FORMS OF TREES FOR CALIFORNIA 1Q9 



The foregoing are among the practical purposes to be served in 

 pruning. There are others, but these will suffice to emphasize a 

 single point, and that is, that pruning can not be compressed into a 

 single formula, nor can one learn it by a recipe. There are various 

 ends to attain ; they may be attained in different ways, although it 

 is not strange that substantial agreement in methods does largely 

 prevail. It is better to try to understand the purposes than to memo- 

 rize the formulae. Get the tree and its interest clearly in the mind ; 

 have an ideal toward which to work ; be more interested in why a 

 neighbor prunes in a certain way than how he does it. Learn con- 

 stantly by all available means, and at the same time study the visible 

 forms and aim to understand their fullest significance. 



FORMS OF TREE BEST SUITED TO CALIFORNIA 

 CONDITIONS 



The form of deciduous fruit tree which prevails with singular 

 uniformity all over the State is the "vase," or "goblet," or "wine- 

 glass" form, all these terms signifying a similar shape. There are 

 different ways in which this form is secured and maintained in dif- 

 ferent parts of the State, and with different fruits, which will be 

 especially noted in the chapters devoted to these fruits. 



The mainspring of success in California is to grow low trees. 

 Low is a term admitting of degrees, it is true, and may imply a 

 trunk six inches up to one or two feet, in the clear. In addition to 

 the convenience of low-trained trees which has been mentioned, 

 there are special reasons for this form in California. Hundreds of 

 thousands of trees have been destroyed by the exposure of a long, 

 bare trunk to the rays of the afternoon sun. The sun-burned sides 

 have given the conditions desired by borers, and destruction has 

 quickly followed. Sometimes young trees have not survived their 

 first season in the orchard, because of burned bark, or this, with the 

 added injury by the borers. It is also found by California experience 

 that growth is more vigorous in the branches when they emerge near 

 the ground. Even where actual burning may not occur the travel 

 of the sap through the longer distance of trunk is undesirable. It is 

 believed, also, that benefit results from shading of the ground at the 

 base of the trees, by reducing evaporation, and by maintaining a 

 temperature of soil better suited to vigorous root-growth. 



But whatever may be the reasons, the fact is indisputable, the 

 higher the prevailing summer temperature, and the greater the 

 aridity, the lower should the trees be headed. Trees which may do 

 well in the central and upper coast region and adjacent to the bay of 

 San Francisco, with twenty-four to thirty-six inches of clear trunk, 

 would dwindle and probably perish in the heated valleys in all parts 

 of the State. In such situation, both north and south, the best prac- 

 tice is to head the tree fifteen, twelve, and even some hold as low 

 as six inches from the ground. There will always be some difference 

 of opinion as to detail, but the necessity of making the trunk short 

 enough to be effectually shaded by the foliage is admitted by all 

 growers. 



