Paoc ;2 



BETTER FRUIT 



January 



I 



all year round 



Open the throttle— crank up, and under the hood of 

 The Yuba Ball Tread Tractor the motor responds. The 

 tractor becomes alive. Ready to do the driver's bidding 

 IS the power of 12 or of 18 horses— real live animals, with 

 head down and shoulder straining against the collar. 



^ctor| 



BALL TREAD TRACTOR _ 



Every day in the year The Yuba Ball Tread Tractor is ready fof 

 work. Spring, summer, fall or winter it will haul or supply power to 

 pump water, cut wood, chop feed, mix concrete or thresh wheat. 



The low pressure per square inch on the tread bearing area makes 

 It particularly valuable in winter. Water below the carburetor intake 

 ■f u'^ J°v J,",-, ^°",'^"'^ "'^' horses mire in presents no difficulties. 

 Ihe Yuba Ball Tread Tractor stays on the surface and pulls with the 

 power of all Its horses. There is a booklet telling more about it 



THE YUBA CONSTRUCTION CO. 



433 California Street, 

 Dept. G-11 



San Francisco 

 Works, Marysville 



Commercial Walnut Growing in the United States 



By Fcril Croiu-r. HiUsborn, Ori'fion 



THE growing of \v;iliiut.s for com- 

 mercial purposes is gradually re- 

 ceiving more attention each year as the 

 (lilterent localities prove their adapta- 

 bility for flicir ijroduclion on a paying 

 ba.sis. Not much has been done in the 

 East, but a few varieties have been 

 planted in a limited way in certain lo- 

 calities; one near Lake Ontario in 

 Western New York, and another near 

 Lancaster, Pennsx Ivania, and a few 

 scattered over Maryland, Virginia and 

 some of the Southeastern Stales, but Ihe 

 greatest increase is in Middle and 

 Northern California, Western Oregon 

 and Washington between the Cascades 

 and Coast ranges, and a few in Eastern 

 Washington, Oregon, Idaho and I'lab. 



Tn my opinion the most favorable lo- 

 calities for raising high-grade walnuts 

 are in Western California, north of the 

 Tahachapi Mountains, in Western Oic- 

 gon and Southwestern Washington. 

 The districts in Southern (California 

 from which most of our walnuts are 

 received are scarcely holding their 

 own, and I think the ar-ea is gradually 

 decreasing. Nearly all of llic trees are 



seedlings, and owing to the uniformity 

 of production and quality, and the dam- 

 age sufTered by blight or excessive hot 

 weather that sometimes almost destroy 

 the crop, has made them less profitable 

 than citrus fruit. During the last few 

 years the high price of land and added 

 cost of irrigation makes this district 

 less attractive to the investor who esti- 

 mates returns on his capital. It is a 

 well-established fact that any locality 

 where the temperature rises above 100 

 degrees in Ihe sha<le for any consider- 

 able length of time that it is impossible 

 to grow a first-class walnut. 



While walnuts will not stand the 

 ligor of some of the Eastern States, 

 they will stand the cold when dor- 

 mant better than excessive heat in sum- 

 mer; for this reason we find only a 

 limited area of the United States suit- 

 able for profitable walnut .growing. 

 The Coast counties within 100 miles of 

 •San l'"ian(isco, and especially .Santa 

 Clara Valley, seems to be the most 

 favorable locality in California for 

 growing high-grade walnuts; and ([uite 

 a nuMiber of new orchards are being 



planted in this district and a very high- 

 grade of walnut is being put on the 

 market from this locality, which will 

 gain favor as they become better 

 known. Though land values are lower 

 here than in Southern California, they 

 are considerably higher than in West- 

 ern Oregon and Washington, that prd- 

 duce equally as good nuts. 



The public is beginning to realize the 

 difference in the quality of nuts, and 

 last season they sold at from 10 to 30 

 cents per pound. The investor oi- 

 planter should take this into considera- 

 tion, as it is of as much importance as 

 the number of pounds an orchard will 

 produce. Walnuts thrive best on well- 

 drained clay or loam soil. Heavy clax 

 seems to be best adapted if not too 

 dense or underlaid with hardpan. The 

 black loams are good if not too light 

 or sandy, and if drained four or more 

 feet deep. Rolling or foothill land, up 

 a little from the level valley, is most 

 favoj-able, as such locations are less 

 liable to frosts in spring and fall. High 

 hills or bleak places should be avoided, 

 as walnuts like a reasonable warmth 

 in summer. 



The question of how far apart to 

 l)lant has been much argued, and plant- 

 ings are usually set from 30 to 60 feel. 

 with 40 and 50 feet most favored. I 

 favor 10 feet apart after several years 

 of careful study, as the wider plantings 

 bring too little income while the 

 orchard is young. As planting 30 feel 

 apart gives four times as many trees 

 as ()0 feet, the close planting might be 

 fairly profitable, while the wide plant- 

 ing was yet an expense. The heaviest 

 bearing orchard I know of in the 

 United States is seventeen years old 

 and set only 30 feet apart. .\nd I doubt 

 the advisability of planting over 40 feel. 

 I do not advise fillers of any kind, or 

 of planting seedling trees, though 

 grafted frees cost several times as 

 much, as I estimate the grafted ones of 

 the same varieties will bring twice as 

 much income. I would advise planting 

 the grafted trees in the field, and not 

 plant nuts as some advocate, and graft 

 the trees without moving them. I have 

 had experience in grafting over 10(1 

 acres in the fiehl form during the last 

 four years, doing all the work myself; 

 some of them I grafted three and four 

 limes, and then dug Ihe stumps and 

 planted gi-afted trees in their places 

 after losing five years of growth on 

 one-sixth of the trees. It is easy to 

 estimate that this loss was several times 

 the cost of grafted trees; besides it cost 

 me considerable more to graft them in 

 Ihe Held. I don"! believe the field- 



FOR SALE 



Diversilied fniit fiinn iu-:ir Hood River, 

 Oregon, lilll .Teres in fruit. 60 ;»cres sr.iin 

 and pasture. Kver.vlhin.s;' in first-cla.ss run- 

 ning order. Would consider services of an 

 experienced manager, who can take .'i 

 moneyed interest in the property, to whom 

 exchisive charge will be given, with Ions 

 time option to purchase balance. An ex- 

 ceptional opportunity to get possession of 

 a vei-.v fine and profitable farm on most 

 favorable terms. Address H. R. MORRI?. 

 12.3 W. Madison St.. Chicago. Illinois. 



