren-
dered it a constant delight. The cheap elements of proper care may
be thus enumerated :

Retention of moisture very near the surface by careful, shallow
cultivation or by mulching, persistent destruction of weeds, and com-
pensation for summer evaporation by frequent irrigation. The plants

422 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

during the bearing season should never be allowed to show any leaf-
shriveling from drouth. Frequency of irrigation depends upon local
conditions. Irrigation at intervals of four to ten days, according to the
soil, are the outlines of prevailing practice.

Constant removal of runners from all plants except those it is de-
sired to multiply to furnish new plants or to fill the rows. Pinching of
runners should always accompany picking or hoeing of weeds, and on
the garden bed there can be no excuse for neglect in this respect. The
young plants should be faithfully freed from runners to strengthen them
up for bearing.

Though, as already stated, strawberries may in some locations be
had all winter, it is better practice, as a general rule, to lay the plants
away for a rest. The market season in the regions supplying the San
Francisco market extends from April to December, and fruit is con-
tinuously shipped during that period. At the approach of winter in the
last-named month, it is usual to go over the beds with a sickle, cutting
off the old crops of leaves close to the root crown, carefully cleaning
up the plantation for the heavy rains. In most cases it will be a great
advantage then to cover over all with a light coat of good manure,
which the winter rains will leach down into the soils. The result of the
fall clipping and enriching will be an early and strong start of the plant
in the spring, and a most abundant fruitage.

Duration of the Plantation. — Strawberry plants well cared for
and not visited by insect pests, have a long, productive, and profitable
life in California. Twelve-year-old plants are sometimes reported as
still producing abundantly. It is customary to count from five to eight
years as the profitable life of a plant, though some growers replant after
two bearing years. The effective duration depends directly upon pre-
venting growth of plants and too close matting of the rows.

Varieties of the Strawberry. — Though all new varieties are tried
by California growers, and quite a number may be considered success-
ful either for market or for home use, only a very few may be said to
be widely grown. In the Watsonville district, which largely supplies
San Francisco, the Melinda, which some growers hold to be indis-
tinguishable from the Dollar, is chiefly grown, with Brandywine as a
distant second. In the southern Alameda County district the Banner is
grown exclusively by some large growers. In the Florin district, near
Sacramento, growing berries to ship all through the northern States of
the coast and eastward to Colorado, the Dollar is grown almost ex-
clusively, with a few Jessies for extra early. Other varieties which do
well in the interior valley are : Longworth, Lady Thompson, and Ten-
nessee Prolific. In the Fresno district, Marshall and Jessie are chiefly
grown.

In the districts near Los Angeles, the Brandywine prevails. It is
best for shipping and is held to be sweeter than at the east ; and next to
it, in the commercial fields at the south, are Excelsior and Klondike.
The Arizona Everbearing is declining in popularity although still
favored by some growers in Southern California.

Three old kinds which still hold favor for home use and local sale
are the Longworth Prolific, the Sharpless, and the Monarch of the

ETTERSBURG STRAWBERRIES 423

West. The Sharpless is the most widely grown; the Monarch shows
better size and color in southern California and on the Sierra foothills
than in the regions adjacent to San Francisco, although it is still grown
therein to some extent. The Longworth is an old favorite, early, pro-
ductive and hardy, and its style has become very popular in the markets.
Wilson's Albany also holds favor.

It has been demonstrated that varieties show marked difference in
behavior in different soils and situations. In planting for market or
home use the planter will be safer in making his largest plantations of
the varieties commended by leading growers and well informed nursery-
men, and at the same time he should put out experimental plants of
other varieties.

The most notable work for new varieties in California is being
pursued by Albert F. Etter, of Briceland, Humboldt County. He is
crossing cultivated varieties with local wild species and is thus in-
troducing factors not employed hitherto with results which promise
to be notable. His first named variety is Rose Ettersburg, which is
a cross of a third generation Sharpless x Parry with a novel type
of Fragaria Chiloensis. It has remarkable drouth resistance and
thrift on poor soils. The blossoms are often as large as a silver
dollar, the berries large, often \y2 inches in diameter, and bluish
pink in color. Single stocks from sets 18 months out measured 22
inches high and over 10 feet in circumference. Mr. Etter's work is
described in detail in the Pacific Rural Press for August 22 and 29
and September 5 and 19, 1908 ; May 18, October 5 and November 2,
1912, and is very interesting. The variety, Ettersburg No. 80, was
distributed by this journal in February, 1913, and has already dis-
closed very important characteristics.

PART SEVEN: NUTS

CHAPTER XXXVII
NUT GROWING IN CALIFORNIA

Two nuts have risen to large commercial importance in Cali-
fornia: The English walnut and the almond. Other nuts than
these, except peanuts, have never attained great acreage, although
several have succeeded and promise to become popular.

The commercial production of almonds and walnuts in Cali-
fornia during the last nineteen years has been estimated by the trade
as follows, in tons of 2,000 Ibs. :

Year

Almonds

Walnuts

1895

825

2,310

1896

1,605

4,115

1897

2,375

3,985

1898

450

5,660

1899

2,320

5,530

1900

2,740

5,430

1901

1,560

6,910

1902

3,270

8,520

1903

3,200

5,500

1904

800

7,590

1905

2,125

5,750

1906

900

6,1-25

1907

750

6,500

1908

2,900

8,500

1909

1,500

8,000

1910

3,300

9,600

1911

1,700

12,500

1912

3,000

11,250

1913

1,100

11,750

The walnuts are chiefly grown in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los
Angeles and Orange counties in southern California. The almonds
are from interior counties in the central regions of the State.
Reasons for the extreme fluctuations in production of the almond
will be suggested in the discussion of that nut which will follow.

THE ALMOND

The almond has an interesting history in California, but it can be
outlined in a few sentences. The importation of the best European
varieties began very early, and a number of them had been planted
in 1853. They proved irregular bearers, though the trees grew
thriftily and in some cases showed fruit very soon after planting.

424

REQUIREMENTS OF THE ALMOND 425

The barren almond trees were largely grafted into prunes or made
into firewood and the conclusion was reached that to secure regu-
larity and abundance in fruiting, locations for almond orchards must
be sought with the utmost care, and that the secret of success lay
in the location. After that local seedlings seemed to demonstrate
their value in regular crops, and in characteristics and qualities
superior to foreign kinds. Large planting was then undertaken on
the ground that the choice of soil and situation, and the selection of
trustworthy varieties, are both factors of success, but that possibly
more lay in the choice of variety than of location. This belief led
to the wide planting in locations now seen to be unfitted by reason
of frosts and losses were again encountered. Now it seems to be
fully demonstrated that no matter what variety is planted locations
for the almond must be selected with great care. It has also been
demonstrated that association of varieties promotes pollination and
satisfactory bearing.

Situations and Soils for the Almond. — Almonds are now doing
best on the higher lands in coast valleys, free from fogs and pro-
tected from direct winds, but subject to tempered breezes; also at
various points in the interior valleys and foothills. The general
proposition that low lands in small valleys should be avoided, and
bench or hillside situations preferred, seems to be a safe one. Lands
directly upon the coast have not proved satisfactory. In the large
interior valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, almonds are
successfully grown on flat valley lands but little lifted above sea
level and from such plains the chief product comes. Why almonds
are safer on the low lands of a great valley than of a small valley is
explained by the discussion on page 16.

The almond prefers a loose, light, warm soil, and heavy, poorly-
drained soils should be avoided. Though they need moisture enough
to make good, thrifty growth they will produce good crops on soils
that are too light or dry to grow satisfactory peaches, apricots, nec-
tarines, cherries, or similar pulpy fruits. The almond is, however, a
very deep-rooting tree, and may succeed by reaching deeply for
moisture rather than by denying itself, as some think. The tree
certainly suffers and is barren from drouth in some cases, and a
certain amount of irrigation in midsummer is very desirable. Al-
monds are doing well in alfalfa with irrigation — the alfalfa making
a good growth and still leaving soil-moisture enough to cause the
nuts to open their hulls better than on drier ground with clean cul-
tivation.

Propagating, Planting, and Pruning. — The almond is propagated
from seedlings grown as described in Chapter VIII, and budded as
described in Chapter IX. The almond root is preferred, though the
peach answers well. The apricot root should be avoided.

For planting out, trees in dormant bud are very successful if given
proper care. Yearling trees are, on the whole, best and usually those
which have made a moderate instead of a very large growth are to be
preferred. The almond makes a comparatively large tree and should

426 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

have plenty of room — not less than twenty- four feet apart (though
some plantations are made at twenty feet), and thirty feet is better.

Old almond trees are readily worked over to other varieties by
grafting and by budding into new shoots forced out by cutting off large
branches. Methods with the peach described in page 242 are applicable
to the almond.

The pruning of the almond is very simple. The tree should be
headed low and pruned during the first three years, as described in
Chapter XII, to secure a shapely, strong tree. After the third year
little pruning is required except to thin out objectionable branches by
winter pruning. Suckers, or rank new growth, in the center of the tree
should be removed, unless more branches are needed; such growth
bears little and takes away strength from bearing wood. There is dan-
ger of allowing the trees to become too dense. Shortening in, as prac-
ticed with the peach, is sometimes proposed for the almond, for the
thrift of the tree and the size of the nut, but growers have not had
courage enough to assume the increased cost of production which would
be involved.

The cultivation of the almond orchard is the same as commended
for other fruit trees, and as the trees are often planted in naturally dry
soils, the greater care in cultivation is needed to retain sufficient
moisture to give good size to the nuts. In certain locations, of course,
irrigation will be necessary, but usually a light rainfall will answer if
good cultivation is given.

Gathering, Hulling, and Bleaching. — Almonds are gathered by
spreading canvas under the tree and jarring the branches separately
with a side stroke from a soft wood pole ; the few nuts remaining can
be displaced by striking with a light stick. The gathering should be
done after the hulls have burst open, but should not be delayed until the
nuts are badly discolored. Discoloration of the nut depends upon local
atmospheric conditions and is worst in regions subject to moist winds
or fogs from the ocean, and they often extend considerable distances
into the interior valleys. On the dry plateaux adjacent to the Mojave
Desert perfectly bright almonds are produced naturally, but at these
elevations frost injuries are frequent and notable.

For the greater part of the almond product, bleaching is apparently
demanded by market requirements, but it must be carefully done as
described on the following page. Various home-made contrivances are
used for bleaching, such as piling up several of the slat-bottom trays one
upon another, placing around them sides made of boards so as to hook
together at the corners, cover the top with a damp canvas, and burn the
sulphur in a hole in the ground below the bottom tray.

Webster Treat, formerly a large grower of almonds, describes his
sulphuring-house for almonds :

My bleaching house is about twenty-five feet by eight feet, and I generally put
in about four thousand pounds of almonds and expose them to sulphur fumes
for three or four hours. The house is boarded with tongue and groove flooring,
inside and out, and roofed with well-laid shingles, and has a flue about two feet
high on the apex, to help draft the sulphur smoke up. The floor is of one-by-
three-inch stuff, set up edgewise, three-eighths of an inch apart, or just wide
enough to admit the fumes from the sulphur burning below, and narrow enough

HARVESTING ALMONDS. 427

to prevent the nuts from falling through. The floor is about two and one-half
feet above the ground, and the lower space is boarded up with tongue and groove
also and fitted with small doors every five feet, so that the sulphur pans can be
placed underneath the floor.

Sulphur fumes are applied until the nuts are of a light yellowish
color; the proper shade is to be learned by securing approved samples
from some trustworthy dealer.

The following explicit account of handling almonds on a large
scale is by Mr. J. P. Dargitz, of Acampo, San Joaquin county :

"When the hulls on the nuts are loose from the shell, as will be
indicated by their bursting open, it is time to begin gathering if you
wish to hull them. If they get too dry you will have to wet them
before hulling or you will break the shells. If you wish to shell them
then, the drier they get the better. It will not pay to begin until the
nuts about the crotches of the trees are ready and they will be the last
to ripen. When they are all ready you can get all at one gathering.
Have some sheets made of heavy unbleached sheeting or light duck or
sail cloth. Mine for large trees are 15x30 feet, handled by two men to
a sheet and two sheets to a tree. Spread the sheets under the tree, one
on each side, lapping the edges where they join. Then the men take
willow or bamboo poles and by jarring the limbs cause the nuts to
fall on the sheets. Always strike the limbs sideways, for if you strike
a glancing blow down the limb, you will reduce next year's crop.
The object is to get the nuts and disturb the foliage as little as possible.
When the nuts are all off the tree, the men toss their poles to the next
tree and then gather up the sheets, one man at each end of each sheet
and, lifting them, carry them to the next tree where the process is
repeated. When enough nuts are in sheets to fill several lug boxes,
the boxes are placed on the ground side by side, and the sheets are
emptied into them. These boxes are then stacked up so as to be easily
seen, and the teamster hauls them to the sheds where machines for
hulling are located. In the very small orchards the hulling is usually
done by hand at an expense of about 2 cents per pound. For orchards
slightly larger there are small hullers in the market at from $100 to
$300, which can be operated by hand or by a small gasoline engine or
electric motor. For larger orchards, machines costing up to $800,
which can hull up to two or three tons per day, are in the market.

After the hulling more or less hand sorting is required, as the
small machines do no sorting, while the larger machines do more or
less perfect sorting of the hulls from the nuts.

Bleaching. — After this hand sorting, the nuts are spread out in
the sun to be thoroughly cured before bleaching. After they are
cured so that the kernel will break without bending, they are ready
for bleaching. The bleaching requires the dampening of the shells.
This is accomplished by immersing quickly in water or by a fine spray
from a hose nozzle, or by putting on trays and running in the sulphur
house and then introducing low-pressure steam — not more than 30
pounds — into the sulphur house for 15 to 30 minutes. The moisture
from this low-pressure steam heats or dampens the outer portion of the
shell, and then while they are both hot and damp — the steam being

428 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

shut off — the sulphur fumes from burning sulphur is introduced in
the sulphur house for perhaps 15 to 30 minutes and gives the required
brightening to the shell. If the almonds have been immersed before
bleaching it will be necessary after bleaching to spread them out in the
sun for several hours and stir them occasionally to get rid of the excess
moisture. If they have been dampened by a fine spray hose they may
or may not need this drying, but they must be perfectly dry before
being sacked. However, if the steam process is used, the nuts can
be taken immediately from the sulphur house and sacked, and the heat
that is in the shell will evaporate the small amount of moisture in the
process of sacking.

The steam process costs only about one-half as much as the other
process of bleaching. If the shell is wet through, or if the kernels are
not well cured, or if the shells are open and the nuts immersed and
there is more or less water inside the shells, the sulphur will materially
injure the kernels and they will not keep well, but will soon become
rancid.

Almonds that are to be shelled for commercial purposes should
not be bleached under any circumstances, as the only object to be
accomplished in bleaching is the brightening of the shell, and for
shelling purposes the shells are not marketed.

Pollination and Late Blooming. — The advantages of cross pollina-
tion between different varieties and the surer bearing of late blooming
varieties are related subjects which are worthy of close attention. Mr.
J. P. Dargitz, whose harvesting method has just been given, has
pointed out that, according to his observation as a rule all the paper-
shells are deficient in pollen, and will not bear well if planted alone and
he concludes that the only two which warrant planting in his section
are the Nonpareil and the Ne Plus Ultra. The latter is not so good,
a nut, and needs much more moisture than the other. The Nonpareil
will give good results if planted with some other variety as pollenizer.
It is one of the very best of nuts and is well worth planting. Mr.
Dargitz regards the Texas Prolific the very best pollenizer, and when
planted in alternate double rows with the Nonpareil will cause it to
set fruit freely in spite of the fact that the Nonpareil begins blooming
two weeks earlier than the Texas but still has bloom to catch the Texas
pollen when it is ready.

This late blooming of the Texas places it in the same class for
surety with Drake's Seedling. Both nuts are medium soft shell and
small but are being largely chosen because of sure bearing and large
product. As to the relative return per sack, Mr. Dargitz says :

The Nonpareil at 14 cents per pound, the Drake Seedling at 11 cents per
pound, and the Texas Prolific at 10 cents per pound, will each bring about $10.50
per standard sack, the IXL at 13 cents per pound about $9 per sack, and the Ne
Plus Ultra at 12 cents per pound about $8.50 per sack.

The relative values of varieties is also shown by the prices fixed
by the California Almond Growers' Exchange at Sacramento for the
opening sales of the 1913 crop as follows: Nonpareil, 19c; IXL,
lNe Plus Ultra, I7l/2c', Drakes, 14>^c; all f. o. b. warehouses.

POPULAR KINDS OF ALMONDS 429

Varieties of the Almond. — Almonds should bear well every year,
hull easily, have clean, thin, soft shells, and a smooth, bright, and
plump kernel. Almonds with long, single kernels are preferred in
general to those which have double ones. These are the characters
which ruled in the selection of new varieties by the pioneer propagator
of new almonds, A. T. Hatch, formerly of Suisun. In 1878 Mr. Hatch
planted out about two thousand five hundred seedling almond trees
grown from the bitter almond seed. He afterward budded all the seed-
lings but about three hundred which were left to bearing age unbudded.
The fruit of these seedlings was of all degrees of excellence. A few of
the best of them were selected for propagation and naming, and they
constitute the chief part of the acreage which is now bearing almonds,
but other late bloomers and sure bearers are being preferred in current
planting.

Excellent seedling almonds have also been produced by other
growers. The following list includes the sorts most widely grown —
the following being chiefly approved by growers, in the order given :
Nonpareil, Drake's, IXL, Ne Plus Ultra, Texas Prolific, Languedoc,
Peerless :

IXL. — Tree a sturdy, rather upright grower, with large leaves; nuts large
with, as a rule, single kernels ; hulls easily, no machine being needed, nor is any
bleaching necessary; shell soft, but perfect; largely discarded for shy bearing,
but desirable in some places.

Ne Plus Ultra. — Large and very long in shape ; heavy and regular bearer ; soft
shell; hull free.

Nonpareil. — First called Extra. Of a weeping style of growth; smaller foli-
age than the IXL, but still forms a beautiful tree. An extraordinarily heavy
and regular bearer, with very thin shell, of the Paper Shell type. Ripens early
and can be gathered before other varieties are ready.

Lewelling's Prolific. — Originated with the late Mr. John Lewelling; "tree a
great bearer; of drooping habit; nut large and good; soft shell; hull free." —
Leonard Coates.

Harriott's Seedling (or Commercial). — From Visalia, where it is a surer crop-
per than elsewhere ; shell softer than the Languedoc ; nut long, of peculiar shape,
quite large ; kernel sweet.

King's Soft Shell. — Originated in San Jose; shell very thin and soft; regular
and abundant bearer.

Princess. — The finest of the Paper Shell class ; long, oval, kernel large, white
and sweet.

Languedoc. — Nut large ; shell thin ; kernel sweet ; condemned for irregular
bearing.

Paper Shell. — Medium size ; shell very tender, easily broken between the finger
and thumb; kernel large, white and sweet.

Drake's Seedling. — Originated with Mr. Drake, of Suisun, of the Languedoc
class ; very prolific, and a regular, abundant bearer. A late blooming variety.

Golden State. — Originated by Webster Treat. A large soft shell, somewhat
longer than the Languedoc, with a full, smooth-skinned meat; parts from the
hull readily. An early variety, but in less favor than formerly.

Peerless. — Resembling IXL: Popular in Yolo County for regular and heavy
bearing.

Texas Prolific. — Brought from Texas by Robert Williamson, of W. R. Strong
& Co., of Sacramento, about 1891, as a seedling originated at Dallas, and the
only almond which would bear there. Planted at Acampo by Robert Adams, who

430 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

had charge of the company's nurseries at that place; fully discussed by J. P.
Dargitz, of Acampo, and described by the introducer as resembling Languedoc
in tree and nut, but with softer shell, which is filled with very sweet kernel.
Blooms two weeks later than Drake. Mr. Dargitz reports fifteen years without
failure to bear and usually prolific.

^ Jordan Almond.— This long, hard-shelled almond, notable because of its long,
slim kernel for "salted almonds" and imported at high cost for that purpose, has
been introduced both through government distribution and private enterprise,
notably that of the late John Rock, of the California Nursery Co., of Niles. Too
little has yet been seen to determine the value of the variety in local production.
It is especially favored to the Coachella Valley.

THE CHESTNUT

The chestnut is not yet produced in large amount in California,
and certain quantities of the nuts are annually imported, the American,
Italian, or Spanish and Japanese all being found in the San Francisco
markets. Of chestnuts grown in California, the Italian predominates,
and the Japanese is more common than the American, which is slow
of growth and late in fruiting, as compared with the other kinds.
Judging the success of the Italian, it may be said that a large area of
California is well suited for the growth of the chestnut, as there are
bearing trees in nearly all parts of the State. The chestnut succeeds
on heavy, clayey soil, even if it be rocky.

Chestnut trees are readily grown from the seed, and thus grown
come into bearing from six to eight years, though the Japanese some-
times bear sooner. The growth of chestnuts from the seed is described
in Chapter VIII. In growing from seed of the improved varieties,
there is a tendency toward reversion, and budding and grafting may
be resorted to ; and can be done by the methods described in the chap-
ter on the fig. The chestnut can also be grafted with the ordinary
cleft graft. Buds or scions should be taken from trees which are
fruiting satisfactorily, and in this way seedlings which have a tendency
to bear empty burs can be turned to good account. Chestnuts can be
grown in the nursery until several years old, providing they are lifted
at the end of the first year, the tap-root cut off, and the trees reset,
giving them rather more room than during their first year's growth.
In permanent plantings the trees should have plenty of room, as they
ultimately attain great size. Trees at Grass Valley, Nevada county,
when about twenty years old, fifteen inches in diameter of trunk, and
forty feet high, and reported to bear a barrel of nuts to the tree regu-
larly. Felix Gillet of Nevada City, has for many years made a speci-
alty of propagating a large collection of the improved French varieties
of the chestnut, known as Marrons, which were distributed to some
extent. The chestnut chiefly grown is the Italian but it has not
attained any considerable product as yet. The chestnut, aside from its
desirability as an orchard tree, can be commended as a tree for hill-
sides or a shade tree for waysides of pastures, and should be more
widely planted in California. The chief product is in the foothill
district east of the San Joaquin valley.

FILBERTS AND PEANUTS 431

THE FILBERT

The best English cob-nuts have been quite widely tried in Cali-
fornia without successful results. Improved Spanish and French
varieties of the filbert were early introduced by Felix Gillet, of Nevada
City, and have been favorably reported by him as to growth and bear-
ing. A few other growers in foothill situations have reported success,
but as a rule disappointment has attended ventures with the filbert.
The most favorable regions for farther experiment are apparently the
north slopes of the Coast Range, from Santa Cruz northward, and
other cooler and moister situations, as well as at an elevation on the
Sierra foothills where Mr. Gillet found them satisfactory.

THE PEANUT

During the last few years the peanut product of California has
notably increased, and the crop is a popular one in some parts of the
San Joaquin Valley and southern California. The nuts are consider-
ably grown between the rows in young orchards and vineyards, as
well as upon ground wholly given to them. The following explicit
directions are given by R. M. Hargrave, a grower in Orange county.
Some slight modifications in practice may be needed, according to
locality, as, for example, in time of planting, which is usually a little
earlier than the date given :

Planting. — The best time to plant peanuts is about the middle of May, say,
10th to 15th, in rows about three to four feet apart and sixteen to twenty inches
the other way, and not cover too deep — three to four inches. Peanuts planted
the middle of May ripen evenly and are of uniform size. Very early peanuts
ripen unevenly, and the first nuts that set on get so ripe they turn to a pink color,
and if the land is a little sandy the stems get soft, lose their strength, and will
not lift the nuts from the ground.

It takes about thirty pounds of the California or White Virginia, and fifty
pounds of the Tennessee Reds to plant an acre. Tennessee peanuts can be planted
much closer in the rows. The California peanut is the best to plant, as it yields
three or four times as much as the Tennessee Reds do, and has more ready sale.

The Quality of Land. — Peanuts require a rich sandy soil loam that is known
as upland. Damp land gives the nuts a straw color, and they are not as good
probably as those raised on higher land. They require no irrigation, except on
very sandy land, where some have found it profitable ; but, as a usual thing, when
irrigated the ground is liable to get hard, making the nuts crooked, ill-shaped,
and many times coloring them.

Cultivation. — Peanuts should be cutivated about the same as corn, not allow-
ing any weeds to grow in them, keeping the ground loose and mellow, and when
the spikes begin to form, they should not be disturbed. If they are, it causes the
nuts to blight or not fill out. The blooms do not require to be covered.

Harvesting. — Peanuts should be harvested when ripe, and not allowed 'to
stand too long, in hopes that the last ones set out will fill out and ripen, as you
lose more than you gain. The little ones spoil the sale of the crop, and many are
left in the ground that get over-ripe. Peanuts should be cut or plowed out and
thrown into windrows, nuts down, and let lie a week or ten days, and then sacked,
as the best nuts are cured in that way, and they do not mold so badly, and cure
a better color. They must not be allowed to get wet. The tops are good feed if
stored away in a shed for winter use. All kinds of stock like them, and small
nuts can be left on the vines. They make the best chicken feed. An average
yield is about twenty-five to thirty sacks to the acre, forty pounds to a sack, but
many have raised fifty sacks, with extra care and good land well adapted to

432 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

peanuts. The price for picking is from 30 to 35c per grain sack holding from 40
to 45 pounds. The nuts are cleaned in revolving drums, and followed with a
grain fanning mill which blows out the light ones.

Concerning the peanut situation in California in 1914, Mr. C. E.
Utt of Santa Ana, who has been the largest grower in the State for
many years, gives the following specific statement.*

My experience in growing peanuts in this State covers a period of many years.
The last two years I was in the business I planted 400 acres each year. They
netted me a tidy little loss, wiping out all the profits I had ever made growing
peanuts, for occasionally the crop has proven profitable.

A few peanuts have been grown in California in a great many localities for
perhaps fifty years, and most of the attempts to produce them have proven un-
profitable and been abandoned. At one time Orange County produced something
like twenty carloads annually, now not more than one carload a year, and it is
perfectly safe to say that peanuts will never be grown in the Pacific States to
any appreciable extent, because the cost of production is so much higher here
than in Japan. At one time the Pacific Coast market was supplied by peanuts
from Virginia. About twenty years since the Japanese began importing and now
sell over 95 per cent of the unshelled peanuts used west of the Rocky Mountains.
Virginia still supplying the bulk of the shelled Spanish nuts. The price at which
Japanese nuts are laid down on the wharf at San Francisco, tariff paid, ranges
from three cents to four and one-half cents per pound. The cost of producing
peanuts at any of the Pacific States will range from three cents up, probably
averaging now about six cents. The price of labor in Asia will probably always
enable them to undersell us in the market.

Mr. Utt gives the following cultural hints : Peanuts require sandy
sediment to give the best results. It is better to shell the seed and plant
one kernel in a hill, 18 inches apart in the rows which are three feet
apart. Plant the seed two or three inches deep, in good moist earth so
as to insure germination. Plant as soon as frosts are over, in April or
May, as they need about six months to complete their growth. There is
very little land that will produce crops without irrigation. If irrigation
is necessary, it must be by the furrow method, and no flooding must be
permitted.

THE PECAN

The pecan, by rapid growth, early fruiting, and general thrift,
seems to be the member of the hickory family best fitted for California
conditions. A tree grown from a nut planted by J. R. Wolfskill, on
Putah Creek, in 1878, was, when twenty-five years old, over fifty feet
high, with a trunk twelve inches in diameter, growing luxuriantly and
bearing freely. Still older trees, also very satisfactory in growth and
bearing, are to be seen at Chico and Visalia. The pecan, though grown
for thirty years by different parties around the Bay of San Francisco,
either does not bear or keeps the nuts hanging on until sometimes they
sprout on the tree. The wider extremes in temperature or in humidity
in the interior seem to teach the tree better habits of growth and rest,
and moist lowlands in the great valleys seem best for pecan planting.
As yet, California has no marketable product of pecans but the total
number of trees in the State is insignificant.

Pecan trees grow readily from the nuts if these are fresh. Plant-
ers should secure nuts of selected varieties (for there is a great differ-

*Rural Californian, March, 1914.

THE ENGLISH WALNUT 433

ence in size and quality) direct from growers in the Southern States,
and plant as soon as received, in the early winter, or if conditions are
not favorable for planting, the nuts should be stored as described in
Chapter VIII. Nuts planted in good nursery ground in rows as there
suggested, and covered about two inches or a little deeper in dry, loose
soil, and then mulched to retain moisture, will germinate freely. The
trees should be transplanted to permanent place at the end of the first
year and then usually the tap-root can be retained, as some growers
deem very desirable ; if the trees are to be put in permanent place later
they should be transplanted in the nursery and the tap-root cut off.
The nuts can, of course, be planted at once in permanent place if one
will take the extra trouble necessary to properly care for them.

Pecans are polished by putting them in a revolving barrel only
partly filled, so that as the barrel turns they fall upon and rub each
other producing a beautifully smooth surface. When it is desired to
give an artificial color, a little "Spanish brown" dry paint is put into
the barrel. If the natural coloring is desirable, a little sharp sand
put into the barrel assists in the scouring and produces the desirable
uniformity of color. This barrel is rigged up like a revolving churn,
with a side door in the staves and a gudgeon on each head which is
fitted into proper bearing on two posts ; proper arrangement being
made for a pulley or crank by which the apparatus is turned either
by hand or motor power.

THE PISTACHIO

The pistachio nut (Pistachio, vera) was introduced a number of
years ago but no results have been reported. The species upon its
own root makes a low shrub and is slow of growth. We have also
imported the Pistachio, terebinthus, from which is derived the "chio
turpentine," the stock the true pistachio is grafted upon in Europe and
which is growing thriftily at several points in the State. The pistachio
needs more time to declare its California career.

THE ENGLISH, OR PERSIAN WALNUT

The nut which is signified in California when the term walnut is
used, is the English walnut or Madeira nut (Juglans regia) and its
many varieties. This tree makes a grand growth in California. Speci-
mens are seen here and there, which, at about twenty years of age,
are from fifty to sixty feet in height, with a spread of branches of
forty to sixty feet, and in some cases bearing four to eight hundred
pounds of nuts. Much larger and older trees can be found in the
coast and interior valleys of central California where the nut was first
planted, although, as has already been stated, the nut has thus far
been produced in large quantities only in regions adjacent to the coast
in southern California. The equable temperature and moisture of the
southern coast seems to specially favor the nut, but it must not be
inferred that success can only be attained in such situations. A num-
ber of French varieties, which have been widely enough distributed to

434 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

test their growth, have been found to thrive in many situations where
the old Los Angeles variety is a failure, and there is at present quite
a disposition to larger plantings of the walnut in all California valleys,
either as a sole occupant of the land or as border trees around fruit
orchards. At the South the walnut area has largely increased in
those situations where the tree shows most satisfactory bearing qual-
ities, and newer varieties of California origin, like the Improved Soft
Shell, constitute most of the present area. In all untried places, or in
all places where the old Los Angeles Walnut has failed, trial should
be made of the hardy French varieties, which will be described farther
on. Recently considerable planting has been done in the coast and
interior valleys and foothills of central California upon the quite fully
demonstrated success of these varieties. It is, however, very desirable
to secure satisfactory depth and retentiveness, without excess of water,
in the soil. The walnut, on its own seedling root, abhors drouth as
well as standing water.

Soils for the Walnut. — The walnut makes most rapid growth
upon a deep, rich, moist, loamy soil, and shows its appreciation of good
things of the earth as do other fruit trees, and yet it attains satisfactory
size and bearing in less favorable situations. Thriving trees can be
found in the clays and decomposed granite soils of the foothills, as
well as in the valley silts and loams. Adequate moisture must, how-
ever, be had, and the walnut cannot be commended for dry, neglected
places nor for soils which overlie leachy subsoils described on page 33.

Propagation. — The walnut tree grows readily from nuts treated
as described in Chapter VIII. In the main the use of seedlings has
hitherto prevailed, and the nut has been looked upon as coming
sufficiently true from seed. Recently, however, this has changed rap-
idly, and budding or grafting to secure a high, uniform grade and to
secure fruitfulness in spite of the blight is commanding wide atten-
tion. In growing young trees it is being considered desirable to bud
or graft rather high so as to get a trunk of the hardier variety which
is used as a stock.

Excellent results have been obtained by using the California black
as a stock for the English walnut, and in that case budding or grafting
must be resorted to. Many instances of the success of the English
walnut on our native stock might be cited, but the most notable tree
known to the writer is to be seen on the grounds of John R. Wolfskill,
on Putah Creek, in Solano county. He put in a bud in 1875 and the
tree has reached immense size and large product. Since then many
large native black walnuts have been top-grafted with the English
walnut with notable success, not only in orchards, but along highways
where the native black walnut has been planted for shade and
ornament.

Mr. F. S. Leib, of San Jose, who has given much attention to stocks
for the English walnut, believes that the cross of the California black
and the Eastern black walnuts, and the California black walnut straight,
afford the best seedlings for roots for the English walnut, but advises
close selection to secure the best growth. This is his prescription :

BUDDING THE WALNUT 435

"The Royal hybrid (every cross between the native Eastern black
walnut and the native California black walnut is called a Royal hybrid),
is, in my opinion, the most magnificent growing tree in the walnut line,
and I believe that in the future some Royal hybrids can, by persistent
selection, be sufficiently fixed to furnish the strongest possible roots of
substantial uniformity on which to graft. At present I know of only
one tree, picked out from many hundreds, which is sufficiently fixed to
grow a fair percentage of seedlings equal to itself. Only from one to
two per cent of the seedlings of most Royal hybrids is equal to the
parent, and the percentage of even the best straight California is only
from fifteen to twenty per cent, and the poorest give less than one
per cent.

"At present, we, by a system of sprouting, are able to eliminate
four-fifths of the weakest growing nuts, and we plant the remaining
fifth in the nursery. Twenty-five per cent of such remaining nuts from
our selected trees of Royal hybrid blood, and fifteen to twenty per cent
from our selected California trees, grow three to four feet in the first
year. The three to four foot seedlings in the nursery are grafted when
one year old, and the remaining smaller trees are left for another year ;
and for this reason a small per cent make a disproportionately large
growth of root compared to its moderate top the first year, and make
an immense growth of top the second year.

"All Paradox hybrids (English walnuts crossed with California
black), make a large root and but a moderate top the first year, as do
many seedlings from the Royal hybrid, and as do very, very few from
the straight California. These few trees, which make good the second
year, three or four per cent, possibly, of the trees left to grow another
year in the nursery, are grafted at the end of the second year, and the
balance thrown away as unworthy to be grafted and given a chance
in. orchard form; for a tree which is to have in the orchard from
sixteen hundred to thirty-six hundred square feet can not be too good,
either as a root or top."

Budding the Walnut. — In working1 on the native California
seedling stocks, Mr. Clowes, of Stockton, buds by the common method,
removing the wood from the inside of the plate of bark, as advised for
the orange. Twig buds as used with the olive are also successful, and
ring budding works well on shoots of a year's growth, which have at
least attained the thickness of the middle finger. Mr. Gillet advises
that the buds should be set at the base of these shoots where the wood
is perfectly round. The bandage should pass above and below the bud
so that the bark under it may be pressed down close upon the stock,
and this is more surely gained by shaving off the base of the leaf
stem, below the bud, about to the point where it would separate when
the leaf naturally falls off.

Mr. A. W. Keith, of Selma, has hit upon a very interesting method
of preparing walnut buds. In taking a fresh bud .from the new growth
of the walnut he found the large leaf stem a serious impediment in
firmly placing a shield bud upon the cambium of the stock and binding
it there. Shaving it away with a knife left too much exposed tissue.
If the leaf stem would drop off as it does when mature and leave a

436 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

healed-over scar, the result would be a flat surface with only the bud
protruding, and this could be easily bound in place so as to exclude the
air. He tried cutting off the compound leaf, leaving a stub of an inch
or so, and, was delighted to find that a stub thus left became dry and
parted from the stem just as a mature leaf does in the autumn. By
cutting off the leaves in this way about August 15, the stubs part read-
ily before September 1, and then he takes off clean, flat buds and uses
them just as he does in budding the peach, except that he leaves no
wood behind the bud. He takes rather a large shield and puts in
under the bark of the stock through a "T" cut, then wraps well with
a strip of cheese cloth and waxes over the cloth with ordinary grafting
wax. The wrapping is applied so as to cover most of the bark slit,
everything beyond being waxed over. The bud is then allowed to
remain dormant until the following spring.

Mr. Pennington of Vacaville has been very successful in budding
by cutting buds in the regular shield form, about l1/^ inches long, cut
from branches l/2 to % mch in diameter, so as to get wide buds with
but little wood left in them. He also prefers to have stocks large, and
considers a stock l*/2 inches in diameter not too large. He uses ordi-
nary budding twine for tying, but does not use wax to cover the inci-
sions. He says it is best to put off budding as late as it is possible to
get a good flow of sap, as then the weather is likely to be cooler,
which is an important factor, and the growing season is about finished,
which will allow the twine to be left in place all winter, which he
considers advisable.

Buds are more apt to succeed when pushed upward from the cross-
cut than downward from it. The cuts would then be an inverted "T."
No preparation of the budding wood is made, except that mature buds
are taken. About 90 per cent of the buds placed are said to grow.

Spring budding can be done much more successfully if the bud
sticks are cut while dormant, in February, and kept in a cool place
until the trees begin to grow. The bud sticks will have also shown
life, and the buds can be taken from them in the usual manner and
inserted in the growing stocks. These buds will begin to grow at
once and frequently make a growth of four to six feet during the
season. As soon as the buds show they have united with the stock,
the stock should be cut above the bud and waxed.

Grafting the Walnut. — Grafting into black walnut seedling root
can also be well done by a triangular cut into the edge of the root
stump, as described for grafting into grape-vine stumps in Chapter
XXVI. In the case of the walnut, close binding with a wax band is
desirable.

Large walnut trees can be worked over either by budding or graft-
ing. If by budding, the large limbs are cut back in the winter, and in
autumn following, buds are put in, as just described, on as many of
the new shoots as may be desired.

In grafting, the common cleft graft is used with a degree of suc-
cess, particularly when the split is not made through the pith, but at
one side; the scion should be whittled so as to show as little pith as
possible. This is done by cutting down to a point at one side and not

GRAFTING THE WALNUT 437

in the center of the scion. Care should be taken to cover all exposed
surfaces.

Grafting over is desirable either for substituting a better variety of
English walnut, or for working over a California black walnut into an
English variety, and as much attention is now being paid to blight
resistant, interest is sharpened in grafting methods. Mr. J. B. Neff,
of Anaheim, who has looked into the subject deeply and worked
over many old trees, gives the following practical suggestions on this
work:

If the trees are from three to five inches in diameter they may be cut off at
about four feet above the ground and below the branches, then four or five scions
may be placed in one stock, or three or four of the branches may be cut back to
within 10 to 24 inches of the trunk and two or three scions placed in each. All
the other branches should be removed from the trunk.

Old trees of from 12 to 20 years should have the branches cut at places where
they are from three to six inches in diameter, and from five to eight stubs left,
which will be from three to six feet in length and should have as many as six
scions in the large stubs, the other branches being removed before the scions are
put in place.

In sawing large branches it is necessary to make two cuts, the first being
some distance above or outside the final cut, to prevent splitting the stub, or the
trunk, when the severed part falls.

The scion should always be of solid, mature wood, that is, with as small pith
as can be had readily, and must have good living buds. Each scion should be
about one-quarter inch in diameter and have at least two buds. The growth
having buds close together is best, as shorter scions can be used.

To receive the scions use a heavy butcher knife and mallet to split the stubs,
placing the knife across the stub as if a chip one-half to five-eighths-inch thick
was to be taken off. Then depress the handle of the knife to an angle of 30 to
45 degrees and split the edge down to 2y2 to 3 inches, allowing the knife to
reach the farther side of the stub, but not making the split entirely across the
stub. Open the cleft with an iron wedge J4 to 5^-inch wide and thickest on one
edge, placing the thickest edge toward the outside.

Trim the cleft in the stub with a sharp knife so it will be smooth. Then
cut the scion so as to fit perfectly and place it so the inner bark (the cambium
layer) of both will be on the same line, or at least will cross twice, then remove
the wedge and put hot wax over all the cuts on both stock and scion at once.

The scions should be examined frequently and any excessive flow of sap
wiped off, and the stub re-covered with wax as soon as dry. Excessive flow of
sap for several weeks will cause the loss of the scions, as the callus can not form
in water. This may be controlled by boring one-fourth inch holes in the body of
the tree near the ground. Three or four holes four inches deep will be sufficient
to control the flow of the largest trees. No damage is done to the body of the
tree, as the holes soon grow over.

The last two wax formulas on page 78 are largely used in walnut
grafting. For grafting in the stems of seedlings or in the smaller
branches of young trees a side graft as described on page 80 is success-
fully used as are also several styles of cleft grafting. One which is
used by Mr. R. Wiltz and others at San Jose consist in splitting a short
stub of a small branch which has been cut about four inches from its
attachment to a larger branch of stem. In this case the split can only
extend to the closely knit wood in the crotch and the scion is pushed
down strongly to the bottom of such a split and it is held tightly. The
two pieces of the deep split are not cut away but are allowed to protect
the short scion which is between them and if buds start on these pieces
they are allowed to grow a little to keep the stock from dying back.
When the scion starts well they are removed.

438 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

A method of side grafting (so called because the stock is not cut
across but a cleft made in the side of it) has been very successfully
practiced by Mr. Weinshank, of Whittier, both with nursery seedlings
and on branches of large trees. His work has shown eighty to ninety
per cent successful in the nursery and even more on branches of large
trees. The following is a condensed description of the method :

The scion is prepared as for a whip graft (page 81), cutting a cross
obliquely and making another cut right straight down with the grain
in the scion. Then, instead of cutting the stock completely across like
the scion, just simply make a little cut on the side. Do not cut into the
pith of the wood at all. Then, place the two together by pushing the
tongue of the scion (made by the cut on its shorter side) into the lip
cut in the stock ; tie with a string and wax over. The same method on
larger trees is performed exactly in the same way, except that the lip
of course on the larger limbs, which are three or four inches through,
would be considerably larger, and the scion instead of being placed
directly in the middle of the lip, or in the center, would be placed on
the side so as to have the cambium of the scion connecting with the
cambium on the stock at least on one side. Three or four, or sometimes
five scions are put on a large limb, and in most cases three or four
scions would grow. After the scion has" reached a certain stage of
growth, this string will commence to bind, and must be cut down right
over where the scion is. The wax on either side will tend to hold the
string, but as the wood naturally grows, the strings will draw apart,
and it will not bind as it would if the string was not cut.

Side grafting with a saw-cut, as described for the peach on page
243, also works well with the walnut.

Treatment After Grafting. — A fuller account of the protection
of scions after setting and during their early growth is given by
Mr. Edwin Gower of Fowler, Fresno County, thus explicitly :

Take two folds of burlap, punch holes for the scions to pass through, making
a hood inclosing and covering the entire stump, letting it extend down the sides
a short distance ; tie a string around the stump to hold it in place ; by using
this method the wax will remain in perfect condition. In valleys, where the wax
melts, a portion of the stump is exposed and runs down the crevices, destroying
the tender tissues of the scion.

After the scion is growing rapidly, cut the string; do not remove it. This
allows the scion to grow without the string cutting it. If small trees, drive a
stake down to tie the new growth. On old trees nail four sticks equal distances
apart around the stump, letting the sticks extend four or five feet beyond the
stump, wrap some string around these sticks; this acts as a net enclosing the
growth of the scion, which grows phenomenally on black walnut. I have seen
instances where they grow fifteen feet in one year. This net acts as a support
and keeps the scion from either breaking or splitting off by the winds. It is
sometimes advisable to nip off the end of the branches to check the growth. Cut
them back vigorously for two or three years, until such time as they are well
attached to the stump.

I have used the bark graft, also the cleft graft, but I prefer the former, as the
scion seems to grow more rapidly and reach maturity sooner.

Planting Walnut Orchards. — There is much difference in prac-
tice in planting out walnut trees in permanent place. Some advocate
the use of trees two or three years from the seed, getting as much of
the tap-root as possible; others allow the tree to remain in nursery

PLANTING THE WALNUT 439

until it throws out laterals, which is usually done the fourth or fifth
year. Two-year-old trees are generally preferred, but walnut trees of
many times that age can be successfully transplanted if the work is
carefully done. Walnut trees are usually set forty feet in squares,
though some give the large-growing varieties fifty feet. Planting in
hexagonals at forty-five feet distance gives very satisfactory results.
Some growers plant in squares at thirty feet distance, intending to re-
move alternate trees as they crowd each other, first cutting back, for
a time, the trees which are finally to be removed.

On the Bishop Ranch in the La Patera section of Santa Barbara
County several years ago, every other walnut tree was cut out of a
twenty-five-year-old grove, the trees originally being set twenty-five
feet apart. The advantages were at once apparent, the grove yielding
ten per cent more the following season than they did under the old
system and the crops have been getting better ever since. Sixty feet
is about close enough for mature trees in a walnut grove and when the
ground is so shaded that the sun and air cannot penetrate the trees
will not thrive.

Intel-cultures with the Walnuts. — In the southern walnut regions
it is common to grow beans, squashes, etc., between the rows of trees
until the latter reach bearing age; root crops which attract gophers
should be avoided. Inter-planting of smaller, early-fruiting trees is
also practiced to a considerable extent.

Walnuts in Alfalfa.— Dr. W. W. Fitzgerald, of Stockton, an ex-
perienced propagator and planter of walnuts, says :

To my mind, walnuts and alfalfa, on proper soil, are a very desirable com-
bination. While your walnut trees are growing you get good and quick returns
from your alfalfa. The roots of the alfalfa loosen up the soil, carrying nitrogen
with them to improve its condition. But on light soil, which is best for alfalfa,
the walnuts do not do so well, and on heavier ground you have to be careful to
have good drainage. One should by all means use the Royal Hybrid root when
growing walnuts with alfalfa.

On heavy land it is best to plant the trees and let them grow one year before
planting alfalfa, thus avoiding the danger of waterlogging the roots on recently
olanted trees in irrigating alfalfa. A strip should be cultivated on each side
of the walnut rows, or a space dug round the trees to prevent the alfalfa from
growing close to the tree, which would be a detriment.

Before planting the walnuts, the land should be leveled so as to irrigate nicely,
and more especially if it is to be interplanted with alfalfa or berries. With alfalfa
the checks should be spaced at the distance you wish to plant the trees.

Pruning the Walnut. — The walnut is usually headed higher than
ordinary orchard trees, but preference is now given to starting the first
branch at about four feet from the ground instead of six feet as for-
merly. All the pruning needed is in shaping the tree as described for
the fig. Upward trend of the branches should be secured, sometimes
by cutting out the shoots which grow downward, sometimes by tying
them up for a time to the central stem until they are stiff enough to re-
tain this position. Placing branches on the stem according to the prin-
ciples advanced in Chapter XII, should be borne in mind. The stem
should be protected from sunburn until the foliage accomplishes this.
Whenever shoots are killed back by sunburn or frost, they should be
cut off cleanly below the black mark which shows how far the injury

440 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

has extended. If this is done, the die-back down the branch is usually
prevented. As the trees become older, removal of some of the interior
limbs may be desirable to admit more light to encourage inside bearing.

Cutting Back for a Strong Start. — Dr. Fitzgerald gives specific
suggestions for starting the young tree by cutting back at planting,
rather than trusting to the growth in nursery, as follows :

Previous to planting, the tops of the trees should be cut off from 12 to 15
inches above the ground, according to the number of buds on the lowest part of
the trunk of the tree, and the cut waxed. After these buds make a growth of
four to six inches, select the most thrifty one to make the butt for the future
tree and pinch off the tops of each of the other limbs. This will stop their growth
and leave them with a few leaves to shade the butt of the tree.

When cutting trees back this way, it is absolutely necessary, especially on
the strong-growing hybrid root, to sucker your trees often until the top gets
a good start. You should dig down four to six inches around the tree to cut
off each sucker close with a sharp knife, for if you break them off, adventitious
buds will start out again and by cutting them off with a sharp knife you will
remove all these buds. This should be done the first time just as soon as the
buds begin to swell on any of the trees, and every tree should be suckered, for if
you allow these sucker buds to start, being lower than those of the graft, they
get the first sap and oftentimes prevent the buds above from starting. This
suckering should be done about once every ten days, or just as sure as you let the
suckers grow, they will keep back the growth abt>ve the graft or will prevent it
starting altogether.

The tree will probably make a growth of four to twelve feet the first season.
The next year it will not make growth in height, but will throw its side branches.
Some think it necessary to cut off the top of a tree to make it branch out, but
my experience has been that if you will leave the tree alone two or three years,
it will throw out its side limbs and make a perfect tree. The only pruning that
is necessary is to cut off the limbs that are too low and any limbs that cross and
would chafe against each other.

After the tree gets older and is bearing, the limbs of the tree should be pruned
to open up in the center, allowing the sun and air to go through the tree, the same
as with other fruit trees. With some trees that are inclined to go to wood and
do _not throw out enough fruit buds, you may cut back one-third of the limbs,
which causes them to throw out new limbs on which the fruit buds form.

Bloom and Bearing of the Walnut. — The walnut has its stam-
inate and pistillate blooms separate, but both occur on the same tree.
Successful fruiting depends upon the appearance of these two forms
of bloom, without too great interval of time, and although there seems
to be a quite a retention of vitality, the lack of bearing of some varieties
has been found to be due to the fact that the catkins disappear too long
before the pistillate bloom was sufficiently developed to receive the
pollen.

The bearing age of the walnut depends upon the variety. Some of
the French varieties are very precocious and have borne fruit in nursery
row at two and three years old, but the pistillate blooms were then
fertilized from catkins growing on older trees. The practical bearing
age of the seedling English walnut in this State may be rated at six to
eight years, according to the variety. Trees grafted with scions from
bearing trees fruit much sooner.

Harvesting Walnuts. — Gathering walnuts is done in different
ways ; some gather them from the ground at intervals during the months
of September and October ; others use poles and clean the trees at one
operation ; some go over the ground three times ; first, picking up what

HARVESTING WALNUTS 441

have fallen ; second, picking up what have fallen and striking the limbs
lightly to dislodge others which are ripest ; third, picking up again and
then knocking off all that remain on the trees. In this way gathering
lasts a month or six weeks. Walnuts, after gathering, are treated by
some growers as described by F. E. Kellogg, of Santa Barbara County :

As fast as gathered the nuts are placed in slat-bottomed trays, 6x3 feet, by
six inches deep, about fifty pounds in a tray, being thoroughly shaken up once or
twice a day. If the weather is very hot, they should be dried in the shade. When
the nuts are dry they are passed through an inclined revolving grader, making
about twelve revolutions per minute, having a one-inch mesh wire screen, and
all that fall through this are called "seconds." The lower end of the grader
dips into vat of water, thoroughly wetting the nuts and washing them to a
certain extent — entirely sufficient for paper shells and soft shells,- and usually
enough for hard shells. A system of buckets attached to the drum of the grader
then elevates the nuts to a chute, which discharges them into a large box 4x4x8
feet high, with an inclined slat bottom two and one-half feet above the ground.
While in this box they are subjected to the fumes of sulphur for twenty to thirty
minutes for the purpose of improving the color. The second grade walnuts are
also put through the washing and sulphuring process. The nuts are next drawn
off from the bleachers into the drying trays, piled one on top of the other, to
prevent the sun from shining directly on the nuts, and remain there for ten or
twelve hours, until the nuts are thoroughly dried off. The trays are then emptied
into a hopper, from which the nuts are drawn off into bags containing something
over one hundred pounds each ; the bags are securely sewed up and stamped
with the producer's brand, and the nuts are ready for shipment.

Col. A. S. Heath, of Carpinteria, uses a moist bleach and a drier
afterward, as follows :

When the nuts leave the rotary washer they are entirely free of hulls and
clean. They are taken to the bleaching boxes, and here subjected to the very
minimum amount of sulphur necessary, and cold steam, being in the bleachers
about one hour. From the bleachers they are taken to the steam drier. In the
drier are 100 drawers, each capable of holding 40 to 50 pounds of walnuts. These
drawers have wire bottoms to allow the heat to pass through them. In the
basement beneath the drier Mr. Heath has some modern furnaces constructed,
and during the course of the drying about 130 degrees of heat is maintained.
The nuts are kept under this heat for eight hours. During the drying it is pos-
sible to watch the progress by pulling out drawers for inspection.

J. B. Neff, of Anaheim, describes large handling of walnuts as
follows :

The nuts are allowed to ripen and the hulls open on the trees. If the
trees have had sufficient irrigation and the weather is normal, a large part of the
nuts will fall clean from the hulls and will have to be picked off the ground once
a week in dry weather, but should be gathered oftener in damp weather. The
gathering can be hastened by gently jarring the branches with a pole which has
a light flat steel hook on the end. The hook is passed over the branch and pulled
quickly so as to jar the branch without swinging it. Any hulls that cling to the
nuts may be taken off by hand. The nuts are placed in trays made of sides 1 by 6
in. by 6 ft. and ends 1 by 6 in. by 2 ft. 10 in., with laths y?. inch apart for bottoms.
The sides are allowed to project for handles, and the tray measures 3 to 5 feet.
The imperfect nuts are picked out and the good nuts dried in the shade when the
weather is hot. Damp localities require some artificial heat, but care must be
taken to have only a mild heat, as the nuts will be damaged if high temperatures
are maintained.

Grading and bleaching is usually done in the Association warehouses, as con-
siderable outlay for apparatus is required and some experience is necessary to
get the best results. When the nuts are thoroughly dried they are passed
through a revolving screen having meshes 1/4 inch square at the upper end and
1 inch square at the lower end. The small meshes take out the dirt, and the

442 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

1-inch meshes take out the small nuts, which are called No. 2 nuts, while those
going over the screen are known as No. 1 nuts. The bleaching is done either
by dipping or spraying, using a solution made of five pounds of salt in 100 pounds
of water and passing the solution through an electric cell with a current of 95
to 110 volts and at a temperature of 90 to 95° F., the variation depending on the
purity of the salt.

Varieties of the Walnut.* — Of walnuts of California origin there
are two classes, which are called "hard" and "soft" shell, but the ac-
cepted commercial product is largely composed of the soft-shell class.
Several varieties of French walnuts are now being widely distributed.
An attempt will be made to give some of the distinctive points of each
variety mentioned :

Common English Walnut; Los Angeles Nut, etc. — This is the ordinary Eng-
lish walnut of commerce. It was planted at an early day in Los Angeles County,
but is now largely replaced by the Improved Soft Shell.

Santa Barbara Soft Shell; Sexton's Soft Shell. — Originated by Joseph Sex-
ton, who gives this account of its origin and characteristics : "The winter of 1867
I bought in San Francisco a large sack of English walnuts. I raised about one
thousand trees that season, and planted two hundred of them the following
spring, in orchard form, at Goleta. Sixty of them proved to be the soft-shell
variety. The soft shell is a little later in starting in the spring than the common
nut, and blooms about ten days later. It commences to fruit at six years old
from the seed, and some have been known to fruit as young as the fourth year.
The hard shell commences to fruit about the ninth year, and bears full crops
alternate years. The soft shell is not as strong a grower as the other walnut; it
being so prolific, retards its growth. It is a superior nut; the kernel is white.
The shell is thin, rendering them easily broken by the hand, at the same time
strong enough to bear transportation to any part of the United States."

Ford's Improved Soft Shell. — G. W. Ford, of Santa Ana, propagated an "Im-
proved Soft Shell," gained by selection from the variety of Joseph Sexton, which
has been largely planted.

Santa Rosa. — A seedling by Luther Burbank, which has been distributed quite
widely; but by variation in its seedling, its character is somewhat ill-defined and
the name is applied to several types, some of which are less desirable than the
one receiving the name.

Proeparturiens. — Introduced in California in 1871, by the late Felix Gillet, of
Nevada City, and afterward by other parties, and widely distributed. Its chief
characteristic, as its name indicates, is early bearing. It blooms from two to
four weeks later than the common Los Angeles seedling ; it shows both kinds of
bloom simultaneously, and has the characteristics of ripening its wood well, and
is a good nut, but it has been little planted recently because of its disposition to
run to small sizes.

Mayette. — This variety chiefly constitutes the imported Grenoble walnuts. It
is large, roundish, with a broad base, on which the nut will sit up ; shell thin and
white ; kernel full and rich ; a good bearer and late bloomer ; local Mayette seed-
lings are being named; one is the "San Jose," by R. Wiltz, of San Jose — a fine
nut, believed to be blight resistant.

Concord. — Seedling of Cluster : of the Mayette type, grown by Messrs. West-
gate and Hutchinson of Concord from seedling tree by Felix Gillet. Introduced
by Mr. Leonard Coates in 1908. Claimed to be blight resistant.

Franquette. — This French variety has risen to great favor and has been
largely planted upon the successful experience of Mrs. Emily M. Vrooman, of
Santa Rosa, and the extensive effort at its distribution by the Oregon Nursery

*The fullest account of English walnut varieties grown in California, historical and
descriptive, is given in Bulletin 231, University Experiment Station, Berkeley, by R. E.
Smith. Unfortunately the publication is out of print and must be consulted in libraries.

WALNUTS POPULAR IN CALIFORNIA 443

Co., of Salem, Ore. It is a large, elongate-oval nut with shell rather thick and
kernel of high quality. It is a late bloomer, and escapes blight to a certain
extent.

Bijou Seedlings. — Several of these are being grown. Willson's Wonder, in-
troduced by F. C. Willson, of Santa Clara, is a large, smooth, desirable nut, and
the tree is reported an early and prolific bearer.

Other French Varieties. — Other French varieties introduced by Mr. Gillet and
others include the following: The Cluster, which fruits, as its name indicates,
in long bunches, sometimes as many as fifteen in a bunch ; otherwise the tree
resembles the common English walnut. The Parisienne is a beautiful variety, the
nut large, broad, and shapely; the tree blooms very late. All the foregoing
varieties and the Franquette, Serotina, Barthere, Mesange, Gant and Chaberte,
were introduced by Mr. Gillet in 1871.

Kaghazi. — A variety called Kaghazi was grown and propagated for several
years by the late James Shinn, of Niles, who described it as follows: "Very
much larger than the ordinary kinds, and thinner shelled. The tree is late in
putting out leaves and blossoms, and is, therefore, especially good for places that
are in danger of late frosts."

Japanese Walnut; Juglans Sieboldiana. — This species, native of the north of
Japan, was introduced to California about 1860, and a tree grown from seed
planted about that time is growing at the Tower House, in Shasta County.
Recently the good points of the tree have been more widely recognized. The
following excellent description is by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa: "This
species is found growing wild in the mountains of northern Japan, and is, with-
out doubt, as hardy as an oak. The leaves are of immense size, and a charming
shade of green. The nuts, which are produced in extreme abundance, grow in
clusters of fifteen or twenty, have a shell thicker than the English walnut, but
not as thick as the black walnut, very much resembling pecan nuts. The meat is
sweet, of the very best quality, flavor like butternut, but less oily, and much
superior. The trees grow with great vigor, assume a very handsome form, need
no pruning, mature early, bear young, and are more regular and productive than
the English walnut." The nut has an exceedingly hard shell and does not rate
commercially with the popular varieties of the English walnut.

Varieties Popular in California. — Since the walnut blight in-
vaded the commercial orchards and resisted all remedies tried against
it, great interest has arisen in particular trees which bore well in spite
of the disease. As California has such a large acreage of seedling
trees there was a full opportunity for the full manifestation of such re-
sistance and a wide field in which to exercise the art of selection. The
result is that many trees were found which were profitable even when
the blight is worst, and such trees are being given distinct varietal
names. The progress of this work should be watched in the publica-
tions of the University Experiment Station at Berkeley, for the experts
at its branch laboratory and trial grounds in the walnut region of
southern California, at Whittier, Los Angeles County, have been largely
engaged in this work. Individual growers are alert at selection within
their own orchards and the prospect is that a general escape from the
blight and the establishment in our local pomology of a group of
especially desirable varieties will ere long be attained. This proposition
is fully discussed in Bulletin 231 by Prof. R. E. Smith, as already cited.
Briefly it may be stated that these six are now most popular, according
to reports of planters :

Eureka, Franquette, Mayette, Concord, Placentia Perfection, El
Monte.

444 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Bulletin 231 says, "The Eureka comes very close to satisfying the
requirements of an ideal walnut for California. It is a fine large nut
of strikingly handsome appearance, extra full meat and weight, per-
fectly sealed, light colored meat, fine flavor, marked immunity to dis-
ease, a strong, vigorous grower and ultimately a heavy producer."

Of varieties named above as most popular the order of excellence,
without regard to bearing habit of the tree, is as follows: 1. Eureka.
2. Franquette. 3. El Monte. 4. Disher's Prolific. 5. San Jose. 6.
Chase. 7. Concord. The first three were about on a par and well ahead
of the others. Placentia Perfection is an elegant nut, but is very subject
to blight, though still in high favor with some planters.

PART EIGHT: FRUIT PRESERVATION

CHAPTER XXXVIII
FRUIT CANNING, CRYSTALLIZING, AND DRYING

The preservation of fruit in various ways for home use and distant
shipment, is one of the leading industries of California, employing a
large amount of capital and labor, and distributing a vast amount of
money among our people. These facts can be best emphasized by
statements of the product of 1913, in the leading methods of preserva-
tion, by canning and drying:

Canned Fruit Product of 1913.

Cases.

Table fruits, 2^-lb. cans, 24 per case 4,204,070

Pie fruits, 1-gal. cans, 12 per case 629,830

Total equal to 122,571,560 2^-lb. cans, or 4,833,900

The relative use of different fruits is as follows :

Cases.

Apples 80,250

Apricots 898,005

Cherries, black 56,720

Cherries, white 295,175

Grapes 46,915

Pears 874,200

Peaches, freestone 583,800

Peaches, clingstone 1,630,255

Plums 175,290

Strawberries , 34,470

Raspberries 9.090

Blackberries 103,005

Loganberries 21,370

Miscellaneous (figs, nectarines, quinces, currants, gooseberries) 2,290

THE CANNING INDUSTRY

California stands first in the United States in the value of canned
and dried fruits produced and in the amount of money as wages paid
for labor in fruit canning and curing establishments. In point of
capital invested therein California is credited by the United States
census office in 1905 with a total of ten and one-quarter million dollars;
thus standing second only to New York, which has ten and one-half
millions. The style and capacity of the establishments is characteristic-
ally Californian, because California's ten millions are invested in 184

445

446 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

concerns, while New York has 565 concerns ; only a quarter of a million
more value in three times as many outfits.

Fruit canning began in California over fifty years ago, but during
the last three decades has attained its greatness, and is still promising
much wider extension. The process is simple, and yet is attended at
every point, from the purchase of the fruit, to the sale of the product,
with operations which require experience, wisdom and good judgment.
It will be obviously impossible to give in print a guide to the pursuit
of such an industry. The principles involved in the process of com-
mercial canning are, of course, the same as rule in the old kitchen pro-
cesses, but to secure uniformity and cheapness of product a vast number
of manipulations and labor ; saving appliances have been devised. These
begin with the manufacture of cans and attend the product to the end,
and the realization of the commercial and uniform production which
they assure involves the employment of large capital and the keenest
business ability.* The canning interest has, therefore, segregated itself
more and more widely from the growing interest. Orchard canning
on a small scale, which was once thought feasible, has passed out of
sight except as it is seen to lie in the foundations of a few of the
smaller canneries which have been built upon it. It seems clear now
that as a rule the fruit grower's duty to the canning interest ceases with
the production of acceptable fruit unless individuals or associations can
command capital enough to enter the field on equal vantage with the
large commercial canneries. Capital is flowing toward the business ;
the field for the product seems to be constantly expanding, and canning
centers are multiplying throughout the State wherever ample supplies
of good fruits and vegetables are available.

Varieties for Canning. — The table previously given showing the
fruits which enter in various amounts into the canned product gives
a general idea of what fruits should be planted to minister to the can-
ner's demand. As to varieties, it is not easy to make a general pre-
scription, because the choice differs somewhat with different localities.
It is a good idea for the new planter to consult with owners of adja-
cent bearing orchards and to secure from the nearest canneries lists of
varieties which are acceptable to them.

CRYSTALLIZED FRUITS

Progress is being continually made in the production of candied,
crystallized, or glace fruits, but the product is not a large one. Special
establishments are now doing. this work in Los Angeles, San Jose and
San Francisco. They have processes which are the result of consider-
able experimentation, and they do not make them public. To others
the way lies open to similar experimentation. The general theory and
an outline of practice as given by J. J. Pratt, an experienced processor,
is as follows :

The theory is to extract the juice from the fruit, and replace it with sugar
syrup, which, upon hardening, preserves the fruit from decay, and at the same

*A detailed account of the operations and outfit of a typical California cannery is given
in the Pacific Rural Press of March 22 and 29, 1913.

CRYSTALLIZED AND DRIED FRUITS 447

time retains the natural shape of the fruit. All kinds of fruit are capable of
being preserved under this process. Though the method is very simple, there is
a certain skill required that is acquired only by practice. The several successive
steps in the process are about as follows :

First, the same care in selecting and grading the fruit should be taken as for
canning; that is, the fruit should all be of one size, and as near the same ripe-
ness as possible. The exact degree of ripeness is of great importance, which is at
that stage when fruit is best for canning; peaches, pears, etc., are pared and cut
in halves, as for canning ; plums, cherries, etc., are pitted. The fruit, having thus
been carefully prepared, is put into a basket, or a bucket with a perforated bot-
tom, and immersed in boiling water. The object of this is to dilute and extract
the juice of the fruit. The length of time the fruit is immerced is the most im-
portant part of the process. If left too long, it is overcooked, and becomes soft;
if not immersed long enough, the juice is not sufficiently extracted, which pre-
vents a perfect absorption of the sugar.

After the fruit has been thus scalded and allowed to cool, it can again be
assorted as to softness. The next step is the syrup, which is made of white
sugar and water. The softer the fruit, the heavier the syrup required. Ordi-
narily about seventy degree, Ballings' saccharometer, is about the proper weight
for the syrup.

The fruit is then placed in earthen pans, and covered with the syrup, where
it is left to remain about a week. The sugar enters the fruit and displaces what
juice remained after the scalding process.

The fruit now requires careful watching, as fermentation will soon take place,
and when this has reached a certain stage, the fruit and syrup are heated to a
boiling degree, which checks the fermentation. This heating process should be
repeated as often as necessary for about six weeks.

The fruit is then taken out of the syrup, and washed in clean water, and it is
then ready to be either glaced or crystallized, as the operator may wish. If glaced,
the fruit is dipped in thick sugar syrup and left to harden quickly in the open air.
If it is to be crystallized, dip in the same kind of syrup, but allow to cool and
harden slowly, thus causing the sugar which covers the fruit to crystallize. The
fruit is now ready for boxing and shipping. Fruit thus prepared will keep in
any climate and stand transportation.

Thus far the crystallized fruit produced in California has sold well.
There is a considerable importation of French fruit to the United
States, which may be displaced by the California product, and the busi-
ness commends itself to those who have ingenuity, patience, and capital
enough to enable them to 'experiment and wait for future success. The
California producer has the advantage of an abundance of very fine
fruit at a low price, but he carries a handicap in the high cost of trans-
portation and of labor.

CALIFORNIA DRIED FRUIT INDUSTRY

A special census of the fruit-preserving manufactures of the United
States in 1905 shows not only that California stands first in the dried
fruit industry, but that the product (excluding raisins) was in that
year valued at about fourteen million dollars and was over eighty-eight
per cent of the whole national product. An adjacent tabulation com-
piled from the records of the California State Board of Trade gives
interesting details of this product for a number of years.

As suggested on page 21 it is the function of the sunshine and dry
air of California not only to bring vigorous growth to the tree and
vine, and carry the fruit of both to fullness of size, beauty and quality,
but to continue its beneficent action until the fruit, which is not required

448

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

by the trade in fresh ripeness, is given imperishable form, in which its
beauty, flavors, aromas and nutritive qualities remain available to de-
light and nourish mankind until the following year's sunshine wins
from the earth another supply of fresh ripeness. There are many parts
of the earth where good fruit is grown : there are few where conditions
producing such fruit continue to accomplish its preservation, as they
do in California, and this climatic endowment of the State yields an
annual income of something like twenty millions of dollars, as the years
run.

Product of California Cured Fruits in Tons — 1900-1913.

Year

Peaches

Apricots

Apples

Pears

Plums

Nec-

Grapes

Figs

Prunes

Raisins

tarines

1900

17,170

14,000

3,150

7,275

1.950

435

240

2,000

87,000

47,16J

1901

14,755

7,776

3,225 -

3,290

1,725

3J7

180

3,260

40,000

37,125

1902

25,210

18,762

4,875

2,625

1,280

455

188

3,625

98,500

54,375

1903

16,075

10,500

1,800

2,325

1,435

317

205

3,000

82,500

60,000

1904

11,500

8,500

1,500

1,750

1,150

210

170

2,850

67,500

37,500

1905

17,500

19,250

3,250

1,750

930

185

193

3,625

37,500

43,750

1906

11,250

3,250

2,750

3,500

1,100

170

200

3,375

90,000

47,500

1907

12,000

1,500

1,500

500

750

137

188

3,000

40,000

60.000

1908

22,500

19,000

3,000

1,200

1,000

350

1,500

3,000

25,000

60,000

1909

20,000

14,500

2,500

1,200

500

375

325

3,500

77,500

70.000

1910

25,000

16,000

3,100

1,000

375

250

350

3,775

45,000

56,000

1911

14,000

11,000

3,500

1,500

250

200

119

5,500

95,000

65,000

1912

18.000

10.000

2,000

1,000

200

200

100

5,000

102,000

100 000

1913

20,000

9,000

2,000

1,000

600

200

120

6,000

45,000

60,000

In connection with this notable factor of our horticultural produc-
tion, certain facts of its utilization and its significance should be clearly
understood not only by those who actually employ it in their business,
but by those who desire to properly appreciate the industrial resources
of the State.

First. Cured fruits in California are a primary and not a secondary
or by-product. It is true, of course, that curing fruit does, to a limited
extent, save from loss fruit which shippers and canners are not at the
time paying profitable prices for, and it is true also that the recourse to
curing frees growers from helpless dependence upon fresh fruit buyers.
But this does not mean that curing is a way of getting something from
refuse fruit, not suited for other purposes. It should be taken as evi-
dence that, for the most part, grades of fruit which are cured are the
same which are also available for shipping and canning when prices
are right. It is very important in many ways to have it clearly under-
stood that, except to an insignificant extent, California fruit drying is
not undertaken to save wastes or to get something from fruit which is
not suited to higher uses.

Second. As our cured fruits are a primary and not a by-product,
it becomes intelligible why such free investment is made in acres of
well-made trays ; in tramways and turntables for their movement from
the shelter of convenient cutting or dipping and spreading houses ; in
capacious apartments and mechanical devises for giving the cut fruit
its bath in sulphur fumes to preserve natural colors and to prevent
fermentation and insect invasion; in the carefully prepared drying

Plate XXI.— The Loganberry. — (See page 417.)

CURED FRUITS NOT A BY-PRODUCT 449

floors; in well-fitted packing houses. Such investment has reached
millions of dollars in the aggregate, and the standing of cured fruits
as primary products is the justification of such outlay.

Third. The provision of such equipment is not alone evidence of
the standing of the industry ; it constitutes an obligation upon producers
to put out a product which shall be true to its opportunity as a primary
product, and not merely a makeshift to prevent loss or waste. Thirty
years ago California dried fruit was a makeshift, and a disgracefully
poor one. As enterprise and investment proceeded it was soon seen that
style and quality alone could requite them. Next it was discerned that
fruit for curing, to command profitable prices, must be as good as fruit
for any other high purpose, as has been suggested. It was then be-
lieved that to secure handsome cured fruit which should only be re-
lieved of its excess of water and still retain color, flavor and winning
beauty, could only be produced in machine-evaporators with artificial
heat, and a few years were given to invention, purchase and rejection
of all such devices except as occasional refuges when the California
climate forgets itself. When the demonstration came that with proper
pre-treatment California sunshine and dry air would produce notably
fine evaporated fruits without houses and furnaces, cured fruits entered
upon their career as primary products, and planting to produce them
began.

Fourth. The obligations upon producers, to make their output
worthy of such standing, extended to the whole process of growing
and curing. The fruit must be well grown, and fruit for curing should
have size and quality which make it first class for other purposes, with
the added excellence of being somewhat more mature, because it is not
required to stand hauling and shipment. It should, however, be care-
fully handled to escape bruising, because discolorations are blemishes.
It must be cleanly cut for removal of pit or core, because trimness, neat-
ness and shapeliness are all essential to beauty. Before it reaches ex-
posure to the protecting fumes of sulphur, it must be often saved from
darkening by handling in water, when the nature of the fruit is such
as to require it. It must be carefully and evenly spread upon the trays,
especially if it be a cut fruit, so that no interference can prevent each
piece from reaching its best estate. Sulphuring must be adequate, and
yet not excessive, for sulphuring is a protecting and not a resurrecting
process ; it is not to improve bad fruit, but to keep good fruit from be-
coming bad. The fruit must be sufficiently dried and yet not over-dried,
and during the process must be protected from dust by the situation
and character of the ground used, even if such protection costs trouble
and outlay.

Although the sun drying of fruit may be a simple process, so many
little arts, methods and appliances are continually being introduced to
facilitate work or improve the product, that one can learn much by
visiting the different fruit regions during the drying season. Such a
course is commended to growers who contemplate large drying opera-
tions, for suggestions of great economic importance can be secured.
The notes of practice which can be given in this connection must be
brief and general.

450 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Trays for Drying. — The greater part of the fruit, including
raisins, is placed upon trays for exposure to the sun. There is great
variation in the size of the trays. The common small tray is made of
one-half inch sugar-pine lumber two feet wide and three feet long, the
boards forming it being held together by nailing to a cleat on each
end, one by one and a quarter inches, and a lath or narrow piece of
half-inch stuff is nailed over the ends of the boards, thus stiffening
the tray and aiding to prevent warping. A cross-section of such a tray
is shown at A.

A large tray which is used by some growers is four feet square,
and is made of slats three-eighths of an inch thick, and one and a half
inches wide, the slats being nailed to three cross slats three-eighths of
an inch thick and three inches wide, and the ends nailed to a narrow
strip one-half inch thick by three-quarters of an inch wide on the
other side. A cross-section of this tray is shown at B.

Cross-sections of drying trays.

Since large drying yards have been supplied with tramways and
trucks for moving the fruit instead of hand carriage, larger trays, three
feet by six or three feet by eight, have been largely employed. These
tramways lead from the cutting sheds to the sulphur boxes and thence
to various parts of the large drying grounds, making it possible to
handle large amounts of fruit at a minimum cost.

Protecting Fruit from Dew. — In the interior there are seldom
any deposit of dew in the drying season, but occasionally there are
early rains before the drying season is over. The fruit is then pro-
tected by piling the trays one upon another, in which operation the thick
cleats serve a good purpose. In dewy regions the trays are piled at
night, or cloth or paper is sometimes stretched over the fruit, thus re-
ducing the discoloration resulting from deposits of moisture upon it.

Drying Floors. — For the most part the trays are laid directly on
the ground, but sometimes a staging of posts and rails is built to support
them, about twenty inches from the ground. The drying trays are
sometimes distributed through the orchard or vineyard, thus drying
the fruit with as little carrying as possible. Others clear off a large
space outside the plantation and spread the trays where full sunshine
can be obtained. Drying spaces should be selected at a distance from
traveled roads, to prevent the deposit of dust on the fruit.

Spaces used for drying are often idle the rest of the year and are
weed-covered and unsightly during the rainy season, or are cultivated
for grain-hay which loosens the surface and deepens the dust. When
one has water for irrigation it is often practicable to reduce dust and

SULPHURING AND DRYING 451

secure an amount of desirable feed or hay by putting the piece down
in alfalfa. Mr. P. T. Gannon of Yolo County proceeded in this way.
He lowered the tramway tracks to the ground level, and turned up a
furrow on the sides to hold the water from flooding the adjacent
ground. In the fall, after the fruit-drying was over, he flooded the
space, which is a little over half an acre (125 by 225 feet). Then it
was disked both ways and leveled and harrowed and planted to alfalfa
before the rains. The land was moist at the time and the seed came
up and the plants grew more or less through the winter. In April he
cut the first crop. Just before the space is needed for a drying yard,
make another cutting, about June 20th, cutting it down close and raking
it clean. The yard is then ready for the trays and fruit. When the
drying season is over the yard is cleared, and the space then is as clean
as a clay floor, from being used so much. In three weeks the top of the
ground is green all over, and before the rains come there is another,
cutting crop, making three crops a year, a ton at each cutting. So
something is made from the space and the dust problem is solved, which
means clean fruit and better prices.

Grading. — It is of great advantage in drying to have all the fruit
on a tray of approximately the same size, and grading before cutting
is advisable. Machines are now made which accomplish this very
cheaply and quickly.*

Cutting-Sheds. — Shelter of some kind is always provided for the
fruit-cutters. Sometimes it is only a temporary bower made of poles
and beams upon which tree branches are spread as a thatch ; sometimes
open-side sheds with boarded roof, and sometimes a finished fruit-house
is built, two stories high, the lower story opening with large doors on
the north side, and with a large loft above, where the dried fruit can
be sweated, packed, and stored for sale. The climate is such that
almost any shelter which suits the taste of the purse of the producer
will answer the purpose.

Sulphuring. — The regulations promulgated under the pure food
law enacted by Congress in 1906 established an arbitrary limit to the
percentage of sulphur compounds in evaporated fruits, which was
shown by producers to be destructive to their industry, and otherwise
unwarranted and ureasonable. As a result of their protest the enforce-
ment of such regulations was indefinitely postponed, pending the results
of scientific investigation which began in 1898.

From the point of view of the California producer it must be held
that before the employment of the sulphur process, California cured
fruits were suitable only to the lowest culinary uses. They were of
undesirable color, devoid of natural flavor, offensive by content of insect
life. They had no value which would induce production and discern-
ible future. Placing the trays of freshly cut fruit in boxes or small
"houses," with the fumes of burning sulphur, made it possible to pre-
serve its natural color and flavor during the evaporation of its surplus
moisture in the clear sunshine and dry air of the California summer.
It also prevented souring, which with some fruits is otherwise not pre-

*See under plums and prunes," page 456.

452 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

ventable in such open air drying, and it protected the fruit from insect
attack during the drying process. By the use of sulphur and by no
other agency has it been possible to lift the production of cured fruits
of certain kinds from a low-value haphazard by-product to a primary
product for which Californians have planted orchards, constructed
packing houses and made a name in the world's markets.

The action of sulphuring is not alone to protect the fruit, it facili-
tates evaporation so that about one-half less time is required therefor.
Not the least important bearing of this fact is the feasibility of cur-
ing fruits in larger pieces. The grand half-peaches, half-apricots, half-
pears of the California cured fruits are the direct result of the sulphur
process. Without it the fruit must be cut into small sections or ribbons,
which in cooking break down into an uninviting mass, while, with the
sulphuring, it is ordinary practice to produce the splendid halves with
their natural color so preserved that they lie in cut glass dishes in
suggestive semblance to the finest product of the canners, and are
secured at a fraction of the cost.

There are various contrivances for the application of sulphur fumes
to the freshly-cut fruit. Some are small for hand carriage of trays ;
some are large and the trays are wheeled into them upon trucks. The
most common is a bottomless cabinet about five or six feet high, of a
width equal to the length of the tray and a depth a little more than the
width of the tray. The cabinet has a door the whole width of one side,
and on the sides within cleats are nailed so that the trays of fruit slip
in like drawers into a bureau. Some push in the trays so that the bottom
one leaves a little space at the back, the next a little space at the front,
and so on, that the fumes may be forced by the draft to pass between
the trays back and forward. The essentials seem to be open holes or
dampers in the bottom and top of the cabinet so that the fumes from the
sulphur burning at the bottom may be thoroughly distributed through
the interior, and then all openings are tightly closed. To secure a tight
chamber the door has its edge felted and the cabinet is made of matched
lumber. The sulphur is usually put on a shovel or iron pot, and it is
ignited by a hot coal, or a hot iron, or it is thrown on paper of which
the edges are set on fire, or a little alcohol is put on the sulphur and
lighted, etc. The sulphur is usually burned in a pit in the ground under
the cabinet. The application of sulphur must be watchfully and care-
fully made, and the exposure of the fruit should only be long enough
to accomplish the end desired. The exposure required differs from
different fruits, and with the same fruits in different conditions, and
must be learned by experience.

Grading and Cleaning. — After the fruit is sufficiently dried (and
it is impossible to describe how this point may be recognized except by
the experienced touch), it is gathered from the trays into large boxes
and taken to the fruit house. Some growers put it into a revolving
drum of punctured sheet iron, which rubs the pieces together and
separates it from dust, etc., which falls out through the apertures as the
drum revolves. Others empty the fruit upon a large wire-cloth table
and pick it over, grading it according to size and color, and at the same
time the dust and small particles of foreign matter fall through the wire

HANDLING CURED FRUITS 453

cloth. The fanning mill for cleaning grain may also be used for rapid
separation of dirt, leaves, etc., with proper arrangement of metal
screens.

Sweating. — All fruit, if stored in mass after drying, becomes
moist. This action should take place before packing. To facilitate it,
the fruit is put in piles on the floor of the fruit-house and turned occa-
sionally with a scoop shovel ; or, if allowed to sweat in boxes, the fruit
is occasionally poured from one box to another. The sweating equal-
izes the moisture throughout the mass. Some large producers have
sweat-rooms with tight walls, which preserve an even temperature.
No fruit should be packed before "going through the sweat." If thi?
is not done, discoloration and injury will result.

Dipping Before Packing. — All fruits except prunes can be packed
in good condition without dipping, provided the fruit is not over-dried.
Efforts should be made to take up the fruit when it is just sufficiently
cured to prevent subsequent fermentation. If taken from the trays in
the heat of the day and covered so that the fruit moth can not reach
it there is little danger of worms. The highest grades of fruit are made
in this way. If, however, the fruit has been over-dried or neglected,
it can be dipped in boiling water to kill eggs of vermin and to make the
fruit a little more pliable for the press. The dipping should be done
quickly, and the fruit allowed to drain and then lie in a dark room,
carefully covered, for twenty-four hours before packing.

Packing. — To open well, packages of dried fruit should be
"faced." The many fine arts of paper lining, etc., must be learned by
observation. Flatten some fair specimens of the fruit to be packed
(and reference is especially made to such fruits as apricots, peaches
and nectarines) by running them through a clothes wringer or similar
pair of rollers set to flatten but not crush the fruit. Do not face with
better fruit than the package is to contain. It is a fraud which will
not in the end be profitable. Lay the flattened fruit (cup side down)
neatly in the bottom of the box. Fill the box until it reaches the
amount the box is to contain, and then apply the press until the bottom
can be nailed on. Invert the box and put on the label or brand; the
bottom then becomes the top.

Many different kinds of boxes are used. A very good size is made
of seasoned pine, six inches deep by nine inches wide by fifteen inches
long, inside measurements, and it will hold twenty-five pounds of fruit.

METHODS WITH DIFFERENT FRUITS

As already intimated, it will be impossible to enter minutely into
the operations of drying and packing on a commercial scale, or even
to notice all the small and ingenious arts by which the work is facil-
itated. Any one who contemplates production on a large scale should
personally visit leading regions and inform himself by inquiry and
observation. Such an education will save mistakes, which may cost
many times more than the expense of getting it. California producers

454 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

are usually quite willing to show visitors the methods they employ.
Though this is the better way of proceeding, a few general hints will
be given of methods with different fruits.

Apples. — There seems little use of drying apples unless a very
light-colored, handsome product can be turned out. This can be done
by sulphuring as soon as cut, and sun drying in a dry region, or by the
use of a machine evaporator in regions of greater atmospheric humidity.
Recently the product has largey increased in such large producing
regions as the Pajaro Valley, and new labor saving devices are being
continually introduced.

Apricots. — Apricots for drying should be fully ripe but not soft
enough to be mushy. By the use of sulphur and sun heat, an amber-
colored, semi-translucent fruit is obtained. The prevailing method of
gathering is to shake down the fruit upon sheets, but the best product
is hand picked. Pit the fruit by a clean cut completely around in the
suture; do not cut part way around and then tear apart — a clean-cut
edge is essential. Put on the trays with the skin down, or with the
cut up, as it is sometimes described ; sulphur, and then put in the sun.
About three days of interior valley sunshine will finish the apricots.
Apricots will yield on the average about one pound of dried fruit to
five pounds of fresh.

Mr. Joseph T. Brooks, of San Jose, describes sulphuring of apricots
as follows:

The fruit is cut in half and pitted, then spread upon the trays and put into
an airtight sulphur house. These are made just large enough so that the trays
may be slid in one over the other so that the sulphur fumes can permeate every
part of the house. About one pound of powdered sulphur is poured into a hole
in the ground and set fire, and as long as there is any oxygen left in the house,
this sulphur will continue to burn and pour forth its volume of dense smoke.
This process gives the apricots a very pretty golden appearance. The apricots,
if dried without being sulphured, have a dark uninviting appearance, and are
inclined to get wormy, although by dipping them in a strong solution of salt
and hot water the possibility of infection might be overcome. Dried apricots are
treated to a steam bath to make them pliable, and packed in boxes similar to
prunes.

Berries and Cherries. — These fruits are only dried in the sun
in small quantities for local sale, and ordinary farm-house methods are
employed.

Figs*. — The fruit may be carefully picked from the tree so as to
secure the whole of the stem, when the fruit is fully ripe, as is known
by the seaming or slight shriveling of the skin. In drying the common
black fig from large trees, however, the fruit is generally gathered from
the ground, which is cleaned and smoothed before the crop ripens. In
drying black figs the fruit is placed on trays and in most cases exposed
to the sun, but some foothill growers maintain the advantage of drying
in the shade. This is also practiced by some growers in the Fresno
district, who stack the trays as soon as filled and thus cure by the natural
movement of dry air instead of direct sunshine. The figs should not be
allowed to dry hard. When sufficiently cured, put in sweat-boxes for

*A special illustrated account of handling dried figs in California is given in "The
Smyrna Fig at Home and Abroad," by George C. Roeding, Fresno, Cal.

METHODS OF DRYING FRUITS 455

several days, and when ready to pack dip in boiling salt water, or, as
is the practice of some producers, dip in a thin syrup, boiling hot. In
either method a good pliable condition and handsome color are ob-
tained. In drying white figs many sulphur the fruit from fifteen
minutes to an hour before putting out on the trays. Figs which dry
slowly have to be turned several times during the drying, and those
which are apt to run juice are placed so that the eye is raised a little
until the juice is thickened. The white figs are also put in sweat-boxes
and dipped in hot salt water before packing. In packing, the figs are
often flattened and drawn out by the hand. Such manipulation gives the
fig a lighter and more translucent appearance. The time required in
drying figs is usually from five to eight or ten days, according to loca-
tion and weather. The fruit does not cure evenly, and those which are
finished (as determined by sight and touch — to be learned by experi-
ence) are picked from the trays, and others given more time.

Mr. Henry Markarian, of Fresno, a large producer of dried figs,
handles the fruit this way :

He has a cement tank, half filled with salt water and immerses by means of
a wire basket a ton of figs at a time for from ten minutes to a half hour. The
figs are hoisted and emptied through a feeder into trays, which are stacked in
the drying yard till the fruit is of uniform quality. This takes about ten days,
and is far superior and cheaper to the quicker sun drying. They are then poured
into sweat-boxes like raisins and taken to the packer, culls being removed. The
Adriatics are not dipped, but sulphured.

Culls are mostly splits. There are more some years than others; cool, damp
weather being especially bad. Irregular weather, or very hot weather, will also
develop culls, and rains will sour a good many, though Adriatics suffer worse
than the others. In good years culls amount to only about two per cent. In bad
years they will amount to eight and ten per cent.

Birds will do big damage. One year they destroyed eight tons of fruit. After-
wards a few boys with guns were kept busy, and one summer killed 4,000 birds,
and there was hardly a bird picked fruit in the lot as a result.

The orchard on the best soil, and best attended to will give the finest fruit.
However, the average Smyrna crop will run about 20 to 25 per cent extra fancy,
about the same amount fancy, 45 per cent choice and 5 per cent cooking fruit, sold
to bakers and pastry manufacturers. The choice fruit is split and packed in
bricks as seen at fruit stands and grocers. The larger, finer figs can be sold
whole, packed solid.

Pears. — The dried pear product is increasing, and, as with
apples, only a light-colored product is profitable. These are made by
sulphuring and sun drying, or by the use of the machine drier. For
sun drying the fruit of medium size is halved, the large fruit being
quartered.

Peaches. — Peaches are sun dried in much the same way as apri-
cots, already described. Take the fruit when it is fully ripe, but not
mushy ; cut cleanly all around to extract the pit and put on trays CUP
side up; get into the sulphur box as soon as possible after cutting.
Peaches are dried both peeled and unpeeled, but drying without peeling
is chiefly done. Peling is done with the small paring machines or with
a knife. Peeling with lye has been generally abandoned because of
discoloration of the fruit after packing, although it can be successfully
done by frequently changing the lye and using ample quantities of
fresh water for rinsing after dipping.

456 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Clingstone peaches are successfully handled with curved knives and
spoon-shaped pitters in conjunction with ordinary fruit knives. Differ-
ent styles are carried at the general stores in the fruit districts, and
individuals differ widely in their preferences.

The weight of dried peaches which can be obtained from a certain
weight of fresh fruit, depends upon the variety; some varieties yield
at least a third more than others, and clings yield more than freestones
as a rule. Dry-fleshed peaches, like the Muir, yield one pound dry from
four or five pounds fresh, while other more juicy fruits may require
six or seven pounds.

Nectarines. — Nectarines are handled like peaches; the produc-
tion of translucent amber fruit in the sun depends upon the skillful use
of sulphur.

Plums and Prunes. — Our pitted plums, which are an acid fruit,
are meeting with more favor than formerly, and the product is increas-
ing. Pitting is done by hand or by the use of foot-power "pitters."
More rapid and capacious machines are being brought out by inventors.

Prunes are one of our greatest and most promising products.
Several varieties which dry sweet with the pit in are used in making
prunes, as already stated in Chapter XXIII, but the prevailing variety
is the Prune D'Agen.

Prunes are gathered by shaking from the trees, usually upon
sheets spread beneath. Several gatherings are made by light shakings
which cause only the ripe specimens to fall. Some growers, however,
hand-pick the fruit — going over the trees several times only shak-
ing for the final gathering. A superior cured prune is secured by this
extra effort to secure full and even ripening, but the cost is greater.

Prunes are usually graded before drying, and various homemade
contrivances are employed. Some use inclined planes of adjustable
slats, the grader being thus available for other fruits than prunes ; the
large fruit rolls along into receptacles at the bottom, while the small
fruit falls through into other receptacles. Other grading devices are
made with wire screens or riddles of different sizes of mesh. Some of
them work on the principle of a fanning mill, three to four riddles,
placed above one another, each with a slight incline and a spot on the
side where each grade drops into a box. Some have a long riddle, say
twelve feet long, with three different sizes of wire screen on it. This
riddle is hung upon four ropes with an incline ; the prunes are thrown
in the higher end, and by shaking it they roll down and fall through
the holes into boxes underneath. The first piece of screen should be
small, to let only stems and dirt through, and no prunes. This long
hanging screen is also used to grade prunes after drying. There are
now several excellent manufactured fruit graders on sale in this State.
Their work is very satisfactory, and they have largely displaced home-
made contrivances.

The next step in the process is dipping in lye to thin and crack
the skin, which facilitates the escape of moisture in the drying process.
In the large caldron lye is made with one pound of concentrated lye
to each thirty gallons of water, and kept boiling hot. The fruit is put
into wire baskets or galvanized pails with perforated sides and bottoms,

Plate XXII. — Strawberry patch with cane windbreak (see page 421); also
almond trees in bloom (page 425).

METHODS OF DRYING PRUNES 457

and dipped in the boiling lye for about a minute, or until the skin has
a wrinkled appearance, then the basket is plunged into clean cold water
to rinse off the lye. This rinsing water must be frequently changed,
for it soon becomes very alkaline. Some begin with a stronger lye
solution, one pound to ten gallons of water, claiming that a very short
dip in stronger lye is better than long exposure in a weaker solution.
After this dipping, the prunes are placed on trays. In the sun the
prune dries sufficiently in from one to two weeks, according to the
situation and weather.

A process of puncturing the skin of the prunes by causing them
to roll over needle points has also been employed to some extent.
There are now manufactured very capacious appliances for continuous
dipping, rinsing, puncturing and spreading on the trays so that the fruit
is handled in large quantities at a minimum cost. In no branch of our
fruit industry, perhaps, has there been greater advance in labor-saving
devices than in prune handling.

When sufficiently dried the prunes are put through the "sweat,"
which takes from several days to two or three weeks, and then are
ready for grading, finishing, and packing. In grading, the prunes are
separated by the use of a grader, as already described, into a number
of grades, the largest, forty prunes to the pound, and so on, fifty, sixty,
etc., to the smallest, which may run one hundred or more to the pound.
Finishing consists in exposing to steam, in dipping in clear hot water,
or hot sugar syrup, or in dipping in boiled juice of ripe prunes, or
peaches or apples, etc. Although there is a great variety of materials
used for "glossing" prunes by different producers, the prevailing prac-
tice is to rely upon hot water, to which purd glycerine is added at the
rate of one pound to twenty gallons. Some growers also add a little
brine (having first dissolved the salt and skinned off the impurities).
This final hot dip kills insect eggs, and the fruit, after drying off away
from the access of insects, should be packed tightly in boxes, usually
holding twenty-five pounds, though thirty-eight to fifty-pound boxes
are used in foreign trade.

The following explicit hints on the curing of prunes are based
upon wide experience and observation in the Santa Clara Valley:

Be sure to allow the prunes to obtain all of the sugar they can from the
trees by hanging until they drop of their own accord. Do not pick up until
prunes are soft to the touch. These two rules are productive of nice black
prunes. They may not be black when gathered in the bins but will color with
age, without any foreign coloring m.atter.

Do not keep prunes in boxes over night. They go through a sweat, and do
not make a first quality of dried fruit, and take much longer to dry. It is better
to let the prunes lie on the ground under the tree for several days than to let the
picked prunes lie in the boxes over one night.

The dipping fluid must be kept at the boiling point and no prunes put in unless
it is boiling. It is not a matter of how strong the lye is, but how hot is the
water. On the trays prunes will either dry or ferment. Unless the dip is hot
enough the prune will not immediately commence to dry, but will, in a few days,
become a chocolate color and refuse to dry, sometimes a few on a tray, often
half and sometimes nearly all. If the water is at the boiling point all through
the dip, two pounds of lye to the 100 gallons of water, may be sufficient. If the
water is not boiling, ten pounds of lye to the 100 gallons of water may be re-
quired.

458 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Weather conditions govern the time prunes should remain on the trays. Grasp
a handful of prunes and give them a gentle squeeze and open the hand quickly,
if the prunes separate they are ready to stack the trays and the fruit should be
placed in the bin before it rattles on the trays.

When the prunes are sufficiently dry put them in a dry place where it will
not rain on them, but do not prevent the air from getting to them. Let the wind
have free access until the rains set in then close doors and make the house as
snug as you can. In making bins, be sure the boards are dry and the bins well
above ground, or you will have trouble. Do not let prunes get damaged by rain.

For dipping before packing, some use a brine dip — about five pounds of salt
to 100 gallons of water is about right. This salt dip can be used more safely for
prunes than for peaches or other pitted fruit, as in some instances it has attracted
moisture and caused mold. As to the respective results of a sal solution and
glycerine solution, the salt seems to be a cleansing process, which leaves the skin
of the fruit in a bright, clear condition and brings out the blue bloom, which is
desirable. The glycerine is more of a syrupy or glossy nature, and on prunes
that are inclined to be reddish this solution can be used to advantage. A com-
mon method of treating prunes is to use the small prunes and suspend them in
the steam-heated tank of the Anderson dipper, where they can not come in con-
tact with the steam (which causes the skin and meat of the prune to turn dark),
dissolve out the juice, thus forming a dip liquor, and this is quite extensively
used.

Raisins. — The varieties of grapes used for raisins are described
in Chapter XXVIII. The production of raisins has reached such an
extent, and employs so much skill and capital, that the processes
employed to facilitate the curing and packing are so various that a
description of them cannot be attempted. Besides an excellent special
treatise has been written on this subject.* However, in beginning the
commercial production of raisins, one should visit the raisin farms and
packing-houses during the harvest. The following description by T. C.
White, of Fresno, gives an outline of practice in the vineyard :

In Fresno picking commences about the first of September, although there
have been seasons when it occurred as early as the 20th of August. The grapes
under no circumstances should be picked for raisins until they are ripe. There
are three ways by which to ascertain this : First, by the color, which should be a
light amber; second, by the taste; and third, by the saccharometer, which is by far
the most accurate. A grape may be ripe, and not have the proper color, when
grown entirely in the shade. The juice of the grape should contain at least
twenty-five per cent saccharine, to produce a good raisin.

The method of drying is with trays placed upon the ground. The almost
entire absence of dew in our locality greatly facilitates this method. The trays
are usually twenty-four by twenty-six inches, which hold about twenty pounds
of fruit, and should produce from six to seven pounds of raisins. The product
of a vineyard depends largely upon its age and favorable conditions, varying
from two to nine tons of grapes per acre.

The trays are distributed along the sides of the roads, from which they are
taken by the pickers as they are needed. As the grapes are picked from the
vines, all imperfect berries, sticks, and dead leaves are removed from the bunches,
which are then placed upon the trays, right side up. A cluster has what is called
a right and a wrong side, the wrong side having more of the stems exposed
than the right side. Great care should be used in picking, so as to. handle the
bunches only by the stem. If the berries come in contact with the hands, some
of the bloom will be removed, which will injure the appearance of the raisins.
The trays are placed, after filling, between the vines, one end being elevated so
that the grapes may receive the more direct rays of the sun.

Too rapid drying is not desirable. The grapes are left upon the trays until
about two-thirds dry, which, with us, will be from six to eight days. They are
then turned. This is accomplished by placing an empty tray on top of the one

*The Raisin Industry by Gustav Eisen, San Francisco.

METHOD OF CURING RAISINS 459

filled with partially-dried raisins, and turning them both over. Then take off
the upper or original tray, and you have the raisins turned without handling or
damage. After turning, curing will proceed more rapidly, and frequently is com-
pleted in four or five days. During this time they should be carefully watched
to prevent any from becoming too dry. When it is found they are dry enough,
the trays are gathered and stacked one upon another as high as convenient for
the sorting which follows. This protects them from the sun and prevents over-
drying. Stacking- should be attended to early in the morning, while the stems
and berries are slightly moist and cool from the night air, as they will retain
this moisture after being transferred to the sweat-boxes, and assist in quickening
the sweating process.

As the raisins are taken off the trays, some of the berries on the bunch will
be dry enough and a few will not be sufficiently cured. To remove the moist
ones would destroy the appearance of the cluster, and to leave them out longer
would shrivel the dry ones, hence the sweat-box. The moisture is diffused
through the box, some being absorbed by the dry raisins, and the stems also
taking their share are thus rendered tough and pliable and easily manipulated
when ready for packing.

Sorting and grading require great care and judgment, and although a tedious
process, it greatly facilitates rapid packing. The sweat-box is a little larger than
the tray and about eight inches deep, and contains about one hundred and
twenty-five pounds of raisins. Heavy manila paper is used in the sweat-boxes,
one sheet being placed in the bottom, and three or four more at equal distance
as the filling progresses. The object of the paper is to prevent the tangling of
the stems and consequent breaking of the bunches when removed for packing.

The sorters have three sweat-boxes, one for the first, second and third quali-
ties, as the grade will justify. The bunches should be handled by the stem and
placed carefully in the sweat-boxes to avoid breaking the stems ; thereby de-
stroying the symmetry of the clusters. Any found to be too damp are returned
to the trays and left a day or two longer in the sun. To ascertain if the fruit
is perfectly cured, take a raisin between the thumb and forefinger and roll it
gently until softened, when either jelly or water will exude from the stem end —
if water, it requires further drying. When the boxes are filled, they are taken to
the equalizer. This should be built of brick or adobe, and as near air-tight as
possible, but provided with windows to allow ventilation when necessary. The
windows should have shutters to keep it dark. The filled boxes are placed one
exactly above another to a convenient height, and should remain from ten to
twenty days or more, when they will have passed through the sweating process.
When the raisins are sufficiently equalized, the sweat-boxes are removed to the
packing-room, which is provided with tables, presses, scales, etc.

The foregoing relates to the preparation of the standard clusters.
Loose raisins are now being produced in increasing quantities. Loose
Muscatels are prepared by being put through the stemmer and grader.
The stemmer removes the berries from the stems, and the grader, by
separating according to size, determines the grade. During the last
few years the seeding of raisins has increased rapidly, and large estab-
lishments for this work, with every ingenious machinery, have been
erected. Seeded raisins constitute a considerable portion of the
product.

A considerable quantity of dipped raisins are also made of the
Sultana and Thompson seedless grapes and of loose or inferior Mus-
catels. A lye dip of about one pound of potash to twelve gallons of
water is used, and the solution is kept boiling hot. The ripe fruit is
dipped for an instant, then plunged in fresh water for a thorough
rinsing, and then placed on the trays. During warm, dry weather in
the interior, the raisins are dried in the shade by leaving the trays in
piles, but if cooler, moister weather prevails, the trays must be spread
out. The product is a handsome amber color.

460 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

An oil dip has been profitably used with Thompson's Seedless :
One quart of olive oil ; 24 P°und Greenbank soda and 3 quarts
water are made into an emulsion, and then reduced with 10 gallons
water in the dipping tank, adding more soda to get lye-strength enough
to cut the skins, and more soda has to be added from time to time to
keep up the strength. The grapes are dipped in this solution and
sulphured to the proper color.

Mr. Hecke's Way With Dipped Raisins. — Much experimenta-
tion has been undertaken by California growers to improve the process
of making dipped raisins. The following is the method devised and
largely used by Mr. G. H. Hecke of Woodland, Yolo County, in
handling Thompson and Sultana raisins :

Before drying they are dipped in a solution of sodium bicarbonate, which just
takes the bloom off, but does not cut the skin. This reduces the time of drying
about half, so what it costs in one way it saves in part in another. A crew of
seven men can keep two vats going and turn out 1,600 trays a day, 500 trays per
ton of raisins.

The stock solution of bicarbonate is a pound to a gallon of water. It is diluted
about 3 to 1, the proportion varying with the effect on the grapes, more of the
stock solution being added as desired. The grapes are dipped in wire trays in
this warm solution and about four wire trays are needed to a vat. A thin layer
of olive oil is kept on the surface of the solution, a trace of which touches the
surface of the grapes as they come out and gives them the right color and
quality. Only a tablespoonful of oil is added at a time and the actual amount of
oil used is very small — about one gallon to 500 trays.

This method of bleaching is held to be vastly superior to sulphur drying. It
gives as fine a looking raisin as the sulphured, the raisin has a natural flavor
that is very attractive, and is better in other ways. The raisins are sun dried in
eight to ten days, the trays being stacked if rain threatens, artificial drying not
being necessary. The total cost of making raisins is about $25 per ton, including
harvesting.

GRAPE SYRUP

The manufacture of grape syrup, which was formerly of consider-
able prominence as a means of disposing of wine grapes, has recently
received less attention because of low prices in competition with the
vast amount of syrup available from the sugar refineries.

MACHINE EVAPORATION

Although California summer conditions of adequate heat and dry
air favor open-air evaporation to such an extent that nearly all our
product of cured fruit is secured in that way, there are some parts of
the State where artificial heat would be a safer recourse and there are
late fruits which sometimes collide with early rains in a way to cause
losses even in our best sun-curing regions.

It is interesting, therefore, to describe a machine evaporator con-
structed upon true principles and having capacity sufficiently large
to encourage its use. Mr. L. W. Parsons of Campbell, Santa Clara
county, has given most of his life to the design and construction of
fruit evaporators, and secured patents thereupon which have expired
and are now public property. In the Pacific Rural Press of June 19

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462 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

and 26, 1909, he gave his conclusions on the desirability of machine
evaporation and a design for the construction of an evaporator which
embodied all his best work in this line. The accompanying drawings
and description are from Mr. Parson's writings :

A fruit drying chamber capable of holding about two tons is about as large
as one heater can well handle. Wire trays two feet wide by five feet long are
as large as one strong man can conveniently handle; he might prefer them
shorter ; in fact, if the smaller tray would give a drier of sufficient capacity to
to meet the demands of the owner, he could make the trays two by four feet,
with a narrower furnace, to correspond. Where two men are always available,
trays three by six feet have been found to work well.

A drier five feet wide and twenty-four feet long, having ten trays in its length
and twelve trays high, holds 120 trays 2 by 5 feet, or a total drying surface of
1,200 square feet, which at the rate of 3 pounds per foot give a total of 3,600
pounds at one time : that is, it would take that much gross weight of fruit before
cutting to fill the trays. Large fruit would amount to more, and. small fruit or
culls might not go above two pounds to the foot.

By making the drier one or two trays longer and higher, and a foot or so
wider, the capacity may be materially increased. But if much more capacity is
desired, it would be better to build another drier, or several of them, alongside of
it, which would work satisfactorily.

The fruit drying chamber rests on top of the hot air chamber, which is
surrounded by brick or cement walls about eight inches thick, and is as long and
wide as the fruit chamber above. The height of these walls depends on the size
and shape of the heater enclosed by them. The furnace is a very important
factor: it must be strong, not easily burned out, smoke-tight in all its joints and
flues, with caps or covers so placed to facilitate cleaning out soot and ashes.
There must be room between the sides of the furnace and the side walls to allow
for circulation of the air to be heated.

Fresh air enters this hot air chamber through openings about a foot square
at the bottom in front between the furnace and the side walls; passes along on
the sides and top of furnace and flues until it reaches the back end of the hot
air chamber, where it passes up through an opening into the fruit chamber above,

The next, and perhaps the most critical, part in the construction, is the sheet
iron floor which covers the furnace and flues and separates them from the fruit
chamber above. This iron floor is made of either black or galvanized iron, not
thinner than No. 24; thicker would be better. It rests on rods or bars of angle
or T iron stretched from wall to wall, with ends built into the walls. These
rods are spaced about two feet apart. The sheets of iron should be riveted or
bolted together. The edges of this iron floor should project into and be imbedded in
the brick walls in front and along the two side walls as far back as the floor
goes to the other end of the drier. Cover this floor with an inch or so of sand
or fine earth, so as to stop up all cracks. At the back end of drier this iron floor
is cut short one foot, allowing an opening of one by about five feet to allow the
hot air from the heater below the iron floor to pass up into the fruit chamber
above. This floor must be made tight everywhere, so no hot air can possibly
leak upward and scorch the fruit or the woodwork above.

The brick walls should be built about eighteen inches above the iron floor, so
that the wooden frame which rests on top will be safe from burning.

The furnace may be about four feet high by three feet wide, with an ash
pit in the bottom part, and six or eight or more feet long. This will handle
four-foot cordwood conveniently and make a liberal combustion chamber for the
flames. It may be a cylinder or shaped like a boiler, or have brick walls, with a
cast iron arch on top. Or it may be a big wrought iron box made of quarter-inch
boiler iron, braced with angle iron to prevent warping.

A smoke pipe one foot in diameter connects with the back end of the furnace,
passes horizontally to near the back end of the drier, then by a short elbow
doubles back, coming to the front over the top of the furnace, and then, by an
elbow, to right or left through the side brick wall to connect with the pipe inside
of the ventilator shaft or flue.

CONSTRUCTION OF A FRUIT DRIER 463

If the furnace is four feet high and the pipe above it one foot thick, allow
six inches space between the top of the furnace and the pipe and between the
pipe and sheet-iron floor above it; then add the eighteen inches of brick wall
above the iron floor; we get a total height of seven and a half feet from the
ground to the top of wall.

But only the furnace needs to be as deep as this, and it can be placed in a
pit at one end of the drier. The brick walls back of the furnace do not need to
go so far down by perhaps two feet. The smoke pipe leaving the furnace close
to its top can rest on a brick lying on top of the ground, so the part of the heat-
ing chamber holding the long flues may be shallower, thus saving some expense
in masonry. The top of the brick wall should be level all the way around and
even with the floor of the house, so the operator can easily handle the trays
on the upper track. Do not insert woodwork of any kind into the brickwork.

Lay 2 x 4-inch sills on top of the brick walls all around the four sides. Cut
your upright studding of 2x4 joists six and a half feet high, spaced two feet
apart, and nail a 2 x 4 plate on top. This is for the two long sides. The ends
of the drying chamber are to be supplied with close-fitting doors. Nail surfaced
matched lumber on the inner face of the studding. These boards had better be
of redwood, so as not to gum up the trays with pitch.

These two side walls should be perfectly straight, plumb and level and at
equal distance apart at all points, so the trays will work true and not bind or
slip off the tracks. Nail to these walls tracks or slides made of strips one and
one-half inch square. Fasten to these tracks wheels, known to the hardware
men as "sash rollers," one inch in diameter and spaced ten inches apart along the
track. Cut a little notch in the edge of the track, so the wheel can turn freely,
with the big side of the wheel upward. Put twelve of these tracks on each wall,
spaced six inches apart, beginning six inches from the ceiling to the top of the
first track, then six inches to the top of the next track, etc. One strong 16-penny
wire nail driven into each stud will hold these tracks securely. Fasten the wheels
with screws to the track on a work bench before nailing them to the walls.

Nail matched lumber on top of the plates from side to side for a ceiling.
This wooden shell will have to be braced from the outside so it can stand up
firmly with its load of fruit. •

The ventilator or exhaust flue should be about two by three feet inside and
extend about twenty feet above the top of the drier. Build it against the side of
the drier, resting on top of the brick wall, close to the front end of the drier.

The smoke pipe must be carried by a suitable elbow from its position above
the furnace through the side brick wall to a point under the center of the venti-
lator, thence up through it to the top. A sheet-iron weather cap on top should
protect the ventilator and smoke pipe. Make the bottom of the ventilator where
smoke pipe enters, air tight to ensure good draft. Provide caps or covers at
the elbows to facilitate cleaning out the soot.

On the side of the drying chamber, at the bottom, cut a hole into the venti-
lator for the passage of the damp air from the fruit into the ventilator. This
opening should be the shape of a right angled triangle, in such position as though
the bottom cover of the side wall were being cut off. The bottom and perpen-
dicular side of opening are to be three feet long. The lower tracks go past this
opening to carry trays to the door. Some kind of a small guide rail should be
placed to prevent the corners of the trays from striking against the edge of
opening. The trays are to be one-half inch shorter than the drier is wide inside,
so as to move freely without danger of being bound. Two or three rods of
half-inch iron provided with screws and nuts should pass through from side to
side of drying chamber about half way from top to bottom, to prevent the walls
of the drier from warping or bulging, or else the trays will drop off the tracks.

Make four sides of the trays of stuff one and a half inches square, notched
at the corners of trays. Tack on No. 3 mesh galvanized wire cloth. Over this
nail strips one inch thick by one and a half inches wide for runners to roll over
the wheels. Nail a similar strip across the middle of the tray to prevent the wire
cloth from sagging. From twenty-five to fifty extra trays will be found con-
venient in operating the drier. The wire cloth is two feet wide. Make the tray
frames two feet one inch wide. With average prices for labor and material this
drier can be built in a substantial manner for about $500.

464 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

To Operate the Drier. — Get started right by taking all day in gradually filling
the drier, so that by night time the first trays will be within a few hours of being
finished. Start a good fire before putting in the fruit, so as to burn out the oily
smells of the new ironwork. Use the eight lower tracks for the fresh fruit Put
eight trays in at a time, one tray on each of the eight lower tracks about every
forty-five minutes, starting them at the front end over the furnace and pushing
along. After ten lots have been so placed the eight lower tracks will be full.
Then take out one tray from each track at the back end, and put them in on the
upper four tracks, two trays on a track, to be gradually pushed along from time
to time, as often as fresh trays are put in at the front, until the machine is full
and the driest trays will be at the front end on the upper four tracks. The
fresh, wet fruit will in this way have its vapor drawn out through the ventilator
close by, without wetting the fruit which is partly dry.

As the fruit gets drier it is moved into drier and warmer air at the back end.
But this fresh air right from the heater below is 180 degrees hot and unsafe for
fruit to finish in, so it is started back on the upper tracks to finish in a milder
temperature, with enough vapor in the air to allow the fruit to finish gradually
without danger of scorching, turning out the fruit in a soft and flexible condition,
evenly cured and right in color. This process is peculiar to this evaporator and
yields the best results in quality of work done.

If fruit is rushed too fast through the drier it will get back to the front and
top too soon and will be too wet to dry readily in the lower temperature.

If the beginner gets caught this way, it will be better, after waiting a little,
to take it out, and, if still too wet, carry it back to the other end and put in on
the upper four tracks again to gradually go forward again. After a little ex-
perience he will learn how and when to move the fruit.

As to variations of heat in different parts of the drier and the effects thereof,
it may be added that the thermometer hanging in the current of air just as it
strikes the fruit may register 190 degrees and do no harm, for the fruit at that
end of the drier has enough moisture to save it. The air cools rapidly, and
when it reaches the other end of the drier where the fruit on the top tracks
is nearly dry, the temperature will be about 40 degrees cooler. This is one of
the most valuable points in this evaporator, finishing the fruit in a lower tem-
perature and yet with but little moisture in the air.

Wood or coal fires will fluctuate in heat, and a careless operator might allow
the temperature to get to 200 or 210 degrees, but, if it does not last more than a
few minutes, and as the fruit is not too near being finished at the exposed end,
no harm is done. A thermometer resting on the tray at the back end lying
between the fruit will show about 10 degrees lower temperature than when
hanging clear in the draft at that point.

While drying the trays should not touch the ends of the drier, but be pushed
back about a foot and a half from the doors to allow room for free circulation
of air at the back end of drier and down at the front end. It takes sixteen to
twenty-four hours to dry the fruit, according to kind and size. Apples are dried
in six to eight hours.

The furnace may be made to use any fuel. An oil burner is the best, because
the heat can be kept steadily at the maximum.

PART NINE: FRUIT PROTECTION

CHAPTER XXXIX
CALIFORNIA METHODS WITH INJURIOUS INSECTS

The California climate, which so favors tree and vine by a long,
mild, growing season also enables some insects to multiply much more
rapidly than they do in wintry climes ; some having several distinct
broods, others carrying on the work of reproduction and destruction of
plants nearly the year round. The difficulties of the problem of the
control of injurious insects are constantly being increased because
new pests, in spite of the most careful efforts to keep them outside
our boundaries, occasionally find their way into our orchards and vine-
yards. Furthermore native species, feeding, unnoticed perhaps, upon
wild growths have found, in certain instances, that cultivated plants
offer to them most satisfactory food and then suddenly become a
factor in the horticulturists' problem,

Undoubtedly parasitic and predaceous insects preying upon the
injurious species found in the fruit plantations are of assistance, in
greater or lesser measure, in reducing the pests, and this service is
being promoted by the introduction of beneficial insects from other
parts of the world. There are many of our native species of insects,
also syrphus and ichneumon flies, ladybirds, etc., that are valuable in
this regard. Other factors also, such as untoward weather-conditions
at the time of hatching, bacterial and fungous diseases of insects, etc.,
assist the horticulturist in his warfare against injurious insects. It is
also a fact that California conditions have demanded and favored the
development of ways and means for the suppression of orchard and
vineyard pests, and methods and appliances have been invented which
have demonstrated notable efficiency and value.

While the literature upon the subject of insect pests in California
is quite extensive, much of it is beyond the reach of the general
reader. Nevertheless there are a number of publications which should
be secured and studied by every fruit grower. These are the bulletins
and reports of the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University
of California, at Berkeley (from which many of the following state-
ments are taken) ; of the State Board of Horticulture, at Sacramento;
and of the Bureau of Entomology of the United States Department
of Agriculture, at Washington. A most useful addition to the horti-
culturist's library will be found in Kellogg's "American Insects," pub-
lished by Henry Holt and Company, New York. This excellent work
of Professor Vernon Kellogg, of Stanford University, is particularly
valuable because of its California observations and point of view. The
latest and at the same time the most specific and practically valuable
review of fruit pests and their control is "Injurious and Beneficial
465

466 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Insects of California," by E. O. Essig, State Board of Horticulture,
Sacramento, 1913. Furthermore as the study of the pests and the
invention of means for their destruction are continually progressing
one can only keep himself up to date and enable himself to profit by
improvements, by diligent reading of California's periodicals devoted
to practical horticulture.

CLASSES OF INSECTS

In order to arrange injurious insects in classes in a popular way,
the grouping here will be based upon the character of the work they
do. This arrangement has been followed by other writers and is
perhaps better than attempting to group the insects which prey upon
any single tree or plant, because injurious insects seldom restrict
themselves to a single food plant. Therefore the grouping will be as
follows :

(1) Insects destroying foliage;

(2) Insects upon the bark or upon the surface of leaf and fruit;

(3) Insects boring into the twig, stem or root;

(4) Insects boring into the pulp of fruits.

INSECTS DESTROYING FOLIAGE

Cut Worm's and Army Worms. — These are the larvae of Noc-
tuid moths, which often become abundant over limited areas and
do much damage to trees and plants. Cut worms and Army worms
are terms applied to the same insects in California. In ordinary years
they are not present in sufficient numbers to cause much concern, and
in such years they are known simply as cut worms. When all condi-
tions are favorable, however, certain species develop in enormous
numbers and having exhausted the food supply where they breed, they
begin to migrate or march, commonly in a definite direction, as an
army in search of new food. When they thus appear in such large
numbers and take on the migrating habit they are called army worms.

Some of the caterpillars have the habit of climbing up vines and
trees and eating off the buds in the early spring. These are called
climbing cut worms. Others remain at or near the surface of the
ground and feed by cutting off the plants at this point. They are
more commonly found in the grass lands, but very frequently attack
cultivated crops, particularly on land that was in grass the previous
year.

Of the methods used to protect trees and plants from cut worms,
poisoned bait is probably the most common. This consists of bran
and molasses or other sweet substance poisoned with arsenic and
distributed in handfuls about the plants. The proportions are as
follows : forty pounds of bran, two gallons of cheap molasses, and
five pounds of arsenic. Cheap glycerine may be used to prevent the
mixture from drying. This will be eaten by the worms in preference,
usually, to the plants which it is desired to protect.

CUT WORMS AND CANKER WORMS 467

Cut worms and army worms may also be captured by means of
traps. Because of their habit of feeding at night and remaining con-
cealed during the day, pieces of boards may be placed on the ground
around the growth to be protected and these may be turned over
during the day and the worms killed.

In case of outbreaks of army worms the most important and
successful means of fighting them is to keep them out of the orchard
or vineyard entirely. This can be successfully done if they are dis-
covered in time, or if already in one portion, they can be kept from
spreading over the rest of the property. They travel in immense
numbers in a definite direction, coming generally from an adjoining
or nearby grain field. If a Jpurrow is plowed along the side of the
place to be protected it will effectively stop their progress. This fur-
row should be plowed as deep as possible, with the vertical side next to
the field to be protected. It can be further trimmed with a spade,
preferably cutting under slightly, making a smooth surface, over
which few if any, of the worms will make their way. Above this
shoulder a fine pulverized earth should slope as abruptly upward as
possible. If any of the worms succeed in climbing up over the
smooth surface made by the spade they will be pretty sure to fall
back as they reach this fine loose earth in an attempt to ascend over
the projecting shoulder. Pestholes should be dug on the straight
edge of the furrow every fifteen or twenty feet. The worms in failing
to scale the vertical side of the furrow will crawl along in the bottom
and fall into these holes. Here they may be killed by pouring in a
little crude oil, or by pouring in a little distillate and dropping in a
match, thus burning them, or the holes filled in and others dug. They
may also be killed in the furrow by sprinkling them with kerosene or
by pouring a strip of crude oil along the furrow.

Canker Worms. — These are destructive leaf-feeding caterpillars,
commonly known also as inchworms, loopers or measuring worms,
because of the peculiar looping gait by which they move about. The
male moths are slender bodied and have broad, thin wings, while the
females are wingless, heavy-bodied creatures.

While these caterpillars can in large measure be controlled by
spraying with lead arsenate or Paris green, it is by far the best to
use the trap method of control and avoid having them upon the
trees at all. The trap method depends for its success upon the fact
that the wingless female moth upon emerging from her cocoon in
the ground immediately crawls up the trunk of the nearby tree and
places her eggs upon the twigs. By trapping the females on their
way up into the trees no eggs can be placed near the foliage and the
caterpillars hatching from them can do no damage. The traps are
made thus: Take No. 16 or No. 14 wire cloth in strips six inches
wide, draw and tack the top edge close to the trunk of the tree over a
bandage of cloth which is put on first to make the joint tight. The
lower edge should flare out about an inch from the tree all around.
This trap will need rather frequent cleaning while the moths are active.

Tent Caterpillars. — Several species of hairy caterpillars called
"tent caterpillars," or "web worms," from their spinning covers of

468 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

cobweb-like material, under which they take shelter in large colonies;
but one, at least, of the group does not spin a web, though it lives
in clusters on the tree. The worms can be killed by cutting off and
burning the twig holding the cluster or by burning the colonies in
place with a torch on the end of a pole, or by spraying the foliage
with lead arsenate or Paris green. The pest can be reduced while
pruning by carefully collecting and burning the egg clusters, which
encircle the twig.

Red-Humped Caterpillar. — Striped caterpillars, not hairy, but
having two rows of black spines along the back, also living in clusters ;
of reddish color with yellow and white lines; a short distance back
of the red head of the caterpillar is a red hump on which are four
black spines ; black spines are also scattered over the body, but smaller
than those on the back. Spray with lead arsenate or Paris green, or
cut off and burn colonies.

Caterpillar of Tussock Moth. — A conspicuous caterpillar with
four short, brush-like tufts on its back, and two long, black plumes
at the front, and one at the rear of the body. This leaf-eater is found
on apple, pear, plum and sometimes on other fruit trees, also on the
walnut and oak. The caterpillars are peculiarly resistant to arsenical
sprays and can not be successfully controlled by these. The larva
spins a cocoon sometimes in the fold of a leaf, more commonly in
crotches or rough places on the bark, or even on adjacent buildings
Or fences, and the female, after emerging from the cocoon, deposits
her eggs upon the outside of it. The insect is fortunately very freely
parasitized in the egg form and prevented from wide injury. It can
be controlled by destroying the egg masses during pruning, as they
are white and very conspicuous.

Pear and Cherry Slug. — A small, slimy, dark-colored worm, with
the fore part of the body notably larger than the rear part, eating
the upper surface of the leaves but not usually making holes through
them. The insect can be checked by throwing fine road dust or air-
slacked lime over the tree, which cakes upon the slime of the worm
and destroys it. On a large scale an arsenate of lead or Paris green
spray is best.

Saw-Fly Worm. — There are several larvae of saw-flies which
do much injury to pear trees, currants, etc., by eating the whole leaf
substance except the larger ribs. The worms are small, not slimy like
the pear slug, the one infesting the pear being about half an inch
when fully grown. Its general appearance and work are shown by
the engravings. The most available remedy is an arsenate of lead
or Paris green spray.

Large Caterpillars on Grape-vines — The grape-vine is often
seriously injured by the attacks of very large leaf-eating worms two
inches and upwards in length, sometimes with a large horn, or spine,
sometimes without. They are larvae of several species of Sphinx
moths or hawk-moths. The worms when new hatched can be killed
by an arsenical spray or by hand-picking. The numbers of worms
can be reduced by killing the large moths which are abundant at

THE APHIS OR LEAF LOUSE

469

nightfall on beds of verbenas, or other garden flowers. These worms
are related to the other large caterpillars which feed on tobacco,
tomatoes, etc.

Leaf Eating Beetles. — There are many beetles, large and sm^ll,
which infest grape leaves. They can all be reduced by the use of
arsenate of lead or Paris green, or those which drop to the ground
when disturbed may be collected in large numbers on sheets spread
below.

The most notable of these because of its evil work in the central
part of the State, and because the grub destroys the roots of the vine
causing it to be called the "grape root worm," and the beetle riddles
the leaves and young fruit. It is Adoxus vitis and a special study of
it has been made by Professor H. J. Quayle, of the University Experi-
ment Station, the results of which are published in Bulletin 195 of
the station and remedies suggested. The beetle is about one-fifth of
an inch in length and is black or brown.

INSECTS UPON BARK OR SURFACE OF LEAVES
OF FRUIT

Leaf Lice. — Leaves of fruit trees, especially the apple and plum,
are sometimes almost covered with lice or aphides of different colors,
from light green to black, some individuals having wings and some
wingless. Available remedies for all these leaf lice are the kerosene
emulsions and other mixtures which will be given later as summer

Wingless partheno-genetic female. Wingless female.

Forms of Aphids or Plant Lice.

470 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

washes for scale insects, with a spray nozzle which sends spray
upwards, so as to reach the under sides of the leaves. Very often
these pests are apparently cleared out by lady-birds and other insects
which devour them. The engraving shows the general form of the
aphis tribe.

Thrips. — Very minute insects infesting buds, leaves and blos-
soms of pears, prunes, cherries, peaches and many other trees and
plants. The attack on leaves and buds causes them to wither and fall
off. Indeed complete defoliation may follow their attack. When
thrips infest fruit blossoms the essential parts are eaten off by the
insects and the attacked blossom sets no fruit. Much damage is done
by the insect and thorough investigation has been pursued by several
investigators of the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, and by the California Experiment Station. Early
results indicate that the insect is capable of control by spring spraying
with several insecticides. A United States Department of Agricul-
ture bulletin and a bulletin by Earl Morris, County Commissioner of
Santa Clara, by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Berkeley,
both deal with this problem. The tobacco emulsion of the U. S.
Department of Agriculture is considered the standard spray. It is
as follows: Water, 12 gallons; whale oil soap, 30 Ibs. ; distillate (32
to 34 degrees Baume), 20 Ibs. For spraying, use one part to twenty
parts of water and then add to each 200 gallons of the spray, one pint
of tobacco extract containing 40 per cent nicotine or about three and
one-half gallons of tobacco extract containing 2% per cent of nicotine.

Spraying can be done with safety to opening buds, but should not
be sprayed on trees in full bloom, and its use can be resumed imme-
diately after the blossoms have fallen, and later on the foliage for
adults and larvae. The first application should properly be made when
the thrips are coming from the ground in maximum numbers and
before the cluster buds are too far advanced. This period in the San
Jose district is early in March, but it of course differs for the several
varieties of fruits. An effort should be made to kill all adults in an
orchard before March 15, when practically all thrips are out of the
ground and when egg-laying on the stems of leaves or bloom begins.

The necessity for spraying will depend upon the number in a
blossom. As the blossoms are barely opening the thrips should be
shaken out of a few blossoms on white paper. If only two or three
are in a blossom, it is probable that spraying may be omitted. If
they are more numerous, it is quite certain that spraying will be
required.

Vine Hoppers. — Very minute, yellowish, jumping insects infest-
ing grape-vines very early in the season, and multiplying rapidly. The
vine hopper (often called incorrectly the vine thrips) is the most
widely distributed and most uniformly present of all the grape insects
occurring in the State. It occurs in injurious numbers, however,
chiefly in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. It is also present
in the coast counties, but rarely in sufficient numbers to do much injury.
Another large species (Tettigonia atropunctata) occurs in these locali-
ties and sometimes does considerable injury in the early part of the

TREATMENT OF VINE HOPPERS 471

season. The principal injury caused by this insect is due to the extrac-
tion of the plant juices. These are sucked out by means of a sharp
beak or proboscis, which is inserted into the plant tissues.

A method of control practiced by some growers is the use of a
hopper cage in the early spring when the young shoots of the vine
are about four or five inches long. The hopper cage consists of a
framework of laths over which is tacked a double layer of mosquito
wire netting or a single 20-mesh wire screen. The bottom consists of
a shallow pan or tray made by turning up about an inch of the edges
of a sheet of light galvanized iron. One entire side of the cage is left
open, and there is a V-shaped opening in the tray at the bottom which
allows the cage to be pushed over the vine. The base of the V-shaped
opening in the bottom is padded with leather and the vine is bumped
and the hoppers jarred off, at the same time that the cage is being
swung into position. The sides of the cage and the tray at the bottom
are smeared with crude oil, and the hoppers as they are jarred off are
caught in the oil.

If there is a breeze blowing the cage can be operated with the
open side facing the wind and practically no hoppers will escape. If,
however, the day is calm and warm and the hoppers are particularly
active a curtain can readily be dropped over the open side as the cage
is pushed on to the vine, and it will prevent any from escaping.

The V-shaped opening which might allow hoppers to drop to the
ground in front of the vine can be covered with canvas, as follows :
Take two pieces of canvas about the shape of the opening and a little
wider. Double this once on itself and between the two layers sew in
pieces of three-fourths inch rubber tubing transversely. These are
then firmly tacked on the sides of the opening as shown in the engrav-
ing. This will allow the cage to be pushed in on the vine and the
flexibility of the tubing will bring the canvas immediately into position
again. This with the curtain in front, shuts off all possibility of escape.

If catching the over-wintering hoppers is not practicable, the next
opportunity for effective work lies in killing the young insects, as
they appear from eggs placed in the leaf-tissue by these over-wintering
adults, before they get their wings. These young hoppers may be
killed by means of a spray applied to the under side of the leaves, and
this will be during May or the first part of June, depending upon the
season and locality. The exact time may be determined by watching
their development. When some of them have reached almost full
size it is time to start the spraying. The spray to use is the Standard
spray for thrips given on the preceding page. The spray should be
thoroughly applied from below so as to strike the under side of the
leaves, for the spray will kill only such hoppers as are hit.

False Chinch-Bugs. — Small, grayish-brown insects (about one-
eighth of an inch long when fully grown), which injure the vine
leaves. They drop to the ground when the vine is disturbed, and may
be caught as just described for vine hoppers.

Grasshoppers. — These pests often invade orchard and vineyard,
and sometimes kill the plants outright by completely defoliating them.
This plague has been successfully met by the use of the arsenic and

472

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

bran remedy, prepared as already described for cut-worms. A table-
spoonful is thrown by the side of each vine or tree. If placed on
shingles about the vineyard, much of the poison not eaten may be
afterward gathered up and saved.*

Red Spider and Other Mites. — Very minute insects, usually dis-
cernible only with the aid of a magnifier, sometimes destroy the leaves,
causing them to lose their color and health by their inroads upon the
leaf surface. The red spider and yellow mite are conspicuous exam-
ples ; they infest nearly all orchard trees, especially the almond, prune,
and plum. The eggs of the red spider are ruby-red globules, as
seen with the magnifier, and are deposited in vast numbers upon the
bark of the tree, and leave a red color upon the finger if it is rubbed

Hawk Moth larva. (Philampeles achemon Drury.)

over them. The eggs are very hard to kill, and treatment is most
effective when applied in the spring and summer after the mites are
hatched out. The popular remedy is a thorough dusting of the trees
with sulphur. On a large scale the sulphur is applied in a cloud by
means of a modification of the broad-cast barley sower or with the
sulphur machines specially made for this purpose. On a small scale
it may be applied with a bellows as for grape-vines, or shaken from a
cheese-cloth bag at the end of a pole. Sulphur sprays have been found
most effective in controlling the red spider. The ingredients of the
sulphur sprays are prepared as follows:

*For the protection of nurseries, orchards, and vineyards it is often necessary to resort
to various devices for excluding the grasshopper, or for destroying them upon adjoining
fields. Publications describing such devices are Bulletins 142, 170 and 192, University
Experiment Station, Berkeley.

&

FIGHTING THE RED SPIDER 473

Sulfid of Potash Stock Solution. — Granulated, powdered concen-
trated lye, 15 pounds; sulphur, 18 pounds; water to make 20 gallons.
Stir the sulphur and lye together in a vessel which will allow plenty
of room for boiling. When well mixed, add about one pint of water,
placing it in a slight hollow in the mixture, and stir in slowly. The
mixture will soon begin to melt and boil, forming a red fluid; stir
until the boiling ceases, and then add water to make 20 gallons. This
stock solution will keep for awhile, or indefinitely when protected from
the air.

Preparation of the Spray Mixture with Sulfid of Potash. — Place
10 to 15 pounds of sublimed sulphur, or 14 to 20 pounds of ground
sulphur in a spray tank with 4 gallons of flour paste and 1 to 2 gallons
of the sulfid of potash stock solution; add water to make 100 gallons.
For summer or spring spraying after the danger of rains is over,
the minimum amount of sulphur is sufficient.

Flour-paste Spray for Red Spider. — Mr. W. B. Parker of the
Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture has
demonstrated the efficacy of a paste spray to be used during the
summer while the insects are active:

Take 8 pounds of cheap flour and stir into a thin batter by adding a little
cold water at a time until 8 gallons of water is used. Mash out all lumps.

Cook until paste is formed, stirring constantly to prevent caking or burning.
Cooking slowly until the paste just begins to boil will usually be about right. If
the paste is not sufficiently cooked, the resulting spray will not be effective, and
if overcooked the paste will harden when thoroughly cool, and will not mix
with water very readily.

Add cold water to the properly cooked paste, to make 100 gallons in the
spray tank. Keep constantly stirred while spraying. Apply thoroughly to both
the upper and under surfaces of the leaves. Use a nozzle making a coarse spray
under 150 Ibs. pressure, as the driving force is necessary to penetrate the webs
and reach the spider. A fine mist spray would not be effective. This is a
contact insecticide and the liquid must actually touch the spider. Watch care-
fully, and if newly hatched spiders are appearing, repeat the spraying in about
seven days. Commercial paste, ready for diluting, can be purchased if desired.

Phylloxera. — This pest of the grape-vine is closely allied to the
aphides, and lives both upon the root and leaf, though in this State
the root type prevails and the leaf form is seldom seen. No remedy
has yet been found effectual, but escape is had by using roots resisting
the insects, as described in Chapter XXVI. The insects are recognized,
by the aid of a magnifier, as minute yellow lice, chiefly on the rootlets.
Full account of the insect is given in Bulletin 192, University of
California Experiment Station.

The Woolly Aphis. — A louse of dark red color, occurring in
groups, covered with a woolly substance which exudes from the
bodies of the insects. The woolly aphis is an almost universal pest of
the apple, though as shown by experience, some varieties are prac-
tically exempt from it. As the pest lives both upon root and top, its
annihilation is impossible, but it may be reduced so that the fruitful-
ness and vigor of the tree are not impaired. The use of wood ashes
around the tree close to the trunk has been beneficial. Removing the
earth above the main roots, in a circle two to four feet in diameter
and soaking the ground with kerosene emulsion, using from three to

474

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Root injury by Phylloxera and forms of insect

A healthy root; b, root on which the lice are working, representing the knots and swell-
ings caused by their punctures; c, root deserted by lice and beginning to decay; d, d, d, show
how the lice appear on the larger roots; e, the nymph; g, winged female. After Riley.

five gallons to the tree, has been found very effective in killing the root
form. The insect on the branches and twigs can be reduced by spray-
ing with the summer washes soon to be given for scale insects. Lady-
birds often clear away the woolly aphis, after reproduction has fallen
below the normal, from the tree above ground. Some attention is
being given to trial of resistant roots and it is likely that such roots
will be generally used here as in Australia. How such trees are grown
is described on page 197.

Scale Insects. — This is a large group of pests which occasion
greater loss and trouble to our fruit growers than all other pests
combined. There are many species, and no orchard tree is exempt
from the attacks of one or more of them, though some trees are appar-
ently more popular with the pests than others. The fruit grower should
study their life history and classification as laid down in the works
on entomology. It will only be possible in this connection to introduce
a few engravings, by which some of the most prominent pests can be
recognized, and to give some of the remedies which are now being
most successfully employed against them.

VARIOUS SCALE INSECTS 475

San Jose Scale (Aspidiotus perniciosus). — This was formerly one
of the worst and most widespread of the species of scales preying
on deciduous fruit trees in California, but at present, owing to the
energetic war that fruit growers have had to wage against it, has
become of minor importance, and, in fact, has practically disappeared
from some regions where it was formerly most injurious. The work
of this species is generally readily distinguished from other species
of scale by the red blotches which are formed wherever it stings any
part of the tree — either branch, leaf or fruit. These red blotches are
more pronounced in some varieties than in others. When the scales
are present in large numbers, it causes a complete discoloration of the
bark clear to the sap-wood. This scale has its preference among the
deciduous fruits. The apricot and certain varieties of cherries and
plums are but little affected.

The Greedy Scale (Aspidiotus rapax). — This species affects many
kinds of trees, deciduous as well as evergreens. Scale, about one-
sixteenth of an inch in length ; form, ovoid ; color, drab ; female, bright
yellow. This insect is found in many places along the coast. It is
distinguishable easily from the Aspidiotus periciosus by its whitish
yellow color, contrasting with the dark color of the latter. Generally
this scale has only one brood in the season, and, as compared with the
San Jose scale, it is of little danger, owing to its slow-breeding pro-
pensities.

Oyster Shell Scale of Apple (Lepidosaphes ulmi). — This scale
affects the apple chiefly, although sometimes the pear also. Owing to
the thickness of the armor, it is one of the most difficult of the scales
to exterminate. It is easily recognized by its long curved form.

Rose and Berry Scale (Aulacaspis rosae). — This scale has such
striking forms that it can be readily recognized. The round white
scale is that of the female, the elongated one with ridges is the male.
The rose scale infests, besides roses, various fruit bushes, especially
blackberries and raspberries. Remedy: For raspberries and black-
berries the cutting down of the canes to the ground should be adopted,
and the stumps sprayed or washed with kerosene emulsion, recom-
mended under the head of general remedies for scale insects.

Oleander Scale (Aspidiotus hcderac). — This scale is small, .flat,
yellowish-white. It affects a great many trees, especially evergreens.
Lemon trees become badly affected, and the fruit is sometimes com-
pletely covered. The olive is also subject, and the fruit of the olive
when infested does not mature well, and wherever a scale is found, a
green blotch makes its appearance.

Red Scale of Orange and Lemon. — (Ckrysomphales aurantii). —
This scale affects citrus trees in both the coast and interior regions.
The scale fully grown is one-twelfth of an inch or a little more in
diameter, center yellow, margin light brown. The appearance of
trees infested with this pestjs very striking, very much resembling
those diseased from other causes, such as bad drainage, the leaf pre-
senting a mottled appearance, a light blotch around the scale contrast-

476 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

ing with the natural green of the leaf. The branches are but little
troubled, but the fruit, like the leaf, becomes completely covered with
the insects. An orange tree infested with this scale gradually becomes
sickly and languishes.

Other Citrus Tree Scales. — Two scales more recently brought
into this State from Florida are the "purple scale," Lepidosaphes
beskii, and the "long scale," Lepidosaphes gloverii. The red and pur-
ple scales of citrus trees are only treated successfully by fumigation
with hydrocyanic acid gas. This treatment is an elaborate one, requir-
ing special appliances which are fully illustrated and described in
publications by the Agricultural Experiment Station at Berkeley:

The Black Scale (Saissetia oleae}. — This scale is almost a uni-
versal pest, especially in regions adjacent to the coast, though it has
recently demonstrated its ability to endure interior valley conditions.
It affects citrus fruit trees and some deciduous trees as well, and a
fungus growing on its exudation causes the black smut, which renders
tree and fruit unsightly ; but this smut accompanies other scale insects
as well as this one. It is especially troublesome on the olive, and will
quickly spread to ornamental plants and vines in the garden. It is a
very difficult scale to subdue. On citrus trees the fumigation method
is the only practical recourse. On deciduous fruits it requires both
winter and summer spraying to hold it in check. It spite of the fact
that immense numbers are killed by parasites, and perhaps by fungi as
well, it is still a grievous pest, and should be fought unceasingly.

Soft Orange Scale (Coccus Hesperidum). — This scale is a pest
of citrus trees the world over. The scale is ovoid, a little wider at
one end than the other ; length, from one-twelfth to one-seventh of an
inch ; color, dark brown on convex part, and a lighter brown surround-
ing margin ; it has two indentations on each side, and one on posterior
end. This scale prefers to collect on the under sides of the leaves
along the midrib, the upper sides being covered with smut. It for-
tunately is usually held in check by natural agencies.

Brown Apricot Scale. — The apricot tree, though defying the
most ruinous scales of some other trees, is beset by certain scales.
The black scale is one and the brown apricot scale another. The
brown apricot scale (Eulecanium Armeniacum) is boat-shaped; when
reaching maturity, wrinkled ; the color is a shiny brown, darker in
the center, lighter at the edges. A full-sized scale has a length of a
quarter of an inch, and a width of one-eighth of an inch. This scale
attacks nearly all kinds of deciduous fruits, but especially the prune
and apricot. It is a very hardy scale, and the remarks about the black
scale apply to it also.

Other Lecaniums. — There are several other scales on fruit trees ;
The filbert scale (hemisphericum) , which is common in greenhouses
and occurs to limited extent on citrus trees ; the frosted scale
(pruinosum), very large oval and convex, covered with dense, whitish
bloom, occurs on deciduous fruit trees.

VARIOUS BORERS IN FRUIT TREES 477

Cottony Cushion Scale or Fluted Scale (Icerya purchasi). — This
promised at one time to be the most grievous of all scales in its rapid
increase and wide range of food plants, but it was speedily reduced by
an Australian ladybird, Novius (Vedalia) cardinalis, introduced by
Albert Koebele, with such success that specimens were for a number
of years rarely seen, but have recently become abundant in some
localities.

Mealy Bugs. — Closely allied to the scales are the mealy bugs
(species of dactylopius), soft and of a pale pink color, generally cov-
ered with a whitish mealy powder, hence the name. The common
species is found in nearly every greenhouse in the world, and in Cali-
fornia climate lives in the open air on many kinds of plants, and has at
various times proved quite troublesome. Unless checked by natural
enemies, the mealy bugs multiply very rapidly, and mass themselves
in the corners of the leaves. The plants turn black from the fungus
growth growing on the honeydew, and the bush presents the same
appearance as a scale-infested plant. With the aid of a magnifier the
appearance of the mealy bugs, as different from scales can be readily
recognized.

Remedies for Scale Insects. — Though most of the scale insects
are attacked by parasitic and predaceous insects, as already stated,
these natural agencies have generally not proved rapid enough to cope
with the increase of the scales, and insecticides have to be employed
to save the fruit and trees. There is a vast number of these washes,
many of which will do good work if thoroughly applied, which is
usually the secret of success. A few which have proved of special
value will be given at the close of this chapter.

INSECTS BORING IN TWIG, STEM, OR ROOT

Peach Twig-Borer or Peach Worm. — This larva is probably
the most serious insect pest that the California peach grower has had to
contend with. The creature hibernates as a young larva in burrows
in the crotches of the tree.

As soon as the tree begins to grow in the spring the larva becomes
active, eats its way out of its winter home and bores into the new
growing twigs causing them to wither and die. Later generations of
the worm attack the fruit and from the two forms of attack much loss
may accrue to the orchardist.

Destruction of the larvae in their winter burrows overcomes all
damage from these pests. This can be accomplished by spraying with
the lime-sulphur compound in the late winter or very early spring
when the buds are expanding.

The Common Borer. — An insect which has done vast injury in
this State is the "flat-headed apple borer" (chrysobothris femorata).
It affects chiefly apples, peaches and plums, etc., which have been
injured by sunburn. It is a pale-colored grub with a brown head,
the forepart of the body being greatly flattened. The matured beetle

478

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

is greenish black or bronze colored, copper colored on the under side.
If any tree receives any damage to the bark, either by sunburn or other
causes, the borer is sure to find it, and it works itself into the tree, its
castings being the only guide to its presence. The best remedy is pre-
vention by protection from sunburn, as described in Chapter XI.
Whenever a borer is removed, the debris and dead wood should be
entirely cleaned out and the smooth surface left, taking care to pre-
serve the bark as much as possible. Then the wound should be smeared
over with grafting wax, and a rag tied about it. In this manner young
trees have been saved, but if seriously attacked, it is better to put in
a sound tree and protect it.

Sun-Scald Borer. — Another borer which delights in sunburned
trees is a minute beetle, making a burrow hardly larger than a pinhole.
It is known as the sun-scald beetle (Xyloborus xylographus). The
remedy, as in the former case, is to prevent injury to the bark, for this
precedes the attack of the beetle.

Peach twig showing winter burrow, natural size.

The Olive Twig-Borer.— A reddish brown beetle boring into
twigs of olive and other orchard trees, and grape canes, at the axils
of the leaves. It is Polycaon confertus, and it breeds in decaying logs
and stumps and old grape-vines, apparently visiting the fruit trees
merely to gratify its appetite. Its work is not fatal to the tree, but
unless proper pruning and attention be afterwards given, it may spoil
the shape of the young tree. Remove the affected branches below the
burrows of the beetle, or if it would be difficult to replace a branch,
see that the beetle is destroyed and the entrance to the hole stopped up
— this to prevent decay and a weak branch following. Spraying with
ill-smelling solutions may prevent their attack, but the insect has not
been sufficiently abundant to invite serious effort thus far.

Peach Crown-Borer. — A grub boring into peach trees just below
the ground surface, its presence being shown by copious gumming.
The insect, which has become quite troublesome in Santa Clara County,
resembles the Eastern crown-borer of the peach, but is a distinct species
(Sanninoidea opalescens). The best methods of suppressing this insect

PEACH TWIG AND ROOT BORERS

479

are three. A preventive treatment consists in coating the base of the
tree a few inches below the surface and a foot above with a whitewash,
with a pint of coal tar to each five pounds of quicklime, put in while
the lime is slacking1. More recently the application of asphaltum has
been demonstrated by Earl Morris, horticultural commissioner of Santa
Clara County, to be very efficient. Hard asphaltum (grades "C" and

Peach Worm Burrow laid open, the worm beginning spring work —
greatly enlarged.

"D") was applied early in the spring to badly infested trees from which
the borers had not been dug. A thick, heavy coating prevents both the
issuance and the entrance of about 95 to 98 per cent of the insects, the
degree of efficiency depending upon the thoroughness of the applica-
tion. Asphaltum does not penetrate, crack, or deteriorate, or bind the
tree, since it yields to the slightest pressure.

A nearly full-grown larva of the Peach-tree Borer, Magnified four diameters.

The material is applied warm with a brush from five inches below
to five inches above the ground. It is easier to apply two or more coat-
ings than to try to put on more at one time than will adhere firmly.
The first coating will harden very quickly, and the second can be ap-
plied without loss of time. Two coatings are generally sufficient unless
the bark is! very rough. But in any case, a thick uniform covering is
absolutely necessary for the best results.

480 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The method in most general use is known as the "worming process." This
consists essentially in carefully cutting out and killing the individual borers.
Special tools have been devised for this work. A full description of these
processes can be found in Bulletin 143, University of California, College of
Agriculture.

Strawberry Root-Borer. — The larva of another clear-winged
moth (Aegeria impropria), boring into the root of the strawberry
plants, found in various portions of the State, and doing considerable
damage, forcing the growers to resort to replanting much earlier than
otherwise would be necessary. Flooding the vines has a great tendency
to kill out the worms, and; if the water was retained, say four or five
days during the winter, all over the plants, doubtless all the larvae
would be killed.

Currant and Gooseberry Borer. — A white worm eating out the
central pith of currant and gooseberry plants — the larva of another
clear-winged moth (Aegeria tipuliformis). Spraying with whale-oil
soap after the crop is gathered, pruning out and burning in the fall of
all old wood which can be spared, will reduce the evil.

The Raspberry Cane Borer. — This intruder is one of the family
Tenthredinideae, or saw flies. The very small maggot or larva will be
found by peeling the bark carefully. This larva can not crawl, there-
fore if the tips be cut and the worm is taken out he will die. A better
way is to cut all tips, -as fast as they show signs of wilting, and burn
them. Thorough work in topping is alsolutely necessary, so as to be
sure that none of the worms remain to produce flies. Topping causes
the canes to throw out laterals, thus producing more fruit. The canes
are not affected after July.

Another cane-borer, occurring in the foothills, has been identified
by E. O. Essig, as the larva of a horn-tail. It is fully described in
Bulletin 12 of the California State Board of Horticulture. Its treat-
ment is like that just described.

INSECTS DEVOURING THE PULP OF FRUITS

The Apple Worm. — The codlin moth (Carpocapsa pomonella) is
one of the great pests of the State. It preys chiefly upon the apple
and pear, but the quince and other large fruits are sometimes invaded
by it. The first moths appear at some time after the blossoming of
the apple, and deposit their eggs on the young fruit, or on adjacent
leaves. The young worm hatches in from seven to ten days, generally
seeks the eye or calyx, and eats its way into the fruit, and in twenty
days its full growth is attained, and it goes out through the side of the
apple, and, by means of its spinnaret, reaches the ground or some large
branch. If landed on the ground, it usually seeks the trunk, which it
ascends and soon finds a hiding-place under the loose bark, where it
spins its cocoon, and in eight or ten days comes forth a moth, ready to
lay eggs anew. The egg is laid all over the fruit and especially at a
point where two fruits touch. Usually we have in this State two
broods, at least, but sometimes three, and, naturally, if unchecked, the

C/JT3

FIGHTING THE APPLE WORM 481

increase from the first to the last is enormous. The worms escaping
from the fruit in the fall hibernate as larvae under the loose bark of
the tree, or in store-houses, or in any available dry place.

On the basis of long experience in the Watsonville district Mr.
W. H. Volck, county entomologist, gives the following outline of opera-
tions against the apple worm :

There are two broods in a season. The first develops from worms that have
wintered over in protected places both above and in the ground. The moths
of the first generation begin emerging in April, but very few eggs are laid before
the middle of May. In this locality, egg-laying is then continuous until the last
of June.

The full-grown worms of the first generation after emerging from the apples
seek some hiding place where they may rest for a few days, transforming into
pupa and then into full-grown moths.

The moths of the second generation begin laying eggs early in August and
may continue to do so as late as October or November. It is the worms of the
second generation that do the greatest amount of damage.

The codlin moth lays its eggs on the surface of the leaves and fruit. The
eggs are about the size of a small pin-head, circular and flat. The color varies
from white to pink and red. These eggs are easily seen when the observer
knows what to look for.

The young worms hatch from the eggs about ten days after laying, and
then begin crawling about in search of fruit to burrow into. This short period
between the hatching of the egg and the entrance into the apple is the only
time that spraying operations can prove effective. It is clearly impossible to
accomplish anything by the use of sprays that will only kill by contact, for such
sprays would have to be applied nearly every day. The spraying operation must
then leave a deposit of some substance on the fruit that will kill the worms
when they attempt to burrow through the rind. The only substance now
known that answers these requirements are the compounds of arsenic.

Arsenic is, however, poisonous to plants and must be applied with caution.
The arsenic compound used must be entirely insoluble in water, and not subject
to weathering, in order that it shall be perfectly safe. The wet fogs of the
Pajaro valley summers give arsenical spray compounds a very severe test, and
it has been found that only the best quality of arsenate of lead is able to stand it.
Arsenate of lead may do very severe burning, however, if it is not of the
proper quality.

It is a well-known fact that a large percentage of the worms of the first
generation enter at the blossom ends of the apples. This part is protected or
more or less closed over by the leaves of the calyx.

The calyx cups close very shortly after the petals fall, and so it is advised
by the best authorities to spray as soon after the falling of the blossoms as
possible in order to leave a deposit of poison there. In the Pajaro valley and
adjoining sections, weather conditions often prevent spraying at this time, but
where possible to apply, the calyx cup spraying is advised.

Good results have been obtained by spraying in the early part of May,
which is considerably after the calyx cups have closed. Spraying at this time
gives much the same effect as the calyx cup application, especially where it is
applied with proper thoroughness. This early spraying is applied before any
worms have appeared and is intended merely to have the poison in readiness
for the insects when they do come.

The first codlin moth spraying should contain Bordeaux Mixture as a pre-
caution against the scab:

Bordeaux Mixture — Copper sulphate 3 pounds, lime 4 pounds, water 50
gallons.

Arsenate of Lead — Use 2l/2 to 3 pounds of arsenate of lead to each 50 gallons
of Bordeaux.

The Bordeaux Mixture should be prepared first, and enough space left in
the tank to allow for the addition of the arsenate of lead and the water required
to mix it.

482 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The second spraying should be applied from the last of May to the first
ten days in June, and is intended to augment the effect of the first spraying by
further covering the rapidly expanding fruit.

For this spraying use 2 pounds of arsenate of lead to 50 gallons of water.
No Bordeaux should be used with this spraying, for the previous sprayings con-
taining Bordeaux will have controlled the scab, and the further use of the
fungicide is likely to russet the apples.

Very few eggs are laid during July, so if the second spraying has been
applied about the first of June it should suffice to control the first generation
attack. The second generation worms begin to appear about the first of August,
so a spraying is due at this time.

For the third spraying, use 2 pounds of arsenate of lead to 50 gallons of
water.

If the apples are to remain on the trees through September they should receive
another spraying about the first of this month.

For the fourth spraying, if the other three have been applied according to
directions, use ll/2 pounds of arsenate of lead to 50 gallons of water.

The schedule of sprayings above laid out should control the codlin moth
under average conditions, and even where the insect is extremely abundant
should yield 95 per cent clean fruit.

The codlin moth is much affected by weather conditions, and if there is a
large amount of cold fog during the summer the damage will be much reduced.

The Peach Worm, — As already stated, the larva of the peach
moth, which early in the spring bores into the twigs, is sometimes found
later in the season in the flesh of the peach. Hence the importance of
saving the fruit by proper treatment of the hibernating worms which
emerge as the blossom buds are opening.

The Diabrotica.— A light green beetle with twelve spots on his
back (Diabrotica soror), is sometimes very injurious to early fruit, by
eating into it when ripe. The insect also eats leaves and blossoms. As
the insect attacks the fruit just as. it is ready to pick, it is impossible
to apply any disagreeable or poisonous spray. Sometimes the insects
are driven away by dense smoke from fires in and around the orchard.

The Dried Fruit Worm. — Dried fruit is often seriously injured
after packing, by a small worm, larva of a moth not yet determined.
The eggs are deposited on the fruit either while drying or while in the
packing-house, or through the cloth of the sacks, or seams of the
package. The eggs may be killed on the fruit before packing, by
dipping in boiling water, or by heating in an oven and after that pre-
venting the access of the moth. Infested fruit can also be treated by
bisulphide vapor, the method being the same as described for nursery
stock below.

ANTS AND YELLOW JACKETS

These insects are often of serious trouble during fruit drying. Ants
are most effectually disposed of by slightly opening their holes in the
ground by thrusting down a crowbar and pouring in a couple of ounces
of carbon bisulphide and closing again with earth. Yellow jackets
also nest in the ground in old squirrel or gopher holes, and they too
can be suffocated with carbon bisulphide or by pouring in gasoline or
kerosene and firing it. Hornets which nest in trees are troublesome, but
are much less numerous than the cave-dwelling species.

DISINFECTING NURSERY TREES 483

To destroy yellow jackets by trapping and poison is also feasible.
W. F. Moyer, of Napa, proceeds in this way :

Make a thin fruit syrup by mashing the boiling ripe fruit, strain it and add
a little sugar. Place the soup dishes on the drying ground where the "jackets"
are thickest. When the top of the syrup is covered with drowned and drowning
"jackets," scoop them out with the hand and crush them with the foot. They
won't sting unless you pinch ihem. As the syrup evaporates fill up the dishes
with water. If a day or two should elapse when no fruit is cut, be sure the
traps are well cared for, as they will swarm around them thicker than ever,
especially if the weather is hot. For dishes to place the syrup in, cut kerosene
cans so as to make two cans, each about six and one-half inches deep.

Poisoning to carry destruction to the young brood is also practicable.
Dr. J. H. Miller, of San Leandro, saved his fruit in this way :

I bought half a dozen beef livers, five pounds of arsenious acid and several
pounds of baling wire. Cutting the liver into pieces as large as a man's fist, I
put them into a hot solution of arsenious acid, and, bending the wire into a hook
at each end, I suspended the pieces from the lower limbs of trees all around
my drying-ground. The fruit was soon deserted, and the little insects busily
working at the fragrant liver. The insects carried pieces of the liver up to their
nests, and besides causing the death of those that had been destroying my fruit,
the next generation of yellow jackets was also destroyed, and so complete was
the destruction that there were not enough of the little pests in that neighborhood
the following year to require a repetition of the treatment. There is no risk
in so using the poison, for the yellow jackets will not return to the fruit, and
bees will not go near the meat.

DISINFECTING NURSERY STOCK

Cuttings, scions, young trees and vines, etc., can be freed from
insects by inclosing! in a tight box or cask and placing a saucerful of
carbon bisulphide on the top of them, covering it with canvas or any
tight-fitting cover. The bisulphide vapor will destroy all insect life in
forty minutes.

Disinfecting such materials on a larger scale may be done in this
way:

Use square canvas sheets, sixteen to twenty feet in diameter, made of the
best ducking, double stitched and then painted with boiled linseed oil to make
it gas proof. The canvas must be perfectly dry before it is rolled up, or it is
liable to be destroyed by spontaneous combustion. To fumigate evergreen
stock use one ounce of cyanide of potassium (in lumps, not pulverized), one fluid
ounce of commercial sulphuric acid, and two fluid ounces of water to one
hundred cubic feet of enclosed space. For deciduous and hardy trees, when
dormant, use one-fourth more of each of the above. When the canvas has
been placed over the stock to be fumigated, prepare the charge. Take a three or
four-gallon glazed earthenware jar, into which pour the necessary quantity of
water, then the sulphuric acid, and place it well under the canvas, the edges of
which are secured with soil or in some way so as to prevent the gas escaping,
with the exception of the edge immediately in front of the jar. The proper
amount of cyanide of potassium is then dropped into the jar from a long scoop,
and the tent is immediately closed, and remains so for one hour.

INSECTICIDES

It is hoped that this chapter will convey useful hints in the warfare
against insects. Whenever questions arise which are not met thereby,
appeal should be made to the University Experiment Station at Berke-

484 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

ley. A condensed statement of useful insecticides is issued by the
Station, prepared by Professor H. J. Quayle, as follows :

1. LIME SULPHUR:

Quicklime, 33 pounds ; sulphur, 66 pounds ; water, 200 gallons.
Sift sulphur through box with screen bottom into boiling tank with
50 gallons of water. Add the lime and boil 45 minutes to one hour.
Stir frequently. Strain through cheese cloth or burlap and dilute to
make 200 gallons. If extra lime is desired strain in milk of lime when
spray is ready for use.

2. COMMERCIAL LIME SULPHUR:

If of 32° Baume dilute 1 to 9. If 36° dilute 1 to 11.
Either of the above for San Jose and other armored scales to be
applied during dormant season, preferably in early winter or early
spring. For Peach Moth, as the buds are expanding in the spring.

3. DISTILLATE 28° to 34° Baume :
Distillate, 10 to 20 gallons ; water, 200 gallons.

For use only with power sprayer with good agitator, which is neces-
sary to make a mechanical mixture of the oil and water.

For the Brown Apricot, Black, and other unarmored scales, and for
Woolly Aphis, to be applied during dormant season, preferably in early
winter.

4. DISTILLATE POTASH :

Distillate, 10 gallons ; lye or caustic soda, 5 pounds ; water, 200 gallons.
Preparation and uses same as under 3. Has the advantage of free-
ing tree from moss.

5. DlSTILLLATE EMULSION :

Stock emulsion: Hot water, 12 gallons; fish oil (see 10) or whale-oil

soap, 30 pounds ; distillate 30° to 34°, 20 gallons.

Add soap to hot water in spray tank with agitator going. After
soap is dissolved add oil slowly, keeping1 mixture agitated. Pump out
through nozzle at 175 pounds pressure in storage tank.

For use take: Stock emulsion, 11 gallons; blackleaf 40, 1 pint; water,

200 gallons.

Place oil emulsion in spray tank, start agitator and add the water.
When diluted add the Blackleaf.

For thrips, Black Peach Aphis, and other plant lice.

6. KEROSENE EMULSION:

Dissolve y-z pound soap in 1 gallon hot water; add 1 gallon kerosene.
Mix thoroughly with spray pump by turning nozzle back into mix-
ture.

a. For plant lice and other sucking insects during growing season,
dilute with 15 to 25 gallons water.

b. For scale insects, Woolly Aphis and other sucking insects during
dormant season, dilute with 5 to 10 gallons water.

For use on small scale with hand sprayer.

WELL TESTED INSECTICIDES 485

6a. KEROSENE EMULSION. Kitchen formula :

Dissolve 1 inch cube soap in 1 pint hot water ; add 1 pint kerosene. Churn

with egg beater.

For growing plants, dilute! to 2 or 3 gallons water. For dormant
plants, 1 gallon.

7. MISCBIBLE OILS:

Commercial preparations of oil so treated as to mix directly with
water. Follow directions on container. Uses same as 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9,
and 10.

8. STRAIGHT KEROSENE OR WATER WHITE OIL :

Water white oil (42° Baume) or kerosene, 20 gallons; water, 200 gallons.
In use for scale insects of citrus trees. Application by power outfit.

9. SOAP SOLUTION :

Soap, 1 pound; water, 5 to 15 gallons.

Whale-oil or fish-oil soap preferable, but for small amounts any
yellow laundry soap will answer.

For plant lice and other sucking insects during summer.

9a. SOAP SOLUTION. Kitchen formula :
1*4 inch cube soap; 1 gallon warm water.

10. HOMEMADE SOAP:

Water, 6 gallons; lye (98%), 2 pounds; fish oil, \l/2 gallons.

Add lye to water in boiler. When dissolved and water boiling, pour
in the fish oil, stirring in mean time, and boil slowly for two hours.
This will give about 40 pounds soap.

For use, dilute with 5 to 15 gallons water for each pound.

For same pests as No. 9.

11. TOBACCO OR NICOTINE :

a. Blackleaf 40 (40% nicotine), 1 pint; water, 200 gallons.

b. Tobacco stems, 1 pound; water, 4 gallons.

Steep stems in 1 gallon warm water and dilute to 4 gallons.

For plant lice and other sucking insects during growing season.
For Woolly Aphis and Peach Aphis underground. A liberal solution,
or the dry dust in early winter, about the base of the tree, the surface
soil first being removed.

12. TOBACCO SOAP :

Blackleaf 40, 1 pound (1-10 gal.) ; cresol soap, 1 gallon — or
Whale-oil soap, 10 pounds ; water, 200 gallons.

The cresol soap requires no heating.

Uses same as 11. Penetrating and wetting power better.

13. LIME SULPHUR TOBACCO:

Commercial lime sulphur 36°, 2.1 gallons; blackleaf 40, 14 fluid ounces;
water, 200 gallons.

For Orange Thrips.

14. CARBOLIC LIME:

Quicklime, 150 pounds ; crude carbolic acid, 2 gallons ; water, 200 gallons.
For Pear Thrips.

486 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

15. SULPHUR:

a. Dry. Thoroughly dust over foliage, preferably when moist with dew.
Hydrated lime about equal parts with sulphur will increase adhesiveness.

b. Spray. Sulphur, 30 pounds; lime; (as milk of lime), 15 pounds; water,
200 gallons.

c. Spray. Commercial lime sulphur, 4 to 5 gallons ; water, 200 gallons.

For Red Spiders and Silver Mite.

16. LEAD ARSENATE:

Lead arsenate, 6 to 12 pounds; water, 200 gallons.
First mix arsenate with 2 or 3 gallons of water.

For Codlin Moth and most defoliating insects.

16a. LEAD ARSENATE. Kitchen formula :

Lead arsenate, 1 tablespoonful (1 oz.) ; water, 1 gallon.

17. PARIS GREEN:

Paris green, 1 1-3 to 2 pounds ; water, 200 gallons.
For Codlin Moth and most defoliating insects.

Not to be used along coast or moist situations where injury is likely
to result to foliage.

170. PARIS GREEN. Kitchen formula :

Paris green, 1 teaspoonful (>4 oz.) ; lime, 3 teaspoonfuls ; water, 2 gallons.

18. ZINC ARSENITE:

Zinc arsenite, 2 to 6 pounds ; water, 200 gallons.

A powerful poison for resistant insects, as the Tussock Moth, or
for early spraying for Canker Worm and Codling Moth in the dry
interior climates.

I9a. POISONED BAIT. Kitchen formula:

Bran, 10 pounds; Paris green, 1 pound — or

White arsenic, J/2 pound; molasses, J4 gallon; water, 2 gallons.

Mix paris green with the bran dry. Acjd the molasses to the water
and mix into the bran, making a moist paste.

For Cut Worms and Grasshoppers, distribute a small handful about
the base of the vine or tree, or scatter about plants in the garden. May
be distributed broadcast for Grasshoppers and Army Worms.

20. CARBON BISULPHIDE:

For treatment of stored products and underground insects.
Usual dosage, 1 pint to 1,000 cubic feet space.
Place liquid in saucers or shallow vessels above material to be
treated. Inflammable ; avoid lights.

For underground insects, a tablespoonful in holes 3 or 4 feet apart.

21. RESIN DIPPING SOLUTION :

Resin, 20 pounds; caustic soda or lye, 8 pounds; fish oil, 3 pints; water,
100 gallons.

Boil resin and caustic soda in 50 gallons of water for 1 hour. Dilute
to 100 gallons.

In use for dipping citrus nursery stock for scale insects and Red
Spiders.

Kerosene emulsion and lime sulphur solution also used for dipping
deciduous nurserv stock.

WELL TESTED INSECTICIDES 487

22. HYDROCYANIC ACID GAS :

Potassium cyanide 1 ounce

Sulphuric acid 1 fluidounce

Water 3 fluidounces

or

Sodium cyanide 1 ounce

Sulphuric acid 1H fluidounces

Water 2 fluidounces

Place water and acid in earthenware vessel and add cyanide. To be
used under tents or tight rooms or boxes.

For fumigating buildings or nursery stock, 1 ounce of cyanide to
each 100 cubic feet for 1 hour.

For scale insects on citrus trees, maximum or Purple Scale dosage
found by mutiplying distance around by distance over top of tented
tree and pointing off two places. Example :

Distance around Distance over

40 feet X 20 feet = 8 ounces cyanide

For Red or Black Scale, reduce one quarter.

For details of fumigation processes for scale insects on citrus trees,
apply for publications to the University Experiment Station and td
Horticultural Commissioners in citrus fruit growing counties.

CHAPTER XL
DISEASES OF TREES AND VINES

A few suggestions concerning pathological conditions which arise
in trees and vines and prescription of treatment and remedies may be
helpful: First, diseases demonstrated to be caused by fungi and bac-
teria ; second, abnormal conditions, of which the causes are not yet clear.

Powdery Mildews. — Fungi which bring upon the leaf surface the
appearance of a whitish powder and afterwards cause the leaf to curl
and dry without producing marked swelling, perforation or discolora-
tion, can be checked by the use of sulphur. The chief of these is the
mildew of the grape, the mildew of the apple, appearing chiefly on
the young growth, etc. The way to use sulphur for vine mildew is to
freely apply finely ground or sublimed sulphur on the young foliage at
the first sign of the trouble, or before it appears in regions where it
may always be expected, either by hand or with suitable machinery
which is fully discussed in Bulletin 186 of the California Experiment
Station. Apple mildew is treated by spraying with iron sulphide added
to the poison used for the codlin moth, as described in the preceding
chapter.

Leaf-Spotting, Puncturing or Deforming Fungi. — These classes
are usually distinguishable by the results they produce. The mildew
of the peach produces dense, whitish patches on the leaves and grow-
ing fruit; the curl-leaf fungus of the peach produces swellings and
contortions of the leaf; the scab of the apple and pear produces first
a smoky appearance on the leaf and afterwards causes black scabby
patches on the fruit and on the young twigs ; the slot-hole fungus of
the apricot, plum, cherry, and almond cuts roundish holes in the leaves
as though a shotgun had been discharged through the foliage, and
then, in the case of the apricot, produces roundish, dark red pustules
on the fruit ; the brown rot which attacks both twigs and fruit of apri-
cots, prune, blackberry, etc., produced eruptions on plums and peaches ;
the rust fungi of the under sides of the leaves, first of a yellowish or
orange color, changing to dark brown or black, and causing the leaf
to fall. These fungi are only slightly, if at all, checked by the dry
sulphur treatment, and are best subdued by the use of copper solutions :

The Bordeaux Mixture. — Lime, four pounds; bluestone (sulphate of copper),
four pounds ; water, forty gallons. Use part of the water to slake the lime and
dissolve the bluestone, which should be done in separate vessels. The bluestone
should not be put in a metal vessel. If put into a bag and suspended near the
surface of the water, it will dissolve more readily, or hot water may be used
in making the solution. Both should be cold when mixed, and the resultant
mixture will be a beautiful blue wash. If mixed hot, a black compound (copper
oxide) is produced, which reduces the value of the wash. After thorough
mixing of the solution, water should be added to bring the bulk up to forty
gallons.

488

THE BORDEAUX MIXTURE 489

This is safe to use on foliage. It may be used much stronger when
trees are dormant — as strong as ten pounds of lime and ten pounds of
bluestone to fortyi gallons of water to kill spores of fungi on the bark,
but the chief advantage of the stronger mixture is not directly in spore-
killing but in the longer resistance to removal by rains, ^his winter
treatment is a successful preventive of curl-leaf on the peach, shot-hole
on the apricot, scab on the apple and pear, rust on the prune, etc. In
the case of the peach blight, which is an invasion of the young bark
by the shot-hole fungus, an autumn spraying is imperative to protect
the dormant twigs.* When the fungus survives winter treatment or
when it attacks the fruit, as in case of the apricot particularly, or the
leaf in the peach, there should follow the weaker Bordeaux in the
spring or summer, as early as indications of the diseases may appear.
In spraying for apple and pear scab, the addition of five pounds of
lead arsenate to each one hundred gallons of the Bordeaux Mixture
makes the application answer also for the codlin moth, as described
in the preceding chapter.

When it is desirable to use a fungicide on fruit near the picking
season, or on ornamental plants, which would be disfigured with the
lime wash, the ammonical copper carbonate may be submitted for the
Bordeaux Mixture, viz. : Copper carbonate, four ounces ; ammonia,
forty ounces ; water forty gallons.

The usual way of making this wash is to dissolve copper carbonate
in ammonia, and then dilute. If the carbonate is not fully dissolved
before the water is added, it can not be further dissolved, and not
only is the carbonate wasted, but the fluid will not be up to standard
strength. It is well, therefore, to give the ammonia ample time to act,
say over night, before adding the water.

The lime, salt and sulphur mixture, as already prescribed for scale
insects in the preceding chapter, is an active fungicide for winter use.
It is sometimes a satisfactory curl-leaf preventive in the interior valleys
especially.

Toadstool Destruction. — Trees are often destroyed through in-
vasion by toadstool fungi from the decaying roots or wood with which
their roots come in contact. The injury is often not detected until the
tree is ruined and it is too late for treatment. If only part is affected,
the disease may sometimes be arrested by cutting away the diseased
parts and disinfection of the exposed tissue with Bordeaux Mixture.
Stone fruits are most susceptible to this trouble, the cherry being least
affected. Young apples are sometimes attacked, but mature trees resist
it. Pears and figs are also largely resistant.

Moss, Lichens, etc., on the Bark. — It has been clearly shown by
investigation at the University Experiment Station that the growth of
moss, etc., upon the bark of fruit trees is a decided injury. All trees
should be assisted to maintain clean, healthy bark. This is accomplished
by the use of the lime, salt and sulphur mixture already prescribed for
scale insects. It can also be done by winter spraying with caustic soda
or potash, one pound to six gallons of water.

'Consult Bulletin 191 of the University Experiment Station on "California Peach Blight."

490 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM

Blights and Decays. — There are several blights which are trace-
able to bacteria, parasitic growths which are not discernible as are the
fungi, and not usually amenable to spray treatment, because they exist
wholly within the tissues of the plant and are not reached by applica-
tions. The blights of the pear, the black heart of the apricot, the olive
tuberculosis, etc., are instances. Cutting back to healthy wood (with
tools dipped after each cut in corrosive sublimate, one part to one
thousand parts of water), and burning all removed parts, is the best
treatment which can at present be prescribed.

The walnut blight, demonstrated by Newton B. Pierce, of Santa
Ana, to be caused by a bacterium, has so far resisted treatment, though
there seems to be promise of good results from spraying in February
or March, before growth begins, with the lime-sulphur wash. This
serves also for the reduction of walnut aphis, which is sometimes very
injurious to the tree and the crop.* The disease also affects the leaves
and young wood. The recourse seems walnut; generally worst at
the blossom end and usually first seen there early in the season ; later
the spots run together and encompass considerable areas of the surface.
As the disease progresses the nut is transformed into a hateful black
mass and is utterly destroyed. The disease also affects the leaves and
young wood, but does not attack the old wood and the roots as the
pear blight does. It is therefore more easily controlled. The recourse
seems to be toward resistant varieties, as stated in the chapter on the
walnut.

DISEASES NOT TRACEABLE TO PARASITIC GROWTHS

There are a number of prominent troubles which are not traceable
to parasitic invasion of any kind, and yet may be in some cases pro-
moted by bacterial growth invited by preceding conditions.

Sour Sap. — There is a fermentation of the sap, quite noticeable
by its odor, which may be found in all parts of the tree, from the root
to -the topmost twigs; sometimes in one part and not in another. Sour
sap in the root is generally due to standing water in the soil, and the
remedy is drainage. Trees thus affected make an effort to grow and then
the young growth shrivels. Severe cutting back of the top to reduce
evaporation until the roots can restore their feeding fibers is the only
treatment of the tree, and its success depends upon the extent of the
root injury. Sour sap may also be caused in the branches by the occur-
rence of frost after the sap flow has actually started. Cutting back the
diseased parts, as soon as discovered, to sound wood, is the proper
treatment.

Die-Back. — Dying back of twigs or branches may occur without
parasitic invasion through root-weakness or partial failure. It may
be due to standing water or to lack of soil moisture, either of which
will destroy the root-hairs and bring the tree into distress. The treat-
ment is cutting back to sound wood and correcting the soil conditions,
either by irrigation or drainage, as one or the other may be needed to
advance vigorous growth in the tree.

*See Pacific Rural Press, March 7, 1914.

GUMMOSIS AND ROOT KNOTS 491

Gummosis. — This is a convenient term to designate the gumming
which is seen on many kinds of trees. As has been said of die-back,
gumming may result from excess of water or of drouth in the soil.
Gumming is, therefore, not always to be considered in itself a disease,
but rather an indication of conditions unfavorable to the thrifty growth
of the tree. It has been usually found by investigation that trees in
perfect condition of health, with the moisture just enough and not
excessive, are not troubled with gumming ; but there are cases in which
this statement does not wholly apply. Prof. H. S. Fawcett has dem-
onstrated that in some cases it is communicable because of a fungus
cause. Full accounts of this may be expected in University publica-
tions.

When there is an outbreak of gum where it can be treated it is
desirable to cleanly remove all the unhealthy bark — cutting clean to
sound bark and covering the wound with paint or wax to exclude the
air. Prof. Fawcett gives these detailed suggestions :

The treatment for the gummosis caused by fungi is still somewhat in the
experimental stage. All that can be said at present is that in several lemon
groves where the Bordeaux paste was used over a year ago the results appear
very promising.

Before applying the paste on lemon trees the bark that is dead to the wood
should be removed to allow the Bordeaux to get in to kill out the infection.
In case the outer bark is infected over a large area and the inner or cambium
is still alive, the outer layer may be scraped off with a curved sharp tool made
on purpose for this work, leaving the cambium covered by inner bark still
attached. In this way the infection is killed and a new bark is built up under
the Bordeaux. One must expect the gum to run out freely for several weeks
or months after treatment. One should watch for the formation of new, healthy
tissue, rather than the amount of gum that may run out after treatment. The
gum that has formed under the bark beyond where any fungus has gone will
continue to drain out. The gum itself does not as a rule have any infectious
principle in it. The fungus is in the diseased bark at the junction of the live
and dead tissue. The fungus does not manufacture the gum, but causes the tree
to produce it from its own products.

The formula for the Bordeaux paste is as follows:

One pound of bluestone dissolved in 1 gallon of water in a wooden or earthen
vessel by hanging it in the top in a sack. Two pounds of unslaked lime, slaked
in about one-half gallon of water. Stir together when cool, making a light blue
mixture about the consistency of whitewash. Apply with a brush. This may
also be applied to healthy bark as a preventive against new infections.

Root Knots. — These are excrescences upon the roots or at the
root crown of various trees and of grape-vines, and they have been
a serious trouble in this State for a good many years. Some of the
knots have been studied by experts in plant pathology and the cause
of the trouble demonstrated to be a fungus and the disease infectious.
A satisfactory treatment has, however, been discovered. If the knot
has not increased in size sufficiently to seriously interfere with the
growth of the tree it can be smoothly removed, the wound treated with
the Bordeaux Mixture, and the knot will not reappear at the same
place. Success has also been had with boring a hole into the knot and
rilling the hole with bluestone solution, but some trees have been killed
in this way. Bluestone can be used with least danger when the tree
is dormant.

492 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

As for treatment, however, it seems to be clear that if the trees are
not too large, the knots can be removed with a chisel and the wound
painted with the Bordeaux Mixture to the advantage of the tree; but
if the trees are old and the knots so large that their removal would
almost girdle the tree, it is a question whether it is not better, on the
whole, to take out the trees and plant new ones. It really depends upon
the condition of the trees whether it is worth while to remove the knots
or not. If the tree has the start of the knot, it will be helped by re-
moval ; if the knot has the start of the tree so that it is unthrifty, there
is small chance of reinvigorating the knots. This is apparently true,
both with young and old trees. Old trees are sometimes badly knotted
and still productive and profitable.

CHAPTER XLI
SUPPRESSION OF INJURIOUS ANIMALS AND BIRDS

The beasts of the field and the fowls of the air are sometimes such
grievous trespassers upon the fruit plantation that protection has to
be sought against them. The animals which figure in this evil work
are mainly species of rodentia, some of them burrowers; as, for ex-
ample, the ground-squirrel and gopher; others, surface dwellers, like
the hare or jackass rabbit. Occasionally there is injury done by deer in
the orchard and vineyard, and coons in the melon patch, but these
larger animals may usually be left to the hunters and the dogs.

RABBITS

Though there are three species prevalent, none are burrowers.
This fact has led to united efforts at their suppression by driving them,
with mounted horsemen, from a wide stretch of country into a narrow,
fenced inclosure, where they are killed with clubs. During the last
few years tens of thousands have been killed in this way, and com-
paratively few are now found in the localities where the method has
been adopted. Still, however, there are plenty at large to vex the fruit
planter, and he must protect himself against them.

Rabbit Fences. — The surest protection against rabbits is a fence
which prevents their entrance, and many miles of such fence have been
built in this State. Several styles prevail. The ordinary board fence,
with the boards running horizontally, is made rabbit-proof by placing
the lower boards close together, with openings of but about two inches

A rabbit-proof fence in successful use in the San Joaquin Valley

between them. A barbed wire, with barbs about two and one-half
inches apart, can be used to advantage by running it along at or a little
below the surface of the ground to prevent scratching under.

The cost of board fences has led to the use of barbed wire and wire
netting, or of perpendicular slats interwoven with wire. Such ma-
terials are sold in large quantities. A very effective combination of
barbed wire and netting, which is used in the upper San Joaquin Val-
ley, is described as follows :

493

494 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

The tall posts are regular split redwood posts. The intermediate small ones
are made by sawing in two the regular posts and splitting them into eight small
posts, or rather, large stakes. The netting is of galvanized wire, No. 19 gauge,
and one and one-half inch mesh. This netting is stapled to the posts and stakes
on the inside, or toward the field. This is of prime importance, as it will not
serve the purpose if it is placed on the outside. The bottom of the netting is to
come down to the ground, and the ground must be left hard, and not plowed to
prevent burrowing, or scratching the dirt from underneath, which can be easily
done if the dirt is softened up. It is not at all necessary to set the netting
below the ground. In the sketch are shown three barbed wires, with barbs two
and a half inches apart. These wires must be placed on the outside of the
posts. This position is also a prime necessity. The lower wire is stretched
just clear of the surface of the ground. The middle wire is one inch higher
than the top of the netting, and the top wire, which is intended only as against
cattle, is at a height suitable for the purpose. The rabbit-proof portion is
comprised in the netting and the two lower wires. Hence, if cattle are not
feared, and rabbits are the only foe, the top wire can be dispensed with, and the
posts can be all short with a greater proportion of stakes, having only enough
stout posts to stand the strain of the wires. The theory of this construction is
that a rabbit can only pass the fence over the top or under the bottom of the
netting, and this is effectually prevented by the barbed wires, which tear the
animal if it attempts either to leap or climb over or to scratch under.

Smears Distasteful to Rabbits. — Where the expense of a fence
can not be assumed, measurable protection can be had by sprinkling
the leaves or smearing the stems of plants with substances distasteful
to the animals, which are quite dainty in this respect. Commercial
aloes, one pound to four gallons of water, both sprinkled on leaves and
painted on the bark, gives a bitter taste, which repels rabbits. A tea
made of steeping quassia chips is said to produce the same effect.
Rancid grease, liquid manure, putrescent flesh or blood, have been
approved as a daub for tree trunks, but the efficacy is only of limited
duration.

Rabbit Poison. — Pieces of watermelon rind, cantaloupe, or other
vegetable of which they are very fond, may be poisoned with strych-
nine and then scattered around the orchard. Rabbits will not touch
the bark as long as they can find this bait, and one meal is effective,
for the rabbit never gets far away from it. The same results can be
obtained by the following mixture : To one hundred pounds of wheat
take nine gallons of water and one pound of phosphorus, one pound
of sugar, and one ounce of oil of rhodium. Heat the water to boiling
point and let it stand all night. Next morning stir in flour sufficient to
make a sort of paste. The rabbits eat it with avidity if scattered about.

Another preparation is half a teaspoonful of powdered strychnine,
two teaspoonfuls of fine salt, and four of granulated sugar. Put all in
a tin box and shake well. Pour in small heaps on a board. It hardens
into a solid mass. They lick it for the salt, and the sugar disguises the
poison, which kills great numbers.

GROUND-SQUIRRELS

Ground-squirrels are poisoned by the use of the poisoned wheats
which are sold in the markets, or by use of bisulphide of carbon, or
"smokers," which are arranged to force smoke or poisonous vapors

GROUND SQUIRRELS AND GOPHERS 495

into the holes. A small quantity of bisulphide of carbon poured into
the hole, and the hole closed with dirt, is probably the most effective
squirrel killer, when the ground is wet, so that the vapor is held in the
burrow. Smokers are also most effective when the soil is moist. When
the ground is dry, poison is the best means of reducing squirrels. The
following is an exceedingly effective preparation, of which a few grains
should be placed in or near each hole :

Take strychnine, one ounce ; cyanide of potassium, one and one-half ounces ;
eggs, one dozen; honey, one pint; vinegar, one and one-half pints; wheat or
barley, thirty pounds. Dissolve strychnine in the vinegar; and you will have to
pulverize it in the vinegar, or it will gather into a lump. See that it is all dis-
solved. Dissolve the cyanide of potassium in a little water. Beat the eggs. Mix
all the ingredients together thoroughly before adding to the barley. Let it stand
twenty-four hours, mixing often. Spread to dry before using, as it will mold if
put away wet.

What is known as the "government formula," being used by various
departments of the United States government in the effort to eradicate
ground squirrels from California, is as follows :

Strychnine (pulverized alkaloid), 3 ounces.

Starch, ]/2 pint.

Barley, 13 gallons.

Water, 3 pints.

The water is placed over a fire and heated to boiling; the starch
is dissolved in a half-pint of cold water and added to the boiling water,
which is stirred carefully to insure uniform consistence. When the
starch has become clear, remove it from the fire and add the strych-
nine. Mix this poisoned paste with the barley until every kernel is
coated.

To keep squirrels from gnawing fruit trees, or climbing and getting
the fruit, tying a newspaper around the trunk of the tree, letting the
paper extend out four inches at the upper edges, is said to be effective
by some growers, though this is denied by others. The rattle of the
paper when the squirrels attempt to get over it will frighten them.

GOPHERS

Gophers can often be destroyed by the use of r^'soned wheat,
especially prepared with a little oil of rhodium, which . eems to be very
attractive to all rodents. Pieces of fruits or vegetable, or the succulent
stems of alfalfa, into which a few grains of strychnine have been in-
serted by making a cut with a knife-blade and then squeezing it together
again, are also handy conveyors of death to gophers. There are two
ways to put poisoned materials into a gopher runway. One is to look
for fresh open holes and put in the poison as far as possible with a
long-handled spoon ; another is to take a round, pointed stick and shove
it into the ground near the gopher mounds until it strikes their run-
way, then drop in the poisoned bait. Close up the hole with some grass ;
level down mounds, so that if the poison does not kill all the gophers,
you will soon discover their new mounds. If there are many mounds,
put the poison in a number of places.

496 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Bisulphide of carbon is also successfully used in killing gophers,
while the ground is wet, using an injector which is furnished with the
poison to force the vapor through the long burrows.

Trapping Gophers. — Some are very successful in using gopher
traps, of which there are several styles sold. Gophers come to the sur-
face in the night, and generally close their holes soon after daybreak.
They frequently emerge again about noon, and a third time late in the
afternoon. It is best to set the trap in an open hole ; still the holes may
be opened if the dirt is still fresh, with a good prospect of the gopher's
return. Therefore, the trapper may make his rounds three times a day,
as above indicated. Care should be exercised in preparing the hole for
the insertion of the trap, a straight hole for a distance of at least ten
inches, with no lateral branches, otherwise the gopher in pushing out
the dirt will likely enough thrust the trap to one side, cover it up, or
spring it without being exposed to its grasp. The trapper should be
supplied with at least two varieties of traps — one for the larger gophers,
and the other for the smaller ones. The common iron gopher trap,
which springs downward, is excellent for the former, and the small
wire trap, which springs upward, is generally successful with the latter.
The size of the hole is indicative of the size of the gopher. Either trap
should be inserted nearly its full length into the hole, pressed down
firmly, and a little dirt piled at the outer end to prevent its being easily
pushed out. After the trap is set, it is well to cover the opening with
some grass or weeds. Sometimes the holes require a little enlarging,
but care should be taken to make the fit as close as possible, that the
body of the gopher may be kept near the center, and thus more exposed
to the prongs of the trap. In the fourth place, the trapper should have
a small spade and a little gouge-shaped instrument for trimming the
hole.

Gopher Pitfalls. — If gophers are abundant, large numbers can
be captured in this way : Dig a trench around the orchard or vineyard
about the width of a spade and from fourteen to sixteen inches deep.
In the bottom of the ditches, about a hundred feet apart, sink five-
gallon oil cans, leaving the tops level with the ditch bottom. The
gophers migrate in the night, and in attempting to come into the in-
closure will fall into the ditch and then run along the bottom until they
drop into the cans. Of course the ditch must not be wider than the
cans. As many as fifteen live gophers have been found in one can.
The cats soon learn to help themselves out of the cans. The ditch must
be kept clean, and if any roads cross the tract, set up a board at night,
to compel the gophers to tumble in the ditch. This ditch should be con-
structed about the first of June, when the oustide feed begins to dry
up, and the pests rush for the cultivated ground. With such protection
from the outside, and the use of poison and traps inside, the trees and
vines can be saved.

DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS

Fruit growers generally appreciate the value of insectivorous birds,
but there are feathered pests which do such ruinous work in disbudding
the trees in spring-time, and in destroying ripe fruit that protective

DESTRUCTIVE BIRDS 497

measures have to be adopted against them. The so-called "California
linnet," which is not a linnet, but a finch (Carpodacus frontalis), a per-
sistent destroyer of buds, and the English sparrow, infamous the world
over, are probably the most grievous pests, though there are other de-
structive birds, including the beautiful California quail, which is pro-
tected by law, and yet must be destroyed in some parts of the State or
the grape crop must be abandoned.

For the killing of the smaller birds poison is usually employed, and
it is the best administered in water. Poisoned water made of one-eighth
ounce of strychnine to three gallons of water and placed in shallow tin
pans in the trees, has been widely approved. Cutting oranges in halves,
spreading strychnine over the cut surface and empaling the half oranges
on twigs high up in the apricot trees, has destroyed hundreds of linnets.
Some advocate the use of the shotgun, No. 30 caliber, with a small
charge of good powder and No. 10 shot. As many as five hundred
linnets have been killed in two days. The advantage of this plan is
that one kills linnets and not other birds, while poison kills both friends
and foes.

CHAPTER XLII
PROTECTION FROM WIND AND FROSTS

Though the climate of California renders unnecessary the protection
against rigorous weather which fruit growers in some other parts of
the world have to provide, there is often advantage in securing shelter
from winds and protection from late frosts.

The general subject of forest planting in California, and the effect
of preservation and extension of our forest area upon our fruit indus-
tries, has received the attention of our best-informed growers. The
planting of shelter belts at intervals across our broad valleys at right
angles to the courses of prevailing or most violent winds, has also been
urged with great force. These greater enterprises and projects are
beyond the scope of this treatise. It is rather concerning the planting
of trees to shelter individual possessions that a few suggestions will
be offered.

It has been already remarked that on the immediate coast the suc-
cessful growth of fruit will sometimes be wholly dependent upon proper
shelter from prevailing winds, and in regions farther from the ocean
the topography may induce strong currents of air which will illy affect
trees and vines. In all such places the fruit grower should plant wind-
breaks, and will find himself well repaid for the ground they occupy,
by the successful production on the protected area.

In the interior valleys there is also need of shelter from occasional
high winds which may visit the orchards either in summer or winter,
and prove destructive both to trees and fruit. In some cases long lines
of the sheltering trees have been cut down because they affected the
fruiting of orchard trees planted too near them, and afterwards the
losses through lack of protection were far greater than would have
been incurred by retaining them.

What Kind of Trees to Plant. — This is a question concerning
which there is much to be learned. Data is accumulating in the growth
of trees planted to test their suitability, and the future planter will have
more certain ground to proceed upon than is now available. Mention
will be made, however, of a few trees, which are now most widely
grown.

The most widely planted shelter tree is the Eucalyptus globulus,
or Australian blue gum. It is a rapid grower and voracious feeder,
and wonderful for root extension, for which it has been roundly abused.
It is doubtful, however, whether we have a better tree for high growth,
and consequent large area over which its shelter will be felt. It is
deficient in undergrowth, and if a close screen is desired, the planting
of eucalyptus and Monterey cypress ( Cupressus macrocarpa) is a com-
mon practice. The latter also attains a good height, but its broad, thick
base fills the gaps between the bare stems of the gum trees. Another
tree which has often been planted with the blue gum, to supply a thick,

498

TREES FOR WIND BREAKS 499

low growth, is the pepper tree (Schinus molle). It is also grown in
rows by itself. It makes a dense head, grows rapidly, and flourishes
without much care. Trees planted eighteen feet apart will soon come
together and make a dense wall of very beautiful, bright, light-green
foliage. The pepper is not only a good windbreak, but also an excel-
lent dust-catcher. Unlike most trees which are used for this purpose,
it does not become laden with dust. The leaves are smooth and glossy,
and therefore repel the dust particles, which, stopped in their flight by
the dense foliage of the tree, instead of clinging to it drop to the
ground. The growth of the pepper tree near the coast is much slower
than that of the Monterey cypress. The eucalyptus and the cypress
for the coast, and the eucalyptus and pepper for the interior valleys,
make, probably, as perfect a wall of foliage all the year round as can
be had. The blue gum is, however, somewhat subject to frost killing,
especially when young, and in very frosty places is objected to on that
account. A number of other species of eucalyptus are now being
planted, and are being found more hardy than the blue gum. The
rostrata, rudis, tereticornis, polyanthema, amygdalina, viminalis and
others are of this character.

The Monterey pine (Pinus insignis) is a rapid, high-growing tree,
and, though a native of the coast, has proved itself well adapted to the
interior valleys of the central portion of the State. Its foliage is dense
for a pine, and its shelter, therefore, the more complete. A native white
cedar (Libocedrus decurrens) has also been employed as a shelter tree
in the San Joaquin Valley, and is commended as a rapid grower in the
interior as on the coast. Its ability to stand drouth, heat and frost is
said to exceed that of any of the conifers of the seacoast. It stands
well in the most exposed situations, as its roots run very deep into the
earth and it is claimed that it does not sap the fertility from the soil
around its base, as with the blue gum. It is also said to be less subject
to frost injury than the Monterey cypress and pine.

All the foregoing are evergreen trees, and therefore afford protec-
tion summer and winter alike. Of deciduous trees there are many
which may be well employed. The California black walnut makes a
very satisfactory growth both in the interior and upon the coast, and
is largely used for roadside planting. The California broad-leaved
maple (Acer macrophylla) is very beautiful, rapid in growth, and dense
in foliage, and the same is true of the box elder (Acer negrundo), but
probably both trees are especially suited to the coast regions. Of the
poplars, the Carolina (Populus monilifera) is best, because of its
breadth, density of foliage, and comparative freedom from suckering.
The locust (Robinia pseudacacia) is used to some extent, but its suck-
ering is very objectionable.

Quite a number of the larger-growing deciduous fruit trees are used
to some extent along the exterior lines of orchards for the protection
of the inclosure. The fig, the walnut, the chestnut, seedling almonds,
and apricots are especially commended for such use.

Growing Trees from Seed. — Much that has been said in Chapter
VIII will be suggestive to one who desires to grow his own shelter
trees from seed. Trees from small seeds are best grown in boxes, and

500 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

in many cases, as with eucalyptus and cypress especially, do best when
put in permanent place when quite small. Whether put at once in
permanent place, or in nursery, the land should be deeply worked and
the young plant well planted and cared for.

Cultivation of Shelter Trees. — If one desires rapid growth of
shelter trees, they should be cultivated the first few years as thoroughly
as an orchard. Much disappointment results from allowing roadside
trees to shift for themselves in a hard, dry soil. With such treatment
the root extension is naturally most rapid into cultivated orchard
ground, which is undesirable. Cultivate and enrich the roadside, and
the tree will grow chiefly on the waste land. At the same time the
roadside will be prevented from producing vast quantities of weed seed,
to be blown over the fence, and the place will have a name for neatness,
which is too rare even in California.

PROTECTION FROM FROSTS

Much attention has been given during recent years to the protection
of citrus fruits as they approach maturity, and of deciduous fruits as
they are starting on their growth, from occasional fall of the mercury
a few degrees below the freezing point. It has been shown by ample
experience that fruits may escape injury by a temperature of 28 degrees
if the ground surface is wet and the exposure be but of short duration.
Fruit has, therefore, been saved by irrigation, while that over dry
ground has been nipped by the same temperature. About the same re-
sult has been secured by checking radiation of heat by covering the or-
chard or vineyard with a cloud of smoke. Both these protective meas-
ures fail when the temperature falls a few degrees below 28 degrees or
when such freezing temperature is continued for several hours.

During recent years much progress has been made in preventing
frost by numerous small fires distributed among the trees to be pro-
tected and many devices to secure such distributed heat easily and
economically are being enterprisingly promoted by inventors and manu-
facturers. The extreme low temperatures of January, 1913, gave full
opportunities for testing orchard heating appliances and very striking
success was had with them. Comparative tests and observations have
been made by the experts of the University Experiment Station, but
conclusions are not available at this date. They must be looked for in
Experiment Station bulletins, in the publications of the U. S. Weather
Bureau and in the horticultural journals. The subject is clearly seen
to be too complex to admit of a brief generalization except to say that,
when orchard heating is thoroughly and economically done, it is a most
profitable investment and should be studied by all growers.

SUSCEPTIBILITY OF DECIDUOUS FRUITS

No systematic observations of danger points in deciduous fruits
have been made in this State, but work elsewhere is suggestive. Pro-
fessor W. L. Howard, of the Missouri Experiment Station, after arti-

OBSERVATIONS ON FROST INJURIES 501

ficially freezing thousands of peach buds, summarized the critical tem-
peratures as follows :

"Fully dormant peach buds can stand 8 or 9° below zero, F. When they
are appreciably swollen, zero is the danger point. When the buds are showing
pink, they can stand 15° above zero. When the buds are almost open, 25° is
the danger point. When they are newly opened, about 26° would be the point
of danger. When the petals are beginning to fall, 28° above zero is dangerous.
When the petals are off they can stand 30° above zero. When the 'shucks'
(calyx lobes) are beginning to fall off, 32° is the danger point." Presumably
these limits would apply also to the apricot and almond.

Apple buds, when the petals begin to show, can stand from 10 to 12 degrees
of freezing. When the petals are well emerged, but have not opened, they can
stand from 4 to 6 degrees of freezing, but when open, but not yet fertilized,
there would be great danger at two or three degrees below the freezing point.
When the flowers have been fertilized, the petals dropped, and the young fruit
increasing in size, the slender stems which support the apples are unable to
resist a temperature lower than the freezing point. The apples seem to be
more hardy than their stems, but if the latter are injured of course the fruit
also suffers. Similar behavior may be expected from the pear, cherry and plum.

Orchard Frost Studies. — In connection with the foregoing it is
interesting to note conclusions which Prof. Fabian Garcia draws from
several years' observation of frost effects in the orchard of the New
Mexico Experiment Station and of which full details are given in
Bulletin 89 of that station, under date of February, 1914 :

The data recorded at the Station show that the fruit-buds, particularly those
of the peach, at their different stages of development are somewhat more resist-
ant to cold than has been reported by observers from others parts of the United
States. The data further show that the degree of resistibility to frost varies
with different stages of growth.

The peach is least resistant when it is about the size of a pea, when the
calices are falling off. Contrary to the findings of other observers, the bloom
is not the most tender stage of growth. In other words, the data indicate that
the newly set peach is more delicate than the newly opened blossom.

In the majority of cases a temperature of 26 degrees, lasting only a short
time, did little or no injury to the opening bud, newly opened blossom or newly
set fruit of the peach, native plum, pear and apple; while one-half a degree
below this, or 2$*/2 degrees, although lasting only a few minutes, killed a large
percentage of the opening buds, newly set blossoms and young fruits of the
peach, in a number of cases. In other words, 26 degrees was the danger point,
and any temperature below this is liable to do more or less injury; depending
on how low it gets and how long it remains at that temperature. In some cases,
however, a temperature of 24 degrees lasting only a short time left about 25%
of the blooms and 9% of the newly set fruits uninjured.

Three important factors that influence the amount of damage done by spring
frosts are : the degree of killing temperature, the time of day at which it occurs,
and the length of time the temperature remains below the danger point. The
longer the time the killing: temperature remains and the nearer it is to sunrise,
the greater the amount of damage that should be expected.

As a rule, the killing temperature recorded in these experiments occurred
in the morning, from one to two hours before sunrise. Whenever the killing
temperature occurred this late in the morning, and remained below the danger
point until sunrise, the injury was great. On the other hand, if the minimum
occurred at midnight, or a little later, and then gradually rose to the freezing
point, so that the frozen buds, blooms and fruits had time to thaw out slowly
before sunrise, the injury was insignificant. This was the case April 5, 1910,
when at 2:15 A. M. the temperature was 24^4 degrees. By 5:30 it had risen to
31 degrees, and the injurv done to the Alexander peaches — which were in full
bloom — was estimated at 2^2%.

As the young fruit develops it seems to get more tender, until it grows
beyond a certain size, when it seems to get hardier again ; so that the later frosts

502 CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

which come after the young fruits have made quite a growth are liable to do
more injury than the same degree of cold in the earlier part of the season, when
the fruits are less developed. At this stage of growth, 26l/2 to 27 degrees would
probably be dangerous to peaches. The very late frost of 25 degrees on May 4,
1912, killed practically all the peaches in the experimental orchard, while 24^4
degrees on April 17, 1910, left about 30% of the Elbertas.

On the whole, apples and pears seem to be more resistant than peaches and
plums. This was strongly indicated in 1912, when practically all the peach crop
was destroyed on May 4, by a temperature of 25 degrees; while there was a
very heavy crop of pears and apples harvested the following fall.

European and native plums seem to be slightly hardier than Japanese plums
and apricots, which are the least resistant of all the fruits included in the test.

DELAYING BLOOM BY WHITEWASH

Another suggestion conies from Missouri. It is concerning delay-
ing activity in deciduous trees by spraying with whitewash to reflect
heat — the absorption of which by -dark bark causes the activity of the
tree to begin. Prof. J. C. Whitton of the Missouri Experiment Station
says:

Purple coloring matter on untreated peach trees often absorbs heat enough
on a sunny cold day in winter to raise the temperature of the trees 25 degrees
or more above the temperature of the atmospehere. Whitened trees remain at
atmospheric temperature or usually a degree or so below.

For ten consecutive years we whitewashed diagonal rows of peach trees
across the Experiment Station orchard just before midwinter. In this section
we had five general peach crops during that ten years on untreated trees; on
whitewashed trees of the same varieties we had eight crops. The five crops on
untreated trees were not all full crops; the eight crops on treated trees were all
but two full crops. More than double the amount of fruit was secured in ten
years on the whitewashed trees. The treated trees were anywhere from a few
days up to ten days later in blooming. In years when normal weather prevailed
until sudden warm spells brought the trees into bloom hurriedly, there was only
a little difference in time of blooming, and under normal conditions there was a
week or more difference in their blooming. This is less important, however,
than the fact that the whitewashed trees began their first starting into slight
growth on sunny days in late winter fully six weeks later than the naked trees.

PART TEN: MISCELLANEOUS

CHAPTER XLIII
UTILIZING FRUIT WASTES

Some progress has been recently attained in the securing of horti-
cultural by-products from various kinds of fruit wastes. There is a
considerable product of cream of tartar from the pomace and lees of
the wineries in central California. In southern California citric acid
factories have to some extent used lemons rejected in packing, and
some other by-products of citrus fruits have been secured in small
quantities. Vinegar from wine and cider are, of course, made here as
everywhere in fruit countries.

There has arisen also a profitable export demand for fruit pits and
apricot and peach pits, which formerly were burned, are now selling
profitably — machinery for cheap extraction of the kernels have been
contrived by California inventors. The kernels are bought by agents
of European manufacturers of oils and essences. Apricot kernels are
used by confectioners in place of almonds.

Comparative value of fruits, and hay, grains, meals, etc.

100 Pounds Fruit Equivalent to Pounds of

FRESH FRUITS.

Apples .......... 34

Oranges ........ 33

Pears ........... 40

Plums ........... 50

Prunes .......... 46

Apricots ........ 40

Nectarines ...... 43

Figs ............ 50

Grapes .......... 50

Watermelons ---- 22

Nutmeg Melons.. 19

DRIED FRUITS.

O

24
23
30
36
33
29
30
37
37
16
13

15
14
18
24
22
18
20
24
24
10
9

O

17

16
20
25
23
20
22
26
26
11
9

I

16
15
19
24
22
19
21
25
25
11
9

! 1

u uS

13

12
15
20
18
15
17
20
20
8
7

Dried prunes .
Dried apricots
Dried peaches
Dried figs ....

. .. 175
.. 194
. .. 190
. .. 186

104
115
113
110

125
138
135
132

78
86
85
83

82
90
88
85

88
97
95
93

84
93
91
89

92
102
100
97

84
93
91
89

67
74
72
71

48
53
51
50

68
76
74
7?

. . 216

128

153

97

100

108

103

111

103

82

59

84

The disposition of waste fruit by growers must, however, always
lie chiefly in the line of feeding animals unless denatured alcohol enter-
prises should arise to consume it at prices to pay something more than

503

504 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

cost of handling1. Refuse fresh fruits of all kinds, and especially refuse
dried fruits have nutritive value which should not be lost. A statement
of the value of various fruits as compared with various cattle foods
has been prepared by Prof. M. C. Jaffa, of the University Experiment
Station, in the adjacent table.

A good average of the pitted fresh fruits is represented by prunes.
Using the equivalents in the table above for computation, it appears
that if wheat bran costs $15 per ton, fresh prunes would be worth as a
substitute $3 per ton ; likewise, if cottonseed meal is selling for $21 per
ton, the prune value would be about $2.75. At the market price of oat
hay, the figures for fresh prunes should be nearly $3 per ton.

The dried fruits naturally rank far above the fresh material as stock
feed. Of the dried fruits represented in the table, raisins lead in food
value ; containing one and one-fourth to one and one-half times the
nutritive ingredients of alfalfa and oat hays, respectively ; 100 pounds
of the fruit being practically equal to the same quantity of grain, but to
only eighty-two and fifty-nine pounds respectively of rice bran and
cottonseed meal.

Dried apricots rank slightly lower than raisins, because they contain
more water. Apricots are, however, of equal value as a feeding stuff
with wheat bran and almond hulls about half as much as alfalfa hay,
bran or middlings.

Concerning the feeding of raisins to hogs, the following statements
are made : "With raisins selling at 2J^ cents per pound they are much
cheaper food for hogs than corn or barley. Raisins give the hog a
hard, sweet meat and are much sought after by the butchers. Care
must, however, be exercised in feeding raisins to hogs, as they are full
of sugar, and consequently too rich when fed alone. They heat the
animal up so that the hogs lose flesh and will kill the little pigs of a
farrowing sow. For fall and winter feeding, pumpkins, citrons and
alfalfa are the best feed to give the hogs in conjunction with the raisins,
but in the spring a change is found very beneficial.

Many people feeding raisins to hogs are not having the success
they should because they overfeed their porkers. A pound of raisins
a day is ample to start in with. After the system of the hog has become
accustomed to the raisins the amount can be increased so that the last
three weeks each hog should get about four pounds of raisins a day.
The last ten days, when the finishing touches are being put on, the hogs
should be allowed all they can get."

Wine grapes rich in sugar have been cheaply dried on the ground
and used to advantage for hog feed. One grower says that in 1908
failing to get $6 per ton for his grapes, he dried them and fed them to
hogs. Having more than the hogs required, grapes were fed to the
horses : "The horses soon got a taste for them and seemed to thrive
well on the new diet and in a short time became fat and sleek, while
they were being worked as hard as ever, and we continued to feed them
dried grapes and have kept it up for a whole year. The effect seems
to have made the old horses five years younger, both in looks and in
ability to work. The hogs fattened up so quick that we thought the

VALUE OF FRUITS AS STOCK FEED 505

pork would be soft and sloppy, but to our surprise, we never had better
bacon and ham than was produced from these grape-fed porkers. It
was not only solid, but sweet and tender."

Prune-fed and raisin-fed pork is indeed an accomplished fact in
California. As to the acceptability of the fruit diet to the hog, what
could be more pertinent and more fitting appendix to this treatise than
this little tale? It is stated that Mr. Balaam, of Farmersville, used to
have a pet pig that ran under the fig trees near the house. When the
fruit began to drop, he ate figs and rested in the shade until he finally
grew too fat to move about to gather the sweet morsels. By this time
his owner became so much interested in the case as to carry him his
figs regularly three times daily. Gradually he grew so fat that his eyes
closed entirely, but still he ate figs in contentment and delight.

PLATE ILLUSTRATIONS

OPPOSITE
PAGE NO.

Plate I. California homes submerged in a sea of winter blossoms 3

II. Apricot trees with and without summer cultivation 105

III. Ground view of good job of fruit-thinning 121

" IV. Cement ditches and irrigation by check system 169

" V. Orchard irrigation by furrow system 185

" VI. A good start toward an apple orchard 201

VII. Typical aspect of a bearing apricot orchard 217

" VIII. Young cherry orchard in good form 225

" IX. Bearing peach orchard in an irrigated district 257

" X. Development of strong-branching form in the French prune. . 265

XI. Orchard of shipping plums in a foothill district 281

XII. Shaping the grape clusters for shipping 289

XIII. Profuse bearing of vine by long pruning 321

" XIV. Bearing of the young date palm in California 329

XV. The Sevillano olive as grown in Tehama County 345

XVI. Olives popular in California 353

" XVII. Partial view of Riverside citrus district 385

" XVIII. Orange trees with sucker growth and good growth 393

XIX. Bearing of young budded orange tree and orchard view with

cover crop 409

XX. The Mammoth Blackberry 417

XXL The Loganberry 449

" XXII. Strawberry patch with cane windbreak and almond trees in

bloom 457

" XXIII. Cleft graft of walnut and method of supporting grafts 473

" XXIV. California sunshine evaporator with accessory buildings 481

506

INDEX

Page

Acorns, edible 40

Alfalfa in orchard 131, 439

Alkaline Soils 34

Alligator Pear 401

Almond, The 424

growing from seed 68

hulling and bleaching 426

pollination 428

propagation 68, 425

pruning 426

situations and soils 425

wild 40

varieties 194, 429

Animals, injurious 493

Ants, killing 482

Apple in California 195

aphis, resistant 197

aphis, woolly 473

drying 454

exposures for 196

gathering 200

irrigation 200

localities for 196

mildew 488

mission 42

native crab 36

planting distance 198

picking and packing 202

pollination 204

propagation 197

pruning 198

scab or smut 488

second crop 196

seedlings, growing 66, 67

shipping 203

soils for 197

storehouse for 201

summer and fall 203

table of varieties 209

thinning 125, 200

varieties, most popular 193

when to pick 200

winter 203

worm 480

varieties 193, 204

Apricot 210

climatic requirements 211

diseases of 217

distances for 213

drying 454

exposures for 211

growing seedlings 68

irrigation 216

localities for 211

mission 42

507

Page
Apricot — continued

old trees 210

on almond root 213

planting 213

pruning 214

shot-hole fungus 218

stocks and soils for 212

table of varieties 218

thinning 125, 216

varieties 193, 219

Army Worms 466

Atmospheric humidity 21

Banana, The 393

Barberry, native 39

Bear berry 39

Bergamot 392

Berries and currants 404

Berries, various wild 38

Birds, poisoning 496

Blackberry, The 405

cultivation 406

hybrids 417

distances for 405

irrigating 408

longevity of 408

propagation 405

pruning 406, 410

wild 38

varieties 408

Blasting for planting 94

Borers 104, 477, 480

Bones, treatment of 143

Bordeaux Mixture 488, 491

Brush, cutting to kill 62

Budding, common method 73

June 73

over old trees 82

spring 76

Bud, cutting to a 123

Buds, dormant 81

Buffalo berry 39

Cactus fruits 40

Canned fruit product 445

Canning industry 445

Canker worms 467

Caterpillars 467

Chain for laying out 93

Chamisal and chanarral 57

Charcoal making 61

Cherimoyer 394

Cherry 221

delayed fruiting of 223

distances for 225

exposures for 224

gum disease 228

508

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Page
Cherry — continued

grafting the 227

localities for 221

moisture requirements 222

old trees 221

pests and diseases 228

pruning the 225

seedlings growing 67

slug 468

soils for the 222

stocks for the 224

table of varieties 230

wild 37

varieties 193, 229

Chestnut, The 430

seedlings 68

wild 40

Choco or Chayota 394

Cipoletti Weir 183

Citron, The 392

Clearing land for fruit 57

brushy 60

cost of 58

grading 63

steam puller 59

stump puller 60

with powder 60

time to cut to kill 62

Climate, divisions of California 11

of California, characteristics of. .9, 18

of California, why mild... 10, 18

foothill 15

mountain 16

coast 13

valley 14

value of 23

Cloudiness, east and west 21

Coast pests and diseases 14

Codlin moth 480

Composting 146

Corner, to find true 90

Cover crops 150

Cranberries 412

wild 39

Crops between trees or vines 131

Crystallizing fruit 446

Cultivation 128

adequate 129

hillside 134

methods of 132

purposes of 128

shallow, results of 130

summer 135, 137

to retain moisture 128

without plowing 136

Currants 412

culture of 413

regions for 413

varieties grown 414

wild 38

Custard apple 394

Cutworms . 466

Page

Cuttings, fruit trees from 70

Dates 319

at the missions 319

bearing age of 322

bearing in Solano County 320

blooming of 322, 323

first fruit 320

from seed 321

from suckers 322

propagation of 320

requirements of 320

transplanting 321

Dewberry 409

Diabroticas 482

Die-back 490

Dormant buds 82

Drainage desirable 63, 189

Dried fruits (see fruits) 447

boxes for 453

covering 450

cutting sheds 451

dipping 453

drying floors 450

grading and cleaning 451, 452

packing 453

product of 448

sulphuring 451

sweating 453

trays for 450

worm 482

Elderberries 37

Evaporated Fruits 460

Evaporator, sunshine 450

Fertilizers in California J40

caution in use of 141, 148

for trees and vines 141

lime and gypsum 144

methods of applying 149

value of green 150

when necessary 141

sources of nitrogen 144

sources of phosphoric acid 143

sources of potash 143

waste products for 147

Feijoa Sellowiana 396

Fig 324

bearing age 329

budding 326

caprification 320

drying 454

foes of 331

from cuttings 326

from seeds 328

grafting 327

mission 42

planting and pruning 328

regions for 324

size of old trees 324

soils for 325

varieties 194, 330, 331

Filbert growing 431

wild 40

INDEX

509

Page

Frosts, susceptibility of fruits 500

protection from 500

Fruit cultivation 128

Fruit gardens, early 46

Fruit industries, influence of 53

Fruit industries, outlook of 54

Fruit interest, extent of 52

Fruit shipments 51

Fruit thinning 125

Fruit tree acreage 52, 448

Fruit products, value of 53

Fruits, crystallizing 446

drying 447

drying floors 450

graders 451

grafted, first in California 46

locations for 12

value as stock food 503

Fruit shipments, eastern 50, 51

Fruit trees, dwarf 46

Fruits, commercial varieties 191

Fruits, locations for 12

Fruits, mission 42

Fruits, native 36

Fruits, Russian 45

Fruit, soil ingredients of 142

Goat nut, or jajoba 40

Gooseberry, The 414

culture of 414

requirements of 414

varieties 415

wild 38

Gophers, killing 495

pitfall for 496

trapping 496

Grafting 76

bark 84

cleft 79

old trees 83

root 80

side 79, 84

time for 85

top 83

whip 80

wax for 78

waxed bands 78

Graft, time to 85

Grafts, planting out 80

Granadilla 396

Grape, area of 285

budding 292

conditions of ripening 19

cutting grafts 296

dibbles for planting 299

diseases of 312

distance 298

from cuttings 289

from layers 288

from seed 288

frost injuries 311

grafting 292, 295

insects 470, 474

Page
Grape — continued

industry 285

length of season 286

mildew 488

mission 42, 44

number per acre 298

planting devices 298

planting in rows 297

products 285

pruning 302, 311

pruning, long 308

pruning, short 285

resistant 296

rooting in nursery 292

shipping 285, 286

soils for . ; 286

stakes, twine, etc 302

suckering 310

sulphuring 488

summer pruning 305, 310

syruo 460

topping 306

trellising 309

varieties 313

wild 37

wine, varieties of 318

Grasshoppers, killing 471

Growing season, long 23

Guava, The 395

Gummosis 491

Gypsum, uses of 145

Hardpan, breaking up 94

Heat, deficient on coast 13

importance of 18

summer, records of 19

Heeling in young trees 99

Hexagonal planting 91, 92

Hillside, rows on 90

use of triangle on 93,

Holes for trees 94, 95

Huckleberries, wild 39

Humidity, atmospheric 21

deficient 24

east and west 22

excessive 24

Insects, injurious 465

Insects, remedies 483

Irrigation 153

distributing manure by 149

ditches 178

drainage and 188

evils of excessive 154

flooding 163

for citrus fruits 157

for deciduous fruits 157

flume building for 176

hillside 173

how much 155, 157

implements for 165

in early days 49

in basins 168

in checks . 163

510

CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM

Page
Irrigation — continued

in furrows 170, 174

leveling for 63

locating contour lines 178

manure with irrigation water 149

manurial value of 150

measurement of water 182, 184

methods of 163

nursery 72

objections answered 154

overhead 177

relation to cultivation 160

relation to rainfall 156

relation to soil 158

relation to tillage 159

reservoirs, small 179

running ditches for 178

subirrigation 188

suggestions for 187

summer 162

taken from ditches 181

wells and pumps for 182

wheels for 181

when desirable 153, 161

winter 161

Jajoba 40

Jujube of commerce 396

Jujube, native 40

June buds 73, 81

Kai Annie 403

Laying out land for fruit 87

Leaf lice 469

Legumes in orchard 151

Lemon berry 40

Lemon, The 354

curing 388, 390

picking 388

planting and pruning 387

propagation 70, 387

situations and soils for 355

varieties 391

Lemon berry 40

Lice, leaf 469

Lime, The 391

Lime, uses of 144

Loganberry 417

Loquat, The 397

Manure, care of 145

green 150

poultry 147

sheep, use of ]47

Manuring at planting 103

Manzanita berries 39

Map of orchard and vineyard 104

Marls 145

Mealy bugs 477

Measuring wire 88

Melon shrub 400

Melon tree 400

Mildew 488

Miner's inch 182

Mission fruits . 42

Page

Moisture lost by weed growth 130

retained by cultivation 128

Morning Glory, killing 138

Moss, removing 489

Mulberry, The 415

Mulching, after planting 104

Mulching as substitute for cultivation 139

Nectarine 252

compared with peach 252

dried 253, 456

future of 254

varieties 253

Nitrogen for fruits 144, 150

Nursery 64, 365

budding and grafting 73

classes of nursery stock 81

growing seedlings 66

imported seedlings 69

irrigation 72

laying out and planting 70

pruning in 81

selection of site for 64

soil, preparation of 66

soil, proper for 64

trees, ages of 80, 81

trees, digging 98

trees, disinfecting 483

trees, selecting 97

when to plant 100

Nuts growing in California 424

growing from seed 68

wild 40

Olives 335

at old missions 43

budding 338

canning 348

climate for 335

from cuttings 337

from seed 336

grafting 340

localities for 336

oil making 344, 345

planting 341

preferred varieties 349

pruning 342

pickling 335, 346

small cuttings 337

soils for 336

truncheons 338

twig borer 478

wild 40

varieties 194, 348

Orchard land, preparation of 86

laying out in squares 87

alternating squares 88

equilateral triangles 91

measure and sight 88

measuring wire 88

quincunx planting 91

time for planting 100

Orange 351

all the year from California. .354, 378

INDEX

511

Page
Orange — continued

budding and grafting 366

California regions discussed 356

conditions for citrus fruits 363

diseases 377

distances for 368

from cuttings 70, 364

from layers 364

from seed 364

in central California 357

in southern California 359

mission 42

nursery 365

outlook 361

packing 380

planting in orchard 368

product 53, 351, 353, 355

propagation 363

pruning 371

ripening first at the north 360

seedlings, care of 365

situation and soils for 362

superiority of semi-tropical 354

transplanting 368

world's industry 351

varieties 194, 378

Orchard planting 94

Oregon grape 39

Oso berry 37

Popular fruit varieties 191

Palm nuts 40

Peach 233

age at planting ; 238

approved lists of 247

blight 489

blooming of varieties 246

curl-leaf 244

diseases 243

distance in planting 238

dormant buds 238

drying 455

early bearing 234

grafting 243

growing season of 23

irrigation 242

localities for 235

longevity of 233

mildew 244

mission 42

moth 477, 482

"peach almond" 23$

pitting clings 455

propagation 237

pruning 116, 234, 239

ripening of varieties 246

root borer 478

seedlings 66

soils for 236

stocks for 238

table of varieties 245

thinning 125, 241

varieties 193, 246

Page

Peanut growing 431

Pear 255

Bartlett, why popular 256

blight .........258, 261

characteristics in California 256

diseases 261

distances for the 259

drying 455

dwarf 258

for alkali soil 258

irrigation 260

largest on record < 255

localities for 256

mission 42

on quince stock 258

pollination 260

propagation of 258

pruning 259

seedlings, growing 66, 67

slug 468

soils for 257

storing and ripening 262

tables of varieties 267

thinning '. 260

varieties 193, 264

Pear, Alligator 401

Pecan, The 432

Persimmon, Japanese 397

Persimmon, Virginian 397

Persimmons, curing 398

Phenomenal berry 417

Phosphates 143

Phyloxera 474

Pioneers, planting by 46

Pineapple 398

Pine nuts 40

Pistachio, The 433

Planting, conditions favoring 100

bar for setting 96

cutting back after 105, 112

depth of 103

digging holes for 94

laying off for 87, 88, 89

mulching 104

operation of 101

preparing land for 86

speed in 103

time for 100

triangular tree setter 96

use of manure 103

use of water 102

Plowing, devices for 132

orchard and vineyard 133

on hillside 134

to break hardpan 87, 133

Plow, laying off with 88

Plums and prunes 268

California false 37

confusion in names 274

definition of a prune 268

drying 456

from the root 271

512

CALIFORNIA FRUITS I HOW TO GROW THEM

Page
Plums and Prunes — continued

grafting 273

in southern California 270

length of season 269

localities for 268

mission 43

myrobalan 270

planting 271

pollination 276

propagation 270

pruning the 271

seedlings 68

stocks and soils 270

table of varieties 277

varieties 193, 277

wild 36

Plumcot, The 274

Pomegranate, The 43, 399

Pomelo 383

packing 383

varieties 194, 384

Potash 143

Prickly Pear 41, 400

Prune curing 456

Pruning 106

bearing trees 115

California style 109

effects of 109

gathering brush 124

influenced by location 109

low, advantages of 109

nursery 81

prunings as fertilizer 124, 148

purposes of 107

times for 119

tools 123

to renew old trees 122

vase form, securing 109

wounds, covering 124

Quince 282

demand for 282

propagation 282

pruning 283

soils for 283

varieties 283

Quincunx planting 91

Rabbit, fences 493

Rabbits, destroying . , 494

poisons for 494

smears for 494

Rainfall, records of 12

Rainfall or irrigation 153, 156

Raisin making 193, 318, 458

Raspberry, The 416

black-caps 417

hybrids 417

pruning 416

varieties, popular 194, 417

wild 38

Red Spider 472

Root rot 489

Root-knots 491

Page

Russian introduction of fruits 45

Salal 39

Salmon berry 38

Scale Insects 474

black 476

brown apricot 476

cottony cushion 477

pear 475

orange, red 475

orange, soft A76

oyster shell 475

rose and berry 475

San Jose 475

remedies for 484

Sapota, white 402

Scions, care of 76

selection of 77

Sea Fig 40

Seed, growing trees from 68

Seedlings, imported 69

Septuple, laying off 92

Service Berry 39

Soils for fruits 25

adobe 33

alkali 34

alluvial 31

bed-rock or hard-pan 34

blasting 94

characteristics of California 26

classification of 28

clay 33

defective 33

desert 30

examination of 35

first aid to 143

granitic 32

loams 28, 29, 32

mesa 30

organic matter 151

plains 29

red 32

river bottom 31

sedimentary or silty 31

shallow, blasting 94

Sour sap 490

Snider, red 472

Stock, fruit as food for 503

Squares, laying off in 87

Squirrels, destroying 494

Strawberry 418

care of 421

continuous bearing 421

laying out for 420

planting 421

propagation 419

situations and soils 419

varieties, popular 194, 421

wild 38, 421

Strawberry tree 400

Summer pruning 120

Sunburn, protection from 104, 478

Sunlight, value of direct 20

INDEX

513

Page

Sunshine, evaporating 450

Sunshine, records of 21

Temperature, lowest 18

Temperature, records of 18

Thinning fruit 125

Thrips 470

Tomato, tree 402

Toyon 40

Trees, activity and rest of 17

heeling in 99

selecting 97

Tree-setters 95, 96

Triangle for laying out 92

Tuna fruit 41

Tussock moth 468

Varieties, chiefly planted 193

Vine hoppers 470

Vine-puller 61

Vineyard — see grape

Walnut, black 40

Walnut English 433

hacteriosis or blight 443, 490

bleaching 440

blossoms of 440

budding 435

culture and soils 434, 439

Page
Walnut — continued

gathering and drying 440

grafting 436

growing seedlings 68

hybrids 435

propagation and planting 434, 438

pruning 438

soils 434

varieties 194, 442

wild 40

Water measurements 182

Weed killing by cultivation 138

Weeds, evaporation by 128

Weir measurement 184

Whitewash against sunburn 104

Whitewash to delay bloom 501

Wild fruits of California 36

Windbreaks 498

trees for 498

Wine grapes 318

Winery refuse as manure 148

Winter-killing, unknown 18

Wire, measuring 88

Woolly aphis ^ 473

Wounds, covering . ._ 124

Yellow jackets, killing 482

California Vegetables

IN

GARDEN AND FIELD

A MANUAL OF PRACTICE WITH AND WITHOUT IRRIGATION

By EDWARD J. W1CKSON, A. M.

CONTENTS

Chapter.

I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

IX.

X.

XI.

XII.

XIII.

XIV.

XV.

XVI.

XVII.

XVIII.

XIX.

Vegetable Growing in California.
Farmers' Gardens in California.
California Climate as Related to

Vegetable Growing.
Vegetable Soils of California.
Garden Irrigation.
Garden Drainage in California.
Cultivation.
Fertilization.
Garden Location and Arrange

ment.

The Planting Season.
Propagation.
Asparagus.
Artichokes.
Beans.
Beet.

Cabbage Family.
Carrot, Parsnip and Salsify.
Celery.
Chicory.

Chapter.

•nia. XX.

Corn.

lia. XXI.

Cucumber.

to XXII.

Egg Plant.

XXIII.

Lettuce.

XXIV.

Melons.

XXV.

Onion Family.

i. XXVI.

Peas.

XXVII.

Peppers.

XXVIII.

Potatoes.

e- XXIX.

Radishes.

XXX.

Rhubarb.

XXXI.

Spinach.

XXXII.

Squashes.

XXXIII.

Tomato.

XXXIV.

Turnip.

XXXV.

Vegetable Sundries.

XXXVI.

Vegetables for Canning

XXXVII.

and Drying.
Seed Growing in California.

XXXVIII.

Garden Protection.

XXXIX.

Weeds in California.

Third Edition— Revised and Extended

COMMENDATION OF "CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES"

The work will be found of inestimable assistance to those who are interested in vegetable
growing in California, not only on a large scale, but to the large number who cultivate these
products for their own consumption. — San Francisco Call.

We take no risk in advising every Californian who has a garden spot to procure a copy. —
San Francisco Chronicle.

Not only interesting but valuable to every one in this State who cultivates ever so small
a lot of ground. The author is eminently qualified for the work which he has just completed.
— San Francisco Bulletin.

It treats of the proper culture of all leading vegetables in California. It is full of infor-
mation and instruction. It is so clear that whoever uses it as a guide book can not go
astray in vegetable culture. The work is freely illustrated and handsomely bound. — Sacra-
mento Record-Union.

Covers every part of the State in technical analysis and physical demonstration. — Peta-
luma Courier.

It treats of every feature of vegetable production in plain, common-sense terms, and gives
reasons for its assertions. — Pomona Times.

Price $2.00, Postpaid Anywhere

Address, PACIFIC RURAL PRESS Publishers SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
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