508 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



but it has not attained any considerable product as yet. The chest- 

 nut, aside from its desirability as an orchard tree, can be com- 

 mended as a tree for hillsides or a shade tree for waysides or pas- 

 tures, and should be more widely planted in California. The chief 

 product is in the foothill district east of the San Joaquin valley. 



THE FILBERT 



The best English cob-nuts have been quite widely tried in Cal- 

 ifornia without successful results. Improved Spanish and French 

 varieties of the filbert were early introduced by Felix Gillet, of 

 Nevada City, and have been favorably reported by him as to growth 

 and bearing. A few other growers in foot-hill situations have re- 

 ported success, Jbut as a rule disappointment has attended ven- 

 tures with the filbert. The most favorable regions for farther ex- 

 periment are apparently the north slopes of the Coast Range, and 

 other cooler and moister situations, as well as at an elevation on 

 the Sierra foot-hills where Mr. Gillet found them satisfactory. 



THE PEANUT 



During the last few years the peanut product of California has 

 notably increased, and the crop is a popular one in some parts of 

 the San Joaquin Valley and southern California. The nuts are 

 considerably grown between the rows in young orchards and vine- 

 yards, as well as upon ground wholly given to them. The follow- 

 ing explicit directions are given by R. M. Hargrave, a grower in 

 Orange County. Some slight modifications in practice may be 

 needed, according to locality, as, for example, in time of planting, 

 which is usually a little earlier than the date given : 



Planting. The best time to plant peanuts is about the middle of May, say, 

 loth to I5th, in rows about three to four feet apart and sixteen to twenty 

 inches the other way, and not cover too deep three or four inches. Peanuts 

 planted the middle of May ripen evenly and are of uniform size. Very early 

 peanuts ripen unevenly, and the first nuts that set on get so ripe they turn 

 to a pink color, and if the land is a little sandy the stems get soft, lose their 

 strength, and will not lift the nuts from the ground. 



It takes about thirty pounds of the California or White Virginia, and fifty 

 pounds of the Tennessee Reds to plant an acre. Tennessee peanuts can be 

 planted much closer in the rows. The California peanut is the best to plant, as 

 it yields three or four timfes as much as the Tennessee Reds do, and has more 

 ready sale. 



The Quality of Land. Peanuts require a rich sandy soil loam that is known as 

 upland. Damp land gives the nuts a straw color, and they are not as good 

 probably as those raised on higher land. They require no irrigation, except 

 on very sandy land, where some have found it profitable; but, as a usual thing, 

 when irrigated the ground is liable to get hard, making the nuts crooked, 

 ill-shaped, and many times coloring them. 



Cultivation. Peanuts should be cultivated about the same as corn, not 

 allowing any weeds to grow in them, keeping the ground loose and mellow, 

 and when the spikes begin to form, they should not be disturbed. If they are, 



