THE MONTHLY BULLKTIN. 101 



the least .saeriliee in (luantity of fruit. It is fairly evident that it 

 should 1)0 iiiidprtjikrn ;is soon as ))«ssil)lo after from 70 to SO per cent 

 of the crop have been harvested. In our section this would enable us to 

 begin late in May or early June, extending through July, and possibly 

 August. It appears that the heaviest sacrifice results from winter and 

 early spring prunino' during the six months from November to April, 

 a season when the trees are laden with a full crop all but ready to gather. 

 In this connection it may be said that while the data as to seasonal 

 yields following priming are too incomplete for analysis, yet there are 

 strong indications that the heavy sacrifice of yield resulting from the 

 winter and early spring pruning may be quite largely offset by a goodly 

 production of high quality summer fruit. 



A comparison of the ripes reveals the fact that during the second 

 crop year fruit from the check rows graded 80.5 per cent ripe, as against 

 only 16.6 per cent from the first four pruned rows — a ratio of practically 

 2 to 1. 



As to the type of pruning and amount of it, we do not feel that we 

 could improve materially on the general method employed and already 

 described. 



Where heavy pruning is undertaken we learned that whitewash should 

 be used freely and promptly to prevent serious sunburn of large limbs 

 and trunk. This is very important. Paint with asphaltum all large 

 cuts, fumigate cautiously when the new growth has just begun, and 

 spray Avith great care. 



Aside from the temporary sacrifice of fruit involved, the expense of 

 such a pruning is considerable. A good man will hardly prune more 

 than eight or ten trees per day, and the cost of hauling out the brush, 

 or cutting it. amounts to several cents per tree, while the cost of painting 

 the large cuts and whitewashing adds at least another five cents. 



Trees pruned later than July or early August are apt to put out a 

 short growth that does not have time to fully mature before cold weather 

 comes. As a consequence, it yellows considerably during the winter 

 months, but with the awakening of spring it soon regains a normal 

 color, or disappears beneath the out-pushing free growth of early 

 summer. 



From our experience to date, no further pruning will be needed for 

 about a year. Heavy pruning in early summer may, in some localities, 

 call for the removal of a few suckers and Ions: fruit spurs of doubtful 

 value the following winter, if other growers feel, as we do, that the citrus 

 tree, like the deciduous tree, is probably best served by receiving its 

 principal annual pruning during the dormant winter months. 



In considering a general policy of attempting tree removal by heavy 

 pruning, or even a small experiment — and the small experiment should 

 always be undertaken first, and in every locality at an early date — the 

 grower should be as sure as he can be that the trees do not need food, 

 better or less cultivation, pest control, less water or more. It is doubtful 

 if even the heaviest production Avill bring a tree to the point of decline 

 before the age of sixteen or eighteen years, if it has been well treated 

 and fed. A possible error Avith rather young trees may arise through 

 the impression that if a vigorous lemon tree has not borne fruit in 

 abundance by the time it is six or seven years old it never Avill. There 

 appears to be a strong groAving strain of lemon tree, of a variety per- 

 haps not definitely placed, Avhich. though late in commencing, yet in the 



