138 Fruit-growing in Arid Regions 



mum the loss from attacks of this disease. After the tree 

 begins to bear, heavy pruning that may induce very heavy 

 growth should be avoided if possible, as it is generally 

 conceded that blight is more destructive to trees making 

 rank growth. The majority of inoculations takes place 

 through the blossoms, and one of the most serious types 

 of injury is that occasioned by the entrance of blight into 

 larger limbs through short spurs. Through these short 

 spurs the germs gain entrance to the larger parts, and often 

 girdle them before discoloration indicates their presence. 

 It is the nature of the pear tree to develop these short 

 spurs in abundance, and it will be necessary to remove 

 them from the base of the larger limbs. Strong new 

 wood may be allowed to take their places, and this may 

 later be developed into fruiting-branches. Then, should 

 blight enter these blossoms, they are far enough removed 

 from the main limbs that the disease may be detected 

 and intercepted before it reaches the most vital parts. 



Pruning the Quince 



While the importance of the quince industry in the 

 West might not seem to warrant the insertion of this para- 

 graph, the almost criminal neglect from which the quince 

 tree suffers as regards pruning would move one to write 

 a book. Among the fruit-trees herein considered, the 

 quince has a fruit-bearing habit peculiar to itself. With 

 the advance of spring the dormant buds on the one-year- 

 old wood push out leafy shoots from three to four inches 

 in length, and these are terminated by a single flower. 

 While both axillary and terminal buds produce these 

 flower-bearing shoots, the stronger flowers come from the 



