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procured the rich, luscious fruit fresh from the trees, and as large and fine 

 flavored as can be produced in any portion of the State. The varieties I have 

 named stand transportation remarkably well. Packed in ten-pound boxes, 

 placed in an ordinary ranch wagon, they arrive in good condition after a 

 trip of sixty miles over rough mountain roads. The Napoleon Bigarreau, 

 in particular, is a fine shipper, and I think it will stand more punishment, 

 and for a longer period, and then come out in better condition, than all 

 other varieties that I am familiar with. I would recommend the planting 

 of this variety in all sections where it does as well as it does here, not only 

 because it is a good shipper, but on account of its immense size and lus- 

 cious flavor. The Black Tartarian, Governor Wood, and Rockport are 

 standard varieties, too well known to need any comments from me. The 

 Late Duke I consider a valuable variety, ripening, as it does, early in Au- 

 gust, after all the varieties are gone, it, of course, commands a higher price. 

 Its real value, however, is as a pie fruit, either canned or fresh, as it is a 

 very aoid cherry. 



PESTS. 



The only pests I have to contend with are the gopher and borer, both of 

 which I keep pretty well under subjection. The former I make away with 

 by shooting, trapping, etc., and the latter I protect the trees against until 

 they are old enough to resist the attacks of the borer. I use a thick mix- 

 ture containing, among other things, crude carbolic acid pretty well diluted, 

 and this I apply to the young trees once a year, by rubbing up and down 

 with my hand for the distance of a foot or more from the ground. This 

 forms a thick coating, which the borer does not penetrate. When the tree 

 gets three years old, it is old enough to resist the attacks of the borer. 



PROFITS. 



A word as to the profits of cherry growing with me. I have one hundred 

 trees four years old from planting in orchard, making five years from bud 

 or graft. These trees this year produced an average of fifty pounds per 

 tree, which I sold at 11 cents per pound on the tree, making $5 50 per 

 tree, and at the rate of one hundred trees per acre, a revenue of $550 per 

 acre is realized and no expense of picking, packing, or transportation. My 

 older trees of course yield more than double this amount. I feel that I am 

 guaranteed these prices for years to come, as it is well known that but few 

 localities in Southern California will produce the cherry in perfection, 

 while the population is increasing very rapidly, and all the tenderfoots set- 

 tling and making homes in Southern California bring with them their 

 cherry tooth. They cannot all or any great portion of them make homes 

 in the cherry belt, as that is limited. 



This locality, Mesa Grande, is, up to this time, the only portion of San 

 Diego County noted as a cherry-producing locality, while the county at 

 large is not only capable, but does produce the greatest variety of fruits of 

 any other county on the Pacific Coast, ranging from the orange and lemon 

 on the coast, to the late winter apples and pears back in the mountains. 

 But I am not penning this as an advertisement of the county, therefore 

 pray excuse a deviation from the main subject. 



To conclude with, I would recommend the propagation of the cherry in 

 all sections that are adapted to their production, as it is one of the most 

 profitable fruits in cultivation, and always finds a ready market. My 

 cherry orchard consists of four hundred and fifty trees, about three hun- 

 dred in bearing. The planting of the cherry is becoming more general at 



