430 Twenty-eighth Annual Report 



grafted on trifoliate stock. They were four-year-old plants thouj^h 

 small in size and had made slow growth during the past season, 

 partly through lack of sufficient irrigation. They were killed prac- 

 tically to the ground. It is possible that under more favorable 

 conditions of growth they would have withstood these freezes. 



Spineless cacti, including several species. {Opnntia sps.). 

 These were three-year-old plants and had made good growth dur- 

 ing the past two years. All told, there were 150 of them and they 

 ranged from three to four and one-half feet high. Opnntia ficns 

 indica froze to the ground and most of the plants were killed. 

 Opunta sp. Burbank's Special and Opnntia fusicaulis froze back 

 to within 12 inches of the ground. Opnntia castillac. nopal de Cas- 

 tillae of the Mexicans, froze back to within 18 to 24 inches of the 

 ground, leaving only the thick stumps. This plant was uninjured 

 at the University grounds. It would thus appear that the tender, 

 rapid-growing spineless cacti cannot be grown with any degree of 

 safety in our valley lands, since there the cold is more severe than 

 on the bench or mesa lands. 



As compared with the above, the San Saba spineless pear, 

 (Opuntia Ellisiana) was entirely uninjured with temperatures of 9 

 degrees F. Its growth, however, is only about two-thirds as rapid 

 as that of the species mentioned above. 



WORK IN TMK PLANT INTRODUCTION GARDEN ' 



The plants in the introduction garden at the University Farm 

 were dug up and reset during the past winter and spring. Thcv 

 v^ere removed in sections and the soil was well fertilized with barn- 

 yard manure, plowed deeply and relevelled. The new rows were 

 set 8 and 10 feet apart, respectively, and the plants 2, 4 or 8 feet 

 distant in the rows, according to the needs of the species. All the 

 spineless cacti, citranges and agaves were discarded because of the 

 severe injury from low winter temperatures. The species of tama- 

 risks growing in the introduction plats on the University grounds 

 \vcre transferred to the introduction garden at the University Farm 

 by means of planting cuttings, and the old plants were destroyed. 

 This was due to the fact that some of the older plants were found 

 to be infested with a scale insect. 



A considerable number of new varieties of plants were set out 

 in the introduction garden. These included plants of Pistacia vera^ 

 the pistasch nut of commerce, six varieties of grafted French and 



