The Mother Orchard

One of John Rock's orchard books.
The book gave the location of the tree, its name,
where it was obtained, and when it was planted.
Some of the varieties were obtained from "John Rock"
which probably means they came from his San Jose Orchard.
Many were imported from Europe and Japan.

The "Mother Orchard" of John Rock was also referred to as the "Specimen Orchard" or "Test Orchard". Here, varieties new to California or newly created could be tested.

Fruits that grew well in a climate with a rainy summer or with snow in winter, might not do well in California. So they were grown until they were deemed suitable for our climate.

The "Mother Orchard" was not in one big contiguous area, but rather planted in various blocks across the 463 acres.

The orchard books make for interesting reading.

The 1902 catalog has tantalizing descriptions of fruit varieties available from the nursery.

Around 1926, George Roeding wrote about Rock's "Mother Orchard" in this booklet "Budwood, Scions and Cuttings (embracing Over 1000 Varieties): From Record Performance Fruit Trees : Covering a Period of Ten to Fifty Years in the Test Orchards Founded by John Rock on the Grounds of the California Nursery Company : and Also in Record Bearing Orchards and Vineyards Under the Personal Observation of George C. Roeding in Various Portions of California for More Than a Third of a Century"

The family story is that when the nursery property was sold off, that the family tried to interest UC in taking the varieties. They were not able to, or were not interested, so many of John Rock's varieties were lost.

As today, varieties that are successful were shared with other locations. Rock's 156 variety olive collection was also grown in Biggs in the Hatch & Rock Orchard. Fig varieties were sent to Chico, Biggs, Fresno, Riverside to be grown there.