Los Angeles herald., 1891-11-29
THE RANCHES.
Typical Facts About South
ern California Farms.
Some Points About the Best
Varieties of Prunes.
Details of New Method of Plant
ing Orchards.
Good Advice About Prune Culture.
Planting Orchards-Treatment of
Muscat Vines-Horticultu-
raj Notes.


Leonard Coates gives his ideas on
the subject, What Varieties of Prunes
to Plant:
Tragedy.
Golden.
Robe de Sergeant.
French, or Petite d'Agen.
Silver.
Fellenberg.
The two leading varieties, and those
which should be planted the most ex-
tensively, are the French and the Robe
de Sergeant, the others in smaller lots.
Tragedy ripens in June and July. 1t
is extremely valuable as a shipping
fruit, green, to distant markets. This
year it averaged about SO per box of
twenty pounds, and not Of the earliest,
either, but long after samples were ripe
at Sausal orchards.
Golden is from Oregon, where it is be-
ing planted. Experience has shown
that it, too, is very valuable in Napa.
The French prune is too well known to
need further comment. Robe de Ser
geant ripens with the French prune, or
little before. 1t is larger, rounder in
shape, nearly as sweet, and dries with
a blacker, more satiny finish. 1t is
likely to become more valuable than the
other. The Tragedy, though slightly
acid, also makes good dried prune.
In planting the prune it should be
borne in mind that the experience OBJ
tanned in Oregon and the moist coast
II. &c A.k1 hi
prove little misleading in the selection
of varieties, and that the experience of
those having similar conditions to meet
may also be worth consulting. IL River
side Press.
PLANTING ORANGES.
A correspondent gives his method of
fruit tree planting as follows; Now in
regard to the setting of fruit trees: 1
never set an orchard closer than twenty
feet each way of any variety of trees.
Before setting out my trees prune off
all broken roots, being careful that the
pruning is done with a sharp knife, SO
that the roots are not SCARED. l usually
set my trees one inch deeper than they
grew in the nursery. On receiving
trees from the nursery which seem
wilted or dry, 1 then dig trench deep
enough to receive them, and after water
ing them well l cover them, tops and
all, and let them remain thus from two
to three days, which will usually bring
them out all right, if they have not been
frozen or injured otherwise than from
being too dry. After I set my trees out
in the orchard, l cut them all back to
uniform height of eighteen or twenty
inches, keeping all sprouts rubbed off
from the body of the tree, allowing only
the top branches to grow to form the
tree. My experience in preparing the
ground for my orchard is to work the
land to level and cultivate in the same
manner. r."-TIrrigationist
TREATMENT OF MuscAT VINES.
During the last year it was part of my
business to look after a small vineyard
of sixteen acres that had been planted
by S. G. Brown, one year ago last Feb
ruary. For number of years, through
irregular experiments, have been
partly convinced of the fact that many
vineyardists do not treat their muscat
vines properly in order to get the best
results in the way of crop. My course
of proceeding was ais follows
| avoided all pruning until after the
middle of February. This gave me a
very weedy vineyard to clean up, but
having purposely put off the pruning
until the time mentioned, I accepted
the situation and did the work.
AS soon as the shoots started and the
buds OF the blossoms made their appear
ance, L sulphured, but used the best
article OF sulphur for that purpose
When the buds opened l sulphured
again, l did not waituntil the berry had
formed. When the second crop came
into blossom 1 again sulphured and 1
found that the first crop, which is so
often afflicted with couture, which causes
the berry to drop, leaving the bunc hes
ragged, did not trouble these vim es !;
thus had secured both the first and
second crop of grapes on the young
vines. In regard to summer pruning
merely clip such as may be designated
as suckers-I mean such vines as bore
no grapes. Now for the results: From
this sixteen acres of l % year old vines l
have marketed over five tons of first
class raisins.-[C. J. Berry in Tulare
Times.
There are several castor bean trees of
large growth in Sierra Madre. One on
the J. A Osgood place is about three and
one. half feet in circumference at the
base, and one OF the branches has girth
of nineteen inches. The tree is about
twenty feet high. Many of our eastern
readers may not be inclined to credit
this, but it is the TRUTH Vista.
During the seven months ending July
31st, the total imports of prunes were
only 5 1888, ,371 pounds, against "a. .107 ,577
pounds for the same period year ago.
1t looks as if California was getting il
her work at lively rate. In raisins
also there is great falling off, th'
figures for the period above mentioned
being 1,S04,S57 pounds and 7,014,66s
pounds. Is the California raisin also
crowding outfits competitor ?-[St. Loui
Grocer.
Are Your Children Subject to Group.
AS a preventive and cure for Group
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy has n
/ rival. It ia. in fact. the ONLY reIned