THE WALNUT — PLANTING, SOIL, ETC. 23 



oaks that would out from four to fiiteen cords of stovewood, and yet I never lost a tree 



Slanted among the oaks. Now, whether the oak is poisonous in the soil occupied by Mr. 

 ooper's orchard and not in Carpinteria, is a question that only the analyzation of the 

 soil can prove ; but in my locality the oak is not poisonous to the young walnut. The 

 great mistake, in my opinion, in the raising of the walnut, is that a suitable locality is 

 not obtained. 



"Since the above was submitted, I have made thorough examinationsof the effects, if 

 any, of the oak on the walnut, and remain of the opinion that the oak does not contain 

 any substance poisonous or detrimental to the walnut. If dead timber is allowed to 

 remain on land, in the decayed trunks may often be found a large worm that feeds on 

 the decayed wood. In my examinations I have never found an instance where these 

 grubs interfere with the living wood of the walnut or any other tree. That many wal- 

 nuts planted within the last live years have failed to become profitable, and in many 

 instances have died, I think is very easily to be explained. 



" The most suitable land for the walnut is the sandy loam ; a light, deep, rich soil, with 

 water not nearer the surface than 12 or 15 feet, Many of the planters have disregarded 

 this requirement, and from this cause can be attributed a great proportion of the loss 

 of trees. 



"In the Carpinteria Yalley the water has been gradually rising. In my orchard in 

 front of my house, where the water was about 18 feet deep when I planted that part 

 of my orchard, it is now less than 6 feet, and I have lost about twenty acres of twenty- 

 five-year-old trees, by the rotting of the roots. I caution all planters to be careful 

 about the depth of water from tne surface. In one part of my orchard I had about 

 twenty acres of soft-shell walnuts all in beariijg ; these trees have died to such an extent 

 that I do not now replace with that variety. I can find no cause for the dying of these 

 trees, and have concluded, with many others in the same fix, that the soft-shell walnut 

 is a short-lived tree." 



The writer, in 1886, visited Mr. Cooper's extensive orchards at EUwood, 

 near Santa Barbara, and he very kindly showed me the wahiut orchards 

 where trees had died, and which land was formerly occupied by live 

 oaks. The then existing conditions fully corroborated Mr. Cooper's 

 views, and my observations pointed strongly to two causes: first, oak 

 roots remaining in the soil, which generated poison,ous gases that have 

 a deadly effect on other roots; secondly, shallow soil and imperfect 

 drainage, through which causes scores of trees have died all ever the 

 State. That poisonous gases are generated by roots of forest trees 

 remaining in the soil, has been fully proven in other parts of the 

 State. As an example, I will cite the orchard of Dr. Edwin Kimball, 

 at Haywards. The land formerly contained many huge sycamore 

 trees; these were dug up and the land planted to prunes, peaches, and 

 apricots. When the apricots attained the bearing age and were in full 

 fruit, they suddenly died down. The exact spot where a sycamore stood 

 is shown by a vacant circle, upon which no tree of original planting 

 stands. Nearly ten years after large roots were unearthed, which still 

 showed life, and upon being exposed emitted a strong, disagreeable, and 

 unbearable odor. There are many other similar cases on record. This 

 same sad experience was met with by other growers, who neglected to 

 extract from the soil the greater portion of the roots, not only of oaks, 

 but also of pines, sycamores, etc. Even willows have been the cause of 

 much trouble. On the other hand, the greater portion of the largest 

 orchards in the State are located where large oaks, pines, and sycamore 

 trees once stood, but care and precision were exercised in removing the 

 roots from the land. There are many who contend that no trees have 

 died in their orchards from this cause, and they ascribe the death of 

 such trees to the time of year the forest trees have been dug up. It is 

 said that if the trees are dug up during the growing period, the roots 

 remaining in the soil will decay in one or two seasons, acting, in this 

 respect, similar to the tree itself when cut back while growing, being 

 full of sap the sudden check causes death; whereas, if dug up in the 

 dormant state, in winter, the roots act as a cutting, keep alive for many 



