224 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA EXPERIMENT STATION. 



more than one bud on the scion sends up a shoot all but the strongest 

 one should be removed as soon as its growth is assured. The successful 

 grafts will send up shoots very rapidly, and soon these must be tied up 

 to stakes in order to prevent their falling over and becoming crooked or 

 pulling out the scion. If a scion sends up more than one sprout only 

 the best one should be allowed to grow. For tying up stakes at least six 

 feet in length should be used, employing either ordinary lath of this 

 length or 1 by 1 strips, which are very satisfactory. The stakes should 

 be driven in a perfectly upright position as close to the sprout as pos- 

 sible and the latter should then be tied to the stake at least two points 

 in its length with large soft twine or small rope. This tying should be 

 done carefully and not too tightly, as the young sprouts are very tender 

 and increase rapidly in diameter. 



Meantime, proper care should be given to the soil by means of the 

 necessary cultivation, hoeing^ and irrigation if the latter is practiced. 

 Here, again, there is a common impression that trees grown without irri- 

 gation are hardier and more desirable for planting than those to which 

 water is applied during their growth. It is true that a non-irrigated 

 tree becomes dormant earlier in the season and hardens up its terminal 

 growth possibly more completely than does a tree which is kept growing 

 by irrigation as late in the fall as possible. Even though this is true, 

 the fact still remains that the largest trees are everywhere considered 

 most desirable for planting, and the price received by the nurserymen 

 varies in direct proportion to the size of the trees. A tree ten feet high 

 sells commonly for nearly twice as much as one four feet high, and is at 

 the same time more in demand. If properly treated in planting, the 

 larger tree is cut back in any event to perfectly sound, well formed 

 wood, and we know therefore of no disadvantage, either theoretically or 

 in actual experience, in the planting of larger trees which result from 

 irrigation as compared to that of small trees grown without water. In 

 fact, many trees grown where no irrigation is possible have their roots 

 injured, their growth stunted and their trunks sunburned on account of 

 drouth. 



If grown with plenty of moisture and on good soil, the majority of 

 the trees should make sufficient growth the first year to bring them 

 up to proper size for selling and planting in orchard form. In the 

 southern part of the State, where the season is long, there is as much 

 trouble from the trees becoming too large as in their being too small at 

 the end of the first season's growth. Trees of ten to twelve feet in 

 height are very common, while the largest specimens run up to fifteen or 

 even eighteen feet during the first season from the graft. There is 

 always a considerable variation in the trees, however, and nurserymen 

 commonly sell walnut trees on the basis of height, making the following 

 grades : 4 to 6 feet, 6 to 8 feet, 8 to 10 feet, and 10 feet and up. A 



