THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 497 



El Monte. 



The El Monte is a Santa Barbara soft shell seedling which originated 

 near El j\Ionte, California. It is a somewhat irregularly shaped nut 

 with pronounced ridges. The nuts are well sealed and filled with light 

 colored meat. It comes into bearing early and bears quite heavily. 

 The tree is a thrifty grower, comes out early in the spring about the 

 same time as the other Santa Barbara seedlings and harvests early. Its 

 blight resistance is about the same as the other Santa Barbara seedlings. 

 It is desirable on account of bearing early and heavily, but the nut is 

 fjuite homely. 



Neff's Prolific. 



The original tree of Neff's Prolific is a Santa Barbara soft shell seed- 

 ling in Mr. J. B. Neff's orchard at Anaheim, California. Mr. Neff 

 selected this tree on account of its heavy bearing, and its not being so 

 subject to blight and perforation as the ordinary seedlings. The nut 

 is of good size, well sealed, exceptionally heavy and well filled with light 

 colored meat of good flavor. This variety has not been propagated very 

 extensively, and is a good variety on account of its heavy bearing, 

 although the nuts are rather rough and irregularly shaped. 



Franquette. 



The French variety of Franquette has several types. The one most 

 commonly known as the Vrooman, from the Vrooman grove at Santa 

 Rosa, was first propagated by John Rock at Niles. The Leibs of San 

 Jose are also large growers of the Franquette. The Oregon Nursery 

 Company controlled the scions and nuts from the Vrooman grove for 

 a number of years. This variety being well advertised and highly 

 recommended has been extensively planted on the Pacific Coast of recent 

 years, not only as grafted tre&s but also as seedlings. There not being 

 enough grafted trees to supply the demand, many resorted to planting 

 seedlings; the eagerness of planters to set out walnuts causing Fran- 

 quette seedlings to be planted. Of course, the result of this, as with all 

 other seedlings, is going to be variable and disappointing. 



The Vrooman Franquette nut is medium to large and retains its size 

 on old trees ; decidedly elongated, but pointed ; base much broader than 

 the apex ; surface medium smooth with sutural ridges. The color is a 

 light yellowish brown. Their uniformity is strong and their character- 

 istic shape makes them easy to identify. The nuts are well sealed but 

 thin shelled and are readily cracked. The meat is moderately plump 

 and the shell well filled except at the point of the nut. Flavor is sweet 

 with a characteristic nutty flavor. The consistency of the meat is also 

 soft or oily. The buds begin to swell about April 15th. The harvest 

 season is late, often being caught by the fall rains. It is a fair, vigorous 

 grower. The precocity is not pronounced. It is one of the slowest of 

 the varieties to come into bearing. It has a thick husk and abundant 

 foliage which protect the nuts from sunburn. It is one of the best 

 proven varieties for Central and Northern California and has been con- 

 siderably tested. The quality of the nut is the best. With its uniform 

 shape, pretty color, white meat and firm sealing, the Franquette is 

 of the very highest quality, and were it a heavy bearer it would be 

 an ideal nut. I have several good types of imported Franquettes, how- 

 ever, which are much more precocious than the Vrooman strain. 



