-74- 



All of th'jse operations call for continuous work more or lese all of the 

 time. In California there is not, strictly speaking, any period when there is 

 no growth of eny kind. But it can be safely said that the greatest activity is 

 in the spring and early summer. If then a minimum of pruning is performed during 

 that time, with reasonable discretion, it may be carried on through the remainder 

 of the year, leaving the heavy work till the winter when the least amount of sap 

 will be flowing. 



In spite of the fact that much notice of it has been made in recent years, we 

 still find many caeee of bad pruning - so general rules for all pruning may not 

 come ami ss. 



First of all, in large trees, commence pruning at the top of the tree and 

 work downward in this way saving labor of going back to dislodge any limbs which 

 may have been caught. And, needless to emphasize, perhaps, the pruner should 

 know from preliminary study just what he wants to cut before climbing the tree as 

 the aspect of the tree is very different in the crown from the aspect in the street. 

 In making the cuts, the saw should be held so that the plane of the cut is parallel 

 to axis of the trunk and reasonably close to the trunk so that no stub or even 

 suggestion of a swelling will be left when the scar has healed. 



The branches are often cut off with a stub of varying size left in place. 

 This, in time, has formed about it a collar by the succeeding years' growth of new 

 wood. The dead stub, however, gradually decays and breaks off leaving an opening 

 into the main trunk which offers an easy entrance for fungus growth or insect pests. 

 Figs. indicate the progress in this case. 



Again, unless the cut is properly made the limbs split end tear away parts 

 of the main trunk as they break. To prevent this the cut should be made with an 

 undercut first and then an overcut as shown in Fig. 'J-Ms may take more 

 time but it prevents such splitting as ie shown in Fig. For s.naller 

 limbe for which pruning shears are sufficient this method cannot be followed but 

 the dangers of splitting are not incurred. 



