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CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



haps better known as "choco," "chocho," "chayota," and "Portu- 

 guese squash." It belongs to the order cucurbitacae, and is a 

 perennial vine, resembling in growth and fruit our summer squash 

 or vegetable marrow. It is a very prolific bearer. Both the fruit 

 and the great yam-like tuber are used as food by man and beast 

 in the West Indies, where it is considered a wholesome article of 

 diet. The roots often weigh as much as twenty pounds. They 

 have a flavor similar to the yam, and are considered a greater deli- 

 cacy than the fruit, which in a raw state resembles the chestnut 

 in flavor, and under favorable conditions weighs over three pounds. 

 The proper way to grow them is to plant the whole fruit, as they 

 have but one seed, and they produce fruit in three months, under 

 favorable conditions. 



THE GUAVA 



Two species of guava have been quite widely tried in this 

 State the strawberry guava (Psidinin cattlcyanum) and the lemon 

 guava (Psidium guayava). The former is the hardier, and, in fact, 

 seems to be about as hardy as the orange, and it has fruited in 

 widely-separated parts of the State ; the latter is quite tender, 

 and is at present only grown in favorable places along our southern 

 coast, and even there it is found inferior in quality and usefulness 

 to the strawberry guava. 



Mr. C. P. Taft of Orange has confidence in the lemon guava 

 through the selection of better varieties. It is far larger than the 

 Strawberry, and of quite attractive appearance. Sometimes the 

 color is almost white, sometimes quite green, and frequently of 

 a bright yellow, often with a red cheek. These variations are only 

 what is naturally to be expected from seedlings, and almost no 

 others have yet been planted. Mr. Taft has fruited quite a num- 

 ber, perhaps a hundred, and finds it to possess qualities which if 

 properly selected and developed will cause it to equal the Straw- 

 berry guava in hardiness and flavor and early ripening. 



The guava grows quite readily from the seed, and grows from 

 cuttings under glass. In regions of generous rainfall and on reten- 

 tive soil it does not require irrigation, but it must have sufficient 

 moisture at command. A light loam seems best adapted to the 

 shrub. 



THE FEIJOA 



Along with the guava should be mentioned the Feijoa Sellow- 

 iana, a member also of the myrtle family. In habits of growth it is 

 much the same as the guava and while the foliage is not so hand- 

 some, being of a generally silver gray effect, the flower is very 

 showy. In May it sends forth a great profusion of blossoms, 



