32 STATE BOARD OF HORTICULTURE. 



PRUNING. 



There are in vogue in this State various systems of pruning 

 the olive, each differing materially as to the* variety and as to 

 the shape of the tree, but all with the one object in view, i. e., the 

 increase of growth and production. Each system requires study, 

 and it depends a great deal upon circumstances. After the for- 

 mation of the tree, the chief thing to consider is that the fruit is 

 borne only on two-year-old branches, which, when they have 

 once produced fruit, never do so again. Trees are liable to 

 suffer by injudicious pruning of fruit-bearing branches or by 

 excessive lopping. Therefore, pruning must consist in cutting 

 away the superfluous and useless growth and dead wood to 

 give light and air and make room for fresh and fruitful twigs 

 and shoots. 



FORMS OF TREE PRUNING. 



Natural Habit. This form consists of leaving the tree to 

 take its natural form, and to obtain well-balanced trees their 

 formation begins at planting. The trees are not shorn of their 

 top, but it is allowed to grow and become the leader, which 

 with the side or lateral branches soon form a symmetrical tree. 

 The trees are carefully thinned. Branches on the outside 

 extending beyond the symmetry of the main foliage are 

 pinched back during the growing period. Limbs too heavily 

 weighted with fruit are either propped with poles or tied to the 

 main branches to prevent them from breaking. 



The olive has a tendency to grow downward, that is, the 

 lower and side branches droop, protecting its trunk from sun- 

 burn and the soil beneath from drying out. These may be 

 removed every year, but the trees continue to throw out growth 

 from the side and lower branches every year, which in a short 

 period of time droop, seemingly knowing the tree's require- 

 ments. It is nature's system and cannot be changed by man. 



Before the introduction of parasitical and predaceous insects, 

 Hon. Ellwood Cooper wrote: "In the pruning during the first 

 years, have only the one object in view, that is, to force all the 

 woody growth into one main trunk. This being done the tree 

 will naturally form a beautiful shape. The cultivator must 



