Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-12

the three varieties there grown, red
purple, and green, the latter eeems tG
be the favorite. In its native habitat
it is eaten with avidity, not alone by
man, but by birds and quadrupsds
The seeds of the fruit raised here are
sufficiently perfected as to possess the
terminating property, and other trees
are being propogated. A small tree
that has not yet borne fruit is flourish
ing in the garden of Judge Ord, in the
city of Santa Barbara.
The date palm (Ph9nir dactylifera)
has perfected it's fruit on the estate oi
the late w. w. Hollister for the past
three years, fine branches of dates
from this plantation having been ex
hibited at New Orleans at the late ex.
position, at the State fair at Sacra-
mento, at Los Angeles and at the
local exhibitions of the Santa Bar.
bara Horticultural Society. These
palms are now about sixteen years
old. They are carefully cultivated
and irrigated several times dur ng the
drier portions of the year. The suck
ers that spring from the base of the
trunk in the earlier years of the palm
are annually removed. This palm
being diaecious, it is necessary to
hang the staminate fl ,wers over the
pestillate blooms in order to ensure
proper modification, when the male
and female trees are not planted in
close proximity. Palms of this species
have fruited in few other localities
in the State, but the product has not
been as satisfactory as at the place
under consideration. That the rails
ing of dates for market will ever be a
profitable industry in this special dis
trict or any other locality in Califor-
mia, is problem for future hort.
culturists to solve, but the results
already obtained certainly render fur
ther experimentation desirable.
Among the tropical fruits that find
here suitable conditions is the guava
(Psidium pyriferum), examples of
which are found in numerous Santa
Barbara gardens. In its wild state in
the West Indies it is a large shrub,
but in cultivation it attains the di-
mensions OF tree five or six inches
in diameter OF trunk. The wood is ex-
ceedingly hard and tough, the leaves
are about three inches long in pairs
opposite each other, the flowers white
with an agreeable perfume. The
fruit is from one to three inches in di-
ameter, having a smooth skin and a
peculiar musky odor that is disagree
able to most persons. The seeds are
contained in flesh colored pulp that
is sweet, aromatic, and very palatable,
the pleasant taste lingering some
time after eating it. 1t is used as q
dessert fruit. and is preserved with
sugar, the jelly made from this fruit
has long been universally esteemed.
Excellent products from homegrown
fruit have been prepared by Santa
Barbara housewives. 10 ensure sue
cess in the preparation Of the jelly
partially ripened fruit should be
used.
The strawberry guava (Psidium
cattleyanuna) is a variety that is now
being planted quite extensively, being
a more hardy species. 1t has a small
ler fruit than the preceding, being
less than an inch long, purple in color
and of rich flavor, somewhat resem-
bling Strawberries. This tree attains
the height of 20 feet at full maturity.
The banana (Mus0 ,Sapientatm) has
been planted in almost every garden
in our neighborhood, and fine branch
es of fruit have been perfected. 1t is
not claimed that the fruit reaches so
high degree of perfection as in the
tropics, but certainly excellent, we'll
ripened and favored specimens are
not uncommon, ana it is believed that
with more care as to situations, and
by planting in large groups with high
fertilization and proper irrigation,
much better results may be attained.
One grower in Montecito asserted that
on every day of the 365 his family
was supplied with ripe fruit from his
plantation, principally from the Nosa
Carendishii, the dwarf species.
The noble Abysinan banana, Muso
Ensste is being quite widely planted
for its superb tropical appearance in
the landscape, but its fruit is pulpless
and of n value.
Of other fruits drawn from SUBJ
tropical regions the Granadilla, Passi-
fora Edulis or Water lemon, purple
when fully ripe and pleasing to many
tastes the Tuna, Opuntia tuna re-
freshing fruit introduced by the Fran
ciscan fathers and much esteemed by
the native Californians, and the
Eugenia Eugenia MwtJolia, from
Australia, highly ornamental tree
with bright green foliage and a pleas
ant favored fruit about the size of a
cherry, may be mentioned in this
list.
The Loquat, Eriobotrya JaponicG
which Rhind in his Vegetable King
dom" ranks as tropical fruit is pro-
duced here at great perfection as its
home climate. Being native OF Ja-
pan it also thrives in the re-
gion of our Southern States bordering
the Gulf of Mexico, as we'll as
throughout Central and Southern
California. 1t is in blossom in the
early winter months, and by March
and April the fruit is to obtained in
our markets, where it finds ready
purchasers. Ripening at a time when
other fruits are comparatively scarce,
with it's delightful and refreshing
flavor, it promises to become still
more popular. Efforts are being made
to introduce a new variety from Japan
that is said to bs much larger in size
than now planted, having more pulp,
with smaller seeds. Belonging to the
Pomaclae it may be grated on any
species. OF this genus. The long,
dark, green and rigid leaves, the de-
liciously fragrant flowers and the gol-
den clusters of fruit, render it favor
ite in our ornamental planting. The
fruit will bear shipping and wonld no
doubt find favor in our Eastern
markets.
The Pomegranate (Punica sranats.na)
seems to have first intre duced by the
Mission fathers to this region and
there are still living number of trees
of great age in the Mission gardens.
The tree at maturity is from fifteen to
twenty feet in height, having numer.
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