Later Pruning of the Orange. 367 
Fig. 5 shows the result of this clipping of heavy shoots to 
allow them to assume a more upright growth and the encourage- 
ment of new shoots below the two-foot mark. Fig. 6 gives the 
branch-form of a five-year-old tree, with its lower story of bear- 
ing wood well developed, and Fig. 7 is the foliage-form of the 
same tree, about fifteen feet high, with its leaves and fruit reach- 
ing to the ground. As to how low the branches should be al- 
lowed, Mr. Reed says that until recently he has thought it best 
to keep the lower branches clipped back so that the fruit would 
not touch the ground, but he is persuaded that it is better to let 
them come to the ground even if considerable fruit rests on it. 
He finds that many of the best orchardists do this, and claim that 
there are really less culls among the fruit on the ground than on 
the less-protected branches above. 
Later Pruning of the Orange.—After the form of the orange 
is well established the aim should be to preserve a compact wall 
of foliage of symmetrical and convenient form. It is desirable 
that weak wood should be removed. As to the removal of dead 
interior branches, which have given up the struggle for the light, 
the theory is that they should be removed: the practise is that 
they very seldom are. It is an appalling undertaking to get 
into the inside of an old orange tree and saw off and drag out 
the dead wood. We can not settle the question: each reader 
must adjust it to the satisfaction of his own conscience. Some 
accomplish this by claiming that the interior dead branches help 
to sustain the weight of the live ones. There is, however, a 
reasonable amount of thinning to be done. The clipping back 
of ambitious shoots multiplies laterals. There should be a com- 
plete wall of leaves, but the crowding of leaves on leaves excludes 
light and air and weakens the tree by lessening the vigor of leaf- 
action. Dead twigs which appear among good bearing shoots 
should always be removed. ‘The gourmand shoots or suckers 
should be repressed, unless, by clipping, one can be turned into 
a branch where a branch is needed. 
DISEASES OF THE ORANGE. 
The orange is thus far subject to few diseases in California. 
The most grievous is the so-called gum disease, which is analo- 
gous to the gumming of other trees and will be discussed in the 
chapter treating of tree diseases. Cracking of the fruit will also 
be mentioned in that chapter. 
There are several serious insect enemies of the orange, 
which will be discussed in the chapter on that subject. The 
“black smut,” which makes leaves and fruit unsightly in some 
parts of the State, is a fungoid growth upon the exudations of 
insects, and can be prevented by removing its cause. 
