August, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



25 



Ponderosa lemon, with, fruit in all stages and flowers 

 at the same time. Photographed in October 



a paper-shell type, Lewelling's Prolific, a 

 soft-shell, and Jordan, a hard-shell variety. 

 It should be remembered that almonds ripen 

 in summer with the peaches, and not in 

 autumn with the nuts. 



Some eight years ago the pear blight 

 disease began to assume alarming propor- 

 tions in Central Cahfornia, and in a few 

 years swept the Bartlett pears from the state. 

 Formerly magnificent crops were raised for 

 green shipping and drying; to-day the ship- 

 ments amount to almost nothing. Dried 

 Bartlett pears were an article of great merit, 

 bleaching to a pure white that was an almost 

 translucent mass of pear sugar. This was 

 the only main shipping variety cultivated, 

 but the Winter Nelis, a smaller and later 

 pear, is still largely grown for home use and 

 seems to resist the blight. It is a very sweet, 

 luscious pear, too juicy to keep well, but 

 ripening late. This is almost the only 

 variety of pear to-day cultivated in this 



section, though attempts are being made to 

 reinstate the Bartlett. 



Plums are well represented, and all do 

 well, from the fragrant and luscious early 

 Climax to the great green Kelsey that 

 lasts into winter. There is a vast range in 

 the quality and appearance of the plums, 

 probably only exceeded by that of the apples 

 and pears. The Green Gage is a good plum 

 for canning; the Yellow Egg plum is also a 

 standard preserving variety, of little flavor 

 when fresh. The Damson remains a favor- 

 ite for preserves; the Satsuma is another, 

 with peculiar dark red flesh. The trees of 

 the Japanese variety have a narrow upright 

 form, and the fruit looks much Hke an apple. 

 The flesh is solid with a flavor of Bartlett 

 pear or pineapple, and the pit is very small. 



The French prune, Agen, is considerably 

 grown, but the cured fruit does not equal 

 in quality the product of the Santa Clara 

 and other coast valleys. As a green fruit, 

 however, it is very attractive. 



The Tragedy prune and the larger Hun- 

 garian, both excellent fresh table fruit, are 

 more often known only in the dried state. 



The loquat, in spite of its appearance, is 

 not a plum at all. The small yellow fruit, 

 while edible, is the least attraction of the 

 tree, which is one of the most shapely and 

 ornamental of broad-leaved evergreens, bear- 

 ing large clusters of white flowers which shed 

 a far-radiating fragrance of most intense 

 sweetness. The only drawback with this 

 tree is its sensitiveness to frost. 



The cherry is not adapted to the high tem- 

 peratures of this valley, though the Vaca- 

 ville district is celebrated the country over 

 for its early crops of Black Tartarian and 

 Napoleon (Royal Ann) . 



The pomegranate is treated rather as a 

 hedge plant than a tree here, and rows of the 

 brilliant scarlet blossoms or bursting ruby- 

 gemmed fruit are pleasant features along the 

 roadside. The fruit is much appreciated 

 by Orientals, but is seldom touched by others, 

 except to satisfy curiosity or, allay thirst. 



Olives are extensively grown, and a fine 



quality of olive oil, always unadulterated, is 

 produced. Moreover, the evergreen trees 

 are very ornamental. The pickled green 

 and ripe oHves have also, to some extent, the 

 medicinal qualities of the oil. The pick- 

 ling of ripe olives was first practised in Cali- 

 fornia, and is fast surpassing the green olive 

 trade. The Mission, the Manzanillo, and the 

 Nevadillo Blanco are the standard varieties. 



Ever Eat This Fruit? 



Henry Hicks, New York 

 nPHE singular fruit pictured on this 

 -*- page is that of a hardy cHmber from 

 Japan known as Actinidia. The fruit is 

 almost exactly like a large gooseberry in size, 

 color, texture, seeds and flavor. The shape 

 is oblong, rather than globular. 



The flavor to me is not so sweet as a fig, 

 but the texture of the pulp and seeds are 



Grapefruit, or Marsh seedless pomelo, yields in great abundance, the branches bending -with the -weight 



Orown usually as an ornamental vine the Acti- 

 nidia has also edible fruits 



similar. Personally, I like the flavor, which 

 is a sprightly acid and yet sweet. 



The big waxy white flowers are like 

 orange or mock orange (Philadelphus) 

 blossoms. 



Actinidias are remarkably handsome vines, 

 rivalling wistaria and trumpet creeper in 

 vigor and healthfulness. They will grow 

 about fifteen or twenty feet high and, as 

 Mr. Rehder says, are well "excellent for 

 covering arbors, screens, trellises, walls and 

 low buildings." 



Probably the best of the actinidias is 

 A. arguta, which has dark green, shining 

 foliage of firmer texture than A. polygama 

 and Kolomikta. 



At the Arnold Arboretum there is one 

 species of Actinidia which is caged in to 

 keep the cats from tearing it down. Cats 

 have not formed a liking for ours. 



Mr. F. N. Meyer reports extensive thickets 

 of Actinidia along the trails in Northern 

 Corea and Professor Sargent the same in the 

 mountains of Japan. Mr. Meyer has sent 

 out a new Actinidia (No. 11629) from China 

 through the Di\ision of Seed and Plant In- 

 troduction, United States Department of 

 Agriculture. It has long scattered red hairs 

 and does not look as if it would be hardy in 

 New York. 



