ROBBING'S FRUIT GROWERS' GUIDE 



81 



A three-year-old Thompson Seedless vine demonstrating the method of pruning and the distribution of the grapes. 



syrups and a variety of fermented drinks. Thousands 

 of tons are annually imported into England, where they 

 are ground for stock food. Carob pods form the basis 

 of the best condition powders for stock. The pods 

 sell for sixty dollars per ton or even more than this in 

 some instances. The tree is well adapted for avenue 

 purposes, and although it will grow with little or no 

 care it responds readily to goed care and cultivation. 

 The tree blooms in the fall of the year and the crop of 

 beans is ready for harvesting just a short time before 

 the trees commence to bloom. The trees should be 

 planted thirty feet apart. In order to grow a well 

 shaped tree it is necessary to set a stake beside each 

 tree. The head should be started four feet from the 

 ground. For the first few years some pruning and thin- 

 ning should be done, but after it has once taken on its 

 form it requires very little attention. The varieties on 

 the market now are seedlings. Within the next few 

 years budded trees of recognized value will be offered 

 for sale. The pods being hard and dry, drop to the 

 ground when ripe of their own accord, or they are 

 knocked off with light poles. The expense of harvesting 

 is therefore very light. 



It is a pleasure to note that the agricultural press is 

 exploiting the possibilities of this tree becoming an 

 important factor in the horticultural development of 

 California. Many of the out-of-the-way places on the 

 farm could be planted to good advantage with the 

 carob. 



THE GRAPE 



Even in Europe there is a charm in the name "Cali- 

 fornia." This should occasion no surprise, for within 

 the confines of this state there is not a single variety of 

 fruit which can not be grown to as great an advantage 

 here as in its nativity, where the culture has extended 

 into centuries. With the exception of the countries 

 bordering on the Mediterranean, where there is no rain 

 during the summer months, all the varieties of grapes 

 for table purposes which flourish with us can only be 

 grown in Europe under glass. The quality of grapes 

 grown under glass is as a matter of fact better than 

 those grown in the open. The culture of grapes in 

 greenhouses is carried on more extensively in Belgium, 

 Holland and England than in any of the other countries 

 of Europe. The perfection which has been attained in 

 growing such grapes, the ready demand for the fruit 

 which retails in all the great markets of Europe at from 

 fifty cents to one dollar per pound, according to the 

 season, is another striking evidence of the prices which 

 may be realized for carefully selected fruit. It is only 

 in counties having a climate like that of San Francisco 

 that it will ever be practical to pursue this branch of the 

 industry successfully. The advantage to be derived 

 lies in the fact that in cool, foggy climates it is possible 

 to regulate the temperature and have ripe grapes of the 

 highest quality when all other grapes are off the market. 

 The great strides that grape culture has made in Cali- 

 fornia is apparent from the following statistics: raisin 

 output not less than 150,000 tons annually; table grape 



