DRY-LAND < )RCHARDIN< i 



begins to ripen about the 1st of June, is a freestone, me- 

 dium-sized to large, with a red cheek and flesh marked 

 with red, subacid, juicy, and varying from somewhat in- 

 sipid to luscious. This variety bears early, often beginning 

 one year after the planting. The writer's trees have borne 

 nearly as regularly as his Pallas, but the crop has usually 

 been light. The writer's trees of this variety have stood 

 the trying conditions of the last ten years better than those 

 of any other variety of peaches. They are still in first- 

 class condition and give promise of producing a number of 

 additional crops before their usefulness ends. 



The varieties of pears that the writer has found to be 

 most successful are Kieffer, LeConte, and Smith's Hybrid. 



The Kieffer pear is large and well suited for cooking and 

 canning and, when properly ripened, for eating raw. The 

 fruit of LeConte is medium-sized, mellow, sweet, and juicy. 

 That of Smith's Hybrid is large, mealy, subacid, somewhat 

 juicy, and slightly acrid. These varieties ripen their fruit 

 in the late summer. 



The Becker apple-tree has proved a regular bearer, in 

 spite of irregular winters and late frosts. The fruit, 

 which ripens in late summer, is medium-sized, yellowish 

 with red cheek or markings, mealy, and subacid. The tree 

 may easily be propagated by suckers growing from the 

 roots. 



CONCLUSION. 



From what has preceded it will be seen that orcharding 

 without irrigation in the San Antonio region is a somewhat 

 precarious undertaking. It may be added tnat even with 

 irrigation success is by no means assured, for the writer 

 has seen irrigated orchards in which the trees did not last 

 as long as in his own. Planting in deep soil, rrequent but 

 shallow cultivation, the selection of well-tested varieties 

 cnly, and the use of scientific methods generally are requi- 

 sites to success. The amount of rainfall during the first 

 year or two after the planting of an orchard is an impor- 



