The record-union., 1899-05-06

and
Horticulture.
Agriculture and horticulture have
made California a worldwide reputa-
ton. These sciences are still in their
infancy, and thousands Of experiments
with California and Pacific Coast soil
are. vet to be made The following
facts will interest all lovers of grow
ing things:
RAISIN ASSOCIATION.
Tulare Register: The California Raj
sin-Growers' Association has been in
formed in an official report by the
Bankers Committee that SU.i per cent
of the raisin acreage In the live CEN
trail counties in this valley is repre-
scented in contracts signed with the
association, so the combine is assured.
Ninety per cent. of the acreage was
the limit set as a condition for the
continuation of the contracts between
growers and packers, and this per cent.
is figured upon an acreage OF 4O,olo
acres in these counties. There will be
more than this, as several packers
hold contracts yet to be turned in. Be-
sides, those who are out are at liberty
to come in at any time.
The association will allot the crop
to the various packers, and no packer
will be allowed to handle more than
his share. Growers are warned against
delivering goods to any packing house
without the knowledge and consent of
the association, as they may remain
unstemmed and ungraded, in which
case there would be no money paid
upon them.
The raisin association will have an
opportunity this year to prove its value
and show cause for it's existence. 1t
will either thrive or die by another
year with less talk and worry.
HORTICULTURAL REPORT.
Fresno Republican: The Horticultural
Commissioners have submitted their
report to the Board of Supervisors for
the month of April. The body of the
report is as follows:
THE heavy rains in March did much
damage to the pears. Many of the
trees were just in bloom, and the rain
caught them just before fertilization,
creating sour sap in the blossom and
cauAng them to mildew.
I'VE find that peach trees in some
localities are affected with what Pro-
fesSor Newton B. Price prOnounces shot
hole fungus This fungus affects or at
tacks the new growth on old trees,
causing it to die back. Professor
Price recommends the pruning away
of as much of the badly affected wood
as possible without injury to the tree,
and then spray with the winter Bor
deauX mixture each winter before the
fungus starts to grow.
In the course of our inspections,
We found an unusual scale for this
locality. Upon examination of them,
Alexander Craw terms them frosted
scale Qeconium parimosium) and says
they are a very common scale and
not easily killed He recommends a
whale oil soap solution soap, one
pound to three gallons. of water, ap-
piled as soon as the leaves fall off the
trees. ~ s4i}
We stopped regular work on the
10Th of April until the green fruit
shipping season, as some of our ranch
ers are almost daily seeking informa-
ton in regard to some kind of disease
in each case. 1t was decided best for
e. c. Marshall to do stheszBork during
that time, as it is absolutely necessary
that he respond to- calls in the country,
inspect orchards and look after the
fruit shipped into the country that it
is properly dfsinfected if scaly."
CALIFORNIA CROPS
Santa Cruz Surf: Within the past
three weeks the writer has visited
every important town in the State ex-
cept two, and travelled in four ifths
of the counties of California With,
most Of this territory we were pre-
viously familiar, but the present tran
sit has given panoramic effect not
obtained by disconnected trips and ex-
cursions at long intervals and at diff
ferent seasons of the year Seen in
April, 1899, California in it's superb
cial aspect is one vast park Every
aspect and effect sought in the most
artistic lanscape gardening is here pro-
duced by natures own hand every
shade and tone and tint of color the
Infinite Painter could command has
been put into the April expanding
blossoms.
From the snow line of Shasta to the
mesaS of Mexico visible from the ex-
IRENE south, there is scarcely an acre
without verdure and bloom. The snow
SUBMITS of the Sierras, the sands of
Tulare and Mojave, and the barren
rocks Of the mountains Of the south
land which contest the horizon with the
clouds, only give shading and perspec-
tive to the picture, and produce no i'm
preston on the mind as being essential
features in themselves.
This SURPRISING natural beauty of
California has not materially altered in
its aspect since the time when the i'm
pressions of Bayard Taylor were put in
print and the world for the first time
made aware of the existence of this
region of extraordinary natural beauty
The first step towards analysis is to
note the startling contrasts. While all
is beautiful-at this season-it is ex-
ceedingly unlike Mountain, river.
lake, plain, desert are pitched in
promiscuously with sharp, sudden and
often startling contrast. This is es-
pecially true of the coast sections, and
when the gap is finally closed the
coast railroad from San Francisco to
Los Angeles will reveal every feature of
PHYSICAL geography on the globe. This
remarkable diversity in variety is we'll
illustrated by the golden poppy, Cali
fornia's own flower. 1t abounds every
where, and the eye does not open on a
landscape in the State devoid of it's
bright face, but ON the uplands of Mon
terey and San Luis Obispo Counties
its pale yellow petals unfold so close
to Mother Earth that they look like
buttons on her jacket of green, but in