Kearney : I.ouis Trabut 



157 



ONE OF DR. TRABUT'S MOST IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO AMERICAN 



HORTICULTURE 



Figure 6. Athel or Evergreen Tamarisk {Tamarix articulata) at Indio, California, showing 

 the growth made in 18 months after the cuttings were planted. This interesting and beautiful 

 native of the Sahara, contributed to American horticulture by Dr. Trabut, is proving to be an 

 ideal plant for wind-breaks in the deserts of southeastern California. The absence of surface 

 roots is a valuable feature, as it makes it possible to grow other plants close to the rows of Athel. 

 Photograph by Peter Bisset. (See text, p. 160.) 



"Clairette egreneuse," is now one of 

 the leading white wine grapes of the 

 colony. Studies have been made of the 

 native varieties of the fig, olive, and 

 apricot and the best have been selected 

 for general cultivation. Similar inves- 

 tigation of the numerous varieties of 

 the date palm occurring in the oases of 

 the Sahara has been begun recently at 

 the new desert station south of Biskra. 

 These investigations led to the inter- 

 esting discovery that in varieties of 

 fruit trees which are habitually seed- 

 propagated by the Kabyle mountain- 

 eers, the seedlings are much truer to 

 type than is the case with the standard 

 vegetatively propagated varieties. 



PLANT INTRODUCTION ACTIVITIES 



Not content with collecting and 

 studying the cultivated plants already 

 existing in the colony, Trabut has been 

 tireless in his efforts to introduce 

 from foreign countries, plants which 

 might contribute to the improvement of 

 existing plant industries or form the 

 basis of new ones. Some of his most 

 important achievements in this field 

 have been the introduction and dis- 

 semination of the pecan, the kum- 

 quat, and Japanese varieties of the 

 plum. The Washington navel orange 

 is one of his recent introductions. 

 Efforts to popularize the grapefruit 



