THE POPULAR CALIFORNIA FORM J21 



this, with the added injury by the borers. It is also found by Cali- 

 fornia experience that growth is more vigorous in the branches 

 when they emerge near the ground. Even where actual burning 

 may not occur the travel of the sap through the longer distance of 

 trunk is undesirable. It is believed, also, that benefit results from 

 shading of the ground at the base of the trees, by reducing evapora- 

 tion, and by maintaining a temperature of soil better suited to vig- 

 orous root-growth. 



But whatever may be the reasons, the fact is indisputable, the 

 higher the prevailing summer temperature, and the greater the 

 aridity, the lower should the trees be headed. Trees which will do 

 well in the central and upper coast region and adjacent to the bay 

 of San Francisco, with twenty-four to thirty-six inches of clear 

 trunk, would dwindle and probably perish in the heated valleys in 

 all parts of the State. In such situations, both north and south, the 

 best practice is to head the tree fifteen, twelve, and even some hold 

 as low as six inches from the ground. There will always be some 

 difference of opinion as to detail, but the necessity of making the 

 trunk short enough to be effectually shaded by the foliage is admit- 

 ted by all growers. 



Characteristic of the California Vase Form. This vase form is 

 a product of French ingenuity in the training of dwarf trees, but it 

 has undergone very marked modification in California, losing much 

 of the accuracy of its outline and gaining vastly in speed of work 

 and in bearing capacity of tree without sacrificing any practical 

 value which adheres in the design. 



The California vase form dispenses with the central stem or 

 trunk at a certain short distance above the ground, but this is not 

 done for the purpose of securing a hollow or open-center tree, which 

 is a leading characteristic of the old European vase-form. The few 

 branches which are desired to grow from the short stem are pruned 

 when the tree is young to induce successive branching with short 

 interspaces. At each cutting the aim is to get two branches from 

 one, and nearly as possible of equal vigor, so the California tree does 

 not, except, of course, in occasional instances, show the outline of 

 a leader from the bottom to the top, but there is a succession of 

 branchings, turned this way or that by the skilful pruner, occupying 

 available air space, distributing the weight so it comes more nearly 

 over the center of gravity and at the same time knitting the fibers 

 of the branch so that the weight of the fruit is well sustained. This 

 idea, however, is not allowed to go so far as to wholly close the 

 interior of the tree, but to retain such degree of open interior as is 

 found desirable. When the tree is laden with fruit, the weight nat- 

 urally expands the top quite enough to admit the sunlight without 

 exposing either the fruit or the branches to danger of burning. Thus 

 it appears that instead of the true vase or wine-glass, with hollow 



