84 



them, and then the trees break down, but then we had an unusually heavy 

 crop of peaches this year. 



Now, I cannot advocate the pyramid plan of planting; a tree trimmed 

 in that shape a leader will throw out branches the entire length of this 

 main stem, and the outside branches will shade the fruit nearer the body 

 of the tree and, by the way, in that way the branches will grow out nearly 

 horizontal, and you cannot get your stepladder or your arms in toward the 

 center of the tree to pick the fruit, the branches are in your way; whereas 

 a tree trimmed in this shape, with a hollow center, there is no difficulty in 

 getting your stepladder up and getting all the fruit. The other way the 

 fruit grows in the shade; it is separated from the sun and air; it will not 

 do as well; it will not color up as well; it has not the flavor that the fruit 

 has grown in the other kind of a tree. I have practiced both methods, 

 and almost every other method of pruning that I have ever heard of in 

 this country, and this base of gambrel form gives me more satisfaction 

 than any other I have been able to discover. I heard a practical fruit 

 grower say the other day that in California we had been in the habit of 

 pruning our trees the wrong way, that they begin at the ground and cut 

 up, and we ought to begin at the top and cut down. There is a great deal 

 of practical common sense in that remark. We have all been in the habit 

 of pruning our trees too high; the nearer we can get to the ground the 

 better, and we must prune so as to give them as much air and sun as pos- 

 sible; and I want to urge the importance of this if we want to raise large, 

 highly colored, well flavored fruit. And that is what we want if we raise 

 fruit for money, and I do not know a man that does not. 



Another point: The trees at Newcastle and vicinity do not make the 

 growth that they do in the rich valley lands, consequently there they can 

 plant trees closer together than those in the valley. Now the best rule 

 that I can give — or would give if I were asked for a rule — is this: Owing to 

 the climate, the different circumstances, the different changes of climate 

 through the State — for in many places the climate changes within a mile — 

 the new beginner should observe closely what does best in his own locality, 

 and then practice from that. If pears do well in your locality and peaches 

 do not, plant pears; and so with other varieties. You must learn this from 

 observation; these things do not come without hard study. What little I 

 know of fruit growing I had to study out in the orchard. I had no teacher, 

 as many of you have now, other than A. J. Downing's " Fruits and Fruit 

 Trees of America," and a large majority of his writings do not apply to 

 this coast. Some of the best fruit growers in the Eastern States — in fact I 

 may say the best — B. Barry, of Rochester, New York, when on the Suscol 

 Ranch, in Napa, admitted that it was almost impossible to identify even 

 the most common varieties of apples in this State, and found great diffi- 

 culty in recognizing the Yellow Bellflower there, and was not certain then. 



I mention this, gentlemen, to show you that no definite rule will apply 

 throughout this State, as it does in the Eastern States; each man must 

 study his own locality, and plant the fruits adapted to that locality. 



