ROEDING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



35 



three varieties and alternate with several rows of each. 

 Trees should be planted not closer than forty feet, and 

 on rich bottom soils fifty feet apart. It is entirely prac- 

 ticable to plant some other fruit between temporarily 

 until the pecan commences to bear profitable crops, 

 when the other trees can be dug up. The oft-repeated 

 remark that only trees which have never had their tap 

 root cut will bear, has time and again been shown to be 

 a fallacy; in fact, no harm will result from the shorten- 

 ing in of the tap root, for the tree is really benefited by 

 the more spreading root system. The difficulty of 

 securing a uniform stand and protecting the trees from 

 injury; the marked variation in the size of the trees 

 when the nuts are planted in the orchard where the 

 trees are to grow, has further discouraged this method 

 of procedure. Remarks pertaining to the pruning of 

 walnut trees are applicable to the pecan. Much diffi- 

 culty has been met with in transplanting pecans. This 

 can be overcome by cutting the tree down to within 

 six inches of the bud and hilling soil around the tree 

 until it starts to grow, when the soil may be drawn 

 away. 



THE HARVESTING . 



The pecan ripens its nuts in October. No attempt 

 should be made to gather the nuts until the hulls show 

 a tendency to split open When this occurs the nuts 

 may be knocked from the tree with light poles and 

 gathered up from the ground. Spread them out on 

 trays and expose them to the sun until, when the nuts 

 are cracked, the kernel is found to break readily when 

 pressed between the fingers. This is an indication that 

 the nuts have been dried sufficiently. The nuts may 

 then be stored in a dry place, where they will keep in 

 the very best of condition for a number of months. 



VARIETIES WHICH HAVE PROVED MERI- 

 TORIOUS IN CALIFORNIA 



Frotscher, Pabst, Russell, Schley, Stuart, Success 

 Van Deman. 



THE PISTACHIO 



Comparatively little is known about the pistachio, 

 or green almond. It is particularly well adapted to the 

 warm interior valleys. The nuts have a flavor which 

 makes them very inviting when eaten out of the hand. 

 They must be processed, however. This is done by 

 soaking them in a brine made by dissolving four pounds 

 of salt to a gallon of water. They are then roasted and 

 this causes the shells to open slightly. Of all the candy 

 we buy, there is none more expensive than that which 

 is flavored and colored with the pistache nut. It is 

 known as pistache candy and it possesses a delicacy of 

 flavor found in no other sweetmeat. The trees are 

 dioecious; that is, the male flowers are produced on one 

 tree and the female on another. The tree is of a spread- 

 ing habit and low-growing. This is particularly the 

 case with the Pistacia vera, which is the variety pro- 

 ducing the nuts of commerce. For commercial planting 

 it is necessary to have one tree of the male type to ten 

 of the female. The latter trees when loaded down with 

 their large grape-like clusters of nuts are strikingly 



As the Pistachio tree is very hardy and is not particular in 

 its requirement of soil, its culture will undoubtedly 

 develop into a very important industry. This tree_is 

 twenty years old. 



beautiful. The trees are of very easy culture, thrive 

 on a great variety of soils and are, as a matter of fact, 

 very much hardier than the fig and the olive. As border 

 trees they are very attractive, and I have every reason 

 to believe they will prove quite profitable. They would 

 be used by the foreign population much more exten- 

 sively than they are if the price at which they are sold, 

 from sixty to eighty cents per pound, was not so high. 

 The importations are estimated to average $200,000 per 

 annum. There is no question about the future of this 

 industry, though up to the present time it is still in the 

 experimental stage. It is largely through the efforts of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture that varieties of merit have 

 been introduced in recent years. I am giving now, and 

 have given for several years, considerable time and 

 thought to the culture of this nut, and I am confident 

 that the time is not far distant when it will become an- 

 other valuable acquisition to our list of horticultural 

 products. 



THE WALNUT 



This tree prefers a rather loamy, deep, rich soil, and 

 when so planted no nut yields larger and more profitable 

 returns. The tree is practically free from insect pests, 

 and when once established requires little care as far as 

 pruning is concerned. Good and thorough cultivation 

 is necessary for activity in the growth of the tree, caus- 

 ing it to respond with bountiful crops. The planting of 

 seedling walnut trees has been generally abandoned on 



