California Agriculturist 





M.m» 



Vol. 7— No. 10. 1 



SAN JOSE AND SAN FRANCISCO, CAL, OCTOBER, 1876. 



JSUBBCBiPTiON Pbice, $1.50 a Year. 

 I Single Copies, 15 Cents. 



ALARMING DISEASE AMONG 

 CHERRY TREES. 



Several clierry orchards about Sau 

 Jose have, withiu the last two or throe 

 years, showed the ijreseuce of some ills- 

 ease which has alarmeil and puzzled the 

 orchardists not a little. The trees, one 

 by oue, in portions of the orchard, would 

 commence dying at the top. The to|)- 

 most limbs would die first, and so down 

 till, in some cases, the entire tree would 

 die. In others, after a few of the main 

 limbs died, the trees would take a new 

 growth from the bottom limlis and show 

 signs of recovery. We have visited sev- 

 eral orchards and undertalsen to ascer- 

 tain the cause. No orchardist could ac- 

 count for the trouble. Theio were no 

 signs of insect stings or poison in the 

 diseased parts. Some thought the hot 

 sun had scalded the upper limbs, which 



gophers. A few hundred dollars spent 

 for traps and poison and labor will pay 

 the biggest kind of a per cent, by saving 

 valuable trees from further damage and 

 destruction. 



Every grower of cherry trees knows 

 how damaging to a tree is a large wound 

 of any kind. The removing of a large 

 limb may, by the exuding of gum, cause 

 the death of the tree. The gum exudes 

 badly at the roots where the gophers 

 gnaw away the bark, but the dirt acts as 

 an absorbant and has a curative effect. 

 A cherry tree may rei^over from some 

 gnawing, but cannot withstand much 

 without severe injury. Nothing less 

 than complete extermination of all goph- 

 ers in orchards should satisfy. 



The office of the California Aobi- 

 CDLTUHisT has been removed to 338 First 



street, in the same rooms occupied by 

 were apparently not sufiieieutly supplied Messrs. Cottle & Wright, job printers, 

 with the circulating sap of the 

 tree. We concluded that the 

 trouble must be somewhere in 

 the root, as we knew that a 

 disease of the root would ati'ect 

 trees in just this way. Cherry 

 trees, orange, and some other 

 trees, growing in soil with a 

 heavy, wet, stagnant sub-soil, 

 have been known to suffer from 

 rotting of the lower roots, 

 which the trees would first show 

 signs of in the top, jnst as 

 these cherry trees do that are 

 aft'ected. But in this case the 

 cherry trees are growing in 

 high, light, well drained soil. 



We had an idea that a bed 

 of gravel might underlie the 

 surface soil a few feet down, and 

 that the roots running into this 

 might become affected by a 

 dry, fungoid rot. So, after duo 

 consideration, we went into 

 Judge Archer's orchard, and 

 with his man, spent half a day 

 with spades hunting for the 

 cause. We first ascertained that 

 the trouble was not in the sub- 

 soil. But after a careful search 

 about the crown of the roots 

 andtrunk, we found that every 

 tree that showed signs of dis- _ 

 ease had been gnawed by 

 gophers. A little gnawing 

 about the roots would cause a 

 slight affection at the top of the 

 tree, and a tree two-thirds or three- 

 quarters girdled about the I'oots would 

 be diseased in like proportion. 



The gophers do not gnaw the roots off, 

 but girdle close about the trunk where 

 the roots branch from it. Sever.d trees 

 which we found dead were entirely 

 girdled. A number of trees showing signs 

 of recovery had been gnawed some last 

 year or the year before, and not any this 

 season. 



Cherry trees are too vahiable to be 

 damaged or lost in this manner. Fair- 

 sized trees will yield in value from $2() 

 to $50 each season to the tree. Now that 

 the cause is positively known, .and the 

 ' mystery disijclled, we trust that means 

 will be at once taken to destroy the 



/'j/m-z/ii^*^ 



Boiler vvitli Fire-box Ueiiiovort— sliowiuK iJORition 

 and arrangement uf tnlies anil grati'K 



TEMPERANCE HALL. 



Mr. Jesse Hobson, the noted temper- 

 ance worker of San Jose, has just com- 

 pletefl a new building, on the comer of 

 Ninth and St. James streets, to be de- 

 voted to temperance and education. This 

 he has done at his own expense, for the 

 free use of the community. .\s it is just 

 opposite the Editor's residence, we feel 

 particular pleasure in noticing the fact. 

 It is better than a whisky saloon oppo- 

 site one's door, such as existed where w^e 

 once lived on Third street. 



Long live Jesse! say we, and may 

 his voice continue to ring out for tem- 

 perance, education and reform! 



KING'S PATENT BOILER 

 ENGINE. 



AND 



• We do not make a practice of adver- 

 tising anything on this page for pay, but 

 admit the cuts of this splendid engine as 

 an advertisement here, beliefiiK/ it U> be 

 the very best euyine and boiler, for such jiur- 

 /lo.w.s as it is designed, that was ercr yet 

 manufactured. Several of them now in 

 use in San Jose give better satisfaction 

 to the jiersons owning them than any 

 others have ever done. Mr. ^^^ W. Coz- 

 zens .and Mr. Oliver Cottle, both orch- 

 ardists in the "Willows," have them, 

 and find that they use less fuel than any 

 other boiler and engine of like capacity 

 and power. The proprietors of the San 

 Jose Feed Mill, on the Alameda, where 



ojieration in the Are/us office. First street, 

 San Jose, to run the new cylinder press 

 just set up in their new rooms. 



The illustrations here given will show 



the peculiar construction of the boiler. 



Instead of flues surrounded with water, 



tubes holding the water to be heated are 



surrounded by the flames. The largest 



possible heating space is thus gained, 



, while at the same time there is no large 



I body of water or steam subject to cxplo- 



1 sion. 



Tliero is no safer boiler made, or oue 

 more economical of fuel. The engine is 

 j not close enough to the boiler to get 

 i heated, although it rests upon the same 

 i cast beil-piece. The crank-motion is at 

 the liase, thus avoiding unnecessary strain 

 and jar. It is mechanically a triumph 

 in every re- 

 spect; easy to 

 uud e r s t a Q d 

 and to nm, 

 safe from de- 

 struetive ex- 

 plosions, and 

 cheaper and 

 more econom- 

 ical than any 

 other of equal 

 Ijower. 



Its merits 

 deserve to be 

 understood. — 

 Mr. E.E.Wil- 

 ber, 450 First 

 St., San Jose, 

 is the sole 

 agent for this 

 Coast. Per- 

 sons wanting 

 engines sho'd 

 at once ac- 

 quaint thaui- 

 selves with 

 the advant- 

 ages of King's 

 Patent Boiler 

 and Engines. 

 Mr. Wilber 

 will forward 

 further infor- 

 mation to any 

 address upon 

 application. 



There are 

 several sizes 

 and different 



n.l.l.l. 



powers, and all orders can be filled with- 

 in reasonable time. This machine has 

 only begun to be introduced on this 

 Coast, but the names of all persons us- 

 ing them here will at any time be cheer- 

 fully given to such as may wish to make 

 inquiries of them as to how they like 

 the King Boiler and Engine. 



they grind all kinds of grain for feed at 

 $2 per ton, tell us th.at it is the best 

 boiler and engine they ever saw. They 

 cannot say enough in it.s praise to do 

 complete justice to it. Mr. Tarleton, 

 orchardist, San Jose, who already has a 

 first-class boiler and engine, bought new 

 this yeiu-. and who has thoroughly exam- 

 ed the merits of all the leading ones, re- 

 gi-ets that he had not seen this one be- 

 fore he bought. Mr. Joseph Holland, 

 orchardist, San Jose, has been the 

 rounds trying all tlie different engines, 

 .lud making inquiries to ascertain the 

 comparative merits of each before order- 

 ing, and will take this kind. He recog- 

 nizes several important points of superi- Caiifobnia exchanges will confer 

 ority over any other. Oue of the small- ; favor by noticing that this journal is of- 

 est size— a two-horse power — is now in ' (ered three months on trial for ten cents. 



The Honey Country. -One peculi- 

 arity about the honey region in Southern 

 California is freedom from fogs and cold 

 winds. -Mthough near the sea, the cli- 

 mate is singularly favorable for the 

 flight and continuous working of the bees. 



