314 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES. 



it will not decay so readily because the ridge will be dry. 

 Do not make your first ridging too high, and do not do 

 the work too late; if so, the first setting will be greatly 

 injured by pushing the earth against the fruit, thus leav- 

 ing no room for it to grow, and many pods will be curly 

 and eaten by bugs. 



Gathering and Curing. During September the fruit will 

 begin to ripen, the time of ripening depending upon the 

 soil and the care of the crop. In sandy soil the fruit will 

 ripen quicker than in deep sediment. If the plants lack 

 moisture they will ripen much faster, which looks well, 

 but they should be kept green as long as possible. It 

 pays better in the end. 



The crop should be picked as each setting ripens; go 

 over the field three or four times. A pod should be left 

 on the vine until of a dark red and it has lost its hardness, 

 being somewhat pliable. Have the crop gathered in large 

 baskets, but they should be hauled in boxes rather than 

 sacks, as they are less liable to be bruised, and a bruised 

 pod is liable to decay unless dried at once. If peppers 

 are to be dried on strings, have them dumped on a table 

 or on the ground, as you prefer. Allow 24 to 48 hours for 

 stems to wilt after gathering before they are put on the 

 string. This work is done by running a twine through 

 the stem of each chile, the twine to be 10% to 11 feet, and 

 same may be hung on a scaffold to dry or put into espe- 

 cially made evaporators. Some growers report favorably 

 on drying their crop on trays instead of on twine. During 

 recent years most of the drying has been done in evapor- 

 ators, which js accomplished by artificial heat in six or 

 eight days. 



Soils for the Commercial Crop. Although peppers can 

 be successfully grown in any good garden soil, it is im- 

 portant for the field crop to choose deep, rich, sandy loam, 

 or sediment soil, which will not bake very rapidly. The 

 young plants must be set in damp soil and if land should 

 easily bake it will become hard and will dry out more 

 readily about the young plant and the growth will be very 



