The herald., 1895-02-18

cilitates cultivation but | trust the days
are past when the making of money
means merely the saving of money. Inc
wine and oil of California seem abundant
enough, yet the general quality or the
former leaves much to be desired. nave
heard it said by men who have from their
association with this industry every
reason to know whereof they speak that
it is impossible to produce a good quality
of some wines on account of the high per-
centage of sugar the grapes contain
Grapes, too, in flavor are very like some
of our flowers transplant some particular
variety into what seems exactly the same
soil and climate, and you seldom, il ever,
succeed in producing fruit of the same
flavor as the original possessed. We may
then give up the idea of acquiring from
other countries specially favored grape,
and attempt to develop vine that shall
produce less sugar. This, it seems to me,
tilizing with the wild grape so abundant
in this section. Some of the Eastern
grapes have developed in cultivation to
useful vines, and while the native grape
of California possesses but a poor fruit,
yet the Arizona species is said to be quite
luscious and might be worthy of trial.
The Catawba and the Concord are but the
cultivated species of the V. Labrusca L.,
or fox grape, and the Scuppernong of V.
Vulpina the wild Muscadne.
Probably the most neglected and yet
most profitable industry i'll this country.
is the growing of nuts of various kinds.
The ordinary English walnut grows here
to perfection, as might be expected in a
country where the climate is suitable, and
the wild walnut is indigenous. The wild
walnut is very commonly distributed i'll
Southern California on moist hillsides
and stream banks from sea level to at
least 1000 feet altitude, and where the soil
is favorable the English walnut would
probably thrive at the same attitudes. On
the banks of some of the coast streams
wild walnut forms in many places rank
and abundant growth, and it appears to
me that the English walnut might with
advantage be grated on the wild stock
so much harder and more virile, and pro-
duce, without much cultivation, consid-
cradle crops.
Away on the slopes surrounding the
Mojave desert, at an altitude of 1000 feet,
grows narrow leafed shrub five or six
feet high, which is technically known as
prunus fasciculata, and popularity as the
wild almond. This in the appearance of
its fruit resembles the almond of COM
merce, and though it does not of necessity
follow, vet as it is the nearest homologue
of the almond we possess, the latter will
thrive best in the region occupied by the
native form. The wild almond here re-
IeTTeu 10, occupies sOIueWlldt uulloN
belt on the edges of the ravines and in
the moister and shady spots near the
1000 feet Inc; but as culture would sup
ply the necessary moisture that limits it
to this environment, it could be induced
to grow over almost all the higher desert
grounds. With this conviction / look
forward to the grey, arid, palpitating
plains of the Moiave becoming, in the
course of a few years. the largest and most
productive almond growing section OF
Southern California.
Cultivation in intelligent hands has pro-
duced paper shelled fruit of both almonds
and walnuts, and probably these have
reached the acme of perfection. In develop
ing these forms we have overlooked other
valuable nuts, and it behooves our people to
bestir themselves, if they wish to win a
leading place in this the most neglected
and most profitable of all agricultural in
dustries.
Last year some of our citizens, at least,
were favored with an address from one of
the leaders of the Pure Food Society, who
advocated the value and healthfulness of
nuts and fruit as the sole articles of diet.
While am not unmindful of the possible
fact that our ancestors in times remote,
when the Simian type of beauty was more
than now, lived on this quail
ity of diet; yet it is doubtful if we could
support ourselves satisfactorily on nuts
and fruits alone, as we have for many
years cultivated taste for other foods
and cannot at a moment notice adapt
ourselves to the more primitive modes of
life; yet we will in course of time proba-
bly, take more cognizance of this one of
our inherited tastes, and use nuts more
largely as an article of ordinary dietary.
The pecan nut has been little cuti-
waited in California, but in Texas and the
South, where it grows wild, it is now
being carefully fostered, and already a
paper shell variety has been produced,
l 1-2 to inches long, and of such a quail
ity as in time will affect the consumption
of the almond and walnut Texas alone
supplies more than twice as many pounds
per annum as California does of walnuts
and boasts of some of its trees producing
$50 worth of nuts i'll one season. 1t must
be borne in mind that we have no pecan
native to this state, and it may possibly
not prove so productive here; but Califor-
mia has proved IA surprise in so many ways
that the pecan might at least be given Il
fair trial.
Here | would like to give warn
ing to those anticipating the planting of
orchards of walnut or almond of the paper
shell variety. While the thin shelled va
rieties are in great demand, they obviously
prove remunerative crop and the gen
eral tendency is to plant only these va
rietes. The thick shells on the walnut
tree is the best protective covering for the
germ and is the means by which in the
struggle for existence through the long
lapse of ages, it has survived. The thin
shelled have perihsed. Man, ever fruitful
in resources, can sometimes outwit nature
and grow fruit, where under natural con
1itions it would assuredly perish; but he
has no control of the elements of of aeriai
and the hot, parching winds
of summer that blighted the thin shelled
nuts in ages gone by will do so again.
Just how often this will occur only ex-
perience can tell, but come occasionally
it certainly, will whether SO frequently as
to make them less profitable than the
harder shelled time alone can solve.
the Western Chinquapin (Castan opis
and the hazel. The Chin
quapin is a peculiar plant, is intermed-
late between the oak and the common
and in its Eastern form is we'll
known to the natives of the Atlantic
states. In it's wild state it is limited to
the northern section of the Sierra
Nevadas, and according to locality and
exposure varies from small bush to a
large tree. In the East the European and
the common chestnut have been sue
cessfully grated on the wild form, and
as the native species of this state fruits
quite freely, abundant returns might be
expected under similar treatment. With
the filbert the Eastern growers have failed
to produce variety equal to the European,
nor have they been able to grow success
the hazel. This is probably due to the
severe frosts affecting the fertilization of
the fruit, for as it is a dinceus plant pro-
ducing stamens the autumn preceding
fruiting these must frequently perish. The
filbert of this Coast, which closely re-