Page:A Practical Treatise on Olive Culture, Oil Making and Olive Pickling.djvu/33

 Riondet recommends to direct the tree in such a manner as to avoid the ultimate necessity of having to suppress a large branch or to inflict a big wound upon it. It will be sufficient to that effect to clear the tree of the small branches that can no more bear fruit.

Coutance guards us against the unreasonable pruning that seems to be recommended by the proverb "a wise man at its foot, a fool at its head," though he would rather prefer it to a complete abandonment. He simply recommends the suppression of all dead wood, the cutting of the branches that prevent light and air from circulating into the center of the tree, the giving it a regular shape, and the keeping it from growing too high, which would result in the sterility of the lower parts and would render the gathering of the fruit more difficult.

The suckers that grow continually from the base of the tree should be removed at intervals; and, while pruning, it should be borne in mind that the horizontal branches and those turning down are the most productive.

Considering the heavy summer winds experienced on the Pacific Coast it is highly advisable to form the trees low; they are thus less likely to be damaged and can be cleaned with washes against insect pests with more facility. Moreover, by keeping them so, the trunk develops with more force, the crops come quicker, are more abundant, and the pruning as well as the