WALNUTS POPULAR IN CALIFORNIA 443 



Co., of Salem, Ore. It is a large, elongate-oval nut with shell rather thick and 

 kernel of high quality. It is a late bloomer, and escapes blight to a certain 

 extent. 



Bijou Seedlings. Several of these are being grown. Willson's Wonder, in- 

 troduced by F. C. Willson, of Santa Clara, is a large, smooth, desirable nut, and 

 the tree is reported an early and prolific bearer. 



Other French Varieties. Other French varieties introduced by Mr. Gillet and 

 others include the following: The Cluster, which fruits, as its name indicates, 

 in long bunches, sometimes as many as fifteen in a bunch ; otherwise the tree 

 resembles the common English walnut. The Parisienne is a beautiful variety, the 

 nut large, broad, and shapely; the tree blooms very late. All the foregoing 

 varieties and the Franquette, Serotina, Barthere, Mesange, Gant and Chaberte, 

 were introduced by Mr. Gillet in 1871. 



Kaghazi. A variety called Kaghazi was grown and propagated for several 

 years by the late James Shinn, of Niles, who described it as follows: "Very 

 much larger than the ordinary kinds, and thinner shelled. The tree is late in 

 putting out leaves and blossoms, and is, therefore, especially good for places that 

 are in danger of late frosts." 



Japanese Walnut; Juglans Sieboldiana. This species, native of the north of 

 Japan, was introduced to California about 1860, and a tree grown from seed 

 planted about that time is growing at the Tower House, in Shasta County. 

 Recently the good points of the tree have been more widely recognized. The 

 following excellent description is by Luther Burbank, of Santa Rosa: "This 

 species is found growing wild in the mountains of northern Japan, and is, with- 

 out doubt, as hardy as an oak. The leaves are of immense size, and a charming 

 shade of green. The nuts, which are produced in extreme abundance, grow in 

 clusters of fifteen or twenty, have a shell thicker than the English walnut, but 

 not as thick as the black walnut, very much resembling pecan nuts. The meat is 

 sweet, of the very best quality, flavor like butternut, but less oily, and much 

 superior. The trees grow with great vigor, assume a very handsome form, need 

 no pruning, mature early, bear young, and are more regular and productive than 

 the English walnut." The nut has an exceedingly hard shell and does not rate 

 commercially with the popular varieties of the English walnut. 



Varieties Popular in California. Since the walnut blight in- 

 vaded the commercial orchards and resisted all remedies tried against 

 it, great interest has arisen in particular trees which bore well in spite 

 of the disease. As California has such a large acreage of seedling 

 trees there was a full opportunity for the full manifestation of such re- 

 sistance and a wide field in which to exercise the art of selection. The 

 result is that many trees were found which were profitable even when 

 the blight is worst, and such trees are being given distinct varietal 

 names. The progress of this work should be watched in the publica- 

 tions of the University Experiment Station at Berkeley, for the experts 

 at its branch laboratory and trial grounds in the walnut region of 

 southern California, at Whittier, Los Angeles County, have been largely 

 engaged in this work. Individual growers are alert at selection within 

 their own orchards and the prospect is that a general escape from the 

 blight and the establishment in our local pomology of a group of 

 especially desirable varieties will ere long be attained. This proposition 

 is fully discussed in Bulletin 231 by Prof. R. E. Smith, as already cited. 

 Briefly it may be stated that these six are now most popular, according 

 to reports of planters : 



Eureka, Franquette, Mayette, Concord, Placentia Perfection, El 

 Monte. 



