Pomona College JouRNiVL of Economic Botany. 349 



$1.50. From one 6-year-old tree, in 1911, was sold $23 worth of fruit. In 

 the Imperial, "cots" ripen during the month of May, and bring very good 

 prices. One orchard of Blenheim "cots," near El Centro, which has had 

 excellent care, bore 100 pounds to each 5-year-old tree. These "cots" rip- 

 ened on the first of June, and sold for from 3c to 10c a pound to the can- 

 ners, as they are too late a variety to command a good price on the fresh 

 markets. They bore some fruit at three years, but were not self-supporting 

 until the fifth year, although crops of milo maize and cotton, raised between 

 the rows, paid an income. It cost 35c a crate of 20 pounds to prepare the 

 fruit for the market, besides gromng and hauling. 



Plums, peaches, nectarines, cherries, apples, almonds, and pears have 

 all been tried with varying success. The almond does splendidly in loca- 

 tions that are frostless. Otherwise it is unsuccessful. One 7-year tree 

 of the paper sheU variety, near Indio, produced 65 pounds of sheUed nuts 

 that brought from 15c to 25c a pound. The Wickson plum and some varie- 

 ties of peaches seem to thrive, but it remains for the horticulturist to solve 

 the problem of varieties. The Winter Bartlett pear has proved itself well 

 adapted to the arid climatic conditions. It begins to bear at the age of 

 three years, and is self-sustaining at five. The fruits ripen in the latter half 

 of December and will average 20 pounds to a 5-year-old tree. The market 

 price averages 10c a pound. The pomegranate is very prolific, producing a 

 large fruit of excellent quality. Wherever tried, the olive has borne prolific 

 crops of large-sized fruit such as highly recommend its culture as one of the 

 future industries. The trees are of rapid growth and absolutely clean. The 

 pistachio nut and jujube have borne fruit on specimen plants, and may some 

 day be developed into something of worth. 



TRUCK GARDENS 



Probably in no place in California are vegetable garden crops pro- 

 duced earlier than in the Coachella Valley. The light soil, mild winters, 

 abundance of heat, and plentiful irrigation seem to be the reasons for their 

 almost phenomenal growth. Truck gardening has proved profitable where 

 the owner was willing to get into the field and do the work himself, and 

 was content to plant only what he himself could care for. On a large scale 

 there is a much greater risk, as such crops require prompt attention and 

 thorough care. One grower cleared $1200 on an acre of tomatoes, and was so 

 encouraged that he attempted a much bigger planting the following year, with 

 the result that he could not handle so much, and lost the whole. Beans, 

 squashes, cucumbers, onions, asparagus, melons, cantaloupes, peppers, peanuts 

 and sweet potatoes have all proved themselves profitable crops in those valleys, 

 when rightly handled. 



One property owner near Thermal cleared, above every expense, includ- 

 ing 7 per cent on $250 per acre, $3000 on 9% acres of onions. On this 

 land he raised a second crop of nine bales of cotton. On 10 acres of 2-year- 



