suffer on light soils which become too dry. On such soils as yours there
is little if any danger of too much water in the winter, unless the land
lies low, but the injury to the tree comes from the lack of moisture
during the summer time, and this, with your abundant rainfall, you can
probably assure by thorough summer cultivation.



Renewing Cherry Trees.



We have cherry trees set out diamond shape about 16 feet apart. We
cannot take out every other tree and have any order, so we ask you if it
would be possible to cut the trees back and keep them pruned down to a
smaller size. The trees are about 20 years old and are dying back quite
badly.

If the trees are dying for lack of summer moisture it is idle to do much
for them until you can give them irrigation right after the fruit
ripens. The cherry tree takes kindly to cutting back and will give good
new fruit-bearing shoots if the roots are in good condition. It is
desirable to remove surplus branches entirely rather than to cut back
everything to a definite height, the branches to be removed being those
which show disposition to die back and those which are running out too
far so as to reduce the space between the trees or to interfere with
branches from other trees. Branches which are failing above can in some
cases be cut back to a strong thrifty lateral branch below.
Shortening-in branches high up is less desirable because it forces out
too much new growth in the top of the tree and carries the fruit so high