210 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



the German product entered free or paid duty. If the tariff would 

 maintain a favorable attitude, California could furnish cheap coffee 

 for the whole country and beet-sugar for its sweetening besides. 

 For the last few years however the business has been much reduced 

 and depressed. For the home-grower of coffee counterfeits, the 

 chicory plant offers a better material than the "coffee bean" and 

 other substitutes which are offered, but all substitutes have had a 

 hard road under the pure food laws. The growth of the plant and 

 its preparation for the breakfast table are quite simple. 



Chicory grows to perfection on light sedimentary soils which 

 afford the root opportunity for expansion, and retain moisture 

 enough for its thrift during the long, dry summer. The plant is 

 hardy and the seed is usually sown in February. The preparation 

 of the soil, sowing, thinning, weeding and cultivation, are identical 

 with the same operations for the sugar beet already described. The 

 expense with chicory is, at present at least, considerably greater than 

 with the beet, because the moist land which is used gives more per- 

 sistent weed growth and occasions an amount of hard work which 

 is appalling to an observer. The crop partly compensates for this 

 outlay, because the value per ton is twice as great as the sugar beet, 

 and the crop is not enough less in weight to equalize things. The 

 average crop on Roberts island near Stockton in favorable years is 

 about ten tons to the acre, though some years the average will go 

 to twelve and the best crops to fifteen tons per acre. The factory 

 price for the fresh root has usually been $10 per ton. The cost of 

 growing, including rent, ranges from $50 to $80 per acre. The soil 

 on Roberts island is a mixture of sediment and peat deep, rich, 

 light and moist ; most admirably adapted to the root. 



Harvesting and Curing. From seed sown in February, har- 

 vesting continues from the middle of August to the middle of Octo- 

 ber. Early gathering is necessary, as sun-dried chicory is better 

 than that cured by artificial heat. When ready for gathering a plow 

 is run along each side of the plants with subsoil cutter and lifter 

 attached, which loosens the roots so that they can be easily lifted 

 from the soil by the hand clean and ready for the cutting machine. 

 This operation is like the gathering of sugar beets, and the topping 

 or removal of the leaves is the same. 



When they reach the factory the roots are placed in the machine, 

 which cuts them into cubic blocks three-fourths of an inch in size. 

 The drying platform comes in use next, and when the chicory has 



