718 



CERATONIA 



CERATOPETALUM 



Jewish Experiment Station in Palestine, says that an 

 acre of carob trees on arid soil yields a much greater 

 quantity of food matter than an equal area planted 

 with the best alfalfa. He gives the sugar content at 

 40 per cent and in some varieties even higher, and the 

 protein content as 7 to 8 per cent. The French and 

 Portuguese writers give somewhat lower percentages, 

 but this seems to be much a matter of climate and 

 varieties. The analysis published by Riviere and 

 Lecoq points to a high digestive coefficient, and nutri- 

 tive value a little higher than oats; it is estimated that 

 147.5 kilos of carobs equals 100 kilos of wheat (a kilo 

 is nearly 2J^ pounds). 



The first introduction of the tree into this country 

 on a considerable scale was by the U. S. Patent Office 

 from Alicante, Spain, in 1854 and from Palestine in 

 1859. About 8,000 plants, grown from seed in Wash- 

 ington, were distributed during the spring of 1860, 

 mostly in the southern states. Some of these plants 

 probably found their way to California, as a number of 

 old trees are growing in various parts of that state from 

 San Diego on the south to Napa and Butte counties on 

 the north. The latest importation was in June, 1911, 

 from Valencia, Spain, by the Office of Foreign Seed 

 and Plant Introduction of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. This shipment consisted of cuttings of six of the 

 leading varieties grown in that district which are now 

 being propagated by budding at the Chico (California) 

 Introduction Field Station and will soon be available 

 for distribution. 



Centuries of cultivation have given rise to a large 

 number of varieties, differing in quality of pods, vigor 

 and productiveness and adaptability to various soils. 

 The species is either dioecious or monoecious. All trees 

 in California are of course seedlings and, as far as 



examined by the 

 writer, monoeci- 

 ous, although 

 Aaronsohn states 

 that the best kinds 

 in Palestine are 

 dioecious, and a 

 sufficient number 

 of staminate trees, 

 therefore, must be 

 planted with those 

 varieties to polli- 

 nate the female 

 trees. In the pro- 

 vince of Algarvia, 

 Portugal, seven- 

 teen named varie- 

 ties are cultivated 

 and about as 

 many in France 

 and Spain. The 

 best of these 

 should be intro- 

 duced into this 

 country. 



878. Pods of Ceratonia Siliqua. 



The carob tree thrives only in a warm climate, the 

 range being about the same as that of the orange, but 

 with a little protection for two or three winters, the 

 range can be considerably extended. At the Govern- 

 ment Field Station at Chico, several varieties have 

 survived temperatures of 18 to 22, while others when 

 young have been killed to the ground by the same 

 degrees of frost. The old trees scattered about the Pacific 

 Coast States show that a large area is adapted to it. 



In France, Spain and Portugal, the carob grows in 

 most kinds of soil, except in stiff clay or wet ground, 

 and even in gravel if fertile and permeable to the roots. 

 The crop is sufficiently valuable to make it worthy of 

 the best soil and treatment. 



The carob is usually grown from seed and afterwards 

 budded to the best varieties. It can be raised from cut- 



tings, but requires bottom heat and careful treatment. 

 At the Chico Field Station, where thousands of seed- 

 lings are grown, the best success is had by planting under 

 glass. Quicker germination is secured by soaking the 

 seed in water for three or four days or until they begin 

 to swell. The tree is difficult to transplant and usually 

 fails unless moved with a ball of earth. The best results 

 are had by growing the plants in pots or in "flats" in 

 tenacious soil, as is the practice with eucalyptus, when 

 the trees are cut apart and lifted with squares of earth 

 attached. At Aleppo, in Syria, the growers make pots 

 of a mixture of clay and cow-dung which, dried in the 

 sun, are strong enough to hold the earth in which the 

 seeds are planted. When ready to put into the orchard 

 the pot is sunk where the tree is to stand. As soon as 

 the pot becomes moist from contact with the earth, it 

 is readily permeable by the roots. 



While the carob is a rather slow grower, it lives to a 

 great age and should be planted not less than 35 to 40 

 feet apart, with interplanting of peaches or other 

 growths for income until the carobs begin to bear. In 

 Algiers and Tunis, it is often planted as a border tree, 

 for which its beauty and utility admirably fit it. When 

 well established, the seedlings are budded with the 

 best varieties. If buds are taken from bearing trees, 

 fruit may be expected in three or four years. In Cali- 

 fornia seedlings bear when six to eight years of age. 

 While it is eminently a dry-climate tree, two or three 

 summer irrigations will greatly aid the development, 

 hasten fruiting and increase the yield. It will respond 

 to the same good treatment that is given to a well- 

 kept fruit orchard. 



The crop matures in September and October and, 

 as with most other fruit trees, it is most abundant 

 every second year. When ripe, the pods turn brown 

 and begin to fall. Those that fail to drop are easily 

 knocked down with bamboo or other poles. 



Aaronsohn gives the crop in Palestine in good years 

 at an average of 450 pounds to the tree, and states that 

 he has seen wild stocks fifteen to eighteen years after 

 grafting give a yield of 900 to 1,000 pounds of pods. 

 Du Breuil gives the yield in southern France at 220 

 pounds and mentions single trees at Valencia, Spain, 

 that produce as high as 1,380 kilos, or 3,040 pounds. 

 Riviere and Lecoq report the yield of trees in Algiers 

 at 100 to 300 kilos, or 220 to 660 pounds. Francis de 

 Mello Lotte gives the crops of mature trees on deep 

 fertile soil in Algarvia, Portugal, at 300 to 750 kilos, 

 or 660 to 1,650 pounds each. As the pods are equal in 

 nutrients to barley and superior to oats for feeding and 

 fattening cattle, sheep, hogs and horses, and the yield 

 is from three to four times the weight per acre of grain, 

 it is evident that few crops will give the farmer an equal 

 value. In the mild climate of the Gulf States, especially 

 the coastal regions of Texas, the southern parts of New 

 Mexico and Arizona and the greater part of California, 

 this beautiful and valuable evergreen tree, when once 

 appreciated, is bound to become a staple addition to 

 farm crops for the nourishment of both man and beast. 



G. P. RIXFORD. 



CERATOPETALUM (Greek, horned petal). Cunoni- 

 acese; by some, Cunoniacex is included in Saxifragaceze. 

 Greenhouse trees or shrubs. 



Glabrous and resinous trees and shrubs: Ivs. opposite, 

 compound, with 1-3 digitate Ifts. : fls. small, white, rose 

 or yellow, in terminal branching cymes or panicles; 

 calyx-tube short, 5-lobed; petals 0, or, if present, 

 laciniate; stamens 10, with connectives: fr. a small and 

 hard achene-like body, with persistent calyx -lobes, 

 1-seeded. Two or 3 species, in Austral. 



gummiferum, Smith. Tree, 30-40 ft. : Ifts. 3, lanceo- 

 late, serrulate, narrowed at base, shining and strongly 

 nerved: petals deeply 3-5-lobed, not exceeding the 

 calyx. Said .to thrive in a peaty soil, and to prop, by 

 cuttings of half-ripened wood under glass. L jj_ g 



