( loi ) 



results have always been obtained than when the fruit alone 

 is gathered. In the meantime, some growers became well 

 acquainted of this fact and came to adopt this process. In 

 Tomo-o-mura, a date plum region between Kyoto and Nara, 

 an expert called Tajuro Yoshioka has independently brought 

 about the same process and succeeded in renovating worn-out 

 trees in his village. Afterwards his method has been improved. 

 A medal was awarded his work at the Industrial Exhibition in 

 1895. His first method has nothing different from the process 

 already practised in other localities. By his method, every 

 fruiting shoot is broken at its own base, while the sterile or 

 non-fruiting ones are left unpruned. By this treatment, new 

 vigorous shoots start from buds of the remaining part, the 

 next spring. They do not fruit in the same year, whilst they 

 grow vigorously and develop plump and well-matured buds 

 on the apex as well as the leaf-axiles of them. These buds, 

 especially a few near the apex are always entitled to 

 start fruiting shoots in the next year. On the contrary, as 

 the fruiting shoots are left unpruned after harvest they being 

 exhausted would start weak, slender sterile shoots in the next 

 spring. Sometimes they would perish, worn-out by the 

 overwork of fruiting. Next year again, if these weak shoots 

 are left unpruned, worse results would follow. In such a 

 manner, when no pruning is done, weak shoots grow in turn 

 near the apex of the preceding ones until at last the tree 

 abounds in weak and valueless shoots. Fruit borne on such a 

 shoot is worthless or liable to drop down prematurely. In 

 some varieties, for example, Zenji-maru, the pistillate flower 

 always appears on the stronger shoots, whilst the staminate 

 ones are always borne in clusters on weak, slender, shoots. 

 Thus, it is necessary to get the strong shopts by means of 

 pruning (breaking) worn-out shoots to increase the yield, and 

 make' its growing profit-able. Trees represent in this case a 

 typical weeping appearance and quite differ in this respect 

 from those grown under regular pruning. Yoshioka's first 



