CHAPTER XXXV. 

 VEGETABLE SUNDRIES. 



It is not intended to make this volume a complete treat- 

 ise upon the esculent plants which may be grown in Cali- 

 fornia, nor to claim that it contains a complete enumera- 

 tion of those which are actually grown at the present time. 

 Such a task would be appalling in view of the wide adapt- 

 ability of the climate and the fact that our population in- 

 cludes natives of every country under the sun who have 

 brought hither the plants which have delighted them in 

 their old homes. Conspicuous among such contributions to 

 our cultivated flora are the acquisitions from China and 

 Japan, which alone would require much time to identify 

 and characterize. Our acquisitions of minor vegetables 

 from Europe are hardly less interesting. It must be left 

 for some future student to properly arrange all these for 

 public information. In the present work it has been rather 

 the intention of the writer to treat the more conspicuous 

 and widely useful vegetables, because in that line the 

 present demand for information lies. An attempt will, 

 however, be made in this chapter to briefly mention a few 

 plants concerning which inquiry may arise in the minds of 

 readers, and to offer suggestions on their culture. 



Capers. Capparis spinosa. 



The production of ''capers" on a commercial scale has 

 frequently been mooted in California, and so far as the 

 local adoption of the plant goes, anticipations of success 

 seem to be well placed. The plant thrives with moderate 

 moisture enough could be conserved by cultivation on 

 any fairly retentive soil. It has been growing thriftily for 

 years on adobe soil in the University garden in Berkeley, 



