412 The Pistachio. 
for California conditions. A tree grown from a nut planted by 
J. R. Wolfskili, on Putah Creek, in 1878 was, in 1894, over fifty 
feet high, with a trunk twelve inches in diameter, growing lux- 
uriantly and bearing freely. Still older trees, also very satis- 
factory in growth and bearing, are to be seen at Chico and \1- 
salia. The pecan, though ‘grown for thirty years by different 
parties around the bay of San Francisco, either does not bear or 
keeps the nuts hanging on until sonietimes they sprout on the 
tree. The wider extremes in temperature or in humidity in the 
interior seem to teach the tree better habits of growth and rest. 
As yet, California has no large marketable product of pecans. 
Pecan trees grow readily from the nuts if these are fresh. 
Planters should secure nuts of selected varieties (for there is a 
great difference in size and quality) direct from growers in the 
southern States, and plant as soon as received, in the early winter, 
or if conditions are not favorable for planting, the nuts should 
be stored as described in Chapter VIII. Nuts planted in good 
nursery ground in rows as there suggested, and covered about 
two inches or a little deeper in dry, loose soil, and then mulched 
to retain moisture, will germinate freely. The trees should be 
transplanted to permanent place at the end of the first year, and 
then usually the taproot can be retained, as some growers deem 
very desirable; if the trees are to be put in permanent place later 
thev should be transplanted in the nursery and the taproot cut 
off. The nuts can, of course, be planted at once in permanent 
place if one will take the extra trouble necessary to properly care 
for them. 
THE PISTACHIO. 
The pistachio nut (Pistachia vera) was introduced a number 
of years ago but no results have been reported. The species 
upon its own root makes a low shrub and is very slow of growth. 
We have also imported the Pistachia terebinthus, from which *+ 
derived the “chio turpentine,” and which is the stock upon which 
the true pistachio is grafted in Europe. It is a very hardy tree, 
the largest specimens probably being on the Rixford Ranch, in 
the Sonoma Valley. 
THE ENGLISH OR PERSIAN WALNUT. 
The nut which is signified in California when the term wal- 
nut is used, is the English walnut or Madeira nut (Juglans 1e* a) 
and its many varieties. This tree makes a grand growth in Cal- 
ifornia. Specimens can be found here and there, which, at about 
twenty years of age, are from fifty to sixty feet in height, with a 
_spread of branches of forty to sixty feet, and in some cases bear- 
ing four to eight hundred pounds of nuts. Such trees can be 
found in the rich valleys of both northern and southern Califor- 
