PRUNING CITRUS TREES. 383 



of a sufficiently large fruiting area on the tree. The 

 method is fully described by Mr. Baronio in Culture of 

 the Citrus in California, by B. M. Lelong. 



The ideal tree of the Baronio system is one with a 

 low, flat, wide-spreading top as shown in Plate XXIV. The 

 natural habit of the lemon as in the case of most citrus 

 trees is to develop one or more leading, upright branches in 

 the center of the tree. In pruning by the Baronio system 

 these must be removed from old trees or their formation 

 prevented in the case of young ones. The first branches are 

 allowed to form within sixteen to twenty-four inches of the 

 ground. Large, horizontal branches which form the 

 framework of the tree are allowed to develop. These 

 branches should be some distance one above another, no 

 two of them being allowed to start out at points directly 

 opposite. Three or four primary branches are sufficient. 

 In re-modeling old trees it is frequently necessary to bend 

 these backward and outward until they touch the ground, 

 where they are held in place by stones placed upon their 

 tips. Upon each of these strong laterals, "two suckers are 

 allowed to run, say, one about one foot and the other six- 

 teen inches from the trunk (all other growth being sup- 

 pressed), and when properly matured these suckers are 

 similarly arched, one to the right and one to the left of 

 the respective original three branches, which by this time 

 will be set into position and may therefore be shortened 

 in, leaving to each a sufficiently projecting stub to which 

 the corresponding newly-arched suckers may be fastened, 

 and thus no longer obstruct the ground below. There 

 will then be three main branches, each subdivided into 

 two secondary branches, giving six structural points 

 around a circle; and by a succession of similar operations 

 these are in due time doubled to make twelve, and so on. 



