STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 205 



and vigorous — cut it off within a foot of the ground, so that your orchard 

 will look more as if it had been staked off to be planted than as planted. 



Here is the pons assinorum of young planters. They remember the old 

 orchard " back home " where they used to ride under the outspreading 

 limbs and pick off the fruit or got a ladder to climb up to the first limb, 

 and it is almost impossible to make them believe it isn't butchery to cut 

 these beautiful young trees six feet high, to a foot's length. Many, when 

 told, will persist in the old method, only to find their mistake in later years, 

 and too late to be remedied. Some of our best orchardists advocate cut- 

 ting down to six inches. 



The reason for this I will briefly state: We start the head low because 

 the trunk is thus shaded from the hot sun, a necessary precaution; because 

 the tree, when grown, will not yield to high winds; because the fruit is 

 within easy reach and can be more cheaply gathered; because the limbs 

 can be more readily and cheaply pruned; because it is easier to fight insect 

 pests; because we find that more trees to the acre headed low and kept 

 well pruned back, will produce more and better fruit than large, high, 

 spreading trees, and fewer to the acre. The objection to low heads that 

 the plow can't be used close to the tree is not sound, because, by proper 

 shaping of the lower limbs, we can plow close enough, and besides, too 

 close plowing is dangerous to the root system, and results frecmently in 

 wounding the trunk. The plow is an ugly tool to handle next the tree. 



We find that high pruning and a long body subjects the tree to borers, 

 to sun-scald, and diseases obviated by low heading. Upon this point no 

 beginner should set up his judgment against the experience of our best 

 orchardists. 



The first year, with most trees, do not rub off the buds below those you 

 reserve for the head; they will push out foliage to shield your trees, and 

 the next year they can be cut off. If any appear to you too rank, and to 

 sap the trunk, pinch off the tip. These directions apply to our unirrigated 

 lands, and lands not exceptionally moist, and I have in mind the more 

 common deciduous trees, such as prune, plum, apricot, peach, the nut 

 trees, apples, pears, and the like. 



PRUNING. 



Assuming that you have plowed and planted well, and have kept up a 

 thorough cultivation of the soil, and have started right, the next greatest 

 concern is to prune the tree properly, for herein lies ultimate success. 

 The perpetuity of your orchard, its healthfulness, productive capacity, and 

 quality of the fruitage, lie here. 



If you have started with a low head, and your tree has branched prop- 

 erly, you have a good foundation for a shapely and perfect tree. If you 

 have violated the California practice in this regard, and started a tree 

 three or four feet from the ground, I would advise you to cut it back the 

 second year to a proper height, and start afresh, or dig up your trees, for 

 the orchard otherwise will be a failure. 



Upon the subject of pruning I cannot take up each variety. Some gen- 

 eral rules apply to nearly all the fruits I have referred to, and with a little 

 intelligent observation the planter can soon apply special rules to special 

 cases. 



At the second year's pruning, leave three, four, or five limbs, as the 

 growth of the tree will admit, properly balanced as to the sides of the 

 tree, six to twelve inches long, depending on the vigor of the tree; in some 

 cases you will have to cut back to three inches. Cut to an outside bud 



