JUJUBE AND LOQUAT 403 



pulp, mildly acid and of very agreeable flavor. Very good jelly 

 has been made of the fruit. Another passion vine with large pink 

 flowers is very widely distributed in California, and bears a large, 

 yellowish-brown fruit with edible pulp. 



THE JUJUBE 



The jujube (Zizyphus jujube), from the fruit of which the deli- 

 cate paste of the confectioner is, or should be, made, was intro- 

 duced by Mr. G. P. Rixford in 1876, and is fruiting regularly and 

 freely in several parts of the State. The plant is easily grown 

 from seed or cuttings. The orange-red berries are produced three 

 years from planting, and ripen in November and December. They 

 are edible, fresh or dried. As yet the fruit has not been turned to 

 commercial account. 



A large-fruited Chinese species was introduced more recently, 

 and has fruited freely at several points in California interior val- 

 leys. It can be grown readily from seeds or cuttings, and the fruit 

 may be dried like a date, which it somewhat resembles in flavor. 



THE LOQUAT 



The loquat (Eriobotrya Japonica) is widely grown in California 

 as an ornamental plant, and a small amount of fruit is profitably 

 marketed each year. During the last twenty-five years a very, 

 marked improvement in loquats has been achieved by painstaking 

 effort by Mr. C. P. Taft, of Orange, who began growing loquats in 

 1891. Mr. Taft's work has demonstrated that this fruit is suscep- 

 tible of improvement in size, flavor, appearance, in bearing habit 

 of the tree, and in direction of early and late varieties ; and in all 

 these directions not only in the line of better fruit, but fruit which 

 commands in the market several times the value of the common 

 types. Upon the basis of the new varieties the season for the loquat 

 is from February to June, the bulk of the crop coming in April and 

 the first half of May. The Advance Loquat was the first of the new 

 varieties to attract attention. Mr. Taft has named the following 

 varieties : 



Advance. Yellow, pear-shaped, from two to three inches in length, 

 clusters very large, very sweet when fully ripe in May. 



Premier. Salmon-colored, oval, large, but not as large as the Advance, 

 sweet, but peculiar flavor, ripens earlier than Advance. 



Victor. Largest, color pink to red, probably the best for canning. 



Champagne. Very large and fine, clusters loose; ripens with Advance. 



Early Red. The earliest loquat, ripens in February and March. 



Other varieties have also originated in California. A full ac- 

 count of varieties and of the culture and commercial standing of 

 loquats is now available.* 



*"The Loquat," by Ira J. Condit: University of California Experiment Station Bulle- 

 tin No. 250, and ''The Kaki or Oriental Persimmon," Bulletin 316, by the same author, 

 can be had from the station at Berkeley. 



