decent working of the soil impossible.



Moving Old Olive Trees.



Would there be anything gained by transplanting old olive trees 6 to 8
inches in diameter over nursery stock? They would have to be shipped
from Santa Clara to Butte county and grafted. Would they come into
bearing any sooner and be as good trees? Could the large limbs be used
to advantage? Would the fact that they are covered with smut cause any
trouble?

Old olive trees can be successfully moved a long distance by cutting
back, taking up a ball of earth, and possibly a short distance with bare
roots if everything is favorable. But do not for a moment think them
worth such an outlay for labor, freight and hauling which such a
movement as you mention involves. The trees on arrival would probably
only be firewood, and if they lived, the time required in getting a good
growth and grafting, etc., would perhaps be as great as in bringing a
young tree of the right kind to bearing, and the latter would be a
better tree in every way. Large limbs can be split and used as cuttings,
but the tree would be growth on one side and decay on the other. Use the
smaller limbs for hard-wood cuttings and the balance for firewood. The
smut shows that the trees are covered with scale insects and might
indicate that it is better to burn up the whole outfit unless you learn
to fight them.