172 



STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



PRUNING THE LEMON. 



" How shall we prune, and when shall we do it ?" I. C. Wood, 

 of Ontario, Cal., an experienced lemon-grower, answered the 

 question before the Southern California Pomological Society, as 

 follows: 



u If the tree is one year old, I would cut it to about three 

 and one half feet high; if older, possibly higher, according to 

 strength of plant. Then let it branch from near the ground, 

 say one to one and a half feet. As soon as the young shoots 

 are strong enough, select from four to six or more of the best 

 of them ; see that they are evenly distributed on every side of 



Lemon orchard pruned high, without cutting back the upper shoots, which 

 continually break by the weight of the fruit. 



the stem and at different heights from the ground; allow the 

 uppermost to form the leader, which should be encouraged 

 from year to year to continue as a leader, so as to avoid as far 

 as possible decided forks. 



"At end of first year prune in all side shoots and top 

 according to the amount of wood made usually one half will 

 be about right for the lower branches, and more severe for the 

 upper ones. The object is to shape the tree and keep it in the 

 form of a letter " A," limbed right from the ground or nearly 

 so. In pruning, do not cut at random, especially at this 

 stage, but see which way you want the upper buds to grow, as 

 the upper bud usually makes the leader which we want to 



