California Agriculturist and Live Stock Journal. 



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EDITORIAL NOTES. 



Mr. A. Clock, of St. Helena, Napa 

 coiiiily, li;is been notified that lie was award- 

 cd the lirst iiremiiira for California hops, at 

 the Centennial Exposition. 



Late Plums.— Mr. G. W. Tarletou of 

 Sun Jcse, sliipped 40 boxes of Coe's Late 

 lied phims East the first week in November. 

 They were packed withont wrapping, simply 

 in layers between paper. Ssome boxes of tlieni 

 were opened on Thanksgiving day and 

 found to be sound and fresh as when packed 

 li-om the trees, without a sign of decay or 

 defect. 



Shipping Pears.— 'Within the last two 

 ycarti tliert^ has been more oi a demand tlian 

 snpi>ly for late-lteeplug pears to ship East. 

 The Winter Nellis and Buerre Easter are 

 most in demand. The consoiinence is, that 

 our nurserymen have had a run on them for 

 all their pear trees by parties setting out new 

 pear orchards to raise fruit for the Eastern 

 markets. 



This month ^ve have devoted much 



spate to forest ami to grape culture, as being 

 seasonable topics, requiring a good deal of 

 attention. Tliese have pressed out several 

 departments, which may be expected in fu- 

 ture numbers with regularity. We propose 

 to make our City Gai-dening Depai'tment, 

 this year, as attractive as it was last. Also 

 to make poultry and pet sfock something of 

 a specialty, while all departments, for in 

 i>0()us .\N1> OUT, will be as C(unplete as our 

 sjiace will admit. 



ORCHARDING. 

 Questions and Answers. 



Pomona, Los Angeles Co., "l 



Nov. 22, 1876. J 

 Editor A<;rk'ultitri8T: — Availing myself of 

 your invitation in yfiur Nbvember number, which 

 accidentally fell into my hands. I desire to consult 

 you as to the "beat fruits for an orchard" in South- 

 ern California, I will state my case as briefly aa 

 Iiossible: I am a novice, and know nothing about the 

 management of fruit trees, or fai-ming; have twelve 

 acres of deep gravelly loam, irrigating facilities; 

 land irregularly worked for twt^nty years by native 

 ( 'alifoniians, but excellent for all kinds of fruit; four 

 acres in cultivation with orange, lime, and northern 

 trees, alfalfa and raisin grapes, leaving eight acres to 

 be B6t out in notbem fruits this season. To begin 

 wrong, would cause a failure, and prove fatal, and I 

 would thank you sincerely for your advice on the 

 following points: 1st— Proper preparation of tho 

 soil, how deep to lie plowed, etc; in barley this 

 .Spring- 2d— Best varieties of Winter apples, suita- 

 ble to this chmate. Earliest peaches and pears, and 

 the proper proportion to be planted- 3d— Proper 

 distances, and as to the advisability of planting 

 peach treen between apples with a view of cutting 

 them down when the apple trees come in full bear- 

 ing As to distance there is a great difference of 

 opinion. In fact I have not found two opinions that 

 were not cnuflietiug on any point relating to fruit 

 culture: ponie adhpre to 25 feet square, while a new 

 school bringi it down to 20 and 18 feet for apple— to 

 shade the gromid. -tth-^rroper manner of setting 

 out, arrangement of roots, depth. &c. 5th--Orchard 

 clean, or in grass— and what kmd. 6th— The l>eBt 

 time for planting. 7th— The value of small fniits as 

 compared with large, where the market is distant, 

 8th — Best and earliest varieties of Ijlack- and rasp- 

 berries, and where obtainable. 9th— Cuttings of the 

 true Muscatel and Zante grape vines, where obtaiua- 

 ble. 10th— Muscat. Muscat of Alexandria, Musca- 

 tel and Malaga - these terms are confomided, what 

 is the difference? lltli— The most extensive and re- 

 liable nursery of clmice fruits in Califomia. or in the 

 East if shipment is preferable. 12th— Anyhints that 

 may suggest themselves to you, I would extend my 

 imiuiries still further, but have already presented bo 

 much, and the only apology I can offer is that of a 

 beginner who is compelled to rely upon the advice 

 and counsel of men of experience. But as the ma- 

 jority of settlers in this section find themselves in 

 the same predicament, information on the subjects 

 referred to Is of general interest and value. Lastly, 

 Ik there any publication treating practically on fruit 

 cultine in Cahfornia? 



Very Respectfully Yours. 



CHAS. WEILE. 



Answers to several of the questions 

 asked by our correspondent will be found iu 

 our article on orcharding in ibe December 

 number. We will, however, give such advice 

 as we are able, in ihe order in which the 

 (jueations aro presented: 



1. The soil should be thoronghly pulverized 

 to a depth of four to six inches at least, if not 

 already in that couditiou. 



2. We refer you to our list of apples given 

 last moutli. Your climate may refjnire a lit- 

 tle diflereut selection, but we think not. The 

 libt of peaches we gave last month is suitable 

 for San Jose. The earliest peach ia Briggs' 

 New Red May — wliich originated at Marys- 

 viile in this State, and is ahead of any other. 

 The earliest pears are Dearborn's Seedling, 

 Madaline, Buerre Gifford, Bloodgood. These 

 are valued principally because they are 

 early. The first really valuable early pear 

 is the Bnrtlett. 



3. We are satisfied that 18 to 50 feet is far 

 enough apart to plant your trees, not so much 

 to shade the gmund, thongli that is well 

 enough, as to best economize tlie land and 

 produce the most good fruit to the acre. Plant 

 all trees equally distant, to facilitate cultiva- 

 tion. To be sure some trees will bear closer 

 planting than others, but a general average 

 should be decided upon. We do not advice 

 mixing the different sorts of trees together, 

 though there is no reason why they will not 

 do very well that way. You will find it 

 handier to get at your fruit to have all ditler- 

 ent kinds and varieties by themselves. 



4. The manner of Betting out trees was 

 given last month. 



5. Never allow grass, gniin or weeds of 

 any kind to grow in your orchard, whclhcr 

 you irrigate or not, and particularly if yon 

 do nnt irrigate. Notliing will sooner ruin an 

 orchard than to grow grass or grain in it. 

 The surface soil should be kept light, clear of 

 weeds, and be niannrod every two or three 

 years at least, if you want to produce fine, 

 .arge, high-priced fruit. When irrigation 



can be resorted to, low, hoed crops may be 

 cultivated between the rows two or three 

 years; but allow no com, grain, nor grass, to 

 grow in your orohard. 



6. The best time, is as soon as the lains 

 wet the soil! enough to make it handle nicely, 

 and the frosts have caused the leaves of the 

 trees to begin to fall. Early planting in Cal- 

 ifornia, for all deciduous trees is beat. 



7. The value of small fruits as compared 

 with large, where tlie market is distant Js not 

 much, particularly if you depend upon ship- 

 ping it green. Do not think ot shipping per 

 ishable fruits a long distance to market in 

 competition with the same produced nearer 

 the same market. 



8. Our market fruit gardeners produce the 

 Wilson, Kittatinny, and Lawton blackber- 

 ries! and the Falstaff', Kuevitt's Giant and 

 Ked Antwerp raspberries. 



9. We must advise you to enter into com- 

 munication with some of the leading raisin 

 growers. Will any subscriber who has cut- 

 tings for sf.le. true to name, please answer? 



10. We think there is " a distinction with- 

 out a difference " between several of the 

 muscat family of grapes. Some reference to 

 them can be seen under the Vineyard De 

 partment in this issue of the Aoriculturist. 



U W cannot advise the purchase of trees 

 fi'ora the East. Our California nurseries can 

 produce better trees for orchard planting. If 

 you were going into the nursery business, it 

 might be well to get quantities of small stock 

 and seedlings from Eastern nurseries for a 

 starter, but for an orchard, take California 

 grown trees by all means, and buy them too 

 of RELi.VELE nurserymen — not agents or tree 

 peddlers. This is our advice all the time. 

 There are several very reliable nurserymen 

 who have extensive nurseries in this State. 

 At the risk of showing favoritism, we will 

 mention John Rock, of San Jose, as one of 

 that sort. We know him to be reliable. 



12 As to hints, wo cannot chiim to know 

 all about your special locality, as to what 

 varieties of fruits are best adapted to your 

 climate and to your market. Each locality 

 must determine these things for itself. 

 Were we going into orcharding in your lo- 

 cality, we would take the precaution to go 

 to every intelligent orchardist there and get 

 their special opinions, and reasons, on these 

 points, take notes, and by comparison, deter- 

 mine as well as we could what varieties are 

 best, etc. Tlien you must take into consider- 

 ation that the building of railroads will pro 

 duce new market i, and re(|nire a ditierent 

 class of fruits for profit from your local mar- 

 ket. The new road finished last year con- 

 necting you with San Francisco, Sacramento, 

 and the East, must change things in these 

 particulars. A road opened across the south- 

 ern plains to tlie East, will open another new 

 market, and you will do well to consider this 

 fact also. We AviU say that our best . -ship- 

 ping fruits from this point {San Jose) are 

 Winter pears and best keeping pluuis and 

 prunes. There is also a demand for a portion 

 of the grape crop— select table grapes — at 

 paying figures. 



No book on fruit tullure in t'iiliforuia has 

 yet been written. Fruit growers are just be- 

 ginning to accvnuulate reliable data for such 

 a work, iu their experience. It would be an 

 easier matter to write up their mistakes than 

 to frame out a really reliable work for fruit 

 growers' guidance in California. today. 



The inforinaiion we gave htst month con- 

 tains more reliable matter, from parctical ex- 

 perience, than any other one article ever 

 published on this Coast 



RED SPIDER. 



1st— Can you tell me how to rid house plants of a 

 amall. red insect, very destructive, and not larger 

 than the point of a pin? I had a beatitifid and a 

 very thrifty rose, that I brought indoors when the 

 winter weather came; I soon noticed a change, but 

 supposed it resulted from an indoor atmosphere. 

 The leaves withered, and one by one the tiny buds 

 dropped off, One day d friend called my attention 

 to the insects, which I had not noticed. They were 

 numerous on the few remaining leaves, and a web 

 like that of a spider enveloped the bush. I removed 

 the plant srom anong others, as a means of preven- 

 tion; but in case of trouble again would like to know 

 how to destroy.the pe.«!ts without injm-y to the plant. 



SETTING MILK. 



2d— Does it make any difference with milk in re- 

 gard to the cream rising, wliether pans are covered or 

 not? I once hved in the cotuitry and ma<le butter 

 and cheese; but never thought to notice such things, 

 I now have the milk from one good cow to manage, 

 and have noticed on several occasions that when I 

 covered the pans I did not get nearly so much cream 

 as when left uncovered. I mean close'* covers, such 

 as a naughty rat that loved cream would compel one 

 to use. Have I just discovered what 'others may 

 have known for ages, or has anybody else thought 

 anything aliout it '( M. E. T. 



1. The insect our correspondent refers to is 

 the red spider. It is a very annoying pest, 

 and is getting to be very plentiful and trou- 

 blesome in California, on many kinds of 

 plants, in doors and out. Tobacco smoke will 

 kill them, also a soap suds and cayenne pep- 

 per. Fumigation with tobacco^or sulphur is 

 the resort f Ji their destruction by gardeners 

 when they infest plants in green houses. 



2. It is a well known tact that cream will 

 raise better in open vessels in a well venti- 

 lated room, than in close rooms, or in cov- 

 ered vessels- The milk ehould be exposed to 

 the air, always, until the animal heat is en- 

 tirely out of it, and the peculiar smell of new 

 milk has evaporated. After that the cream 

 will raise very well if the pans are covered, 

 but the cream will be softer and more oily 

 than if left exposed to the air; will not seem 

 to be as thick as it really is. Exposed to the 

 air, the evaporation from the surface toughens 

 the cream and makes it appear thick. Expo- 

 sure to a pure atmosphere is quite necessary 

 to the formation of a thick, rich and sweet 

 cream, devoid of all taint or disagreeable 

 odor and taste. If you cover from rats, first 

 allow the milk to get thoroughly cold and to 

 lose the animal odor. 



The scholarly article ou otir first page 

 this month is by our business agent, Mr. 

 John Chamberlain, who has taken the field 

 this year to travel over the State in the inter- 

 est of this journal. We trust that, with the 

 aid of our friends everywhere, he will be 

 able to contribute such reports from different 

 sections as will make the Aoriculturist at 

 once attractive and valuable to readers at 

 homa and abroad. 



The Editor has been somewhat re- 

 miss in his duties during the last month, ow- 

 ing to the severe illness of his baby, who 

 caniG near dying with diptheria. He felt it a 

 first duty to try to save him, even if he ne- 

 glected everything else, and lost subscribers. 

 For days and nights his unreuiitting attention 

 was required, while letters accumulated and 

 went unanswered. The baby's life has been 

 8[)arnd, only because it was under the treat- 

 ment of a mother who had knowledge of tho 

 disease, and of how to treat the child intel- 

 ligently for it. He was not dosed with medi- 

 cines, but Natur(! was aided in resisting the 

 disease and rewtoring the bai)y to its normal, 

 healthy condition, in a rational, common 

 sense manner. 



Next month, Jeweul will tell mothers how 

 she treated the disease, if nothing prevents. 



Thk RnR.\L New Y'ork?:r, one of the 

 loading agricultural papers ia as progres- 

 sive and enterprising as ever. It is a 

 splendid paper to havo in the family. 

 Terms, $'2.50 a year. Rural Publishing 

 Co., 78 Dnane Street, New York. 



