In 1856, Pierre Pellier brought cuttings of the Petite d'Agen, a French prune, from France, and his brother Louis successfully grafted them to plum rootstock, helping establish prune growing in the valley. By the turn of the century, the area produced 85,000 tons of prunes, and Santa Clara County became known as the prune capital of the world as the world's largest single producer. Production peaked in the 1930s at 274,000 tons, and prunes quickly became the county's largest crop. Prunes required less quality soil and less water than cherries or apricots, and one of the most common varieties in the Santa Clara Valley was the Imperial, introduced by nurseryman John Rock in 1886. The valley's first commercial prune orchard was the Bradley Ranch, a 10-acre planting at Stevens Creek Road and Bascom Avenue.