The morning call., 1890-11-29
ORCHARD CULTIVATION.
Confederation of tho Subject by I
HorticulturiRts.

Consideration OF the subject by tho
Horticult urists.
At the stated meeting of the S tate Horti-
cultural Society yesterday S. j. Stabler
opened the proceedings in the temporary
absence Of President Hilgard.
The Secretary reported that the receipts
for last year amounted to Sl66 and the dis
bursements to S161, leaving balance in the
treasury of about $50.
When the stated subject for discussi on
came up r. A. Wilcox opened the theme by
dissertation OH the local adaptation Of
different fruits. and in the course of his adj
dress described the properties of the soil in
different parts OF Santa Clara County. claim
ing for the eastern slope Of the Santa Cruz
Mountains peculiar adaptability for table
grapes, especially at an altitude of 1500 feet.
On the Monterey side OF the mountains,
he said, the fruit ripened earlier and so had
the advantage Of high prices in the Begin
ming of the season, but the grape is much
softer and does not bear transportation so
well. On the low, heavy lands near the
bay pears do better than elsewhere. On the
higher land table grapes bring $3.50 an acre,
and an additional profit Is alterward made
by the purchaser who ships them to market.
On his own orchard his ten-year-0ld prune
trees yield 500 to $500 an acre, and pears
pay hun $500 an acre. All his neighbors,
observing his success, are putting in prunes
this year, but cannot secure enough young
trees for planting.
j. S. Staber described trip to Placer
County, where he made an examination OF
the bottom lands and found splendid
growth OF prunes and peaches. By COM
pairing results there with those obtained
from his own orchard in Suffer County, he
found that the prunes did betterin the moist
bottom land than in his dry sandy loan.
The peaches on his own place were, how
ever, far superior, and lie believed they
would not thrive under any conditions in
bottom land or reel aimed swamp.
Mr.. Thomas OF Visaiia confirmed Mr..
Stabler'S conclusions regarding the proper
soil tor piunes, but recommended peach
stock instead of MarUbolan. He thought
the Visaia delta the best peach country in
the S tate, and claimed to have always raised
the largest fruit there until this year, when
Bakersfield carried off the palm, with
peaches Weighing twenty-three ounces.
The Mussel Slough country he believed the
best for ralsin culture-even superior to
Fresno.
Professor Hilgard told of experiments
with niuscats grown on strong alkali land.
They looked splendid and were very large,
but made an Inferior grape. On the subject
of orchard cultivation, he believed that
blowing could be done without on certain
soils, but Where the surface soil Is shallow
pl0wing must be resolte to to deepen it.
He advocated blowing half an inch deeper
each year instead OF turning up Il larger sod
in the first place, because bringing too much
of the subsoil to the top prevents the growth
of crops for a number OF years after. He
also thought that Santa Clara Orchardisls
are pursuing POOR policy in killing down
the weeds, as their doing so deprived the
soil of very valuable fertilizing agent. If
they do not like weeds they should grow
buckwheat and pillow it under when it
reaches height of one and half to two
feet.
After a discussion on the relative values
OF chisel and duck feet" cultiyators the
meeting adjourned.