124 CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



pith and thence down into the limb. Cutting too close to the bud or 

 carrying the slope down too far behind it, does not give it enough live 

 wood to carry it, and it makes a weak growth. 



Cutting to inside buds with trees of spreading habit, and to outside 

 buds with upright growers, or to a side bud when lateral extension is 

 desired, should always be remembered as a means of throwing new 

 growth in the direction demanded by symmetery and equal occupation 

 of the space allotted to the tree. This is one respect in which study 

 of the habit of the tree suggests proper practice. 



COVERING WOUNDS 



Whenever wood is cut with so great diameter that it will not grow 

 over in one season, the wound should be coated with something to keep 

 the wood from checking and decaying. It has been amply demon- 

 strated by California experience that smooth-paring of the cut made 

 by shears or saw is a waste of time. Large wounds should, however, 

 be covered to prevent checking of the wood and drying back of bark 

 edges. Nothing is better or cheaper for this covering than lead and 

 oil paint, a little thicker than for ordinary use, and applied sparingly, 

 so that it will not run down the bark. Asphaltum, "Grade D," applied 

 warm is used in the same way with satisfaction. 



GATHERING UP PRUNINGS 



Gathering up prunings for burning is tedious and expensive, and 

 several efforts have been made to substitute machinery for hand labor. 

 Anderson's Brush Rake, invented by W. C. Anderson, of San Jose, 

 has been used to some extent. It readily gathers all kinds of tree and 

 vine brush, compresses it considerably and is easily discharged of its 

 load by a slight lift while still going forward. It is said to save about 

 one-half the cost of hand raking, Brush is often gathered into wind- 

 rows by the use of horse rakes borrowed from the hay field. 



Baling Prunings. There is a fuel value in prunings which has 

 become more clear since pumping for irrigation is so widely practiced, 

 but loose prunings are too expensive in handling. T. G. Rogers, of 

 Winters, has contrived a "brush baler." It is a large strong saw-horse 

 inverted, to which is bolted a long, heavy lever. Attached to a cross 

 piece on the lever are four heavy tines bent in a semi-circle. The saw- 

 horse is filled with brush, the lever is then pulled down and fastened by 

 a ratchet brake, the brush is forced into a small, compact bundle, and 

 when bound with wire makes a bundle easily handled by the fireman. 



Prunings for Fertilizing. Although many propositions for re- 

 turning prunings to the soil and several machines for cutting have 

 been used, such practice has never widely prevailed because of cost 

 of labor involved. At the Limoneira lemon orchard in Ventura county, 

 a feed cutter run by a gasoline engine, and both mounted on a 

 wagon-bed, is run through the orchard after pruning. Two men pick 

 up prunings and feed them into the cutter as the wagon slowly pro- 

 ceeds. This waste from an evergreen tree seems to decay very readily 

 in the soil as it is covered-in by cultivation. 



