French or Italian.

In the prune-growing district around Salem, Oregon, Italian prunes are

grown exclusively for drying purposes. French prunes were considered

worthless. Here in Sutter county, California, a great many French prunes

are grown and we are advised to plant them, but would rather plant the

Italian prune. Which would you advise us to set out in this part of the

State?

The Italian or Fellenberg prune was grown to some extent in California

40 years and abandoned; it was not so sure in bearing as the French, and

it was not the type of prune which we had ambition to excel with. The

prune which we grow as the French is the true prune or plum of Agen. We

should plant it and let the Oregon people have the Italian.

Myrobalan Seedlings.

I am sending two small plums which I am told are Myrobalan plum. I

desire to grow seedlings on which later to bud and graft French prunes.

If these are Myrobalan plums, will trees from them be as good as trees

from pits that were imported?

The fruits are Myrobalan plums, and their seedlings would be suitable

for the French prune, providing the trees which bear them are strong,

thrifty growing trees. There is great variation in the colors of the

Myrobalan seedlings, from light yellow to dark red, and it is the

satisfactory growth of the tree rather than the character of the fruit

which one has to bear in mind when growing seedlings from selected trees

instead of depending so largely on imported seedlings.

Drying Plums and Prunes.

I have plum trees of various kinds that are loaded with fruit. I do not

know if any are of the variety used for drying as prunes: I know nothing

of the process of making or drying prunes. One man suggests that I dip

them for four or live minutes in a 3 or 4 per cent solution of lye and

then place them in the sun.

Dipping your plums is right providing they are very sweet, as they will

dry like prunes without removing the pit. If they are plums that are

commercially used for shipping, without enough sugar to dry as prunes,

the pit must be removed. Drying in this way, you do not need to use lye,

which is simply for the purpose of cracking the skin so that the

moisture can be more readily evaporated. There is no danger in using the

necessary amount of lye. Less is used than in making hominy.

The Sugar Prune.

What is the commercial value of the Sugar prune? Is there any other

early ripening variety better than the Sugar?

It is selling very well as a cured prune, and growers in the northern

bay counties especially have done so well that they are extending their

plantings. It is coarser in flesh than the French and generally flatter

in flavor when cooked and thus falls below the ideal of a cured prune,

but it has compensating characters, such as early ripening, with which

no other prune compares. The Sugar is also valuable as a shipping plum

to Eastern markets.

Glossing Dried Prunes.

Will you give the method for giving the gloss to dried French prunes?

There are various methods. One pound of glycerine to 20 gallons of

water; a quick dip in the mixture very hot gives a good finish. Where a

clear bloom rather than a shine, is desired, five pounds of common salt

to 100 gallons of water, also dipped hot, gives a good effect. Some use

a thin syrup made by boiling small prunes in water (by stove or steam)

and thinning with water to produce the result desired. Steam cooking

avoids bad flavor by burning. The salt dip is probably the most widely

used.

Price of Prunes on a Size Basis.

Explain the grading in price of prunes. For instance, if the base price

is, say, five and three-fourths cents, what size does this refer to, and

how is the price for other sizes calculated? Also, what is the meaning

of the phrase "four-size basis"?

Prunes, after being sold to the packer, are graded into different sizes,

according to the number required to make a pound, and paid for on that

basis. The four regular sizes are 60-70s, 70-80s, 80-90s, and 90-100s,

which means that from 60 to 70 prunes are required to make a pound, and

so on. The basis price is for prunes that weigh 80 to the pound. When

the basis price is 5 3/4 cents, 80-90s are worth 1/4 cent less than this

amount, or 5 1/2 cents. The next smaller size, 90-100s, are worth 1/2

cent less, or 5 cents, while prunes under this size are little but skin

and pit and bring much less to the grower. For each next larger size

there is a difference of 1/2 cent in favor of the grower, so that on the

5 3/4-cent basis 70-80s are worth 6 cents, and 60-70s 6 1/2 cents. This

advance continues for the larger sizes, 30-40s, 40-50s, etc., but these

quite often command a premium besides, which is fixed according to the

supplies available and the demand for the various sizes. The sizes for

which no premium or penalty is generally fixed are those from 60 to 100,

four sizes, so that this basis of making contracts and sales is called

the "four-size basis." The advantage that results in having this method

of selling prunes can be seen by the fact that on a 5 3/4-cent basis the

smallest of the four sizes will bring but 5 cents a pound, while 30-40s

would bring, without any premium, 8 1/2 cents, and with 1 cent premium,

9 1/2 cents. This size has this season brought as high as 10 and 11

cents a pound. It may be noted here that no prunes are actually sold at

just the basis price, as they are worth either less or more than this as

they are smaller or larger than 80 to the pound. No matter what the

basis price is, there is a difference of one-half cent between each size

and the sizes nearest to it.

Pollinizing Plums.

How many rows of Robe de Sergeant prune trees should be alternated with

the French prune (the common dried prune of commerce) to insure perfect

fertilization of the blossoms?

The French prune is self-fertile; that is, it does not require the

presence of other plum species for pollination of the blossoms. It is

the Robe de Sergeant prune which is defective in pollination and which

is presumably assisted by proximity to the French prune. If you wish to

grow Robe de Sergeant prunes your question of interplanting would be

pertinent, but if you desire only to grow French prunes you need not

plant the Robe de Sergeant at all.

Cultivating Olives.

How deep should an olive orchard be plowed? I was told that by plowing

deep I would injure my trees, in cutting up small rootlets and fibres

which the olive extends through the surface soil. Is this so or not?

Plowing olives is like plowing other trees, the purpose being to get a

workable soil deep enough to stand five or six inches of summer

cultivation, usually. If you have old trees which have never been deeply

plowed, you would destroy a lot of roots by deep plowing, and you should

not start in and rip up all the land at once. You can gradually deepen

the plowing, sacrificing fewer roots at a time, without injuring the

trees if they are otherwise well circumstanced. Small rootlets and

fibres in the surface soil do not count; they are quickly replaced, and

if you do not destroy them, the whole surface soil, if moist enough,

will be filled with a network of roots which will subsequently make

decent working of the soil impossible.

Moving Old Olive Trees.

Would there be anything gained by transplanting old olive trees 6 to 8

inches in diameter over nursery stock? They would have to be shipped

from Santa Clara to Butte county and grafted. Would they come into

bearing any sooner and be as good trees? Could the large limbs be used

to advantage? Would the fact that they are covered with smut cause any

trouble?

Old olive trees can be successfully moved a long distance by cutting

back, taking up a ball of earth, and possibly a short distance with bare

roots if everything is favorable. But do not for a moment think them

worth such an outlay for labor, freight and hauling which such a

movement as you mention involves. The trees on arrival would probably

only be firewood, and if they lived, the time required in getting a good

growth and grafting, etc., would perhaps be as great as in bringing a

young tree of the right kind to bearing, and the latter would be a

better tree in every way. Large limbs can be split and used as cuttings,

but the tree would be growth on one side and decay on the other. Use the

smaller limbs for hard-wood cuttings and the balance for firewood. The

smut shows that the trees are covered with scale insects and might

indicate that it is better to burn up the whole outfit unless you learn

to fight them.

Darkening Pickled Olives.

Is there anything that will make olives keep their black color when put

into lye? When I put my first picking of ripe olives in lye, a large

part of them turn green, the black leaving the fruit. My formula is one

pound of lye to five gallons of water. Have you any better formula?

By exposing the olives to the light and air, either during the salting

or immediately after, ripe olives may be given a uniformly black color.

Also, fruit which is less ripe and which shows red and green patches

after processing with lye, becomes an almost uniform dark brown color.

To do this, the olives are removed from the brine and exposed to light

and air freely for one or two days. Your lye was stronger than

necessary. With ripe olives it is desirable to use salt and lye together

to prevent softening, and the common prescription is two ounces of

potash lye and four ounces of salt to the gallon of water after the

bitterness is largely removed by using one or two treatments with two

ounces of lye to the gallon without the salt. It is necessary to draw

off the solution, rinse well, and put on fresh solution several times

during the process to get the best results.

Seedling Olives Must Be Grafted.

Will olive trees grown from the olive seed be the right thing to plant?

Will they be true to the parent tree or will they have to be grafted?

Olives which a seedling olive tree will bear will be, as a rule, very

inferior and generally of the type of the wild olive. All such trees

must be grafted in order to produce any particular variety which you

desire.

Olives, Oranges and Peppers.

We have been told that olive trees easily become infested with a fungus

disease which they then impart to the orange tree. The same objection is

raised to the planting of pepper trees. May this be true in some parts

of the State and not in others?

The fungus of which you have heard is the "black smut." It is a result,

not a cause. It grows on the honey dew exuded from scale insects and if

your trees have no scale they have no fungus. The olive trees and pepper

trees may communicate this trouble to citrus trees, or vice versa -

whichever gets it first gives it away to the other. If you will work

hard enough to kill the scale wherever it appears you can have all these

trees, but, of course, it costs a lot to fight scale on big pepper

trees, and it is, therefore, wisest usually to choose an ornamental tree

not likely to accept the scale.

Budding Olive Seedlings.

I have planted olive seeds which are just sprouting now. Can these be

budded next June or July in the nursery row, or can they be

bench-grafted the following winter?

Your seedlings may make growth enough to spur-bud this summer. The

ordinary plate-bud does not take freely with the olive. Some of them may

do this; other seedlings may be slow and have to be budded in the second

summer. Watch the size and the sap flow so that the bark will lift well

- which may not be at just the time that deciduous trees are budded. It

may be both earlier or later in the season. Graft evergreens like the

olive in the nursery row; not by bench grafting.

Budding Old Olives.

I have seedling olive trees, set out in 1904, which I wish to change

over to the Ascolano variety. Which is the best way to do it, by budding

or grafting, and what is the proper time?

Twig-budding brings the sap of the stock to bear upon a young lateral or

tip bud, which is much easier to start than dormant buds used either as

buds or grafts. A short twig about an inch and a half in length is taken

with some of the bark of the small branch from which it starts, and both

twig and bark at its base are put in a bark slit like an ordinary shield

bud and tied closely with a waxed band, although if the sap is moving

freely it would probably do with a string or raffia tie. Put in such

buds as growth is starting in the spring.

Olives from Small Cuttings.

In the rooting of small soft-wood olive cuttings is it necessary to

cover same with glass - say perhaps prepare a cold-frame and put stable

manure in the bottom with about eight inches of sand on top?

It ceases to be a cold-frame when you cover in manure for bottom heat;

it becomes a hotbed. Varieties of olives differ greatly in the readiness

with which they start from small cuttings. Some start freely and grow

well in boxes of sand under partial shade - like a lath house or cover.

Some need bottom heat in such a hotbed as you describe with a cloth

over; some start well in a cold-frame with a lath cover. To get the best

results with all kinds, it is safer to use some more heat than comes

from exposure to ordinary temperatures - either by concentration, as in

a covered frame, or by a mild bottom heat. If you have glass frames or

greenhouse, they are, of course, desirable, but much can be done without

that expense.

Olives from Large Cuttings.

I am about to take olive cuttings from one-half to one inch thick and 54

to 20 inches long, and wish to root them in nursery rows. Please advise

me if it is necessary to plant under half shade? Also, can same be

planted out right away, or should they be buried in trenches for a while

before setting out? Would it be best to strip all leaves or branches

off, or leave one on? How many buds should be left above ground?

Plant in open ground in the coast district generally; in the interior a

lath (or litter shade not too dense) is desirable in places where high

dry heat is expected and where sprinkling under the cover may be

desirable. Plant out when the soil is right as to warmth and moisture,

which is usually a little later than this in the central and northern

parts of the State. Remove all leaves and twigs and plant about

three-quarters of the length in the soil, which should be a well-drained

sandy loam. The cuttings can be taken directly from the trees and need

not be bedded. If the cuttings come some distance and get end-dried,

make a fresh cut at planting. If shriveled at all, soak a few hours in

water before planting out.

Trimming Up Olives.

Limbs are shooting out too low on my olive trees. Would it be right to

trim them up while dormant this winter, or should I let them grow

another year before doing so? I think I want the first limbs to start at

18 to 20 inches above the ground.

Take off the lower shoots whenever your knife is sharp. Do not let them

grow another year. Theoretically, the best time to remove them is toward

the end of the dormant season, but if they are not large as compared

with the whole growth of the tree, go to it any time.

Canning Olives.

What is the recipe for preserving olives by heat, and how long do they

have to remain in the heated state?

Canning olives is a process, not a recipe, and it has to be operated

with judgment. It resembles, of course, the common process of canning

other fruits and vegetables. It has been demonstrated that heating up to

175° Fahrenheit is effective to keep olives in sealed containers for

over two years. The heating was done in the jars in the usual canning

way for several minutes after 175° was reached, to be sure the contents

were heated through.

Renewing Olive Trees.

I have olive trees on first-class land; no pest of any kind is apparent.

The trees look healthy in every way, and average about 12 inches at the

butt and 30 feet high. They have borne fruit, but for the last three

years have not borne. I am advised to cut back to stumps, 5 or 6 feet

high, and start new tops.

Unsatisfactory olive trees may be cut back, but not to such an extent as

you mention. Thin out the branches if too thick and cut back or remove

those which interfere, but to cut back to a stump would force out a very

thick mass of brush which you would have to afterward go into and thin

out desperately. The branches which you decide to retain may be cut back

to twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. This would have the effect of

giving you plenty of new thrifty wood, which is desirable for the

fruiting of the olive, but we cannot guarantee that this treatment will

make the trees satisfactory bearers. Are you sure they are receiving

water enough? If not, give them more next summer. Also give the land a

good coat of stable manure and plow under when the land is right for the

plow.

Growing Olives from Seed.

How are seedlings grown from olive seeds?

Growing olives from seeds is promoted by assisting nature to break the

hard shell. This can be done by pinching carefully with ordinary wire

pliers until the shell cracks without injury to the kernel, or the shell

may be cut into with a file, making a very small aperture to admit

moisture. The French have specially contrived pliers with a stop which

admits cracking and prevents crushing. Olive seeds in their natural

condition germinate slowly and irregularly. They must be kept moist and

planted about an inch deep in sandy loam, covering with chaff or litter

to prevent drying of the surface. Before experimenting with olive pits,

crack a few to see if they have good plump kernels. Seedling olives must

be grafted, of course, to be sure of getting the variety you want. For

this reason growth from cuttings is almost universal.

Neglected Olive Trees.

I have a lot of olive trees which have grown up around the old stumps.

They are large trees and some of them have six or eight trunks. Should I

cut away all but one trunk or let them alone? There are some of the

trees with small olives; others none.

If the olive trees which were originally planted were trained at first

and still have a good trunk and tree form, the suckers which have

intruded from below should be removed. If, however, the trees have been

allowed to grow many branches from below, so that there is really no

single tree remaining, make a selection of four or five of the best

shoots and grow the trees in large bush form, shortening in the higher

growth so as to bring the fruit within easier reach and reduce the cost

of picking. You can also develop a single shoot into a tree as you

suggest. Of course, you must determine whether the trees as they now

stand are of a variety which is worth growing. If they are all bearing

very small fruit, it would be a question whether they were worth keeping

at all, because grafting on the kind of growth which you describe would

be unlikely to yield satisfactory tree forms, though you might get a

good deal of fruit from them.

Olives from Cuttings.

I have two choice olive trees on my place. I am anxious to get trees

from these old ones and do not know how to go about it. Can I grow the

young trees by using cuttings or slips from these old trees ? If so,

when is the proper time to select the cuttings, and how should they be

planted?

Take cuttings of old wood, one-half or three-quarters of an inch in

diameter, about ten inches long, and plant them about three-quarters of

their length in a sandy loam soil in a row so water can be run alongside

as may be necessary to keep the soil moist but not too wet. Such dormant

cuttings can be put in when the soil begins to warm up with the spring

sunshine. They can be put in the places where you desire them to grow in

one or two years. Olives, like other evergreen trees, should be

transplanted in the spring when there is heat enough to induce them to

take hold at once in their new places, and not during the winter when

dormant deciduous trees are best transplanted.

Water and Frost.

I have in mind two pieces of land well adapted to citrus culture. Both

have the same elevation, soil, climate and water conditions, except that

one piece is a mile of the Kaweah river, while the other is four or five

miles distant. In case of a frost, all conditions being about the same,

which piece would you consider to be liable to suffer the more? In the

heavy frost of last December, while neither sustained any great damage,

that portion of the ground nearer the river seemed to sustain the less.

Is this correct in theory? The Kaweah river at this point is a

good-sized stream of rapidly flowing water.

The land near the river, conditions of elevation being similar, would be

less liable to frost. There are a good many instances where the presence

of a considerable body of water prevents the lowering of the temperature

of the air immediately adjacent. It is so at various points along the

Sacramento river, and it is recognized as a general principle that

bodies of water exert a warming influence upon their immediate

environment even in regions with a hard winter. How much it may count

for must be determined by taking other conditions into the account also.

Thinning Oranges.

Is it advisable to thin fruit on young citrus trees? Our trees have been

bearing about three years, but they are still small trees. The oranges

and grape fruit ripen well and are large and of excellent quality, but

the trees seem overloaded.

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 as with peaches and apricots, because it is not so necessary

and because it is easy to get oranges on young trees too large and to be

discounted for over-sized 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. It should be done after the natural drop takes place,

during the summer.

Wind-blown Orange Trees.

What would you do for citrus trees five years old that have been badly

blown out of shape?

Such trees must be trued up by pruning into the wind; that is, cutting

to outside buds on the windward side and to inside buds on the lee side;

also reducing the weight by pruning away branches which have been blown

too far to the leeward. Sometimes trees can be straightened by moving

part of the soil and pulling into the wind and bracing there by a good

prop on the leeward side, but that, of course, is not practicable if the

trees have attained too much size.

Handling Balled Citrus Trees.

I have some orange and lemon trees which were sent me with their roots

balled up with dirt and sacks. As we are still having frosts I have not

wanted to set them out. Would it not be better to let them stay as they

are and keep the sacks wet (they have a sack box over them) than to put

them out while the frosts last?

Your citrus trees will not be injured for a time unless mold should set

in from the wet sacks. Get them into the ground as soon as the soil

comes into good condition, and cover the top for a time after they are

planted to protect them against frosts. This would be better than to

hold them too long in the balls, but do not plant in cold, wet soil;

hold them longer as they are.

The Navel Not Thornless.

I have lately purchased some Washington navel orange trees, and upon

arrival I find they have thorns upon them. I thought the Washington

navels were thornless.

The navel orange tree is not thornless. It is described as a medium

thorny variety, so that the finding of thorns upon the trees would not

be in itself sufficient indication that they were not of the right

variety.

Over-size Oranges.

I have some orange trees in a disintegrated granite with a good many

small pieces of rock still remaining in the soil. What I wish to know is

whether it is probably something in the soil that makes them grow too

large, or is it probably the method of treatment? What treatment should

be adopted to guard against this excessive growth?

Young trees have a natural disposition to produce outside sizes of

fruit, and this is sometimes aggravated by excessive use of fertilizers,

sometimes by over-irrigation. We would cease to fertilize for a time and

to regulate irrigation so that the trees will have enough to be thrifty

without undertaking excessive growth. Such soil as you describe is

sometimes very rich at the beginning in available plant food, and

fertilization should be delayed until this excess has been appropriated

by the tree.

Budding or Grafting in Orange Orchard.

I have land now ready to be planted to oranges, but it is impossible for

me to buy the necessary budded stock now or even later this year. Would

you advise me to plant the "sour stock" as it comes from the nursery and

have it budded or crown-budded later? Are there any real objections to

this method, and, if so, what are they?

It is perfectly feasible to plant sour-stock seedlings and to graft them

afterward to whatever variety of oranges you desire to grow, but it is

undoubtedly better to pay a pretty good price for budded trees of the

kind you desire rather than incur the delay and the irregular growth of

young trees budded or grafted in the field. There is also danger of an

irregular stand from accidental injuries to new growth started in the

field without the protection which it finds in the nursery row.

Budding Oranges.

How late in the fall can budding of orange trees be done - plants that

are two years old - and what advantage, if any, is late budding? What

shall I do with some old trees that were budded about two months ago and

are still green but not sprouted yet? The budding was done on young

shoots.

Late budding of the orange can be done as late as the bark will slip

well; usually, however, not quite so late as this. Such buds are

preferred because in the experience of most people they make stronger

growth than those put in in the spring. Such buds are not expected to

grow until the lowest temperatures of the winter are over. The buds

which you speak of as green but still dormant are doing just what they

ought to do. They will start when they get ready.

Under-pruning of Orange Trees.

My Washington Navels have a very heavy crop on the lower limbs, as is

usual. These branches are so low down that many of the oranges lie on

the ground, and it takes a good deal of time to prop them up so that

they will not touch the ground. What would be the result of pruning off

these low branches, after the fruit is off? Will the same amount of

fruit be produced by the fruit growing on the limbs higher up?

Certainly, raise the branches of the orange trees by removing the lowest

branches or parts of branches which reach to the ground. A little later

others will sag down and this under-pruning will have to be continuous.

It would be better to do this than to undertake any radical removal of

the lower branches. The progressive removal as becomes necessary will

not appreciably reduce the fruiting and will be in many ways desirable.

Keeping Citrus Trees Low.

My tangerines last fall shot up like lemon trees - a dozen to twenty

shoots two or three feet high. The trees are eight years old and are

loaded with bloom and some of the shoots have buds and bloom clear to

the top. Some shoots have no bloom. What should I do with these shoots?

Cut them back like lemons or let them remain?

You must shorten the shoots if you desire to have a low tree. This will

cause their branching and it will be necessary, therefore, to remove

some of the shoots entirely, either now or later, in order that the tree

will not become too compact.

Dying Back of Fruit Trees.

I have a few orange and lemon trees that are starting to die. One tree

has died on the top. What kind of spray shall I use?

The dying back of a tree at the top indicates that the trouble is in the

roots, and it is usually due to standing water in the soil, resulting

either from excessive application of water or because the soil is too

retentive to distribute an amount of water which might not be excessive

on a lighter soil which would allow of its freer movement. Dig down near

the tree and see if you have not a muddy subsoil. The same trouble would

result if the subsoil is too dry, and that also you can ascertain by

digging. If you find moisture ample, and yet not excessive, the injury

to the root might be due to the presence of alkali, or to excessive use

of fertilizers. The cause of the trouble has to be determined by local

examination and cannot be prescribed on the basis of a description of

the plant. It cannot be cured by spraying unless specific parasite is

found which can be killed by it.

Young Trees Dropping Fruit.

I have a few citrus fruit trees about three years old. They have made a

good growth and are between seven and eight feet high with a good shaped

top or head. I did not expect any fruit last year and did not have any.

This spring they blossomed irregularly at blooming time, but quite an

amount of fruit set and grew as large as marbles, some of it the size of

a walnut, but lately it has about all fallen off the trees.

There is always more or less dropping from fruit trees. Some years large

numbers of oranges drop. There may be many causes, and the trouble has

thus far not been found preventable. When the foliage is good and the

growth satisfactory, the young tree is certainly not in need of

anything. It is rather more likely that fruit is dropped by the young

trees owing to their excessive vegetative vigor, for it is a general

fact that fruit trees which are growing very fast are less certain in

fruit-setting. It is, of course, possible that you have been forcing

such action by too free use of water. You will do well to let your trees

go along so long as they appear thrifty and satisfactory, and expect

better fruiting when they become older.

Orange Training.

Is not a single leader in an orange tree more desirable than the

much-forked tree so commonly seen! Can a single-leader tree be made from

the nursery trees which have already formed their heads, by cutting off

the heads below so that only a straight stick without any branches is

left?

An orange tree with a central leader would not be at all satisfactory if

it were carried very high. Of course, a central stem can be to advantage

taken higher than it is often done, but we would not think of growing an

orange tree with a central stem to the apex. The laterals would droop,

crowd down upon each other badly, open the center to sunburn, and

encourage also a growth of central suckers and occasion an amount of

pruning altogether beyond what is necessary with a properly branched

tree without a central stem.

Curing Citron.

I wish to know a way to cure citrons at home. I have a fine tree that

has borne very fine-looking fruit for the past two years.

An outline for the preparation of candied citron is as follows: The

fruit, before assuming 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 immersed

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

crystallized 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.

Crops Between Orange Trees.

What crop can I plant between rows of young orange trees to utilize the

ground as well as pay a little something?

It depends not alone upon what will grow, but upon what can be

profitably sold or used on the place, and unless sure of that, it is

usually better not to undertake planting between young trees but rather

to cultivate well, irrigate intelligently, and trust for the reward in a

better growth and later productiveness of the trees. It is clear,

California experience that planting between trees except to things which

are demonstrated to be profitable should not be undertaken, and where

one does not need immediate returns is, as a rule, undesirable. The

growth of a strip of alfalfa, if one is careful not to submerge the

trees by over-irrigation, would be the best thing one could undertake

for the purpose of improving the soil by increasing the humus content,

reducing the amount of reflected heat from a clean surface, and is

otherwise desirable wherever moisture is available for it. You could

also grow cow peas for the good of the land if not for other profit. You

can, of course, grow small fruits and vegetables for home use if you

will cultivate well. Common field crops, with scant cultivation, will

generally cause you to lose more from the bad condition in which they

leave the soil than you can gain from the use or sale of the crop.

Navels and Valencias.

Navel trees are being budded to Valencias in southern California,

because of the higher price received for the late-ripening Valencias.

Are the orchards in central and northern California being planted in

Navels, and is there any difference in soil or climate requirements of

Navels and Valencias?

There is no particular difference in the soil requirements of Valencia

and Navel oranges. They are both budded on the same root. The

desirability of Navel oranges in the upper citrus districts arises from

the fact that the policy of those districts at the present time is to

produce an early orange. This they could not accomplish by growing the

Valencia. The great advantage of the Valencia in southern California, on

the other hand, lies in the very fact that it is late and that it can be

marketed in midsummer and early autumn when there are no Navels

available from anywhere.

Orange Seedlings.

What about planting the seed from St. Michael's oranges or of grapefruit

for a seed-bed to be budded to Valencias?

Good plump St. Michael's seeds would be all right if you desire to use

sweet seedling stock. Grapefruit seedlings are good and quite widely

used, though the general preference is for sour-stock seedlings.

Acres of Oranges to a Man.

In your opinion, is it possible for one man, of average strength, to

take perfect care of a twenty-acre citrus orchard? Are the services of a

man who takes the entire responsibility of an orchard (citrus) worth

more than those of a common ranch hand?

It depends upon the man, upon the age of the trees, upon the kind of

soil he has to handle, upon the irrigation arrangements and upon what

you mean by "perfect care." If you contract the picking and hauling of

fruit, the fumigation and allow extra help when conditions require that

something must be done quickly, whatever it may be, a man with good legs

and arms, and a good head full of special knowledge to make them go, can

handle twenty acres and if he does it right you ought to pay him twice

as much as an ordinary ranch hand.

Roots for Orange Trees.

What are the conditions most favorable to orange trees budded upon sour

stock; also upon sweet stock and trifoliata?

The sour stock is believed to be more hardy against trying conditions of

soil moisture - both excess and deficiency, and diseases incident

thereto. The sweet stock is a free growing and satisfactory stock and

most of the older orchards are upon this root, but it is held to be less

resistant of soil troubles than the sour stock, and therefore

propagators are now largely using the latter. The trifoliata has been

promoted as more likely to induce dormancy of the top growth during cold

weather, because of its own deciduous habit. It has also been advocated

as likely to induce earlier maturity in the fruit and thus minister to

early marketing. The objection urged against it has been a claimed

dwarfing of the tree worked upon it.

Citrus Budding.

I wish to bud some Maltese blood orange trees to pomelos and lemons.

Will they make good stock for them, and, if so, is it necessary to cut

below the original bud?

It is possible to bud as you propose, and it is not necessary to go back

to the old stock. Work in above the forks.

No Citrus Fruits on Lemon Roots.

Would it be any advantage to bud the Washington Navel on grapefruit and

lemon roots?

The grapefruit or pomelo is a good root for the orange, and some

propagators prefer it. The lemon root is not used at present, because of

its effect in causing a coarse growth of tree and fruit and because it

is more subject to disease than the orange root. In fact, we grow nearly

all lemons on orange roots.

Budding Oranges.

My first attempt at budding, I cut 20 buds and immediately inserted in

stock of Mexican sour orange "Amataca." I left bands on them for ten

days at which time about half seemed to have "stuck," but after a few

days the bark curled away and the buds dried up and died. I then tried

again, but left the bands on for thirteen days and lightly tied strings

around below the bud to prevent the bark from curling, and also put

grafting wax in the cut and over the bud. These appeared fresh and green

at time of taking off the bands, but three weeks later I found them

rotted. The grafting wax used was made of beeswax, resin, olive oil and

a small amount of lard to soften it. Do you think that the action of the

lard on the buds would cause them to rot?

Consider first whether the buds which you use are sufficiently

developed; that is, a sufficient amount of hardness and maturity

attained by the twig from which you took these buds. Second, use a waxed

band, drawing it quite tightly around the bark, above and below the bud,

covering the bud itself without too much pressure for several days, then

loosening the band somewhat, but carefully replacing over all but the

bud point. It is necessary to exclude the air sufficiently, but not

wholly. The use of a soft fat like olive oil or lard is not desirable.

If you use oil at all for the purpose of softening, linseed oil, as used

by painters, is safer because of its disposition to dry without so much

penetration. Having used olive oil and lard together you had too much

soft fatty material.

Budding Orange Seedlings in the Orchard.

What are the objections or advantages of planting sour stock seedlings

where one wishes the trees and one or two years later bud into the

branches instead of budding the young stock low on the trunk?

Planting the seedling and at some future time cutting back the branches

and grafting in the head above the forks is an expensive operation and

loses time in getting fruit. You will get very irregular trees and be

disappointed in the amount of re-working you will have to do. Suckers

must be always watched for; that has to be done anyway, but a sucker

from a wild stock is worse in effects if you happen to overlook it.

Avoid all such trouble by planting good clean trees budded in nursery

rows. You may have to do rebudding later, if you want to change

varieties, and that is trouble enough. Do not rush at the beginning into

all the difficulties there are.

Grapefruit and Nuts.

Peaches, pears and plums predominate in this section, but would not

grapefruit, almonds and English walnuts be just as profitable? What is

your idea about English walnuts on black walnut root?

You can expect grapefruit to succeed under conditions which favor the

orange. Therefore, if oranges are doing well in your district,

grapefruit might also be expected to succeed on the same soils and with

the same treatment. Planting of almonds should proceed upon a

demonstration that the immediate location is suited to almonds, because

they are very early to start and very subject to spring frost and should

not be planted unless you can find bearing trees which have demonstrated

their acceptance of the situation by regular and profitable crops.

English walnuts are less subject to frosts because they start much later

in the season. They need, however, deep, rich land which will be sure

not to dry out during the summer. English walnuts are a perfect success

upon the California black walnut root.

Soil and Situation for Oranges.

Is it absolutely essential that orange trees be planted on a southern

slope, or will they thrive as well on any slope? What is the minimum

depth of soil required for orange trees? How can I tell whether the soil

is good for oranges?

Orange trees are grown successfully on all slopes, although in

particular localities certain exposures may be decidedly best, as must

be learned by local observation. How shallow a soil will suit orange

trees depends upon how water and fertilizer are applied; on a shallow

soil more fertilizer and more frequent use of water in smaller

quantities. Any soil which has grown good grain crops may be used for

orange growing if the moisture supply is never too scant and any excess

is currently disposed of by good drainage. There can be no arbitrary

rule either for exposure, depth or texture of soils, because oranges are

being successfully grown on medium loam to heavy clay loam, providing

the moisture supply is kept right.

Transplanting Orange Trees.

Can you transplant trees two years old with safety to another location

in same grove, same soil; etc.?

Yes; and you can move them a greater distance, if you like. Take up the

trees with a good ball of earth, transplanting in the spring when the

ground has become well warmed, just about at the time when new growth

begins to appear on the tree. The top of the tree should he cut back

somewhat and the leaves should be removed if they show a disposition to

wilt. You should also whitewash or otherwise protect the bark from

sunburn if the foliage should be removed.

Protecting Young Citrus Trees.

Is it necessary to have young orange trees covered or leave them

uncovered during the winter months?

It is desirable to cover with burlaps or bale with cornstalks, straw or

some other coarse litter, all young trees which are being planted in

untried places; and even where old trees are safe, young trees which go

into the frost period with new growth of immature wood should be thus

protected. Do not use too much stuff nor bundle too tightly.

Not Orange on the Osage.

Can the Navel orange be grafted on the osage orange? I understand it is

done in Florida, and would like to know if it has been tried in

California.

It cannot. It has not been done in Florida nor anywhere else. The osage

orange is not an orange at all. The tree is not a member of the citrus

family.

No Pollenizer for Navels.

I read that the flowers of the Navel orange are entirely lacking in

pollen, or only poorly supplied. If this is true, what variety of orange

would you plant in a Navel grove - to supply pollen at the proper time?

We would not plant any other orange near the Navel for the sake of

supplying it with pollen. Pollen is only needed to make seeds, and by

the same process to make the fruit set, and Navels do not make seeds,

except rarely, nor do they seem to need pollen to make the fruit set.

Water and Frost.

From how many acres could I keep off a freeze of oranges with 1000

gallons per minute? The water is at 65 degrees.

The amount of water will prevent frost over as large an area as you can

cover with the water, so as to thoroughly wet the surface, but the

presence of water will only be effective through about four degrees of

temperature and only for a short time. If, then, the temperature should

fall below 27 degrees and should remain at that point for an hour or

two, it is doubtful if the water would save your fruit. Water is only of

limited value in the prevention of frost, and of no value at all when

the temperature falls too low.

What to Do with Frosted Oranges.

What is the best plan of treatment for frosted orange trees? The crop

will be a total loss. It does not show any tendency to fall off the

trees, however. Should it be picked off, thrown on the ground and plowed

under? Should this be done right away or later?

Unsound fruit should be removed as soon as its injury can be

conveniently detected and worked into the soil by cultivation; never,

however, being allowed to collect in masses, which is productive of

decay and which may be injurious to roots. If trees are injured

sufficiently to lose most of their leaves, the fruit should also be

removed if it shows a disposition to hang on. This will be a

contribution to the strength of the tree and its ability to clothe

itself with new foliage.

Pruning Frosted Citrus Trees.

How shall I prune two-year-old orange orchard, also nursery stock buds

that are badly injured by frost; how much to prune and at what time?

As soon as you can see how far injury has gone down the branch or stem,

cut below it, so that a new shoot may push out from sound wood, and heal

the cut as soon as possible. This applies to growths of all ages. In the

case of buds, if you can only save a single node you may get a bud

started there and make a tree of that. In the case of trees, large or

small, it is always desirable to cut above the forkings of the main

branches, if possible, and when this much of the tree remains sound, a

new tree can be formed very quickly. If the main stem is injured, bark

cracked, etc., cut below the ground and put scions in the bark without

splitting the root crown; wax well or otherwise cover exposed wood to

prevent checking. If this is successfully done, root-rot may be

prevented and the wound covered with new bark while the strong new stems

are developing above.

Pruning Oranges.

Is it best to prune out orange trees by removing occasional branches so

as to permit free air passage through the trees? Some are advocating

doing so; but as I remember, the trees in southern California are

allowed to grow quite dense, so that we could see into the foliage but

very little.

It is a matter of judgment, with a present tendency toward a more open

tree than was formerly prescribed. Trees should be more thrifty and

should bear more fruit deeper in the foliage-wall if more air and light

are admitted. But this can be had without opening the tree so that free

sight of its interior is possible. We believe thinning of the growth to

admit more light and air is good, but we should not intentionally cut

enough to make holes in the tree.

Pecan Growing.

Would you advise planting of pecans in commercial orchards here? Walnuts

in their proper location constitute some of California's best

improvements. After visiting some bearing paper-shell pecans here in

Fresno county, I believe a pecan orchard of choice variety would be more

desirable than a walnut orchard.

Pecans do well on moist rich land in the interior valleys where there

are sharper temperature changes than in the coast valleys, except

perhaps near the upper coast. Such planting as you propose seems

promising on lands having moisture enough to carry the nuts to full

ripening.

Growing Filberts.

Please give information about growing filberts.

Filberts have been largely a disappointment in California and no product

of any amount has ever been made. Good nuts have been produced in the

foothills of the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Range. Theoretically, the

places where the wild hazel grows would best suit the filbert, and so

far this seems to be justified by the little that has actually been

done, but there is very little to say about it beyond that. It requires

much more experience to lift the nut out of the experimental state.

Early Bearing of Walnuts.

Please inform me if young walnut trees grafted on black walnut stock

will produce fruit within 18 months after being planted.

It is true that the French varieties of English walnuts have produced

fruit the second summer of their growth. This does not mean, however,

that you can count upon a crop the second year. These are usually grafts

in nursery rows, and one would have to wait longer, as a rule, for trees

planted out in orchards with a chance to make a freer wood growth. This

is rather fortunate, because it is better to have a larger tree than to

have the growth diverted into bearing a small amount of fruit while the

tree is very young. We do not know any advantage in getting nuts the

second year except it be to see if you really have secured the variety

you desire to produce later.

Handling Walnut Seedlings.

What is the best time to transplant seedlings of the black walnut?

Transplant during the dormant season (as shown by absence of leaves)

when the soil is in good condition. Handle them just as you would an

apple tree, for instance.

How to Start English Walnuts.

In starting English walnuts, shall we get nursery stock grafted on

California black, or shall we start our black walnut seedlings in

nursery plats, or plant the nuts where the tree is wanted, and graft

them at two or three years? What is the advantage, if any, of the long

stock from grafting high, over the grafted root?

If we had the money to invest and were sure of the soil conditions,

etc., we should buy grafted trees of the variety we desired, just as we

would of any other kind of fruit. If we were shy of money and long on

time, we would start seedlings in nursery, plant out seedlings, and

graft later, because it is easier to graft when the seedling is two or

three years in place. We count the planting of nuts in place troublesome

and of no compensating advantage. The chief advantage known to us of

grafting high and getting a black walnut trunk is the hardier bark of

the black walnut.

Walnut Planting.

I am planning to plant walnuts on rather heavy soil. I have been told to

put the nut six inches below the surface, but think that too deep, as

soil is rather heavy.

In a heavy soil we should not plant these nuts more than three inches

below the surface, but should cover the surface with a mulch of rotten

straw to prevent drying out.

Pruning Grafted Walnuts.

Should English walnut trees be pruned? I have along the roadside English

walnuts grafted on the California black, and they have grown to very

large size and the fruit seems to be mostly on the outside of the trees.

English walnuts are not usually pruned much, though it is often

desirable, and of course trees can be improved by removing undesirable

branches and especially where too many branches have started from

grafts, it is desirable that some be removed. They should be cleanly

sawed off and the wound covered with wax or thick paint to prevent the

wood from decaying.

Pruning Walnuts.

When is the best time to remove large limbs from walnut trees?

This work with walnuts or other deciduous fruit trees should be done

late in the winter, about the time the buds are swelling; never mind the

bleeding, it does no harm, and the healing-growth over the wound is more

rapid while the sap is pushing.

Grafting Walnuts.

In cleft grafting walnuts is it necessary to use scions with only a leaf

bud, or with staminate or pistillate buds? Is cutting the pith of the

scion or stock fatal to the tree?

In grafting walnuts it is usual to take shoots bearing wood buds, and

not the spurs which carry the fruit blossoms, although a part of the

graft containing also a wood bud can be used, retaining the latter.

Cutting into the pith of the scion or of the stock is not fatal, but it

is avoided because it makes a split or wound which is very hard to heal.

For this reason it is better to cut at one side of the pith in the

stock, and to cut the scion so that the slope is chiefly in the wood at

one side of the pith and not cutting a double wedge in a way to bring

the pith in the center.

Grafting Nuts on Oaks.

I have 10 to 15 acres of black oak trees which I wish to graft over to

chestnuts. Can grafting be done successfully?

Some success has been secured in grafting the chestnut on the chestnut

oak, but not, so far as we have heard, on the black oak. But grafts on

the chestnut oak are not permanently thrifty and productive, though they

have been reported as growing for some time. The same is true of English

walnut grafts on some of the native oaks.

Grafting Walnut Seedlings.

Would it be proper to graft one-year California black walnut seedlings

that must also be transplanted?

As the seedlings must be moved, plant in orchard and graft as two or

three-year-olds, according to the size which they attain.

Pruning the Walnut.

What is the proper time for pruning the walnut? Is it bad for the tree

to prune during the active season? I have recently acquired a

long-neglected grove in which many large limbs will have to be removed

in order to allow proper methods of cultivation to be practiced, and I

am in doubt as to the wisdom of doing this during the rise of sap.

The best time to remove large limbs to secure rapid growth of bark from

the sides of the cut, is just at the time the sap is rising. There will

be some outflow of sap, but of no particular loss to the tree. As soon

as the large wounds have dried sufficiently, the exposed surface should

be painted to prevent cracking of the wood.

Eastern or California Black Walnuts?

I am told that the Eastern black walnut is a more suitable root for the

low lands in California than the California black. Is this true?

There has been no demonstration that the Eastern black walnut is more

suitable to low moist lands than the California black walnut. Our

grandest California black walnut trees are situated on low moist lands.

Walnut Grove is on the edge of the Sacramento river with immense trees

growing almost on the water's edge. Walnut Creek in Contra Costa county

is also named from large walnut trees on the creek bank land. We have

very few Eastern black walnut trees in California and although they do

show appreciation of moist land, they are not in any respect better than

the Californian.

Ripening of Walnuts.

I send you two walnuts. I am in doubt if they will mature.

The nuts are well grown, the kernel fully formed in every respect.

Whether they will attain perfect maturity must be determined by an

observation of the fact and cannot be theoretically predicated. Where

trees are in such an ever-growing climate as you seem to have, they must

apparently take a suggestion that the time has arrived for maturity from

the drying of the soil. The roots should know that it is time for them

to stop working so that the foliage may yellow and the nuts mature. It

is possible that stopping cultivation a little earlier in the season may

be necessary to accomplish this purpose.

Cutting Below Dead Wood.

I have some seedling English walnut trees which are two years old, but

they are not coming out in bud this year. They are about three feet

high, and from the top down to about 10 inches of the ground the limbs

are dark brown, and below that they are a nice green. I cut the top off

of one of them to see what is the matter that they do not leaf out, and

I found that there is a round hole right down through the center of the

tree down to the green part. The hole is about three-sixteenths of an

inch in diameter. The pith of the limbs has been eaten away by some kind

of a worm from the inside. Would it be better to cut the tree down to

the green part, or let them alone?

It is the work of a borer. Cut down to live wood and paint over the

wound or wax it. Protect the pith until the bark grows over it or you

will have decay inside. If buds do not start on the trunk, take a sucker

from below to make a tree of. You could put a bud in the trunk, but it

is not very easy to do it.

Walnuts in Alfalfa.

Will the walnut trees be injured in any way by irrigating them at the

same time and manner as the alfalfa - that is, by flooding the land

between the checks? Will the walnuts make as good a growth when planted

in the alfalfa, and the ground cultivated two or three feet around the

tree, as though the alfalfa was entirely removed? Is it advisable to

plant the trees on the checks rather than between the checks?

Walnut trees will do well, providing you do not irrigate the alfalfa

sufficiently to waterlog the trees; providing also that you do use water

enough so that the trees will not be robbed of moisture by the alfalfa.

This method of growing trees will be, of course, safer and probably more

satisfactory if your soil is deep and loamy, as it should be to get the

best results with both alfalfa and walnuts. It would be better to have

the trees stand so that the water does not come into direct contact with

the bark, although walnut trees are irrigated by surrounding them with

check levees. Planting walnut trees in an old stand of alfalfa is harder

on the tree than to start alfalfa after the trees have taken hold,

because the alfalfa roots like to hang on to their advantage. In

planting in an old field, we should plow strips, say, five feet wide and

keep it cultivated rather than to try to start the trees in pot-holes,

although with extra care they might go that way.

Walnuts in the Hills.

Will walnuts grow well in the foothill country; elevation about 600

feet, soil rich, does not crack in summer and seems to have small stones

in it?

Walnuts will do well providing the soil or subsoil is retentive enough.

If you have water available for irrigation in case the trees should need

it, they would do well, but if the soil is gravelly way down and likely

to dry out deeply and you have no water available an opposite result

might be expected. It is a fact that on some of the uplands of the coast

mountains there is a lack of moisture late in the season which

interferes with the success of some fruit trees.

To Increase Bearing of Walnuts.

We have a walnut orchard which does not bear enough nuts. The trees are

all fine, even trees, 10 and 12 years old, and we are told that the crop

was light this year because the trees were growing so vigorously and put

most of their energy into the new wood. Is there any special fertilizer

which will make the trees bear more and not prompt such heavy growth?

If your adviser is right that the trees are not bearing because of

excessive growth, it would be better not to apply any fertilizer during

the coming year, but allow the trees to assume more steady habit and

possibly even to encourage them to do so by using less cultivation and

water. If you wish to experiment with some of the trees, give them an

application of five pounds of superphosphate and two pounds of potash to

each tree, properly distributed over the land which it occupies. You

certainly should not use any form of nitrogen.

Temperature and Moisture for the English Walnut.

What amount of freezing and drouth can English walnuts stand? Under what

conditions is irrigation necessary?

The walnut tree will endure hard freezing, providing it comes when the

tree is dormant, because they are successfully grown in some parts of

the Eastern States, though not to a large extent; but the walnut tree is

subject to injury from lighter frosts, providing they follow

temperatures which have induced activity in the tree. On the Pacific

Coast the walnut is successfully grown as far north as the State of

Washington, but even in California there are elevations where frosts are

likely to occur when the tree is active, and these may be destructive to

its profit, although they may not injure the tree. You are not safe in

planting walnuts to any extent except in places where you can find trees

bearing satisfactorily. Planting elsewhere is, of course, an

enterprising experimental thing to do, but very risky as a line of

investment. Irrigation is required if the annual rainfall, coupled with

the retentiveness of the soil and good cultivation, do not give moisture

enough to carry the tree well into the autumn, maintaining activity in

the leaves some little time after the fruit is gathered.

Walnuts from Seed.

There is a reliable nursery company selling seedling Franquette walnut

trees on a positive guarantee that they will come true to type. Are

orchards of this kind satisfactory?

Walnuts do come truer to the seed than almonds and other fruits and the

Franquette has a good reputation for remembering its ancestry. Until

recently practically all the commercial walnut product of California was

grown on seedling trees. But these facts hardly justify one in trusting

to seedlings in plantings now made. The way to get a walnut of the

highest type is to take a bud or graft from a tree which is bearing that

type.

High-grafted Walnuts.

What is the advantage of a high-grafted walnut? I am about ready to

plant 10 acres to nuts and do not know whether to purchase Franquette

grafted high on California Black or not.

The advantage of grafting English walnut high on California Black walnut

consists in securing a main trunk for the tree, which is less liable to

sunburn and probably hardier otherwise than is the stem of the English

walnut, and the present disposition toward higher grafting or budding

seems therefore justified and desirable.

Grafting and Budding the Mulberry.

What is the most approved manner of grafting mulberry trees? Am told

that they are very difficult to successfully graft.

Most propagators find the mulberry difficult by ordinary top and cleft

grafting methods. A flute or ring graft or bud does well on small

seedlings - that is, removing a ring or cylinder of the bark from the

stock and putting in its place a cylinder from the variety desired, cut

to fit accurately. For large trees this would have to be done on young

shoots forced out by cutting back the main branches, but when this is

done ordinary shield budding in these new shoots would give good

results. Cut back the trees now and bud in the new shoots in July or

August.

Hardiness of Hybrid Berries.

How much cold will Phenomenal, Himalaya and Mammoth blackberries stand

in winter? Is it safe to plant where the temperature goes below 32

degrees?

These berries are hardy to zero at least, for they are grown in northern

parts of this coast where they get such a touch once in a while. They

have also endured low temperatures in the central continental plateau

States and eastward. Whether they can endure the lowest temperatures of

the winter-killing regions of the northern border cannot be determined

in California, for we do not have the conditions for such tests. The

berries are very hardy while dormant, and probably their value in colder

regions would depend rather more upon their disposition to remain

dormant than upon what they can endure when in that condition.

Pruning Himalayas.

Shall the old wood be cut away in pruning Himalayas?

All the old wood which has borne fruit should be cut out in the fall and

new shoots reduced to three or four from each root, and these three or

four shoots should be shortened to a length of ten or twelve feet and be

trained to a trellis or fence, or some other suitable support. Vines

which are allowed to grow riotously as they will, are apt to be

deficient in fruit bearing.

Strawberries with Perfect Flowers.

Has Longworth Prolific an imperfect bloom? I have Longworths in bearing

which apparently are perfect. Is there another strain of Longworth that

are not self-fertilizing?

The Longworth Prolific strawberry has both staminate and pistillate

elements. Possibly some other variety, because of its resemblance to

Longworth and the popularity of it, may have been wrongly given its

name. Most of the varieties which are largely grown in California are

perfect in blossom, though some of the newer varieties need association

with pollinizers.

Pruning Loganberries.

Should the new shoots of Loganberry vines, which come out in the spring,

be left or cut away? If cut, will more shoots put out in the fall and be

sufficient for the next year's crop?

The Loganberry shoots which are growing should be carefully trained and

preserved for next year's fruiting. The old canes should be cut away at

the base after the fruit is gathered. The plant bears each year upon the

wood which grew the previous summer.

Strawberry Planting.

Should I plant strawberries in the spring or fall?

Whether it is wise to plant strawberry plants in the fall depends on

several things, such as getting the ground in the very best of

condition, abundance of water at all times, splendidly rooted plants,

and cool weather (which is very rare at the time plants are to be

planted, August and September). Plants may be taken with balls of earth

around the roots, and water poured in the hole that receives the plant.

After planting, each plant should be shaded from the sun; after this the

ditches must be kept full of water so the moisture will rise to the

surface; this must be done till the plant starts growth. This method can

only be used in small plantings, as it is too expensive for large

plantings, as is also the potted plant method where each plant is grown

in a small pot and transplanted by dumping out the earth as a ball with

the plant and putting directly in the ground. From potted plants, set

out in the fall, one may count on a fine crop of berries the following

spring. Strawberry plants are never dormant till midwinter, and there is

no plant more difficult to transplant when roots are disturbed in the

hot season, which usually prevails in the interior valleys of

California. To have a long-lived strawberry field and to get best

results, planting must be done in the spring, as soon as the soil can be

put in best condition to receive plants. From this a fall crop can be

expected - Answer by Tribble Bros., Elk Grove.

Blackberries for Drying Only.

What variety of blackberries or raspberries are the best for drying

purposes? Are berries successfully dried in evaporators? This is a

natural berry country. Wild blackberries are a wonder here.

Transportation facilities do not allow raising for the city market. In

your opinion, would the planting of ten acres in berries for drying be a

success?

The blackberries chiefly grown in California are the Lawton, Crandall

and the Mammoth. The raspberry chiefly grown is the Cuthbert. There are

very few of these berries dried. It would be better to dry them in an

evaporator than in the sun, but little of it is done in this State. It

is doubtful whether it would pay to plant blackberries for drying only,

because there is such a large product flow in various places where the

berries are either sold fresh or sold to the cannery, and drying is only

done for the purpose of saving the crop if the prices for the other uses

are not satisfactory. To grow especially for drying would give you only

one chance of selling to advantage, and that the poorest.

Planting Bush Fruits.

What is the best time to set out blackberries and Loganberries?

Any time after the soil is thoroughly wet down and you can get good,

mature and dormant plants for transplanting. This may be as early as

November and may continue until February or later in some places.

Growing Strawberry Plants.

In a patch of strawberries planted this spring, is it advisable to cut

off runners or root some of them?

In planting strawberries in matted rows, it is usual to allow a few

runners to take root and thus fill the row. It is the judgment of plant

growers that plants for sale should not be produced in this way, but

should be grown from plants specially kept for that purpose.

Strawberries in Succession.

Is there any reason, in strawberry culture, when the vines are removed

at the end of the fourth year, why the ground may not be thoroughly

plowed and again planted to strawberries?

It is theoretically possible to grow strawberries continuously on the

same land by proper fertilization and irrigation. Practically, the

objection is that certain diseases and injurious insects may multiply in

the land, and this is the chief reason why new plantations are put on

new land and the old land used for a time for beans or some root crop,

so that the soil may be cleaned and refreshed by rotation and by the

possibility of deeper tillage.

Limitations on Gooseberries.

Why is it that gooseberries are not grown more in California? Is there

any reason, climatic or other, why the gooseberry should not be as

successfully grown in California as elsewhere?

There are two reasons. First, the gooseberry does not like interior

valleys, although with proper protection from mildew or by growing

resistant varieties, good fruit can be had in coast or mountain valleys.

Second, practically no one cares for a ripe gooseberry in a country

where so many other fruits are grown, and the demand is for green

gooseberries for pies and sauce, and that is very easily oversupplied.

Dry Farming with Grapes.

I have heard that they are planting Muscat grapes on the dry farming

plan. Will it be successful?

Grapes have been grown in California on the dry farming plan ever since

Americans came 60 years ago. Grapes can be successfully grown by

thorough cultivation for moisture retention, providing the rainfall is

sufficient to carry the plant when it is conserved by the most thorough

and frequent cultivation. Unless this rainfall is adequate, no amount of

cultivation will make grape vines succeed, because even the best

cultivation produces no moisture, but only conserves a part of that

which falls from the clouds. Whether grapes will do depends, first, upon

what the rainfall is; second, upon whether the soil is retentive; third,

upon whether you cultivate in such a way as to enable the soil to

exercise its maximum retentiveness. These are matters which cannot be

determined theoretically - they require actual test.

Cutting Back Frosted Vine Canes.

Vines have been badly injured by the late frosts, especially the young

vines which were out the most. Is there anything to be done with the

injured shoots now on the vines so as to help the prospects of a crop?

If shoots are only lightly frosted they should be cut off at once as low

as you can detect injury. This may save the lower parts of the shoot,

from which a later growth can be made. Frosted parts ferment and carry

destruction downward, and therefore should be disposed of as soon as

possible. Where vines have run out considerably and badly frosted, the

best practice usually is to strip off the frozen shoots so as to get rid

of the dormant buds at the base, which often give sterile shoots. A new

break of canes from other buds is generally more productive.

Dipping Thompson Seedless.

What is the process of dipping and bleaching Thompson seedless grapes?

One recipe for dipped raisins is as follows: One quart olive oil;

3/4-pound 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. This is the

general outline of the process. The ability to use it well can only be

attained by experience and close observation.

The Zante Currant.

Is the currant that grows in the United States in any way related to the

currant that grows in Greece? If so, could it be cured like the currant

that comes from Greece?

The dried currants of commerce are made in Greece and in California (to

a slight extent) from the grape known as the grape of Corinth. They are

not made from the bush currant which is generally grown in the United

States, and the two plants are not in any way related.

Grape Vines for an Arbor.

How shall I prune grape vines, viz: Tokay, Black Cornichon, Muscat,

Thompson Seedless, Rose of Peru, planted for a grape arbor?

You can grow all the vines you mention with high stumps reaching part

way or to the top of the arbor as you desire side or top shade or both.

You can also grow them with permanent side branches on the side slats of

the arbor if you desire. Each winter pruning would consist in cutting

back all the previous summer's growth to a few buds from which new canes

will grow for shade or fruiting, or you can work on the renewal system,

keeping some of these canes long for quick foliage and more fruit

perhaps and cutting some of them short to grow new wood for the

following year's service, as they often do in growing Eastern grapes.

Pruning Old Vines.

I have some Muscat grape vines 30 years old. Can I chop off most of the

old wood with a hatchet and thereby bring them back to proper bearing?

Not with a hatchet. If the vines are worth keeping at all, they are

worth careful cutting with a saw and a painting of all cuts in large old

wood. If the vines have been neglected, you can saw away surplus prongs

or spurs, reserving four or five of the best placed and most vigorous,

and cut back the canes of last summer's growth to one, two or three

buds, according to the strength of the canes - the thicker the canes,

the more buds to be kept. It is not desirable to cut away an old vine to

get a new start from the ground, unless you wish to graft. Shape the top

of the vine as well as you can by saving the best of the old growth.

Topping Grape Vines.

Is topping grape vines desirable?

Topping of vines is in all cases more or less weakening. The more

foliage that is removed, the more weakening it is. Vines, therefore,

which are making a weak growth from any cause whatever can only be

injured by topping. If the vines are exceptionally vigorous, the

weakening due to topping may be an advantage by making them more

fruitful. The topping, however, must be done with discretion. Early

topping in May is much more effective and less weakening than later

topping in June. Very early topping before blossoming helps the setting

of the blossoms. Topping in general increases the size of the berries.

Bleeding Vines.

Will pruning grape vines when they bleed injure them?

It has been demonstrated not to be of any measurable injury.

Vines and Scant Moisture.

Would it be well to sucker vines and take also some bearing canes off,

or in a dry year will they mature properly as in other years if the

ground is in good condition?

Vines usually bear drouth-stress better than bearing fruit trees. On

soils of good depth and retentiveness, they are likely to give good

crops in a dry year with thorough cultivation; still, lightening the

burden of the vines is rational. Suckering and cutting away second-crop

efforts should be done. Whether you need to reduce the first crop can be

told better by the looks of the vines later in the season.

Sulphuring for Mildew.

For two years I have not sulphured my vineyard and had no mildew. My

vines seem as healthy and thrifty as any of the neighbors' that were

duly sulphured. Have I lost anything by not sulphuring?

Certainly not. In sections where mildew is practically sure to come,

sulphur should be used regularly as a preventive without waiting for the

appearance of the disease. There are, however, many locations,

especially in the interior valley, where the occurrence of mildew is

rare in sufficient volume to do appreciable harm, and then sulphuring

should depend upon the weather, which favors mildew or otherwise. But be

always on the watch and have everything ready to sulphur immediately;

also learn to recognize the conditions under which appearances of mildew

become a menace.

Grape Sugar in Canned Grapes.

How can I prevent the formation of grape sugar in canned grapes?

Take care that the syrup is of the same density as the juice of the

grape when the fruit and the juice are placed together in the can. The

density of the syrup and the juice are, of course, to be obtained by the

use of the spindle, the same arrangement employed for determining when

the percentage of sugar in the grape juice is right for raisin-making or

for wine-making. Whatever the density of the juice, make the syrup the

same by the use of the right amount of sugar.

Part II. Vegetable Growing

California Grown Seed.

Which are the best garden seeds to use, those raised in Ohio and the

East or those raised in Washington and Oregon or those raised in this

State?

It has been definitely shown by experience and experiment that is does

not matter much where the seed comes from, providing it is well grown

and good of its kind. There is no such advantage in changing seed from

one locality to another as is commonly supposed. Besides, it is now very

difficult to tell positively where seed is grown, because California

wholesale seeds are retailed in all the States you mention, and the

contents of many small packets of seeds distributed in California went

first of all from California to the Eastern retailers, who advertise and

sell them everywhere.

Cloth for Hotbeds.

Would cloth do to cover a hotbox to raise lettuce, radishes, etc., for

winter use where we get a very heavy rainfall?

Yes, if you make the cloth waterproof for its own preservation from

mildew and other agencies of decay. The following recipe for

waterproofing cloth is taken from our book on "California Vegetables":

Soften 4 1/2 ounces of glue in 8 3/4 pints of water, cold at first; then

dissolve in, say, a washboiler full (6 gallons) of warm water, with 2

1/2 ounces of hard soap; put in the cloth and boil for an hour, wring

and dry; then prepare a bath of a pound of alum and a pound of salt,

soak the prepared cloth in it for a couple of hours, rinse with clear

water and dry. One gallon of the glue solution will soak about ten yards

of cloth. This cloth has been used in southern California for several

years without mildewing, and it will hold water by the pailful. Where

the rain is heavy and frequent, the cloth should be well supported by

slats and given slope to shed water quickly. Of course, this is only a

makeshift. Glass would be more satisfactory and durable in a region of

much cloudiness and scant sunshine; the greater illumination through

glass will make for the greater health and growth of the plants.

Soil for Vegetables.

Some of my soil bakes and hardens quickly after irrigation, but I have

an acre or so of sandy soil. Would this be best for garden truck and

berries?

Sandy, loamy soil is better than the heavy soil for vegetables and

berries, if moisture is kept right, because it can be more easily

cultivated and takes water without losing the friable condition which is

so desirable. A heavier soil can, however, be improved by the free use

of stable manure or by the addition of sand, or by the use of one or

more applications of lime at the rate of 500 pounds to the acre, as may

be required - all these operations making the soil more loamy and more

easily handled.

Vegetables in a Cold, Dark Draft.

What vegetables will thrive in localities where the sun shines only part

of the day? I have a space in my garden that gets the sun only between

the hours of 11 and 5, thereabouts; I would like to utilise those places

for vegetables if any particular kind will grow under such conditions.

The soil apparently is good, of a sandy nature, with some loam. The

place is high and subject to much wind.

You can only definitely determine by actual trial what vegetables will

be satisfactory under the shade conditions which you describe. You may

get good results from lettuces, radishes, beets, peas, top onions, and

many other things which do well at rather a low temperature, while

tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc., would probably be worthless. Your

soil is probably satisfactory and you can easily keep the moisture right

by being careful not to use as much water as you would in open sunshine.

The behavior of the plants will be directly dependent upon the

temperature and the sunshine which they receive under the conditions

described.

Jesusalem Artichokes.

What is the best time for planting Jerusalem artichokes?

Jerusalem artichoke tubers are planted in the spring after the ground

has become warm and the heavy frosts are over. The planting may be done

in rows far enough apart for cultivation, the tubers being set about a

foot apart in the row. This tuber grows like a potato, but is more

delicate than the potato. It is inclined to decay when out of the

ground, but will not start growth as early as the potato, and therefore

it is not desirable to start it early in the winter if the winters are

cold and the ground apt to be very wet. Do not cut the tubers for seed

as you would potatoes.

Globe Artichokes.

I have land that will grow magnificent artichokes. Two plants last year

(variety unknown) produced heavy crops of buds, but the scales opened

too wide and allowed the center to become fibrous and were unsalable. Is

this due to climate, lack of sufficient water, or to not having the

right variety?

Many artichokes which are planted should really be put in the ornamental

class - they are either a reversion from a wilder type in plants grown

from the seed or they never have been good. In order to determine which

varieties you had better grow on a large scale, it is desirable to get a

few plants of the different varieties as offered by seedmen. In this way

you would find out just what are considered best in different parts of

the State, and propagate largely the ones which are best worth to you.

By subdivision of the roots you get exactly the same type in any

quantity you desire - ruling out undesirable variations likely to appear

in seedlings.

Artichoke Growing.

Is the Globe artichoke a profitable crop to raise commercially? Near

Pescadero a company has been formed to raise it for Eastern shipment. Is

it a very profitable crop to raise? Are certain varieties worthless?

Considerable quantities of Globe artichokes are grown in southern and

central California for Eastern shipment. There is a limit to the amount

which can be profitably shipped, because people generally, at the East,

do not know the Globe artichoke and how to eat it, but more of them are

learning the desirability of it every year. There are species which are

only ornamental, as a bad weed.

Asparagus Growing.

What is the average commercial yield of asparagus to the acre in

California? Also, how long it takes asparagus to come into full bearing,

and what yield could be expected after two years' growth? Is asparagus

resistant to moderate quantities of alkali in the soil?

The yield of asparagus is from one to four tons of marketable shoots per

acre, according to age and thrift of plants, etc., the largest yields

being on the peat lands of the river islands. On suitable lands one

ought to get at least two tons per acre. Roots may yield a few days'

cuttings during their second year in permanent place; the third year

they will stand much more cutting, and for several years after that will

be in full yielding. Asparagus enjoys a little salt in the land, but one

would not select what is ordinarily called "alkali land" for growing it

- not only because of the alkali but because of the soil character which

it induces.

Bean Growing.

We have a small field of beans, and would like to know which is the best

and most profitable way to crop them.

Cultivate the beans so that the plants may have plenty of moisture to

fill the pods, then let them dry and die. Gather the dry plants before

the pods open much, and let them dry on a clean, smooth piece of ground

or on the barn floor. When they are well dried, thresh with a flail,

rake off the straw, sweep up the beans and clean by winnowing in the

wind or with a fanning mill with suitable screens.

Hoeing Beans.

Should beans be hoed while the dew is on the vine?

Beans had better be hoed with the dew on them than not hoed at all. The

only objection to hoeing with the dew on is that the hoer will get his

feet wet, the vines will become untidy from adhering dust, with a

possible chance of the leaves becoming less effective and the

pollination of the blossom rendered less liable to occur.

Beans as Nitrogen Gatherers.

I grow string beans in my rotation to restore nitrogen, but I see it

stated that not all beans are valuable for this purpose. Are the common

bush varieties nitrogen gatherers?

Probably they are all doing it in various degrees. Pull up or dig up a

few plants when growing actively, not too early nor too late in the

season, and look for nodules on the roots. Number and size considered

together will measure their activity in this line in your soil.

Bean Growing.

I want to plant beans of different varieties. The land is rich, black

loam with a little sand. When is the best time to plant? If planted

early, what shall we do to keep the weevils out of them?

It is desirable to plant beans as early as you can without encountering

danger of frost killing. No particular date can be mentioned for

planting because the dates will vary in different locations according to

the beginning of the frost-free period. The best way to escape weevil is

to sell most of the beans as soon as harvested, treating those which you

retain for seed, or for your own use, with bisulphide of carbon vapor or

by gently heating to a temperature not above 130 degrees, which, of

course, must be done carefully with an accurate thermometer so as not to

injure germinating power. Unless you know that beans do well in your

locality, it would be wise to plant a small area at first, because beans

are somewhat particular in their choice of location in California, and

one should have practical demonstration of bearing before risking much

upon the crop.

The Yard-Long Bean.

I wish to ask about the very long bean which I think was introduced from

China into California. I remember seeing one vine when I was living in

California which I think must have been 20 or 30 feet long and had

hundreds of pods and each of these pods were from 2 to 3 feet long. Are

these beans generally considered eatable? Would they be at all suitable

to get as a field bean which the hogs eat?

You probably refer to the "yard-long" pole bean. It is a world variety

and may have come to California from China as you suggest, but it has

also been well known for generations in Europe and was brought thence to

the Eastern States at some early date. It is generally accounted as an

unimportant species and certainly has not risen to commercial account in

California. The beans are edible and the whole plant available for stock

feeding, but there is no doubt but that the growth of some of the

cowpeas would be preferable as a summer field crop for hog pasture.

Why the Beans are Waiting.

Can you tell me why pink beans which were planted early in Merced

county, irrigated four times, hoed four times and cultivated, have no

beans on them? The vines look finely.

Probably because you had too much hot, dry wind at the blooming. This is

one of the most frequent troubles with beans in the hot valley, but the

pink bean resists it better than other varieties. As the heat moderates

you are likely to get blossoms which will come through and form pods,

and then the crop will depend upon how long frost is postponed. You have

also treated the plants a little too well with water and cultivation.

You had better let them feel the pinch of poverty a little now; they

will be more likely to go to work.

Blackeye Beans.

What is the best way to prepare land for Black-eye beans? How much seed

is required per acre, and what is the estimated cost of growing them?

The soil is a well-drained clay loam.

The cost of growing is not particularly different from other beans, and

will vary, of course, according to the capacity and efficiency of the

plows, harrows, teams, tractors, men, etc. Every man has to figure that

according to his conditions and methods of turning and fining the land.

Sow 40 pounds per acre in drills 3 feet apart, and cultivate as long as

you can without injuring the vines too much. Sowing must of course be

done late, after the ground is warm and danger of frost is past, though

the plowing and harrowing should be done earlier than that.

Blackeye Beans are Cow Peas.

I sent for some Blackeye cow peas; they look like Blackeye beans. Am

sending you a sample of what I got. What are they?

Yes, they are in the cow pea group, but there are other cow peas which

would not be recognized as having any relation to them. All cow peas

are, however, beans, and they have not much use for frost. They are not

hardy like the true pea group.

Growing Horse Beans.

Does the soil need to be inoculated for horse beans? I intend to plant

five acres about January 1, on the valley border in Placer county and

they get heavy frost in the morning. Does frost hurt them? How shall I

plant them?

California experience is that horse beans grow readily without

inoculation of the seed. Quite a good growth of the plant is being

secured in many parts of the State, particularly in the coast region

where the plant seems to thrive best. It is one of the hardiest of the

bean family and will endure light frost. How hardy it will prove in your

place could be told only by a local experiment. Whether it can be

planted after frost danger is over, as corn is, and make satisfactory

growth and product in the dry heat of the interior summer must also be

determined by experience.

The horse bean is a tall growing, upright plant which is successfully

grown in rows far enough apart for cultivation, say about 2 1/2 feet,

the seed dropped thinly so that the plants will stand from 6 inches to 1

foot apart in the row.

Growing Castor Beans.

Give information on the castor oil bean; the kind of bean best to plant,

when to plant and harvest, the best soil, and where one can market them.

Castor bean growing has been undertaken from time to time since 1860 in

various parts of California. There is no difficulty about getting a

satisfactory growth of the plant in parts of the State where moisture

enough can be depended upon. Although the growing of beans is easy

enough, the harvesting is a difficult proposition, because in California

the clusters ripen from time to time, have to be gathered by hand, to be

put in the sun to dry, and finally threshed when they are popping

properly. The low price, in connection with the amount of hand work

which has to be done upon the crop, has removed all the attractions for

California growers. There is also, some years, an excess of production

in the central West, which causes prices to fall and makes it still more

impracticable to make money from the crop with the ordinary rates of

labor. The oil cannot be economically extracted except by the aid of the

most effective machinery and a well equipped establishment. Oil-making

in the rude way in which it is conducted in India would certainly not be

profitable here.

Legume Seed Inoculation.

Is there any virtue in inoculating plants with the bacteria that some

seed firms offer? I refer to such plants as peas and beans.

If the land is yielding good crops of these plants and the roots are

noduled, it does not need addition of germs. If the growth is scant even

when there is enough moisture present and the roots are free from

nodules, the presumption is that germs should be added. Speaking

generally, added germs are not needed in California because our great

legume crops are made without inoculation. Presumably, burr clover and

our host of native legumes have already charged the soil with them. If,

however, such plants do not do well, try inoculation by all means, to

see if absence of germs is the reason for such failure or whether you

must look for some other reason. If the results are satisfactory, you

may have made a great gain by introduction of desirable soil organisms

which you can extend as you like by the distribution of the germ-laden

soil from the areas which have been given that character by inoculation

of the seed.

Beans on Irrigated Mesas.

Would white and pink beans do well on the red orange land at Palermo

with plenty of water? I have in mind hill land, the hills being very red

and running into a dark soil in the lower part. How many beans could I

get per acre?

Probably nothing would be better for the land or for the future needs of

the trees than to grow beans. An average crop of beans, for the whole

State and all kinds of beans, is about one ton to the acre. What you

will get by irrigation on hot uplands we do not know. Beans do not like

dry heat, even if the soil moisture is adequate. They do not fructify

well even when they grow well. The pink bean does best under such

conditions. All beans, except horse beans, must be brought up after

frost dangers are all over, and this brings them into high heat almost

from the start in such a place as you mention. You should find out

locally how beans perform under such conditions as you have, before

undertaking much investment.

Leases for Sugar Beets.

I have land in Yolo county that has made an average yield yearly of from

12 to 18 sacks of wheat and barley. A beet sugar company proposes

renting this land and plant it to sugar beets and I would prefer not to

consider any agreement of less than five years' duration. The particular

point that I would like to have you advise me on is the effect sugar

beet has upon the soil.

You certainly have good soil, and it is not strange that a sugar company

should desire to rent it for its purposes. There is, however, a great

question as to whether it would be desirable to run to beets continually

for five years. Beets make a strong draft on some components of the

soil, and it is a common experience that they should not be grown year

after year for a long period, but should take their place in a rotation,

in the course of which one or two crops of beets should be followed by a

crop of grain, and that if possible by a leguminous plant like alfalfa

or an annual legume like burr clover used for pasturage, and then to

beets again. Beets improve soil for grain, because of the deep running

of the root, and because beet culture is not profitable without deep

plowing and continuous summer cultivation. This deepens and cleans the

land to the manifest advantage of the grain crop, but still the beet

reduces the plant food in the soil and some change of crop should be

made with reference to its restoration. We would much prefer to lease it

for two years than for five years of beet growing.

Topping Mangel Wurzels.

Does it harm the mangel wurzels if their tops ore cut off once a month?

Removing leaves will decrease the size and harden the tissues of the

beet root. If you wish to grow the plant for the top, the root will

continue to put out leaves for you for a time; if you grow it for the

size and quality of the root, you need all the leaf-action you can get,

therefore do not reduce the foliage.

Blooming Brussels Sprouts.

Are Brussels sprouts male and female? Some of my plants are flowering

and show no signs of sprouts, while those that are not, show some small

eyes at stem that look like young sprouts.

Brussels sprouts ought to form the sprouts without flowering, just as a

cabbage heads without flowering. Those plants which show flowers have

been stopped by drought or otherwise, and have taken on prematurely the

second stage of growth which is productive of seed and is undesirable

from the point of view of growing heads.

Blanching Celery.

I desire to know the different methods by which the celery is bleached,

and particularly whether boards or other material other than earth is

used for this purpose.

There is some blanching of celery with boards, cloth wrappings,

boot-legs, old tiles, sewer pipes, etc., in market gardens in different

parts of the State, but the great commercial product of celery for

export is blanched wholly by piling the light, dry earth against the

growing plant. As we do not have rains during the growing season and as

the soil on which celery is chiefly grown is particularly coarse in its

texture, there is no rusting or staining from this method of blanching.

It shakes out clean and bright. Conditions which make earth-blanching

undesirable in the humid region do not exist here.

Corn in the Sacramento Valley.

Is it practical to raise corn in the Sacramento volley? Are the soil and

climatic conditions suitable?

The success of corn on plains and uplands in the Sacramento valley has

not yet been fully demonstrated, although good corn is grown on river

bottom lands, and it is possible that much more may be done with this

grain in the future than in the past. Corn does not enjoy the dry heat

of the plains, and even when irrigated seems to be dissatisfied with it.

How far we shall succeed in getting varieties which will endure dry heat

and still be large and productive will ere long be determined by the

experiments which are in progress. The old Sacramento valley farmer has

been justified to some degree in his conclusion that his is not a corn

country. Still it may appear so later.

Plant Corn in Warm Ground.

I also put in a lot of corn and none of it came up. The ground was damp

and rather cold, as well as being alkali.

Corn should never be planted in cold, wet ground - in fact, very few

seeds should be. Besides, corn has no use for alkali.

Sweet Corn in California.

I have been informed that sweet corn cannot be raised in this part of

the country, an account of worms eating the kernels before the ear has

matured. Is there any method of overcoming this difficulty?

You have been correctly informed concerning the difficulty in growing

sweet corn. Although many experiments have been made, no method of

overcoming this pest has yet been demonstrated. For this reason canning

of corn is not undertaken in this State, and for the same reason most of

the green corn ears sold in our markets have the tops of the ears

amputated. It is sometimes possible to escape the worm by planting

rather late, so that the ears shall develop after the moth, which is

parent of the worm, has deposited its eggs.

Forcing Cucumbers.

Give information on growing hot-house cucumbers, and also if you think

it would pay me to go into the business in southern California.

Forcing of cucumbers has been undertaken for a number of years in

California and formerly was considered unprofitable because cucumbers

grown in the open air in frostless places came in before the forced

product could be sold out at sufficiently high prices to make the

venture profitable. Recently, however, owing to our increased population

in cities and larger demand of products out of season, forcing becomes

more promising and is worthy of attention. Forcing of cucumbers in

California can be done at very much less expense, of course, than

elsewhere, because of the abundance of winter sunshine and the fact that

sufficiently high temperatures can be secured in glass houses with

exceedingly little if any artificial heat: The chances of growing

cucumbers out of season for shipment eastward and northward can be

discussed with the officers of the California Vegetable Growers' Union,

which has offices and warehouse in Los Angeles.

Cucumber Growing.

I have a piece of red so-called orange land which has produced excellent

wheat. Will you give information about its adaptability to cucumbers?

Are there pickle factories in the State which would demand them in

quantities, and is there much other demand for them? About when should

they be planted, and how much water would they need?

The cucumber needs a retentive soil which does not crack and bake, and

such a soil is made by abundance of organic matter. Your orange soil,

unless heavily treated with stable manure and given plenty of time for

disintegration, would probably give you distressful cucumber plants, if

it has come right out of wheat-growing. Besides, cucumbers do not like

dry heat, even if the soil be kept moist by irrigation. Oranges will do

well under conditions not favorable to cucumbers. Cucumber plants must

come up after danger of frost is over. The amount of water they require

depends upon how moist the soil is naturally, and as the crop is chiefly

grown on moist river lands and around the bay, it is chiefly made

without irrigation. Such lands have a cucumber capacity equal to the

consumption of the United States, probably, and the pickle factories can

usually get all they can use at a minimum transportation cost.

Large-scale plantings should only be made by men who know the crop and

have definite information or contract for what they can get for it.

Ginger in California.

We have ginger roots in a growing condition with sprouts and bulbs

growing an them, but we do not understand how to raise the plants.

Growing ginger in California in a commercial way has not been worked

out, although roots have been introduced from time to time. Plant your

roots in the garden, just as you would callas, where you can give them

good cultivation and water, as seems to be necessary, and note their

behavior under these favorable conditions before you undertake any large

investment in a crop.

Licorice Growing in California.

I have for some time been seeking far some information as to the method

of preparation for market and sale of licorice roots. I have a lot of

them and have never been able to find a market, and do not know how they

are prepared for market.

Licorice was first planted in California about 1880 by the late Isaac

Lea, of Florin, Sacramento county. Mr. Lea grew a considerable amount of

licorice roots and gave much effort to finding a market for it. He found

that the local consumption of licorice root was too small to warrant

growing it as a crop; that the high price of labor in digging the roots,

and the high cost of transportation of the roots to Eastern markets

would make it impossible for him to undertake competition in the Eastern

markets with the Sicilian producers, unless, perhaps, he could build an

extracting factory and market licorice extract, the black solid which is

sold by the druggist, and which the Sicilians produce in large

quantities. The preparation of licorice root is simply digging and

drying, but the preparation of the extract requires steam extractors and

condensers. California could produce licorice, for we have a good

climate for it. If it is grown on light, sandy loams, it could be pulled

from the ground by the yard at rather small expense, and yet, one should

not undertake the production unless he wished to put in much time and

money in working up economical production and marketing in competition

with the foreign product, produced by cheap labor and with the advantage

of processes well known and established by long usage. Experiments

should be circumspectly undertaken, for licorice is one of the worst

weeds in the world, and extremely difficult of eradication probably.

Growing Lentils.

Give information regarding the planting and raising of lentils. Can they

be grown in the Sacramento valley in the vicinity of Colusa, and at a

profit?

Lentils are as easily grown in California as common peas, and will do

well as a field crop if started during the rainy season, as they are

hardy enough to survive our ordinary valley frosts. With respect to

lentils, it may be said that excellent as these legumes are for many

purposes, they do not seem to be well known to American consumers, and

therefore the amount to be grown is limited, until you know who will buy

larger quantities of them at a good price.

Canada Peas for Seed.

I want to raise Canada peas for the seed. In what month of the year is

the best time to plant them; also how many pounds to the acre to be

sowed broadcast on rolling land in Napa?

Broadcast from 80 to 100 pounds of seed per acre as soon as you can get

the ground into good condition. What you get will depend much upon how

late spring rains hold this year. We should only try a small area this

year to see what happens, for you probably should have started earlier

in the season. On uplands it will always be a question whether your soil

will hold moisture enough to mature a good seed crop.

Growing Niles Peas.

How shall I plant and handle a crop of Niles peas?

Niles peas are hardy and will make a good crop on any good soil, if

planted early in the season so as to make the main part of their growth

before the heat of the summer comes on. Under garden conditions they

can, of course, be grown all summer.

Transplanting Lettuce.

I have lettuce plants that have been transplanted to head. Occasionally

I find a head that has withered away and upon examining it find it

rotted away at the stem. Can you suggest a remedy for it?

Your lettuce plants are destroyed by the "damping, off" fungus. It would

be preventable by reducing the amount of moisture until the transplanted

plant had opportunity to re-establish itself in the soil and thus come

into condition to take water. The chance of it could also be reduced by

using a certain amount of sand in connection with the soil, unless it is

already very sandy, and by a shallow covering of sand on the surface

around the plants after they are reset, in order to prevent too great

accumulation of moisture.

Handling Winter Melons.

Give particulars regarding harvesting, storaging, and shipment of winter

melons. How do you harvest and pack them for distant market?

There is no particular system in the handling of winter melons. They are

gathered into piles on ground where water will not gather and covered

with the trash of the vines on which they grow. They will keep for

months in this way, as our autumn temperatures do not freeze them. Other

growers collect them in open sheds shaded from sun and rain, and still

others put them into barns or shallow cellars under buildings, etc. The

melons are very durable and seem disposed to keep in any old way. The

melons are shipped in large packing cases with slat sides, or in the

smaller slat crates that are used for summer cantaloupes. No packing is

used, generally. If it seemed necessary, a little clean straw would be

sufficient.

Ripe Melons.

How can I tell when a watermelon is fully ripe? What is the method used

by growers in picking for commercial shipping?

Gently press the sides of a melon and if it crackles a little bit, all

right; if it makes no sound then go to another. Commercial pickers look

at the little spiral between the melon and the nearest leaf. If it is

withered they pick the melon, if fresh, pass it until next picking.

Growing Onion Seed and Sets.

Will you give localities of the leading production of onion seed or dry

sets in your State?

Onion seed is grown in several parts of the State, largely in the Santa

Clara valley adjacent to the city of San Jose. Onion sets are largely

produced in Orange county, near Los Angeles, for eastern shipment, for

which purpose they are grown under contract.

Ripening Onions.

I am raising some onions from bottom sets and as they are growing nicely

and are beginning to swell at the bulb some advise me to cut the tops

off and some advise me to bend them over or tramp them down.

Do not cut off the tops of the onions. If they seem to be overgrowing

and not disposed to ripen the bulb, the top can be broken down, thus

partly arresting the vegetative energy of the plant and causing

maturity.

Onions from Sets.

Will onion sets planted in July grow and mature in the fall months?

Good onion sets grown during the winter and spring should be mature by

July and if planted after drying would proceed to make a full growth of

large onions if growing conditions should be right for them; that is,

the soil moist and the temperature not too high.

How Many Crops of Onion Seed?

Does the growing of onion seed exhaust adobe land, and if so, how many

years' cropping before it requires rest or fertilizing?

The growth of any seed crop, including cereal grains, of course, makes a

supreme draft upon soil fertility. How long a certain soil can stand it,

depends upon the amount of fertility it has when the draft begins. The

best rough way to tell how it is going, is to watch the growth and crop,

when moisture conditions are known to be favorable. If you get a good

growth of the plant it is still good to make the seed.

Onions from Seed.

Will onions from seed mature the same season if they are irrigated? Some

tell us they will not, so we would be very much pleased to hear from

you.

Onions grown from the seed do fully develop during the growing season

following the planting of the seed. In fact, nearly all California

onions are grown in that way. Our growing season is so long that we do

not need to use onion sets to any extent, as they do in short-summer

climates.

Dry Farming with Chili Peppers.

If I set chili pepper plants down six or eight inches lower than the

surface of the ground and fill in as the plants grow larger, will this

help in case I could not get water enough? My soil is a deep sandy loam.

We have had between five and six inches of rain. Do you think water

every fifteen days would be enough?

On such light soil as you mention, the plants can be planted deeply and

a certain amount of soil brought up to the plants by cultivation without

injury. As this plant has a long growing season and matures its crop

rather late, you will undoubtedly need irrigation. Probably irrigation

twice a month will be sufficient in connection with good cultivation,

but you will have to watch the plants and apply the water as it seems to

be needed, rather than by a specific scheme of days.

Harvesting Peanuts.

I would like information regarding the curing of peanuts. Should they be

bleached, and, if so, how is it done? Does bleaching affect the keeping

qualities?

It is not usual to bleach peanuts. They should be grown in such light

soil that they will not be stained, and the common method of curing is

to dig or plow up, throw the vines, with nuts attached, into windrows

and allow them to lie a week or ten days for drying. Then the nuts are

picked into sacks and cleaned before shipment in revolving drums,

followed by a grain fan which throws out the light nuts and other

rubbish. Bleaching would not destroy the keeping quality probably, but

it would destroy the flavor and the germinating power. The latter would

not matter, except with such nuts as you wish to keep for seed, because

the roasting destroys the germinating power also, but sulphuring, which

would reduce the flavor, would give the product a bad name. Possibly

some growers do bleaching, but, if so, they have to be pretty careful

about it. The cost of the operation would also be a bar to profit, for

peanuts are grown on a narrow margin owing to competition with

importations grown with cheap labor.

Adobe and Peanuts.

Is adobe land good for the peanut? Is it harder to start than in other

soils or not?

It is not good at all. Peanuts require the finest, mellowest loam with

sand enough to prevent crust, and moisture even and continuous. The

surface must be kept loose so that the plant can bury its own bloom stem

and the under soil light and clean so that it will readily shake from

the nuts and not stain them. Adobe is the worst soil you could find for

peanuts.

Cutting Potatoes.

What would be the most profitable potato to plant in the Salinas valley,

and how small can a potato be cut up for planting? How many eyes should

each piece contain in order to make a good growth and be profitable?