Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-01-07
o,,xe Cu,ture an California.

culture OF tnlS lmpOrIaul troo Woulu
make an essay entirely too long for the
purpose of this convention. will,
| therefore, confine myself to the material
facts, with the knowledge of which all
who anticipate planting an orchard
should be familiar. In presenting those
| facts | cannot do better than to copy
largely from treatise on olive culture
written by myself and published in 1882.
Propagation-The common and pre-
ferred method is to plant the cuttings,
taken from the growing trees of sound
wood, from three-quarters of an inch in
diameter to one and half inches, and
from fourteen to sixteen inches long.
These cuttings should be taken from the
trees during the months of December
and January, neatly trimmed, without
bruising, and carefully trenched in loose,
sandy soil shady place preferred.
They should be planted in permanent
sites from February Goth to March Goth,
depending upon the season. The ground
should be we'll prepared and sufficiently
dry so that there is no mud and
the weather warm. In Santa Bar
bara, near the coast, no irrigation is
necessary; but very frequent stirring OF
| the top soil with hoe or iron rake for a
considerable distance around the cuttings
is necessary during the Spring and Sum-
mer. About three-fourths of all that are
we'll planted will grow. My plan is to
set them twenty feet apart each way, and
place them in the ground butt end down,
and at an angle of about forty-ive de-
i grees, the top to the north, barely COW
cred. Mark the place with stake. By
planting them obliquely the bottom end
will be from ten inches to one foot below
the surface. In Europe the trees are
planted from twenty-seven to thirty.three
feet apart. My reasons for closer plant
ing will be given in a subsequent article.
Pruning-The cutting will throw up
numerous sprouts, all of which should
be left to grow the first year; any dis.
turbance of the top affects the growth OF
the roots. 1t would be advisable, how
ever, where there are two or more vigor-
GUS shoots of about the same size and
} height from the same cutting, to pinch
, the tops of all excepting the one to be
left for the future tree, so as to throw
more force and vigor into that one. In
the following spring when the ground is
warm and sufficiently dry, all sprouts
excepting the one to be preserved,
should be carefully removed, cutting
, them off close to the cutting. The top
|
moved by the aid of sharp saw. A
: post should be firmly planted, so that
: the tree can be we'll secured, to keep the
!. trunk straight and avoid any disturbance
! of the roots, and should be kept until the
, tree is four or five years old. By adopt
ing this method a great deal of time will
be saved and better trees secured. The
lateral branches should be allowed to
. grow until the tree is two or three years
. old; but in every case when any of said
t branches are rapidly making wood, they
should be removed and not allowed to
p rob the trunk.
In the pruning during the first years,
have only the one object in view, that is
to force all the woody growth into one
: main trunk. This being done, the tree
will naturally form beautiful shape.
The cultivator must not look at the tree
= of to-day or tomorrow, but the tree OF
| ten years hence. All branches to the
height of five to five and half feet
should be removed, 80 as to admit of
close cultivating by horses.
/ Fruit bearing g-Trees growing from
cuttings will produce fruit the fourth
year, and sometimes, under the mos t
4 favorable circumstances, will give few
: berries the third year. 1t is the habit
of the tree to overbear, and as a con-
sequence it will give but little fruit the
year following heavy crop. This
statement is verified by the most reli-
able books published on the subject in
the French, Italian and Spanish Ian
guages. There are, however, excep-
r tions to this rule in California. Mr..
Davis, who had charge of the San Diego
Mission orchard in 1875, assured me
that he had gathered from the same
tree, two years in succession, over 150
gallons of berries. have also observed
. that some trees in my orchard have borne
we'll successive years. The fruit bearing
can be controlled by the pruning. The
cultivator will not forget that the shoots
or branches must be two years old before
they will give fruit, hence partial prun-
ing every year will give partial crops. My
oldest orchard was planted February 81,
| 1872. At four years gathered from some
, of the trees over two gallons of berries.
In 1873 over thirty gallons each off of a
few of the best trees, the orchard being
then only six years old.
In estimating an orchard, the yield of
isolated trees, or trees of great age, occu-
pying considerable areas of ground, must
| not enter into the basis of calculation of
| tuc pfOOdUlc ToduCJlOus 1uc IIcc mcu'
toned in the San Diego Mission orchard
as yielding $50 gallons of berries, was
more than fifty feet distant from those
surrounding it.
Our climate is congenial to the habit
of the tree; it blooms f, ON the 1st to the
10th of May, and the fruit forms from
the 1st to the 10th of June. At this sea-
son we have our best weather, free from
extremes of either cold or heat. Nowhere
in the world are all the conditions 80
favorable to the perfect fruit bearing
[Ellwood Cooper, of Santa Barbara.
Undeiivered kilograms.
The following are the kilograms re-
manning at the Western Union telegraph
Office up to 10 o'clock last night:
Mrs. Indart, Granet Newhall, Gervaise
Purcell.
ssMy House Is Left Unto Me Des-
Olate.,,
And shall be where my beloved are;
And with your eyes all large with faith you say.
"Thy dear ones have not journeyed very far
"Nor very far" say it DER and DER,
| Till on mine ear mine own voice strange ly
| falls,
1 t.