THE POMEGRANATE AND THE JUJUBE 387 



R. L. Beagles 1 says : " The jujube has endured a temperature 

 of 13 F. at the Chico Station without any perceptible injury ; 

 it also withstands extreme heat, a temperature of 111 F. 

 producing no apparent bad effects on trees and young 

 grafted plants. . . . The tree starts into growth very late 

 in the spring, which eliminates any danger from frost, and 

 makes it a sure cropper. The fruits ripen in October and 

 November." 



Meyer 2 writes regarding the cultivation of the jujube in 

 China : 



" In general, jujubes are grown in small groves or as single trees, 

 but here and there one also meets regular orchards of them, covering 

 perhaps 10 or 20 acres. In some localities the farmers plant them in 

 rows through the fields. It seems that planted in this way, at a 

 distance of five to ten feet apart, they produce the largest quantity and 

 best quality of fruit. When in regular orchards the distance apart 

 is from 15 to 25 feet, depending upon the variety and upon the personal 

 preference of the planter. 



"The farmers, here and there, also have the practice of ringing 

 their trees every year, claiming that thereby they considerably increase 

 the crop. The jujube is about the only fruit tree around the roots of 

 which the soil is not regularly cultivated, because the yield is found to 

 be just as large without this work as with it." 



Propagation is effected by seeds, grafting, root-cuttings, and 

 one or two other means. Meyer reports regarding the methods 

 employed in China : " As the varieties do not come true to 

 seed, the trees are mostly propagated by the suckers which are 

 nearly always found at their bases. Root cuttings can also 

 be taken. Some varieties, however, do not readily produce 

 suckers, and root cuttings are not successful. Then the 

 Chinese resort to grafting the cions on wild stock. This graft- 

 ing practice, however, seems to be confined to only a few local- 

 ities, where the growers are men of considerable experience." 



1 California Citrograph, Oct., 1917. 

 * Bull. 204, Bur. Plant Industry. 



