BULLETIN 231] WALNUT CUL1URE IN CALIFORNIA. 315 



with which he has been quite well satisfied and which he is inclined to 

 put ahead of the Franquette for his locality at least. On the former 

 Kerr ranch near Elk Grove, now belonging to a Mr. Powell, there is a 

 valuable collection of fairly old, producing walnut trees top-grafted on 

 California blacks, which originated from scions which Mr. Kerr imported 

 from France a number of years ago. There are trees here of the 

 Parisienne, Franquette and some other varieties, and also a considerable 

 number of Mayettes of a very good type. This Mayette has received 

 more or less prominence through Tribble Brothers of Elk Grove, who 

 have propagated it to a considerable extent. There is some variation 

 between the various Mayette trees on the place, but this may be largely 

 accounted for by differences in soil and moisture conditions where the 

 various trees stand. This Tribble Mayette is the best tested of any in 

 California, and appears to have no little merit. The trees are growing 

 in a region with a very hot, sunny, summer climate, and various speci- 

 mens may be seen about Elk Grove which are growing over shallow 

 hardpan and entirely without irrigation. Nevertheless the nuts are 

 uniformly white meated, with no discoloration by the sun, and the trees 

 are thrifty growers and fairly heavy producers. Another tree, appar- 

 ently a Mayette seedling, is the so-called Hildebrand tree which stands 

 on the ranch of this name a few miles above Linden and not far below 

 Milton in Calaveras County on the south fork of the Calaveras River. 

 It is said that this tree came from a nut distributed by Mr. J. P. Rixford, 

 then of the San Francisco Bulletin, in 1878. In an article in the Pacific 

 Rural Press of April 17, 1909, the suggestion is made that this tree 

 is probably of the Kaghazi variety. Such is probably not the case, 

 however, as the character of the nut gives every reason to suppose that 

 the tree is a Mayette seedling. The tree is unusually large, being 70 

 feet high with a spread of about 60 feet, and is in a perfectly thrifty 

 condition with no sign of die-back or deterioration. During recent years 

 the tree is said to have produced from 300 to 500 pounds of nuts per 

 year. The nut is of fairly good Mayette type, but not of exceptional 

 quality. It is possibly of some promise on account of its freedom from 

 sunburn, as the tree is growing in a very hot region. It is also unusually 

 thrifty, although this is partly accounted for by the fact that the tree 

 stands alone in excellent soil. We have two Mayette trees on our own 

 grounds which were imported from France as grafted trees by Felix 

 Gillet in 1907. These trees are just coming into bearing and have pro- 

 duced nuts which appear to be of an excellent Mayette type. 



In general, then, we may say of the Mayette that it is very much 

 mixed in this State, and outside of one or two special strains, the grower 

 has very little assurance of what he is getting in buying Mayette trees. 

 The best type of the variety is represented by a nut of very high quality, 



