388 CALIFORNIA FRUITS : HOW TO GROW THEM 



has in some cases been pursued too far and the tree has resented repres- 

 sion by diminished thrift. The pruner must allow freer growth of shoot 

 to secure better foliage. The pruning of the lemon as of other trees 

 must always be pursued with judgment rather than by recipe. 



When the adequate growth of bearing wood within reach is borne 

 in mind it appears that the pruning of the lemon involves many of the 

 considerations urged in Chapter XII for deciduous fruits; the method 

 of making a strong, short trunk, the arrangement of branches, the pre- 

 vention of long growths, the encouragement of low, bearing twigs, the 

 thinning of twigs to prevent the tree from becoming too dense, the 

 points to be observed in cutting back, not by shearing but by treating 

 each branch according to its position and vigor all these must be borne 

 in mind by the lemon pruner. It must also be remembered that the 

 work must be resolutely continued and the tree always prevented from 

 wild growth and kept down to bearing on the smaller twigs, which are 

 promoted and retained for that purpose. The building-down process 

 described for the young orange is easily applicable to the lemon. 



Old lemon trees which have been allowed to grow away into a long, 

 rangy form and to bear fruit too high for profit, can be brought down 

 to good form by severe cutting back and after-treatment of the new 

 shoots, keeping the smaller horizontal growths and cutting out cleanly 

 the strong upright shoots, or cutting them back if more branches are 

 needed. The time for pruning the lemon depends upon the end in 

 view ; if a young tree, to promote wood growth, prune at the opening 

 of the growing season in the spring; in older trees, to repress growth 

 and advance fruiting, prune in midsummer. 



When it is remembered that harvesting lemons is a continuous 

 operation as will be stated presently, keeping the bearing wood of the 

 tree within easy reach is more imperative from an economic point of 

 view than with trees from which fewer pickings gather the crop. 

 Adjacent engravings give suggestive views of rationally controlled 

 lemon trees. Pruning is also related to preventing infection of the 

 fruit with lemon rot fungus spores from the ground. Fruits which 

 touch the ground or upon which dirt is splashed by rains is first in- 

 fested. The whole question is discussed in Bulletin 190 of the Cali- 

 fornia Experiment Station. 



PREPARATION OF LEMONS FOR MARKETING 



The lemon as taken from the tree is not in condition for marketing 

 except to packers who wish to undertake the curing. To secure best 

 results in quality and in keeping properties, the lemon should be care- 

 fully cut from the tree as soon as proper size is reached. To allow the 

 fruit to hang upon the tree until lemon color is assumed, gives a lemon 

 which is deficient in juice, oversized, apt to develop bitterness, and 

 prone to decay. Two and five-sixteenths rings are used for winter 

 pickings and 2 l /2 for spring and summer, never more than six weeks 

 being allowed to elapse between pickings, and the fruit is usually 

 picked once a month. By careful attention to this, desirable sizes and 

 good-keeping stock are obtained. Neglect of this is the weak point of 



