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turn on their water. So far as the philosophy is concerned, it is good 

 philosophy. They say a threat on the life of the tree will cause it 

 to bear. In the same way, if you cut the roots of the tree it will tempo- 

 rarily increase its bearing. It is nature's endeavor to repair the shock 

 by reproduction. 



Mr. Judd: I would say in regard to Mr. Kell's paper on pruning, that 

 there is no system of pruning that will give satisfaction to every fruit 

 grower. There is no system of pruning that will do to follow, unless it 

 is confined to one particular variety and in one particular locality. If 

 a fruit grower, starting in to grow a young orchard, followed blindly 

 the general suggestions contained in any paper, there is danger that he 

 will have the experience that some fruit growers had twelve years ago, 

 which cost them thousands of dollars, by following out theoretical propo- 

 sitions. There is no one single variety that will bear the same kind of 

 pruning as another variety. As far as your peaches and apricots are 

 cencerned, I know nothing about them. I don't live in that section of 

 country where that fruit is produced. But when you talk about cherries 

 and pears of all kinds, I believe that I know something about them. I 

 have paid for my experience, and very dearly, too. And of all varieties 

 of pears I don't know two varieties that will bear the same kind of prun- 

 ing. And of all varieties of apples there are no two varieties that will 

 bear the same kind of pruning. Some varieties of apples it will do to 

 cut back, and some varieties it will not do at all. Among those varieties 

 I will name the Gravenstein and the Bellnower. Just so sure as you 

 cut back either of these when you plant them, just so sure you will have 

 trouble all your life in that orchard, because you have got to keep it up 

 all the time. Some people think an orchard will not bear unless you 

 cover the ground at least three or four feet deep with brush. This year 

 I dug up seven acres of trees, and next year I shall dig up five acres 

 more, just simply because I had ruined them by pruning. We have 

 two brothers in our neighborhood, and they are both raising Bellflower 

 apples. That is the especial product in our section of the country. The 

 older brother planted his orchard so that the trees branched low down, 

 and the younger one pruned his so that he could plow and get up close 

 to the trees. He can plow around them all right. And he headed them 

 back. They should begin to give a crop somewhere about the seventh 

 or eighth year. His older brother is his opposite in every particular. 

 He is considered lazy, so we call his orchard "The Lazy Man's Orchard." 

 Now, when we take visitors around to show them our orchards, we take 

 them to the lazy man's orchard when we want to show them a big crop, 

 and the other orchard that is not owned by the lazy man has not had 

 a single crop on it yet. 



Mr. Rock: I believe that if you don't prune them at all you will get 

 more fruit. The less pruning the more fruit you will get. 



Mr. Motheral: How about prunes? 



Mr. Rock: I suppose down your way you don't prune them at all, 

 but in Santa Clara County we have to prune them once in awhile, or 

 the fruit gets so small that we can't see it on the trees, and we have to 

 dig them up. 



Mr. Spkague: I would like to ask Mr. Motheral if the size keeps up 

 in his section of the country? 



Mr. Motheral: Well, sir, we will leave that to our exhibition that 

 we show all over the State. We always take the premium as to size. 



