86 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



with, the blight. For many years there was no blight in southern Cali- 

 fornia, but it is sure to come into an}' locality in time. AVhile not very 

 prevalent in northern and central California as yet, still in localities 

 where the infection has been introduced, varieties such as the seedling 

 trees have considerable blight ; the seedling groves in the southern part 

 of the State did not become infected with blight until about 1891 and 

 netted very profitable returns, but in the next decade it spread through 

 the southern groves to such an extent as to cause serious alarm. Al- 

 though we have little blight as yet, it behooves a planter to give due and 

 timely consideration to walnut blight in selecting a variety. 



The varieties that do best in the lower San Joaquin Valley are the 

 Eureka, Franquette, Payne's Seedling, ]\Ieylan, ]\[ayette, Parisienne, 

 Concord and the Willson Wonder, in the order in which they are named, 

 I am not sure that the Placentia Perfection may not prove itself a good 

 nut for this locality. 



Eureka. 



The Eureka heads the list when we consider all the qualities. While 

 it is not quite as ideal a nut a.s the Franquette or Mayette, it is almost 

 as good and bears with me about twice as heavily. It is a vigorous 

 grower and coming out late in the spring renders it the most blight 

 resisting tree we have. The original Eureka tree in southern Cali- 

 fornia has stood all these years closely suri-oiuided by seedling trees 

 which are badly infected by blight, but it is a rare thing to find a nut 

 on the Eureka tree infected with blight. Being late, it also avoids the 

 late frosts and going dormant early in the fall, ripens its nuts earlier 

 than the Franquette and hardens its foliage so that it is not affected by 

 the late fall frosts. It has an abimdant foliage and has the habit of 

 growing its nuts in and under the leaves, thus protecting them from the 

 hot sun. Being a vigorous grower and heavy producer, it must be 

 planted in a good deep soil, with good moisture conditions to support 

 the vigorous growth and fill the nuts. 



Franquette. 



The Franquette is the best nut that we produce today, although it is 

 not a heavy enough producer to be the big money maker, as the nuts 

 will not bring any more than the Eureka, Mayette or Placentia Perfec- 

 tion. In the fall the Franquette ripens its nuts the last of all — often 

 during the rainy season — and going dormant so late sometimes gets 

 caught by the early fall frosts. It comes out late in the spring and 

 avoids the spring frosts and is not subject to blight here. 



Payne's Seedling. 



Considering the bearing qualities, it is a question if the Payne's Seed- 

 ling will not prove a better nut for this section than the Franquette. It 

 was originated by George Payne near San Jose. It is shaped very much 

 like the Franquette, but the shell is much rougher and it does not have 

 the salmon color of the Fran(|nette. It is well filled witli white meat, 

 is very precocious and produces well, coming into bearing as early as, if 

 not earlier, than the Eureka. It comes out early in the spring, making 

 it liable to be caught by the early spring frosts, and subject to blight. 

 Under blight conditions it blights very bndly. On the older trees the 

 nut has a tendency to be a little small. 



