254 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



PRUNING THE WALNUT. 



* "Dui'ing- the first year constant pruning- is necessary to have the tree 

 properly shaped. I have pruned in a summer as many as four or five times. 

 Branches are apt to grow too rapidly, bear down with their own weight, and 

 break off during- high winds, destroying the symmetry of the tree and occa- 

 sioning much loss of time. All lateral branches growing from the leader 

 should be cultivated to assume an upward angle of about 15° to 45° frcyn the 

 main leader. This can be done by clipping off all branches growing under, 

 and at times cutting off the ends. A trunk should be maintained free from 

 limbs three and one-half to four and one-half feet from the ground. Earth 

 should be kejit away from the trunks, and if the top roots near the trunk are 

 exposed, so much the better ; it will assist the tree in breathing. The most 

 careful cultivation is necessary, and nothing, after the fifth year, should be 

 grown between the rows, unless you have plenty of water to irrigate by flood- 

 ing all the ground once every eight weeks ; if you are so prepared, sow your 

 orchard in alfalfa, and do no cultivating."' 



t "Pruning the walnut is extremely simple and can be done by any one. 

 When planting the tree, don't cut the top off of one-year-old trees, but it is 

 absolutely necessary to cut back a two or a three-year-old tree ; in fact, 

 the finest young walnut orchard I know of in Orange County (and we have 

 lots of fine ones down this way) was grown from two-year-old trees from 

 eight to ten feet high, and cut back to about four and one-half feet, and all 

 limbs below that trimmed off, except three or four, which were allowed to 

 grow up and make the top of the tree. Never prune the trees over three 

 and one-half feet, as the bark of a tree is easily sunburned, and thus it is 

 necessary for the foliage to shade the trunk. If the lower limbs extend out- 

 ward and are in the way of the cultivator, tie them up, for by so doing you 

 can train the lower branches upward, so as to cultivate close to the tree, 

 and when the orchard comes into bearing the limbs growing upward will 

 not bend down to the ground with the fruit, so you cannot get within twenty 

 feet of them with the cultivator." 



j "In pruning it has been the custom to trim to a height of six to seven 

 feet, but I think four to five feet better. Such high pruning makes the tree 

 top-heavy, and the prevailing winds cause them to lean, exposing one side 

 of the trunk to the sun, thus causing sunburn. I think it is best to trim 

 little, if any. It is the nature of the tree to allow the limbs to grow down- 

 ward and fill any space of account that may have been made by pruning, 

 while if allowed to grow in their natural state, the limbs will start near the 

 ground, growing upward and keejiing out of the way much better than 

 when allowed to hang down. I have not been able as yet to grow them just 

 as I would like in this respect, on account of raising crops (inostly corn) 

 between the trees, and I find it very difficult to save the lower limbs while 

 young and tender, as a very little push or strain when plowing will injure 

 them next to the trunk, and they should then be cut off to save the tree 

 from greater injury than the loss of a limb. Avoid crotches or forks. If a 

 tree is about evenly divided the abundance of foliage the tree has in summer 

 will cause it to split with a very little wind, and you will thus loose the use 

 of the tree for several years, if not altogether. If badly broken, start a new 

 shoot near the ground, and in six years, with care, it will be a bearing tree." 



HARVESTING. 



Harvesting the walnut is very simple, as most of the nuts do not have to 

 be picked, for they, of their own accord, drop to the ground at maturity; 



*Hon. Ellwond Cooper, Santa Barbara. 



tGeorge W. Ford, Santa Ana. 



tU. A. Caufman, of Rivera, in California Cultivator and Poultry Keeper, October, 1896 



