Fruit is grown on all slopes in our foothills, depending on local conditions.  On the whole, we should choose the east and north slopes rather than the east and south, because there is less danger of injury from too great heat.  In some cases what is said to you about the less danger of injury from frosts on the north and west slopes would be true.  All these things depend upon local conditions, because there is so much difference in heat and frost and similar slopes at different elevations and exposures.  There can never be a general rule for it in a State so endowed with varying conditions as California is.

Trees Over Underflow.

I have planted fruit trees near the creek, where they do not have to be irrigated as the ground there holds sufficient moisture for them, but a neighbor tells me that on account of the moisture being so near the surface the trees will not bear fruit well, although they will grow and have all the appearances of health.

Shallow soil above standing water is not good for fruit trees.  A shallow soil over moving water or underflow, such as you might expect from a creek bank, is better.  The effect of water near the surface depends also upon the character of the soil, being far more dangerous in the case of a heavy clay soil than in the case of a light loam, through which water moves more readily and does not rise so far or so rapidly by capillary action.  If the trees are thrifty they will bear when they attain a sufficient age and stop the riotous growth which is characteristic of young trees with abundant moisture.  If trees have too much water for their health, it will be manifested by the rotting of their roots, the dying of their branches, the cropping out of mushroom fungi at the base and other manifestations of distress.  So long as the tree is growing well, maintains good foliage to the tip of the branches and is otherwise apparently strong, it may be expected to bear fruit in due time.

The “June Drop.”

I am sending four peaches which are falling off the trees.  Can you tell me how to prevent falling of the fruit next year and what causes it?

It is impossible to tell from the peaches which you send what caused their falling.  Where fruit passes the pollination stage successfully, as these fruits have, the dropping is generally attributed to some conditions affecting the growth of the tree, which never have been fully determined.  It is of such frequent occurrence that it is called the June drop, and it usually takes place in May in California.  As the cause is not understood no rational preventive has been reached.  A general treatment which consists in keeping the trees in good growing condition late enough during the previous season, that is, by seeing to it that they do not suffer from lack of moisture which causes them to close their growing season too soon before preparation for the following year’s crop is made, is probably the best way to strengthen the tree for its burden.