enormous nuts, sweet and highly flavored. 
We highly recommend this splendid variety 
of Marion, which has been fruiting with 
us for the last sixteen years, as one of the 
best to cultivate in this State. (See Fig. 13.) 
Marron Merle.— Nut large, first quality; 
very productive. 
Marron Urosse Precoce.— As its name 
shows, it is a very early kind, and wherever 
the summer is short, or not warm enough 
to ripen the other sorts, this kind should be 
planted in preference. The nut is large, 
very sweet, and well flavered. A precocious 
bearer. 
Marron Jfouzillard.— One of the most 
desirable kinds to plant; the nut is large, 
though not so large as that of the Lyon 
and Combale, but very pretty; this is a very 
prolific kind and also a precocious bearer. 
Trees in nursery rows bear nuts. 
Chalon Early.— The most precocious 
yet of our collection; bears in nursery rows. 
The nut is medium large, very pretty in- 
deed, and sweet. 
Marron (Juercy. — Another prolific and 
precocious kind; bears very heavy. The 
nut is large, or rather medium large, first 
quality. This is the kind grown in the 
southwest of France. 
Marron Bertrand.— Precocious, early, 
fine, large nut. Very desirable. 
Early Marron or Avant Chataigne.— 
This is a very early kind, like Grosse Pre- 
coce, and sure to ripen where summers are 
short or cold. Medium large, sweet, pretty 
nut. 
Japan Mammoth. — Not very large, 
sometimes divided in two by inner skin, 
SW' et and of first quality. Not so thrifty 
as the French Marions. We do propagate 
this kind also, by grafting, our cions being 
taken from bearing trees, which is a guar- 
antee that the burr will till as soon as the 
trees be of bearing size. We would advise 
our customers not to plant any seed- 
lings, because of so many of them produc- 
ing burrs, with nothing in them. Better 
pay a little more for grafted trees, and have 
trees that will surely bear. 
American Chestnut.— The fruit of this 
variety is a great deal smaller than that of 
European kinds, though the kernel is very 
sweet and well flavored. Propagated from 
the seed. 
ALMONDS. 
We have several fine varieties of Soft-Shell 
almond, introduced by us into this State 
from the almond district of Southern 
France, and which we find as hardy, if not 
hardier, than any kind we have tried yet. 
tJrosse Tendre, or Improved Languc- 
doc. — The finest and largest almond to be 
found on the Pacific Coast; it has also the 
advantage on the Paper-Shell and well- 
advertised varieties in this State, of bloom, 
iug later, being harder and very prodnctive- 
(See Fig. 1 7.) 
Princess, or Paper-Shell.— The kind 
most esteemed at dessert, and so common 
in the shops of confectioners. The shell is 
so thin that it can be crushed between the 
fingers; kernel fat, sweet and rich. 
Hard-Shell.— The common kind with a 
shell as hard as that of the Black Walnut. 
Provence. — Is of recent introduction. 
This nut, which is a kind of flat, is much 
sought after by confectioners; by striking 
the nut on the suture with a small ham- 
mer, the shell splits open in two, letting 
out the kernel entire. 
FILBERTS. 
No nut tree, we believe, is so little under- 
stood in California as this pretty little 
member of the great nut family, the Filbert. 
We have heard of filbert-growers in this 
State grubbing up their "bushes" because 
they would not bear; and the general com- 
plaint is that filbert bushes do not bear, or 
bear very little. That there is a misunder- 
standing in regard to Filbert culture is 
obvious, so we will give a short sketch on 
the Filbert, its culture and training, and 
how to make it bear. 
Whether Filberts are planted orchard- 
like, or in cordons around a field or along- 
side a ditch, or in rows through an orchard 
or vineyard, or in groups, or isolated, by 
themselves; they should, in every instance, 
to bear well, be trained as a tree and not as 
a busk. It is as easy to train the Filbert as 
a standard or half-standard tree as any 
nut or fruit tree. It is true that the Filbert, 
especially when young, has a great ten- 
dency to grow sprouts from the roots all 
around the body of the tree; those sprouts 
should be unmercifully grubbed up, when- 
ever showing up themselves; as soon as the 
trees are branched and gone to bearing, 
such sprouts cease coming up. 
In the family garden, the Filbert might 
be made to branch at four to five feet; noth- 
ing, indeed, more pretty than a Filbert tree 
made to branch out at that height. But in 
the field or orchard, where the Filbert is 
solely planted for its crop of nuts, the trees 
should be made to branch at 3 to 3% feet. 
As the best stock to plant is that grown from 
" layering," the stock obtained from the 
nursery may be, and generally is, very 
small; one should therefore be very careful 
to take off all shoots that will invariably 
come up from the roots so as to give all 
the sap to the tree proper, which, on the 
second or third year, as the case may be, is 
made to branch out at 3 to 3J feet. 
Filbert trees should not be planted closer 
