226 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM 



covering of its own foliage. These spurs not only furnish leaves to 

 shade the trunk, but soon become fruit spurs and bear well. 



Low Heading with a Central Stem. Some of the trees in the 

 older orchards have been shaped by carrying up a leader with a 

 regular system of side branches. Head back at planting to two 

 feet, pinching off the shoots below the head as stated, and allowing 

 the shoots which form the head to grow larger, but they too are 

 all to be pinched except the leader, which is allowed to grow as long 

 as it pleases during the summer. During fall or winter pruning 

 cut back the leader to about twelve or sixteen inches from its starting 

 point and cut back the side branches to about six or eight inches. 

 This is done year after year, cutting back and thinning out the 

 side shoots, pinching the laterals, and allowing the leader to grow, 

 never interfering with it until the winter pruning and always letting 

 it predominate over the side shoots. By cutting short, wood is 

 increased, but at the end of six years the tree goes into fruit very 

 rapidly. As the tree increases in fruit it decreases in wood, and by 

 the time it is ten or twelve years old there will be but little cutting 

 to do, except to shorten in and thin out, and this requires some 

 judgment and experience, to know where to cut, how to cut, and when 

 to cut. To shorten in, never cut down to an old fruit spur. It is very 

 difficult to get healthy wood out of such ; but whenever you -can find 

 last year's wood, there you can cut with safety anything that is less 

 than one inch in diameter. 



This system of pruning must be accompanied by constant pinching 

 during the summer time. It should commence when the lower shoots 

 are about six inches long, and be followed up closely all through 

 the growing season. Those on the trunk should never get longer 

 than eight or ten inches, under any circumstances. After these are 

 pinched, let the trees rest ten or fifteen days, or until the branches 

 in the top get a good start. Then pinch everything clean but the 

 leader, in every main branch in the tree. The leader takes its own 

 way all through the growing season, to prevent the effects of over- 

 pinching or checking the growth. If only the side shoots are kept 

 back, the leader or head of the branches receives the current or flow 

 of sap and maintains and carries on life and vitality in the tree. 

 One object in pinching or spur pruning is to keep back surplus 

 wood and create fruit spurs, throwing all the little twigs and branches 

 into fruit, thereby utilizing all the wood the tree can produce, not 

 allowing it to grow at the tree's expense, and then have to cut it 

 off. And another object in side-shoot pruning is to make the tree 

 produce fine large cherries, all closely nestling around the big wood, 

 and no long, slim branches hanging down like weeping willow. All 

 such branches are always more or less sunburnt on the top and full 

 of worms, one of the evils tending to the destruction of the tree. 



This method is commended to those who like a tree with a central 

 leader, and are willing to give their orchards such constant attention. 

 Unless pinching and consequent multiplication -of shoots and foliage 

 is faithfully followed such, a tree is apt to become tall and rangy and 

 to expose the bark all the way up to sunburn and borers. 



