16 BULLETIX 1215, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
SOIL. 
The soil requirements of the jujube are not as important as cer- 
tain climatic conditions. Meyer (8) says "They are found equally 
productive on a piece of strongly alkaline land or in an inner court- 
yard where the ground has been tramped down until it is as hard as 
a stone. The soil best suited to this fruit is a porous clay, charged 
with more or less alkaline matter, like the loess of northern China." 
A letter from Prof. J. J. Thornber, Director of the Arizona Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, contains the following statement 
concerning the soil in which certain jujubes have been successfully 
grown : 
The soil is a fine, sandy loam, rather deep, and quite alkaline in nature, and 
they arc making a very splendid growth. . . . One other matter with 
reference to growing these plants I am sure you will be interested in ; namely, 
originally we grew these plants in our introduction garden on the university 
campus where the soil is shallow, rather heavy, and intensely calcareous but 
with no alkali. Here they were irrigated once every two weeks during the 
growing season, and in the three years' time that they grew in the garden I 
think they grew altogether not more than 6 inches. In other words, they were 
almost a total failure, although none of them died and they appeared healthy 
all the time. At first I thought it was their natural habit of growth, but 
upon transplanting them to the introduction garden at the university farm, 
where the soil is alkaline. I found they required alkaline soil for the best 
growth. 
The jujube does well also in sections where the soil is not alkaline. 
Tt lias been observed making a vigorous growth and producing an 
abundance of fruit on heavy poorly drained soil where peaches and 
other fruits were unable to maintain themselves. While the jujube 
grows and produces fruit on rather heavy clay soils, the best results 
are secured on sandy loams and the lighter soils. 
TIME OF PLANTING. 
The jujube should be planted at about the same time as other 
deciduous fruits. The winter season throughout most of the region 
adapted to jujube culture is mild, and the soil can be worked, except 
for an occasional overabundance of moisture, during the entire 
winter. The planting should be done as early as possible in order 
that the soil may become firmly packed about the roots. The period 
extending from December through March is a good one, but in some 
sections March may be a little late, because of the drying winds and 
decrease in rainfall. 
DISTANCE FOR PLANTING. 
As a young tree or when allowed to grow without pruning, the 
jujube has a rather upright habit of growth. It could, therefore, 
be planted 18 by 18 feet, but the best modern horticultural practice 
now tends to give all orchard trees more space, and in accord with 
this tendency it would seem best to plant the jujube trees 20 by 20, 
or 24 by 24 feet, and then by proper pruning induce a spreading 
growth. 
The holes in which the trees are to be set should be of sufficient 
depth to allow the young tree to be planted an inch or two deeper 
than it was in the nursery, as shown by the soil line. This will 
