PRUNING CITRUS TREES. 391 



The Eureka and Villafranca, being of more tract- 

 able habits, form less and less new wood as they grow older 

 and their crops increase; so that in time little or no prun- 

 ing is necessary. 



The question has been asked whether the fruit- 

 spurs of the lemon go on bearing, or die after bearing a 

 few crops; making necessary a constant growth of new 

 wood, as with the orange and peach. From observation, 

 the writer believes that the lemon spur, with the apple and 

 pear, is long lived and goes on bearing for years. If, on 

 the other hand, the spurs are really short lived, severe 

 pruning alone will insure new wood. 



No radical system should be generally adopted with- 

 out careful trial. The "open-center" system has been ap- 

 plied to a large acreage of lemon trees, with unmistakable 

 benefits, and the number of acres so treated is increasing. 

 In the orchards in charge of the writer sixteen thousand 

 trees, mostly three years old, have been changed to con 

 form to this style. Hardly a tree has been lost in the 

 transformation, and prominent horticulturists pronounce 

 the trees unsurpassed for their age, in size, condition, or 

 fruitfulness. Where before was despair as to what to do 

 with the troublesome tops, now all is simple and easily 

 done. It would pay every lemon-grower to try these sug- 

 gestions on a few trees, and let the results speak for 

 themselves." 



Other systems of pruning the lemon are in use in 

 California, but the two just described are probably the 

 most important which have been brought forward up to 

 the present time. 



