372 State Horticultural Society. 



water from below comes so near the surface of the ground, that it is im- 

 possible and unnecessary to try to make the trees root deep. There 

 are no fruit trees so far as I know, and but a few kinds of nut-bearing 

 trees, which do well if their roots extend to a perpetual water strata. 

 But on ordinary soils, and under usual conditions, trees may be so 

 pruned and trained that they will send their roots deep down, and the 

 ■deeper rooted the trees become the healthier, the longer lived and 

 the more productive they will average. 



The trees from the same nursery, on the same kind of root, if 

 planted in California will stand a drought which would kill its fellow 

 planted in New Jersey, with its ordinary root system. This fact leads 

 me to inquire if there is not some way by which trees may be induced 

 to root more deepl3^ The chief cause of the difference is that in Cali- 

 fornia the soil about the orchard trees is kept well cultivated, and each 

 wet season the ground is deeply plowed, thus all the surface roots and 

 rootlets are cut off. The moisture during the growing months is sup- 

 plied by a deep furrow system of irrigation, so the water is sent well 

 down into the ground and the roots have no need to come to the 

 surface for water. Indeed the top soil is kept 90 well cultivated that 

 there is always a dry layer of earth of several inches in thickness, 

 which prevents the radiation of moisture. 



From experiments which have been made in the East it is pos- 

 sible to force the roots to go deeper than were nature let alone, and 

 always, so far as I have investigated, has the experiment been atten- 

 ded with satisfactory results. If the main roots of a young nursery 

 tree are pruned square across a number of small rootlets immediately 

 start near the point of amputation, and their growth is usually at right 

 angles to the root from which they originate. Now if in place of a 

 square cut, a fresh very oblique cut be made, the tendency is for a 

 single main sprout to grow, and in the same direction with the root 

 from which it started. It is evident if this rule holds true, that a 

 deeper rooted tree can be obtained by pruning the top root or roots 

 in this manner. The side roots should be similarly pruned and the 

 oblique face of the cut turned downward. Then if in addition to the 

 proper initial root pruning, the orchard be plowed and cultivated, if not 

 as frequently as is the custom in California, at least once in a while, 

 so as to cut off the surface feeders, then the tree will depend more and 

 more upon its deep roots. It would not be well to allow too long an 

 interval to elapse between these root prunings for the removing of a 

 considerable quantity would be a severe shock to the tree. Better 

 do it often. 



