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made holes with water, thereby causing the soil in the newly filled holes 

 to run together and settle in one solid ball, which bakes and becomes hard 

 during the summer months. The rainfall is sufficient after this time to so 

 settle the newly moved soil as to exclude the too free passage of air to the 

 young rootlets, which, of course, is very necessary. I buy my trees from 

 any good, reliable nursery, one year old from graft or bud, and before plant- 

 ing cut off all bruised roots. Better a root six inches long and perfect, 

 than one three feet long and mutilated, because the mutilated roots only 

 draw upon the healthy ones to assist in furnishing nourishment to heal 

 their (the mutilated roots) wounds. At the time of planting I head back 

 the young tree to about eighteen inches, thereby securing large, thrifty 

 shoots below that point. This low heading I find very satisfactory, as the 

 lower branches protect the body of the tree from the sun's heat, thus pre- 

 venting sun scalds, gum sores, and sap souring. I plant my trees twenty 

 feet apart each way. My method is to plant thus closely, and then keep 

 my trees low by cutting back every year; this facilitates gathering the fruit 

 very much. I prefer this way to setting the trees further apart and allow- 

 ing them to attain too great a height. By the former method, I secure fully 

 as good, if not better, results per acre, to say nothing of the difference in 

 gathering the fruit. Another advantage in keeping the trees headed low 

 is that the winds do not affect them nearly as much as it does tall trees; 



PRUNING. 



I cut back in February two thirds the growth of the previous year. In 

 this locality the cherry tree is inclined to grow large and very tall — say at 

 four years twenty feet high. I cannot let them have nature's way, or else 

 all I could do would be to stand at the base of the trees and look up at the 

 too inviting fruit, and wish I had been raised by irrigation that I might 

 have grown correspondingly tall, so as to reach the topmost branches. I 

 do not irrigate my trees, nor would I if I had oceans of water at my dis- 

 posal. Irrigation only calls for triple cultivation although portions of this 

 coast will not produce without it. 



CULTIVATION. 



I plow my trees once a year about five inche s deep. This I do about 

 the first of April. The balance of the cultivation I do with an ordinary 

 cultivator, and give the land shallow cultivation, generally three times 

 during the months of April and May, and this ends the year's cultivation, 

 unless the June rains should be sufficiently heavy to form a crust; if so, 

 then I go over the ground ouce with a light, fine toothed harrow, which 

 breaks the crust and leaves the surface mellow. This amount of cultiva- 

 tion insures moisture near the surface during the fruiting season. I use 

 great caution in cultivating not to bruise or bark the trees, as the cherry 

 tree does not heal so readily as many other varieties of trees, but is more 

 inclined to gum and create running sores. 



MARKET. 



My market thus far has been principally at the orchard; cherry culture 

 being comparatively a new industry in this locality, the demand from the 

 neighboring cities and towns more than equals the supply. Customers 

 from far and near come, do their own picking, pay their 11 cents per pound, 

 load them into their wagons in shallow boxes, and go off happy, having 



