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Show 204 in four years and cherries in eight. California pears are too well known to bear more than a mere allusion here. The trees as a rule are apt to be overloaded and to break down under the superabundance of the delicious fruit they carry; hence, it is a rule with the most careful of the pear- producers to remove nearly or quite one- half the fruit to protect the tree. The Mission grape does best, being most prolific in pounds to the acre, and yielding most wine. It is to be remembered, however, that being the longest in the country, it has this advantage as yet over the other varieties. I am, however, bound here to state, on my own responsibility, that on this fruit there are likely to be differences of opinion; some, with General Stoneman, believing the Mission £ rape to be the most profitable, and others the Malaga to be likely to pay best for raisins; still, differences of opinion on this subject probably indicate that both merit attention. Coming now to the question of the growth of subtropical fruits in Southern California, there is one fact that seems hardly to have merited the attention it deserves; t. e., that this capacity for growing in immediate association the vegetable products of both temperate and subtropical climates, both attaining not a usual perfection, but as a rule quite an unusual one, must of itself mark something peculiar and unique in the combination of soil and climate of the region. Nowhere else do I know of such an illustration of superabundant productiveness. It would be hard to convince one that the adobe soil one sees so devoid of vegetable life during the dry season can ever be anything else. Let him, however, see that same country after the winter- rains have awakened to new life the germs that have been scattered over the surface; no transformation of fairy scene can be more wonderful, and it is this which constitutes the proverbial glory of a California spring. Returning from this digression, however, we will take as the type of the subtropical fruit the orange. General Stoneman estimates 70 as a fair number of trees per acre; this a rather larger number than some others plant: but as it is the result of the large experience of a gentleman well known for the reliability of his judgment, it is safe to assert that it is not an overestimate. Orange- trees prown from the seed yield a good quality of fruit, and will bear crops for the market in from seven to ten years, and in from twelve to fifteen years from the planting of the seed it is safe, with favorable seasons and a steady market, to expect from an acre devoted to orange- trees an income of ^ 1,000 at least. I make this estimate low, to be within the limits of truth. It is not improbable that a larger yield might be anticipated. I may here add, that the longevity of orange- trees is remarkable. I have heard it asserted that trees one hundred years old produce well in other parts of the world. Lemons, though not so extensively cultivated as oranges, do well, and promise in future to receive greater attention. They, as well as the lime, bear in six years. Olives may be considered a regular crop. The tree is hardy, and requires less care than the orange, and it will probably pay from its sixth year on, the fruit yielding from 20 to 25 gallons of oil per tree when in its prime. I learn from various sources that it pays best to turn the olive into oil. I have never eaten finer pickled olives than those grown and cured by Mr. G. C. Welch, at Los Pueblos, near Santa Barbara. English walnuts can hardly be considered a sub- tropical fruit. The tree is a native of the Orient, usually being assigned to Persia. It is probable that it may be considered as indigenous also in the Caucasian region, and as growing almost spontaneously as far to the south and east as India, and reaching, under cultivation, as far north as England, hence the name English walnut. It also grows in Algeria, and is cultivated successfully in Chili. Probably none of the nuts are more deservedly popular, nor do I know of another allowing so wide a range in cultivation. It is of slower growth than the trees above mentioned, and one may hardly look for anything like marketable returns before twelve years from date of planting. It becomes a beautiful tree, as ornamental as useful, is hardy, requiring little care, and has few of the enemies so destructive to some other fruits. In some parts of Southern California, when from 25 to 30 walnut- trees are planted to the acre, almond- trees, as. of quicker growth and productiveness, are temporarily planted between the rows of walnuts. Citrons do well, bearing in four or five years; though one I saw, on the estate of General Stoneman, set out as a cut, bore flowers and young fruit in sixteen months. « Pomegranates require little care; have few enemies; are not injured by the frosts there; allow a large number of trees per acre, and the fruit can be kept six months. With all these qualities, it is not strange that the tree should be considered a success in the region. I may add they do well even as far inland and to the north as the old Tejon ranch. Figs may fairly be considered a success. They begin to ripen in June, and mature crop after crop until October. The first crop, however, has too much astringency of taste to fairly represent the average product. Almonds bear early, and for several years freely. The tree is perfectly hardy and little molested by enemies. On General Stoneman's ranch I measured a rose- tree that was 45 inches in circumference. Near by it stood a catalpa- shoot with an astonishing history. It was the result of one years growth, was 18 feet high and 14} inches in circumference, and off |