BULLETIN 231] WALNUT CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 137 



of black walnut trees at this point previous to the first white settle- 

 ment. Apparently, none of the original trees now remain in this local- 

 ity, although some of the largest black walnut trees in the State may 

 be found here, having been planted in the fifties. These trees and the 

 nuts which they bear are of exactly the same type as those at Walnut 

 Creek and at Walnut Grove in the Napa Mountains. 



It is not improbable that other localities of this sort may be found in 

 the northern part of the State, especialy in northeastern Napa County 

 where we have a fairly definite report of such original trees. 



As to the oldest trees standing in the vicinity of the various towns 

 mentioned, the history of almost all of them can be ascertained. In 

 regard to the two large trees south of Gilroy, for instance, which are 

 some of the largest in the State, Judge S. F. Leib, of San Jose, writes 

 us as follows: "I was informed by Mr. Zuck (now deceased), who 

 examined into the matter for me, that the two large native California 

 black walnut trees about a half mile south of Gilroy fronting on the 

 public road were planted in 1856 or 1857 by Mr. Eeeve. I measured 

 them last fall and found each of them to be over four feet in diameter. ' ' 

 About San Jose there are trees still older than these, most or all of 

 which appear to have been planted from nuts obtained at Walnut 

 Creek. About Stockton most of the oldest trees seem to have come 

 from Walnut Grove on the Sacramento River. In Suisun Valley there 

 are some particularly large, fine old trees on the Matthew Wolfskill 

 ranch and others, planted in the fifties. The nuts from which these 

 trees grew came mostly from Walnut Creek. There are some very 

 large trees on the Dan Berry place in the same vicinity. These are 

 thought to have been planted in the early fifties from Walnut Creek 

 nuts. In the vicinity of Vacaville there are numerous old trees ; one on 

 the W. B. Davis ranch east of Vacaville is said by Mr. Davis to have 

 been a natural seedling in Gordon Valley, Napa County, which was 

 moved to Vacaville in 1853. This is the largest tree on the place, stand- 

 ing just south of the Japanese bunk house. Mr. Davis states that he 

 grew a nursery in 1860 from nuts obtained at Walnut Grove on the 

 Sacramento River, and that most of the old trees about Vacaville came 

 from this planting. When he obtained the nuts there were many trees 

 at Walnut Grove three to four feet in diameter. On the Thurber place 

 in Pleasant Valley, between Vacaville and Winters, there are two large 

 trees in front of the house at the front gate and one north of the house 

 which were grown by Mr. Hough on the Joe Bassford place. He got 

 the nuts from Napa County, supposedly from wild trees. The long 

 rows of black walnuts on both sides of the road near the Fred Buck 

 place, most of which have been worked over into English walnuts, came 

 from the Wolfskill place near Winters. On the latter places, that of 



