50 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



the danger of communicating fire to the surrounding country, which 

 is a standing danger in our dry climate. Under the present law it 

 becomes necessary to secure permission from the State Forester at 

 Sacramento before starting field fires in the dry season. After the 

 rain, clean up the ground perfectly. 



First Crop on a Clearing. It is the opinion of some clearers in 

 the redwood region that the soil is not fit for fruit trees the first 

 year after the original growth is removed, and they grow a field 

 crop the first year. They claim that peas are the best corrective of 

 "redwood poisoning," and fortunately in the upper redwood dis- 

 trict they have a climate well suited to the pea. 



Surface Leveling and Draining. There is often occasion to clear 

 the land of stone and rocks. The latter should be blasted out of the 

 way so that the land may be clear for the plow and cultivator. Once 

 in a while one will come upon a stone wall enclosing an orchard in 

 this State, as trim and true a wall as the most thrifty New England 

 farmer can boast, but walls are not common. Our valley orchard 

 lands are, as a rule, naturally as free from stone as they are from 

 underbrush, but on the hills it is different. Probably the best way 

 to dispose of much of the stone is to dig trenches in the natural 

 water runs, put in stone, cover with small brush, and then with soil 

 deep enough so the plow will not reach the brush. This disposes of 

 the stone for all time, and at the same time helps to drain the soil. 

 Concerning other treatment of the land after the rubbish is removed, 

 P. W. Butler writes as follows : 



When water runs are wide, lateral ditches should be cut extending 

 entirely through the moist areas. If during the rainy season a run is likely 

 to have more water than can be conveyed properly through a covered trench, 

 it should be left open and graded, so that a team can cross it, and for fifteen 

 feet on each side sow to alfalfa, which will take the place of unsightly 

 weeds, that would otherwise grow at the point that cannot be cultivated. 



To distribute the work more evenly through the first year buildings can 

 be erected, a well dug, and the trenches done in the dry season, while all the 

 grubbing, leveling, plowing and planting must be done the following season, 

 as soon as the ground is sufficiently moistened. All depressions where 

 water would stand should be "filled, and all flat places should be graded 

 until water will readily flow off, and not be retained so near the surface 

 of the ground as to cause it to become soured. This leveling can be best 

 done by one man and a pair of horses. Plow the adjacent elevated land 

 and scrape into the places to be filled. The land is now ready for plowing, 

 and should be done thoroughly, subsoiling to as great a depth as the re- 

 moval of the stumps will allow. It is now well to go over the ground 

 again with the scraper and level all the most elevated points so they can 

 be readily reached by water in irrigating. Then cross-plow as deeply as 

 possible without again subsoiling, harrow and drag, and the ground will be 

 ready to plant. 



Mr. Butler writes with reference to the foothills of the Sierra 

 Nevada, where irrigation must be practiced. Where irrigation is 

 not used, leveling, or rather grading, may be unnecessary, but it is 

 often quite desirable that there may be no depressions to retain 

 surplus water. The life of the trees and ease of cultivation may 

 demand this unless the soil should be light and deep enough to allow 

 free drainage. 



