Pomona College Journal of Economic Botany 



279 



The superior hardiness of the Cherimoya has made it one of the most widely 

 planted of the lesser-known subtropical fruits. The number of mature specimens 

 is not more than a few hundred^ but their wide distribution and success go to prove 

 the adaptability of the tree to an extensive area in this state. Of these seedlings 

 scattered throughout the gardens of Southern California^ practically all have been 

 successful so far as growth is concerned^ but a large percentage are scantily pro- 

 ductive. A study of the habits of the tree shows this to be nothing unusual and 

 not due to anything unfavorable in our climate or soil. The Cherimoya is never 

 enormously productive. But there are occasional seedlings much more prolific 

 than the average^ and this is the case in California as well as other countries. 



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Figure 120. A seven-year-old budded tree of the Golden Russet Cherimoya grown 

 by C. P. Taft at Orange, California. 



Cultivation on a commercial scale has been undertaken in but few instances^ 

 and with unsatisfactory results in practically all of them^ the trees failing to 

 produce sufficiently to make their culture profitable. For this difficulty a single^, 

 and exceedingly simple, remedy suggests itself — asexual propagation — making 

 possible the perpetuation of productive and otherwise desirable seedlings, true 

 to type. This is already practiced in other countries, and here to a very limited 

 extent. 



The largest grove of Cherimoyas in California is that owned by A. Z. Taft 

 of Hollywood, consisting of some eighty fifteen-year-old seedlings. No finer 

 specimens could be desired than some of these, but the majority of them are 

 deplorably unproductive, — if the five best trees were taken out, a bushel of fruit 



