456 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



years old; but in every case when any of said branches are rapidly making 

 wood, they should be removed, and not allowed to rob the trunk. 



In the pruning during the first years, have only the one object in view, 

 that is, to force all the woody growth into one main trunk. This being done 

 the tree will naturally form a beautiful shape. The cultivator must not 

 look at the tree of to-day or to-morrow, but the tree of ten years hence. All 

 branches to the height of five to five and a half feet should be removed, so. 

 as to admit of close cultivating by horses. Trees planted at the distance 

 of twenty feet, and well kept, will in ten years touch each other. When 

 this condition is reached they will be in full bearing, and therefore will 

 require constant pruning or cutting back. It is much easier and less expen- 

 sive to gather the fruit from small trees; besides, if the pruning is intel- 

 ligently done, it will improve the fruit and secure a greater quantity to the 

 acre than can be produced under any other conditions. 



Some orchards in Europe are planted in " threes," that is, three trees in 

 each place planted in the form of a triangle, and three or four feet apart. 

 This method would require the rows to be thirty-three to thirty-five feet 

 distant, and would give about the same number of trees to the acre, as by 

 planting at twenty feet, one tree in each place. It is claimed that by plant- 

 ing in this way no staking is required, the trees protect one another from 

 the most violent wind storms, the trimming is simplified, and less care and 

 labor required in the cultivation. 



Article III. — Fruit Bearing. 



Trees growing from cuttings will produce fruit the fourth year, and some- 

 times, under the most favorable circumstances, will give a few berries the 

 third year. It is the habit of the tree to overbear, and as a consequence 

 will give but little fruit the year following a heavy crop. This statement 

 is verified by the most reliable books published on the subject in the 

 French, Italian, and Spanish languages. There are, however, exceptions 

 to this rule in California. Mr. Davis, who had charge of the San Diego 

 Mission orchard in 1875, assured me that he had gathered from the same 

 tree, two years in succession, over one hundred and fifty gallons of berries. 

 I have also observed that some trees in my orchards have borne well suc- 

 cessive years. The fruit bearing can be controlled by the pruning. The 

 cultivator will not forget that the shoots or branches must be two years old 

 before they will give fruit, hence, partial pruning every year, will give 

 partial crops. My oldest orchard was planted February 21, 1872. At four 

 years I gathered from some of the trees over two gallons of berries. In 

 1878 over thirty gallons each off a few of the best trees, the orchard then 

 being only six years old. In 1879, the seventh year, the crop was not 

 nearly so large. I had planted several thousand cuttings in the spring of 

 1873, but these trees did not give at six years, a result equal to the first 

 planting. The present crop (1880) is quite good; the oldest orchard now 

 being eight years, and I think I do not overestimate, when I state that the 

 yield of some of the best and fullest trees will be over forty gallons. Trees 

 large enough to give this quantity of fruit, planted at a distance of twenty 

 feet, will occupy nearly all the ground, and therefore will give all the fruit 

 that can be produced on one acre. An orchard bearing uniformly the 

 quantity as above, would give the following result: one hundred trees to 

 the acre at forty gallons each, four thousand gallons. This would be an 

 enormous crop, unprecedented, and far beyond any statistics given in 

 European publications. The one fourth of the quantity yearly would be a 

 very profitable crop. 



