PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 229 



been planted rather extensively the last few years, some old trees of 

 other varieties being grafted in order to hasten bearing. Samples of 

 California-grown Jordan almonds are reported at Washington as inferior 

 to the Spanish product in quality, and the suggestion is here made that 

 seedlings of the Jordan type may be raised in the State that more 

 nearly meet the requirements of the market. I would recommend that 

 Texas, Llewelling, or Drake be planted alternately with the other named 

 varieties to act for them as pollenizers. Just to what extent this will 

 increase the chances of regular bearing is largely conjectural, but there 

 is no doubt that an almond orchard should always be planted in this 

 way. 



A mistake has been made in the endeavor to. produce almonds with 

 abnormally thin shells, rather than having the quality of the kernel 

 the main object. No good is gained when an almond or a walnut is 

 produced having an excessively thin or paper shell, but the reverse. 

 Rapid eating, causing indigestion, would be encouraged, and nuts, with 

 shells so easily broken, would much more readily deteriorate and 

 become rancid. The almond succeeds best on almond root, and requires 

 a deep, warm soil, or a hill location where a shaly or rocky subsoil per- 

 mits free access for the roots. 



The Walnut. — California produces at the present time about 12,000,- 

 000 pounds of walnuts annually, in comparison with which the pro- 

 duction from other states is not worth mentioning. The Persian or 

 so-called "English" walnut has been planted in several Eastern and 

 Southern states for more than a hundred years, but it is still considered 

 merely as a curiosity. Its non-adaptiveness to those regions is doubt- 

 less due to the great extremes in climate. The tree thrives and bears 

 well in France, England, and other European countries. In the former 

 country selected seedlings have become fixed types for many years, and 

 from these trees others are propagated by the ordinary processes of 

 budding and grafting. 



All trees and plants are amenable to climatic influences. Hence, 

 seedlings raised from trees which have been transplanted into a climate 

 where the conditions are less favorable than those to which they have 

 been accustomed, will have a tendency to become hardier than the 

 parent. Plants adapt themselves or become acclimatized to a much 

 greater extent than is generally believed. Take, for example, the two 

 species of eucalyptus, E. corynocalyx and E. rudis. Both have roundish 

 leaves, changing slightly as they grow T older, but the former, being used 

 to a cool climate, carries its leaves horizontally, enjoying all the sun- 

 shine it can get; while E. rudis, rinding itself farther in the interior, 

 under the rays of a hotter sun, swings its leaves over, hanging verti- 

 cally, to escape injury therefrom and to retard evaporation. 



