Fruit Trees - Establishing an Orchard - 'MASANOBU FUKUOKA'

3.  Fruit Trees
Establishing an Orchard
The same general methods used in reforestation can  also be used to plant fruit trees
and set up an orchard. One should not clear and smooth the land with a bulldozer because
this disturbs the humus-rich topsoil built up over  a long period of time. Land developed
with a bulldozer and left virtually bare for ten years is washed free of its topsoil, greatly
shortening the economic life of the farm. Rather than carting the trunks, branches, and
leaves of felled trees off a contour-cleared orchard site, it makes more sense to arrange
this material along contour lines and wait for it to decompose naturally. The branches,
leaves, and roots of the trees decompose after several years, becoming a source of organic
fertilizer that supplies nutrients to the growing fruit trees. At the same time, a cover of
organic  matter  helps  to  curb  weed  growth,  prevents  soil  washout,  stimulates  the
proliferation of microorganisms, and serves to enrich and otherwise improve the soil.
Because tree branches and leaves cut down when landis cleared interfere with farming
operations, these are generally burned. But, like slash-and-burn agriculture, this sends the
fertility  of  the  land  up  in  flames.  As  for  tree  roots,  these  work  their  way  down  to  the
deepest soil strata, contributing physically to the aggregation and structure of the soil. In
addition, they also serve as a nutrient source and  have a chelating action that solubilizes
insoluble nutrients in the soil. If such valuable organic matter is dug up and disposed of
when the land is cleared, this drastically changes  natural conditions and so damages the
soil that it is unable to recover, even if holes are later dug in the ground and the same
amount of coarse organic matter returned.
In general, one foot of topsoil holds enough nutrients to sustain fruit trees for ten years
without  fertilization;  similarly,  three  feet  of  rich  soil  can  probably  supply  enough
nutrients for about thirty years. If it were possible to use the rich, fertile soil of a natural
forest  in  its  natural  form  as  a  hot  bed,  cultivation  without  fertilizer  might  even  be
feasible.
People  might  expect  tree  growth  and  fruit  harvests  to  suffer  when  fruit  trees  are
planted without clearing the land at all, but in fact not only do these compare favorably,
the economically productive lifetime of the land also tends to increase.
After preparing the orchard soil, the next concern is planting. Fruit saplings should be
planted at equal intervals along hill contours. Diga fairly deep hole, fill it with coarse
organic matter, and plant the sapling over this.
Natural  Seedlings  and  Grafted  Nursery  Stock:  Obviously,  from  the  standpoint  of
natural  farming,  one  would  expect  trees  grown  from  seed  to  be  preferable  to  grafted
nursery  stock.  The  reasons  usually  given  for  planting  grafted  saplings  are  to  make  the
plant  early-bearing,  to  ensure  consistent  fruit  size  and  quality,  and  to  obtain  early ripening  fruit.  However,  when  a  tree  is  grafted,  the  flow  of  sap  is  blocked  at  the  graft
juncture, resulting either in a dwarf tree that must be heavily fertilized or a tree with a
short lifetime and poor resistance to temperature extremes.
When I tried the direct planting of mandarin orange seed, although I found that trees
grown from seed are inferior and generally useless because they revert or degenerate, this
gave me a clue as to the true form of the tree and  its natural rate of growth. I will come
back to this later.
While  in  principle  a  young  tree  grown  from  seed  grows  faster  than  grafted  stock,  i
learned that natural seedlings do not grow as rapidly during the first two or three years as
grafted  stock  that  is  initially  one  to  two  years  old  and  care  is  also  difficult.  However,
when  raised  with  great  care,  trees  grown  from  seed  develop  more  quickly.  Citrus
rootstock takes more time and sends down shallower roots.
Citrus  trees  may  generally  be  grown  from  nursery  plants  grafted  with  rootstock,
which,  although  shallow  rooted,  are  cold-hardy.  Apple  trees  can  be  trained  into  dwarf
trees by using dwarfing stock, but it may also be interesting in some cases to plant seed
directly and grow the  young saplings into majestic  trees having a natural form. Such a
tree bears fruit of vastly differing sizes and shape that is unfit for the market. Yet, on the
other  hand,  there  always  exists  the  possibility  that  an  unusual  fruit  will  arise  from  the
seed. Indeed, why not multiply the joys of life by creating a natural orchard full of variety
and surprises?
Orchard Management:  To establish a natural orchard, one should dig large holes here
and  there  among  the  stumps  of  felled  trees  and  plant  unpruned  saplings  and  fruit  seed
over the site, leaving these unattended just as one would leave alone a reforested stand of
trees.  Of  course,  suckers  grow  from  the  cut  tree  stumps  and  weeds  and  low  brush
flourishes. Orchard management at this stage consists primarily of coming in twice a year
to cut the weeds and underbrush with a large sickle.
1. Correcting the tree form:Some pinching back is generally necessary on a young
transplanted  sapling  to  correct  the  arrangement  of  the  branches.  This  is  because,  if
die back occurs at the tip or if too much of the root system has been cut, an unnaturally
large number of suckers may emerge, causing the branches to become entangled. When
the young tree lies in the shadow of a large tree,  it tends to become leggy, in which case
the lower branches will often die back. Left to itself, such a tree will acquire an unnatural
form  that  will  result  in  years  of  unending  labor  for  the  grower;  to  hasten  the  tree’s
approach to a more natural form, shoots and buds emerging from unnatural places must
be nipped off as soon as possible.
Trees  that  show  normal,  steady  growth  right  from  the  start  assume  a  nearly  natural
form and can thereafter be left alone. Cutting the first one or two shoots is therefore very
important.  How  well  this  is  done  can  determine  the  shape  of  the  tree  over  its  entire
lifetime and is a major factor in the success or failure of an orchard.
It is often hard to tell, however,  which shoots to  leave  and which to pinch off. The
grower  may  decide,  often  prematurely,  which  branches  are  to  be  the  primary  scaffold
branches and which the secondary scaffolds when the tree is still very young only to find
later that these branches have tangled under other,unanticipated growth conditions. Early
pruning can turn out to be unnecessary and even harmful when done unwisely.
It is all too easy to assume that a tree grown in a natural state will more easily acquire
a natural form anyway. Yet it is not through abandonment that a cultivated tree takes on a
natural form, but only through the most careful attention and protection.
2. Weeds: I was especially interested in the  growth and control of other trees and
weeds in a natural orchard. Initially, four to five years after planting fruit trees, I found
eulalia  and  other  weeds  growing  thickly  among  the  brush  and  assorted  trees.  Weeding
was not easy and sometimes it was even hard to locate the fruit trees.
Although  the  growth  of  fruit  trees  among  this  other vegetation  was  irregular  and
yielded  poor,  harvests  in  some  cases,  there  was  very  little  damage  from  disease  and
insects. I found it hard to believe that, with the odd assortment of trees in my orchard and
some  of  the  fruit  trees  even  growing  in  the  shadow  of  other  trees,  these  were  spared
attack by diseases and pests.
Later, with continued cutting back of the underbrush, the non-fruit trees receded and
weeds such as bracken, mugwort, and kudzu grew up in their place. I was able to control
or suppress weed growth at this point by broadcasting clover seed over the entire orchard.
3. Terracing:Five to six years after planting, when the trees begin to bear fruit, it is a
good idea to dig up the earth on the uphill side of the fruit trees with a hoe and construct
terrace-like steps and a road on the orchard slope.Once these terraces have been built and
the  original  weeds  replaced,  first  with  soft  weeds  such  as  chickweed,  knot weed,  and
crabgrass, then with clover, the orchard begins to look like an orchard.
A Natural Three-Dimensional Orchard
To create a natural orchard, one must observe the principle of the right crop for the
right land. Hillside land and valley land must be treated as such.
Avoid  the  monoculture  of  fruit  trees.  Plant  deciduous  fruit  trees  together  with
evergreen fruit trees and never forget to inter plant green manure trees. These may include
acacias  which,  as  members  of  the  pea  family,  produce  nitrogenous  fertilizer,  myrtle—
which produces nutrients such as phosphoric acid and potash, alder, and podocarpus. You
may  also,  with  interesting  results,  inter plant  some large  trees  and  shrubs,  including
climbing fruit vines such as grapevine, akebia, and Chinese gooseberry.
Leguminous green manure plants and other herbs that enrich the orchard soil may be
planted as orchard undergrowth. Forage crops and semi wild vegetables can also be grown
in abundance, and both poultry and livestock allowed grazing freely in the orchard.
A natural orchard in which full, three-dimensional use of space is made in this way is
entirely  different  from  conventional  orchards  that  employ  high-production  techniques.
For the individual wishing to live in communion with nature, this is truly a paradise on
earth.
Building Up Orchard Earth without Fertilizers
The purpose of soil management is to promote the conversion of weathered material
from bedrock and stone into soil suitable for growing crops, and enrichment of this soil.
The soil must be turned from dead, inorganic matter into living, organic material.
Unfortunately, soil management as it is normally practiced today consists basically of
clean cultivation that turns the soil into mere mineral matter. Of course, there is a reason
for  this:  repeated  weeding,  the  application  of  chemical  fertilizers,  and  careful
management increase yields and provide a good product.
The soil in many orchards has become depleted with  constant plowing and weeding,
so some farmers haul rice and barley straw from their paddy fields up into their hillside
orchards  and  spread  it  below  the  fruit  trees.  This  began  more  as  a  means  of  reducing
weeding work than as a fundamental change in soil management. However, relying on
straw from the field as the ground cover is hardly  an ideal approach. All it does is keep
the farmer busy hauling straw from the paddy up the hill and carrying weeds from the
hillside down into the fields.
Soil management divorced from the field, garden, and hillside is meaningless; only a
method that enriches all at the same time makes any-sense.
Why I Use a Ground Cover:  In order to make full use of the soil, soil management
must be based on the use of a ground cover. This enables soil in the field, garden, and
hillside orchard to become naturally enriched. It is far wiser to plant green manure trees
and encourages the soil within the orchard to enrich naturally than to apply fertilizer.
When I set out to revive my father’s orchard of old citrus trees following World War
II, I began by studying soil conditioning, and especially ground cover cultivation, for the
following reasons.
First  of  all,  with  all  the  topsoil  washed  away  and  only  red  clay  remaining,  passive
efforts  to  reinvigorate  the  old  trees  by  applying  lots  of  fertilizer,  root-grafting,  and
thinning  blossoms  would  only  have  invited  a  further decline  in  the  trees.  Nor  would
planting new saplings have worked any better since  these would not have thrived in the
poor soil.
The second reason was that, when looking at how my father had fared financially with
the orchard,  I found that the first thirteen  years  the orchard had been run at a loss, the
next twenty years it had made money, and the following ten years were again run in the
red. Even though the war had dealt the orchard a severe blow, still, I was amazed that
what had at one time been regarded as one of the best local orchards had failed to make a
net profit over more than forty years of operation.
Why?  The  answer  is  simple.  While  my  father  celebrated  his  profit-making  citrus
crops, his sturdy trees, and his growing wealth, the orchard soil had become depleted.
I set out to raise fruit trees that grow as the soil enriches. This was one of the main
reasons why I grew cover crops.
Ladino Clover, Alfalfa, and Acacia:  What helps to rehabilitate depleted soil? I planted
the  seeds  of  thirty  legumes,  crucifers,  and  grasses throughout  my  orchard  and  from
observations  of  these  came  to  the  general  conclusion  that  I  should  grow  a  weed  cover
using ladino clover as the primary crop and such herbs as alfalfa, lupine, and bur clover
as the secondary crops.  To condition the deeper soil strata in the hard, depleted soil, 1
companion-planted fertilizer trees such as black wattle, myrtle, and podocarpus.
Features of Ladino Clover:
1) When used as a cover crop, this eliminates weeds. Annual weeds are displaced in
one  year,  and  biennials  disappear  in  two  years.  After  2  to  3  years,  almost  all  garden
weeds have vanished, leaving a solid field of clover.
2) Improves soil down to a depth of 16 to 18 inches.
3) Seed does not have to be sown again for another 6 to 8 years.
4) Does not compete strongly with fruit trees for fertilizer or moisture.
5)    Grows  back  easily  after  being  cut,  and  remains healthy  and  hardy  even  when
trampled upon.
6) Does not hinder farming operations.
The only disadvantages of ladino clover are that it is susceptible to summer-killing and
sclerotium disease during hot, dry weather, and that growth is retarded in the shade and
under trees.
Seeding Ladino Clover:  The seed should be drilled the first autumn. Delayed seeding
invites  insect  damage.  Do  not  cover  the  seeds  with  soil  as  this  often  hampers
germination;  merely  firm  the  soil  after  drilling.  If  the  clover  seed  is  broadcast  in  late
autumn  among  the  dying  weeds  and  grasses  on  levees  and  roadsides,  clover  growth
gradually thickens. When the clover is sown initially in the spring among the weeds, cut
it back a year later to stimulate growth. Ladino clover vine may additionally be planted in
spring in the same manner as sweet potato vine so as to ensure a full cover of clover by
summertime.
Managing Ladino Clover:  Clover does not choke out other vegetation, but gradually
becomes dominant by growing so thickly as to prevent the germination and establishment
of other weeds. Moreover, when trampled and cut, most weeds weaken but clover grows
all the more vigorously. Failure to understand this and properly control the clover will
lead  to  certain  failure.  At  first,  when  the  clover  coexists  with  weeds,  there  may  be  no
cause  for  concern.  But  if,  after  the  clover  takes  well  and  flourishes,  it  is  left  alone,  it
becomes excessively luxuriant, leaving it open to attack by diseases such as leaf spot and
the reemergence and eventual dominance of weeds again in five to six years. To maintain
it over the years, clover requires the same meticulous care that one gives a lawn. Areas
where  perennial  weeds  such  as  sorrel  and  dandelion, twining  plants  such  as  bindweed,
and cogon, bracken, and other herbs grow in abundance should be cut more frequently
than other places, and wood ashes or coal ashes scattered.
The rate of lateral growth by clover is slow, so when starting the orchard, sow the seed
from one end of the orchard to the other. With proper management, this clover cover will
eliminate  the  need  for  weeding,  and  mowing  will  be  incomparably  easier  than  in  an
orchard overrun with weeds. Ladino clover can and should be sown in citrus orchards as
well as deciduous fruit orchards.
Alfalfa for Arid Land:  Nothing surpasses ladino clover in dealing with weeds, but in
warm regions where it tends to lose its vigor in the summer, and in cold, dry areas, mixed
seeding  with  alfalfa  is  desirable.  This  works  especially  well  on  earthen  levees,  for
example.
Alfalfa  is  very  deep-rooted,  sending  roots  down  to  depths  of  six  feet  or  more.  This
makes  it  ideal  for  improving  the  deeper  soil  strata.  A  hardy  perennial,  it  is  of  great
practical  value,  being  resistant  to  droughty  and  cold  conditions  as  well  as  to  high
temperatures. When mixed with clover, alfalfa helps to eliminate other herbs and grasses.
Wider use of this valuable legume should be made in Japan for soil improvement and as a
feed and forage crop. Other legumes such as lupine  (a summer crop) may also be used
with good results.
Bur clover, useful in controlling spring weeds, withers in the summer but grows back
again in the fall and suppresses winter weeds as well. A useful orchard cover crop, it is
also valuable in the rotation as a crop preceding summer vegetables.
Black Wattle:  Although the black wattle, a type of acacia, servesas a fertilizer tree, I
would like to include it here because it plays a role also in association with ground cover
cultivation. Up to about ten of these trees should  be planted per quarter-acre among the
fruit trees. A member of the pea family, this tree is effective in the following ways:
1) rapid improvement of deep soil layers;
2) can be used to form a shelterbelt, but may serve also as a windbreak when planted
between fruit trees;
3) serves as a shade tree during the summer in warm regions and protects the soil from
depletion;
4) effective in preventing the emergence of orchard pests, especially mites.
Nor is this all. The bark of the tree is rich in tannin and can be sold for a good price. In
addition, the wood is excellent as a material for making desks and chairs, and the nectar
of the flower serves as a source of honey.
No other evergreen tree of the pea family grows as quickly as the black wattle.
It grows five feet or more in a year, creating a shelter belt in just three to four years and
becoming about the size of a telephone pole in seven to eight years.
After  five  to  six  years  of  growth,  I  felled  these  and  buried  the  trunks  and  tops  in
trenches  within  the  orchard.  Saplings  do  not  take  well,  so  it  is  better  to  plant  the  seed
directly. All one has to do is scatter seed here and there throughout the orchard and, in six
years  or  so,  it  becomes  hard  to  tell  from  a  distance  whether  one  is  looking  at  a  citrus
grove or a forest.
Along with growing cover crops, I started early on  to dig trenches and fill them with
organic  matter  to  speed  up  the  process  of  soil  enrichment.  I  tried  using  a  variety  of
organic  materials  such  as  straw,  hay,  twigs  and  small  branches,  ferns,  wood  and  bark
chips, and lumber. After comparing the results, I found that hay, straw, and ferns, which I
would  have  expected  to  be  the  least  expensive,  were in  fact  quite  costly,  while  wood
chips were not. The only problem was hauling this material in. As it turned out, the best
material was lumber, which was relatively inexpensive, but this too was at times difficult
to  carry  in.  That  is  when  I  first  decided  to  produce  lumber  right  there  in  my  orchard.
Figuring that the easiest and most beneficial way was to return to the orchard what had
been grown there, I tried planting various types of trees and found the black wattle to be
the best for the purpose.
Five or six years after planting acacias, an area of more than 100 square yards of what
had been hard, lean soil about each tree had become soft and porous. This was far easier
than  blasting  with  dynamite  and  burying  organic  matter,  and  much  more  effective.  In
addition, when cut, each tree gave as much as a half-ton of high-quality organic material
for  burying.  It  was  hard  to  feel  enthusiastic  about digging  trenches  when  there  was
nothing to bury in them, but with organic material on hand, the trenches got dug.
Black  Wattle  Protects  Natural  Predators:  I  recommend  the  use  of  the  black  wattle
even when replanting an old, rundown orchard. For example, in the case of a 40- to 50-year-old orchard, one could plant a large number of these acacia among the fruit trees and
five or six  years later fell all the fruit trees and acacias at once, then replant the entire
orchard with three- to four-year saplings. Not only would this be a far better method of
replenishing  the  soil  than  running  a  bulldozer  through  the  orchard  and  replanting,  it
would also rejuvenate the land.
The  black  wattle  grows  constantly  throughout  the  year,  always  sending  out  new
shoots. These attract aphids and scales, which support a growing population of ladybugs.
One important role of the black wattle then is to serve as a protective tree for beneficial
insects. Planting five or so of these trees per quarter-acre keeps scales and mites down to
a minimum. In addition to these acacias, other trees that support populations of beneficial
insects will certainly be developed in the future.
Some Basics on Setting Up a Ground Cover:  I would like to go into a bit more detail
here on the actual procedure for building up the soil with cover crops.
Once sown, a cover crop of clover remains hardy for about six to seven years, after
which growth gradually slows. Although good management can extend the life of a stand
of clover, by about ten years after the original planting the crop has declined to the point
where weeds begin to reemerge. These weeds include primarily vines and climbing herbs
such as bindweed and kudzu, and perennials such as the various sorrels. What happens is
that those herbs resistant to clover survive and reestablish themselves.
Thus,  perhaps  ten  years  after  the  clover  crop  has  been  planted,  the  orchard  is  again
overrun  with  weeds,  but  this  need  not  present  a  problem  as  long  as  the  weeds  do  not
interfere with farming operations. In fact, when one stops to think about it, the soil tends
to become imbalanced when a stand of one type of plant is grown year after year on the
same  land;  the  emergence  and  succession  of  different  weeds  is  more  natural  and  more
conducive to soil enrichment and development.
I have no intention of insisting on a cover of clover; a weed cover will probably do
just as well. The only concern I would have is that the weed growth become so thick as to
be  hard  to  cut  back  when  necessary.  If  this  happens,  then  one  should  sow  clover  seed
again or switch to a cover of vegetable plants.
What  should  or  should  not  be  used  as  a  cover  crop  for  soil  improvement  depends
largely  on  local  conditions.  All  plants  emerge  for  a  reason.  A  succession  of  different
herbs takes place over the years as the soil becomes richer. By sowing vegetable seeds of
the same family as the weeds growing in the orchard, vegetable plants can eventually be
made to replace the weeds.
These vegetables are fitting food for the young people living on a natural diet in the
huts in my orchard. Large, hardy vegetables can be grown simply by scattering the seeds
of  cruciferous  vegetables  in  the  fall,  solanaceous  vegetables  in  the  spring,  and
leguminous vegetables in the early summer among the orchard weeds. I will come back
to  this  later,  but  suffice  it  to  say  here  that,  in  addition  to  being  an  effective  means  of
controlling  weeds,  sowing  vegetable  seed  among  the  weeds  is  also  a  powerful  soil
improvement technique.
One  can  understand  the  nature  of  the  soil  more  quickly  by  examining  the  weeds
growing in it than by examining the soil itself. Weeds solve the problems of both the soil
and the weeds. All I did was apply this belief to the restoration of barren soil and the trees
and earth of an orchard tended for many years by scientific methods. It has taken me over
forty years and I admit it may not be much, but I have learned through natural farming
how to naturally replenish the soil and what the natural form of a citrus tree is.
Soil Management:  Soil improvement by natural farming takes a long time. Of course,
with  the  large  bulldozers  around  today,  soil  can  be upgraded  in  a  short  time  just  by
tearing everything up and throwing large amounts of coarse organic matter and organic
fertilizer onto the land. Yet this requires tremendous outlays for equipment and materials.
Five to ten years are needed to build up six inches of topsoil through soil improvement
by the cultivation of cover crops. To current economic perceptions, one disadvantage of
natural  farming  methods  is  that  they  take  too  long. Perhaps  these  appear  inferior  in  a
world pressed for time, but if farmland were to be correctly understood as a legacy to be
preserved for future generations, the general opinion of natural farming would improve.
Land  that  grows  fertile  over  time  without  plowing,  weeding,  or  chemical  fertilizers
represents not only an accumulation of labor and capital, but an increase in intangibles as
well.
Physical  improvement  and  the  application  of  human  effort  alone  have  only  a
temporary  effect.  Natural  farming  makes  use  of  the  forces  of  living  organisms  to
physically  and  chemically  improve  the  soil,  a  process  that  goes  hand-in-hand  with  the
overall process of fruit growing. The beneficial effects of this approach ultimately show
up in the longer lifetime of the fruit trees, which is perhaps two to three times that of fruit
trees grown by scientific methods.
This is because, like the chickens, hogs, and cattle raised on artificial feed in cramped
batteries and pens, fruit trees grown in artificially prepared soil with artificial fertilizers
are inevitably weak, becoming either dwarfs or leggy, and unable to live out their natural
span of life.
Another  reason  has  to  do  with  the  qualitative  improvement  in  the  soil.  Obviously,
scientific farming makes use of certain methods to improve poor soil. For example, if the
soil  is  acidic,  one  applies  lime  or  takes  steps  to  prevent  the  excessive  uptake  of
manganese or a deficiency in phosphates or magnesia. And if the soil is poorly aerated,
root  growth  is  poor,  or  insufficient  zinc  is  present,  a  corrective  is  taken,  such  as
replenishing the zinc. On the other hand, if the soil becomes alkaline, this leads again to a
manganese and zinc deficiency. So even adjusting the soil acidity is no easy matter.
But there is far more to the quality of a soil than its acidity. An infinitude of factors
and conditions—physical, chemical, biological—go into the overall assessment. Nor can
one justifiably call a soil healthy or diseased as  there are no criteria by which to judge
whether a handful of soil contains the right number of certain microbes, the right amount
of organic matter, and the right percentage of water and air.
Because  it  is  convenient  and  for  no  other  reason,  we  compare  the  merits  of  soil
obtained through scientific farming with the soil of a natural orchard by looking at the
amount of tree growth, the quantity and quality of  harvested fruit, and whether the trees
bear a full crop every year or only in alternate years. Even under such criteria, my thirty
years of natural farming compare favorably with scientific farming in every respect. In
fact, such comparison leaves the strong impression  that scientific farming is more labor
intensive and less efficient than natural farming.
I did not apply lime or any type of micro nutrient, and yet noted no deficiencies. At no
time did this ever become a problem. The constant change in the conditions of the cover
crop within the orchard  showed only that the soil changes constantly and that the fruit
trees growing within that soil adapt constantly to such changes.
Disease and Insect Control
In nature, trees are constantly attacked and parasitized by insects and disease, but the
widely accepted belief that unless the grower sprays his trees they will succumb and die
just  does  not  hold  under  natural  conditions.  Crops  are  more  susceptible  to  such  attack
because  they  have  been  artificially  improved,  reducing  their  innate  resistance,  and  the
environment in which they are grown is unnatural. If varieties of fruit trees closer to their
natural  ancestors  are  selected  and  grown  properly,  pesticides  become  unnecessary.  But
certain insects and diseases present special problems in some types of fruit trees. Table
4.12 shows the degree of resistance various types of fruit trees have to disease and insect
pests.
Trees listed under “moderate” and “strong resistance” can be grown without the use of
pesticides, provided some attention is given to a few specific diseases and pests. Clearly,
the  fruit  grower  should  be  thoroughly  familiar  with the  characteristics  and  behavior  of
these important diseases and pests, and should take steps to prevent them from arising,
such as selecting resistant varieties of trees.
Even  so,  the  most  difficult  problem  facing  anyone  growing  fruits  naturally  will
undoubtedly be the control of diseases and pests. There are a goodly number of fruit trees
that  can  be  grown  without  spraying.  Although  resistant  types  such  as  the  peach,  pear,
grape, and Satsuma orange may not require the use of powerful pesticides, care must be
taken with regard to certain pests. Let me give some of my observations regarding several
of the most important.
Arrowhead  Scale:  Infestation  of  the  Satsuma  orange,  Iyo  orange,  and  shaddock  by
arrowhead scales has become so severe that an immediate stop to the spraying of citrus
trees  would  be  quite  difficult,  but  damage  by  this  pest  can  be  overcome  with  natural
predators  and  by  correcting  the  form  of  the  trees.  Parasitic  wasps  and  four  or  five
different types of ladybugs emerged in my natural orchard. In areas where these feast in
large  number  on  the  scales,  I  have  not  sprayed  and  yet  the  trees  have  escaped  serious
damage.  But  even  when  these  natural  enemies  are  present,  places  where  branches
crisscross and are congested will sustain considerable damage unless the trees are pruned.
No  degree  of  spraying  can  succeed  in  effectively  destroying  arrowhead  scales  in  trees
with excessive branches and foliage.
Since the extent of disarray in the tree form and the degree of shade and sunlight have
a  large  effect  on  the  outbreak  and  persistence  of  scale  infestation,  I  believe  that  the
quickest  and  most  effective  solution  is  to  protect  the  natural  enemies  that  feed  on  this
insect and to improve the micro environment.
I find that spraying the trees with a machine oil emulsion in the winter or with a lime sulfur mixture in the summer during the larval stage is effective. The latter application
also destroys mites. There is no need to apply anything stronger than this. In fact, if you
are not concerned about a minor loss in the tree’s  appearance, then you can certainly do
without any spraying at all.
Mites:  Up  until  about  twenty  to  thirty  years  ago,  a  mixture  of  lime  and  sulfur  was
regarded as effective against fruit mites, and so growers in Japan sprayed their fruit trees
with this twice each summer. As a result, mites never were an important pest.
Then after World War II, orchardists started applying powerful organophosphate and
organochlorine pesticides and were delighted that these destroyed all insect pests. But it
was not long before many found that, no matter how often they sprayed, they were unable
to prevent large outbreaks of mites from recurring.
Researchers offered a number of different explanations. Some said that the mites had
developed  a  resistance  to  the  pesticides,  others  that  a  different  species  of  mite  had
emerged,  and  yet  others  that  the  outbreaks  resulted from  the  disappearance  of  natural
enemies.  One  new  pesticide  was  developed  after  another,  but  this  only  aggravated  the
problems of pest control and pesticide pollution.
Instead of speculating on the causes for these outbreaks, I prefer to concentrate on the
fact that mite infestation at one time was not a problem. Many types of mites exist and
each emerges under different conditions, but we can be sure of one thing: cultivation in
the total absence of mites throughout the year is just not possible. Our goal should be to
hold the damage they cause to a minimum, not total extermination.
Although the chances were always there for the emergence of mites in nearby trees, in
shelter belts, and in weeds, one never saw major outbreaks that killed trees and grasses.
The causes for the recent infestations and the extensive damage to fruit trees lie not in the
mites themselves but in human actions.
Mites  are  even  more  sensitive  to  micro climatic  changes  in  the  tree  than  are  scales.
When  black  wattle  is  used  as  a  windbreak  or  shade  tree,  depending  on  the  amount  of
sunlight  and  breeze  to  which  the  tree  is  exposed,  the  number  of  mites  and  scales  may
drop dramatically or almost entirely vanish. Certainly part of the reason is that the black
wattle,  which  produces  tannin,  excretes  a  substance that  repels  insects.  But  the  most
direct cause of such rapid changes in population are changes in the micro climate.
The  inter planting  of  evergreen  trees  with  deciduous trees  is  also  an  effective
preventive measure against infestation by these pests.
Given  that  not  even  the  most  rudimentary  studies  have  been  done  on  the  effects  of
sunlight, ventilation, temperature, and humidity on mite infestation, how totally reckless
it is then to try to control these with pesticides.What we have done is to spray potent
pesticides without knowing anything about the relationships between the pesticides and
the natural predators and beneficial fungi that feed on these mites. We have put the cart
before the horse.
I do not expect this basic problem to be solved by  the scientists. They are headed in
some other direction with such plans as the development of new pesticides that destroy
pests at minimal harm to beneficial insects.
If man had left the mite alone, it would never have become a major pest. I never had
any problem with mites in the citrus trees in my orchard. Or if I did, the problem solved
itself.
Cottony-Cushion Scale:  At one time this was considered one of the three major citrus
pests in Japan, but it disappeared naturally with the release more than forty years ago of
the vedalia, a kind of ladybug. After the war, a serious outbreak of this pest occurred in
many  orchards  with  the  spraying  of  organophosphate  pesticides,  and  it  became
impossible to contain them. In my natural orchard,  where I did not use strong pesticides,
these continued as before to serve as the prey for  several types of ladybugs, and so I saw
almost no damage.
Red Wax Scale: This scale insect used to be another of the three major citrus pests and
had to be destroyed by spraying a pine rosin mixture. In perhaps what was a stroke of
good  luck,  at  about  the  same  time  that  applications of  pine  rosin  compound  were
discontinued  because  of  a  wartime  shortage  of  the  rosin  material,  parasitic  wasps
emerged that preyed on this scale, making it no longer necessary to exterminate them.
But  after  the  war,  although  the  red  wax  scale  was  no  longer  much  of  a  problem,
farmers began to use a potent fluorine pesticide reputed to be effective against the scale.
Severe outbreaks of the pest arose at once. Because this agent was highly toxic and even
responsible for a number of local deaths, its use was later banned. Infestation by the scale
declined almost immediately, demonstrating that themost intelligent way of controlling
this particular pest is not to spray.
Other  Insect  Pests:  There  are  an  endless  number  of  other  fruit  tree  pests,  such  as
aphids, tree borers, beetles that feed on grapevines, insects such as leaf rollers that attack
leaves, and other insects such as spring tails and grubs that feed on fruit. These become a
problem in abandoned orchards in which no effort whatsoever is made to provide a good
environment for the fruit trees or to improve their form. How much wiser it would be to
keep the orchard clean and cope with insects while  they overwinter in the larval stage. It
is  necessary,  for  example,  to  directly  pick  off  and destroy  the  larvae  of  long-horned
beetles that enter at the base of citrus and chestnut trees. These tend to attack weakened
trees and trees in neglected orchards.
Now  I  would  like  to  take  a  look  at  two  pests  of  foreign  origin  that  may  become  a
problem in Japan.
Mediterranean  fruit  fly  and  Codling  Moth:  With  the  current  “liberalization”  of
international fruit trade, we have recently been seeing unrestricted imports into Japan of
oranges and grapefruit from Europe and Africa as well as apples from northern countries.
It  seems  almost  inevitable  that  with  these  fruit  we shall  soon  see  the  entry  of  the
Mediterranean  fruit  fly  and  the  codling  moth,  pests capable  of  becoming  a  far  greater
headache to the Japanese farmer than the fruit imports that he so fears.
The  maggots  of  the  med fly  attack  not  only  Japanese  citrus  trees,  pears,  peaches,
apples, and melons, but  also vegetables such as  eggplants, tomatoes,  and cucumbers—
indeed, all major fruit and vegetable crops. The codling moth ravages apples, pears, and
other fruit of the rose family. Extermination of these will be difficult if not impossible;
once  they  have  entered  Japan,  they  may  very  well  cause  incredible  damage.  It  is  no
exaggeration  to  say  that  one  vital  mission  of  plant quarantine  operations  at  Japanese
customs is to prevent the entry of these pests into Japan. That these operations have been
successful thus far is a testimony to their thoroughness.
The  importation  of  fruits  and  vegetables  grown  along  the  Mediterranean  Coast  in
Europe and in Africa, and apples from Manchuria and other northern countries is strictly
banned  at  customs  to  prevent  the  entry  of  these  two pests.  Until  now,  strict  laws  have
been enforced forbidding the entry of even one of these fruits from these areas, but with
the  open  and  unrestricted  importation  of  fruits  likely  in  the  future;  the  arrival  of  these
pests on Japanese soil is almost inevitable. The consequences are certain to be far greater
than a mere lightening in the duties of plant inspection officials.
The larval worms and maggots of these pests bury deep into the fruit where outside
spraying and fumigation has no effect. The only possibility is physical measures such as
cold storage, but these are not likely to be effective without damaging the quality of the
fruit. The spread of these pests in Japanese fields and orchards will be a strong blow to
Japanese farmers and become an immense burden.
I would simply like to warn that the free movement  of fruit may satisfy the fleeting
desires  of  people,  but  the  price  we  will  have  to  pay  will  be  enormous.  This  is  exactly
what happened recently in the United States with the med fly.
The Argument against Pruning
Pruning is the most difficult of the skills practiced by fruit  growers.  Growers prune
their fruit trees to shape them and adjust the vigor of the tree so as to maintain a balance
between tree growth and setting of the fruit. Trees are also pruned to increase the yield
and quality of harvested fruit and to facilitate orchard management and operations such
as pesticide spraying, tillage, weeding, and fertilization.
No  Basic  Method:  Although  pruning  is  of  utmost  importance  in  fruit  growing,  no
single  basic  method  is  practiced.  In  addition,  it  is  often  difficult  to  know  how  much
pruning is enough. The grower usually has no choice but to switch back and forth among
a variety of different pruning methods as the immediate circumstances seem to require.
With  all  the  local  variance  in  methods  and  opinions,  and  perhaps  also  because  of  the
many years of experience and experimentation that have been devoted to it, pruning has
done  more  to  confuse  fruit  growers  than  any  other  aspect  of  orcharding.  One  question
that  deserves  to  be  asked  then  is  whether  pruning  really  is  a  necessary  part  of  fruit
growing in the first place. Let us examine the motives and reasoning that led farmers to
start pruning.
If pruning is discontinued on a fruit tree, the form of the tree becomes confused, the
primary  scaffold  branches  entangle,  and  the  foliage grows  dense,  complicating  all
orchard  management.  Heavy  spraying  of  pesticides  becomes  ineffective.  As  the  tree
grows  older,  the  branches  become  ridiculously  long, crossing  with  the  branches  of
neighboring trees. Sunlight ceases to penetrate the canopy to the lower branches, which
weaken as  a result. Ventilation is poor, encouraging infestation by disease and insects.
Dead and dying branches abound. Fruit ends up by forming only at the surface of the tree.
It is quite possible that, having observed this occurring in their orchards, growers came to
regard pruning as absolutely essential.
Another  motive  for  pruning  has  to  do  with  the  reciprocal  relationship  between  tree
growth and fruit bearing effects. When tree growth  is too vigorous, the tree bears little
fruit; on the other hand, when a tree bears too much fruit, growth declines. Thus, in years
when a poor crop is anticipated, one prunes to promote fruit setting and the bearing of
high-quality fruit. But in years when a tree looks as if it will bear too heavily, then it must
be pruned to increase vigor and growth. The grower  has to constantly adjust tree growth
and fruit formation to prevent the tree from growing into a tangled and disorderly shape
and  bearing  a  full  crop  only  in  alternate  years.  This  certainly  seems  to  justify  the
development of intricate and complicated pruning techniques.
But if, instead of being neglected or abandoned, the tree is left to grow in its natural
form, this is altogether a different matter. Yet no one has ever really seen a totally natural
fruit tree or given any thought as to what a natural fruit tree is. Nature is a world simple
and close at hand,  yet at the same time distant and inaccessible. Although man cannot
know what a truly natural tree is, he can search for the shape of a tree that comes closest
to its natural form.
When a tree is left to grow by itself under natural circumstances, how likely are its
primary  scaffold  branches  to  crisscross  and  its  smaller  branches  and  foliage  to  crowd
each other? Would it be reasonable to expect the tree to put out leaves and branches not
touched by the sun ? Would it seem normal for lower and inner branches to die back? For
fruit to form only at the ends of branches? This is not the form that a natural tree takes,
but one most commonly seen in trees that have been pruned haphazardly then abandoned.
Take a look at the pines and cedars that grow in natural forests. The trunks of these
trees never branch or twist as long as they are not cut or harmed. The branches on the
right  and  left  sides  of  the  tree  do  not  run  up  against  each  other  or  cross.  There  are  no
dense lower branches that die back. Upper and lower branches do not grow so close that
sunlight cannot reach some of the leaves. No matter how small the plant or large the tree,
every leaf, every shoot and branch grows out from the stalk or trunk in an orderly and
regular arrangement. No part of the plant is in disarray or confusion.
For instance, in a given plant, leaves always grow either alternately or oppositely. The
direction and even the angle at which a leaf grows is always the same; never is there even
the slightest deviation. If the angle between one leaf on a fruit tree branch and the next
leaf is 72 degrees, then the next leaf and all the other leaves too will emerge at respective
angles  of  72  degrees.  The  arrangement  of  the  leaves on  a  plant  always  and  unerringly
obeys  a  fixed  law  called  phyllotaxy.  Thus,  the  sixth  leaf  on  the  branches  of  peach,
persimmon, mandarin orange, orange, and cherry trees is always located directly above
the  first  leaf,  and  the  eleventh  leaf  is  always  directly  above  the  sixth  leaf.  When  the
distance along the branch between two  consecutive buds is one inch, then the distance
from one leaf to the next leaf directly above it is always five inches. Two leaves will not
overlap, or two branches emerge, within any five-inch length along the branch.
The direction, angle, and divergence of a shoot or branch is regular and orderly, Never
does one branch cross over another; lower and upper branches maintain the same distance
over their entire length, never overlapping. This is why the branches and leaves of natural
plants  all  receive  equal  ventilation  and  sunlight.  Not  a  single  wasted  leaf,  not  a  single
branch lacking—that is the true form of a plant.
All this is abundantly clear when one looks carefully at a mountain pine. The central
trunk  rises  straight  and  true,  putting  out  branches at  equal  vertical  spacings  in  a  radial
arrangement. One can clearly make out the chronology of branch emergence, the spacing
and angle of the branches being also regular and orderly. Never does one branch grow too
long or cross with another branch.
In the case of bamboo, the emergence of a branch orleaf follows a fixed law for that
type  of  bamboo.  Likewise,  cryptomcria,  Japanese  cypress,  the  camphor  tree,  camellia,
Japanese  maple,  and  all  other  trees  observe  the  phyllotaxy  and  divergence  specific  for
that species.
What happens if we simply let fruit trees and mountain pines grow to their full size
under  natural  conditions?  The  very  goal  at  which  the  gardener  or  fruit  grower  aims
through pruning is attained naturally by the tree without the intertwining, clustering, or
dying back of branches. Had the persimmon, the peach, and the citrus tree been left to
grow of their own accord, it would never have been necessary to cut the trunk with a saw
or lop off branches to control erratic growth.
Just as no one is so foolish as to strike his left  hand with his right, no persimmon or
chestnut tree has branches on the right that compete with those on the left and eventually
have to be cut back because they grow too long. A branch on the east side of the tree does
not wander over to the south side, cutting off light. And what tree grows inner branches
only to have them die off because they receive no light? There is something strange about
having to prune a tree in order for it to bear a full crop of fruit each year, or having to
balance growth of the tree with fruit formation.
A pine tree produces pine cones, but if someone were to prune the pine to promote
growth or retard fruit formation, the result would be quite curious. A pine tree grows just
fine under natural conditions and requires no pruning. In the same way, if a fruit tree is
grown under natural conditions right from the start, there should never be any need for
pruning.
Misconceptions  about  the  Natural  Form:  Orchardists  have  never  tried  growing  fruit
trees in their natural form. To begin with, most have never even given any thought as to
what  the  natural  form  is.  Of  course,  pomologists  will  deny  this,  saying  that  they  are
working with the natural form of fruit trees and looking for ways to improve on this. But
it is clear that they have not really looked in earnest at the natural form. Not a single book
or report has been published which discusses pruning based on such basic factors as the
phyllotaxy of a citrus tree, or which explains that a divergence of so much gives such and-such a natural form with primary and secondary scaffold branch angles of X degrees.
Many  have  a  vague  idea  of  the  natural  form  as  something  akin  to  the  shape  of  a
neglected tree. But there is a world of difference  between the two.  In a sense, the true
natural form of a tree may be unknowable to man. People will say that a pine tree should
look like this, and a cypress or cedar like that, but knowing the true form of a pine tree is
not all that easy. It is all too common for people to ask whether a low, twisted pine on the
seashore is the natural form, and to become perplexed as to whether a lone cryptomeria
standing tall in a meadow with alternate branches drooping downward in all directions is
the natural form for this tree or whether the branches should be inclined upward at an
angle of 50 degrees and ranged radially about the trunk like a mountain pine.
Like the camphor tree transplanted into a garden, the flowering camellia buffeted by
high winds on an exposed coast, the Japanese maple perched above a waterfall, and other
trees  scratched,  pecked,  and  attacked  by  bird,  beast,  and  insect,  plants  grow  under  an
incredible diversity of conditions. And so it is with fruit trees. To go off in pursuit of  the
natural  form  of  the  peach  tree,  or  the  citrus  tree, or  the  grapevine  is  to  miss  the  point
altogether.
Scientists  say  that  the  natural  form  of  a  citrus  tree  is  hemispherical  with  several
primary scaffold branches extending out like the ribs of a fan at an angle of from 40 to 70
degrees, but in truth no one knows whether the true form of a citrus tree is that of a large,
upright tree or a low bush. It is not known whether this grows like a cryptomeria with one
tall central trunk, in the manner of a camellia or Japanese maple, or round like paper bush.
Persimmon,  chestnut,  apple,  and  grape  too  are  pruned  by  growers  who  have  not  the
slightest idea of what the natural forms for these are.
Fruit growers have never really been too concerned with the natural form of a tree and
are not likely to become so in the future. This is not without reason.
In  a  system  of  cultivation  based  largely  on  activities  such  as  weeding,  tillage,  fertilization, and disease and pest control, the ideal form of a tree is the form best suited to
these  various  human  operations  and  to  harvesting.  Thus  it  is  not  the  natural  form  that
gardeners and growers seek, but a shape artificially pruned and trained to the convenience
and benefit of the grower. But is it really in the best interests of the farmer to rashly prune
his trees without having any idea of what the natural form is or the slightest inkling of the
powers and subtlety of nature?
Fruit  growers  have  more  or  less  decided  that,  if  one  considers  such  operations  as
harvesting of the fruit, pesticide spraying, and fumigation, the ideal form of citrus trees
grown in a hillside orchard is a round, flat-topped shape measuring at most about 9 feet
high and 14 feet in diameter. To improve fruit production, the grower also thins the trees
and  does  some  cutting  back  here  and  there  with  the  pruning  shears.  Deciding  that  a
grapevine  should  be  trained  on  a  single  main  trunk  or  on  a  trunk  and  two  laterals,  he
prunes all other branches. He takes a saw to the leader on a peach sapling, saying that a
“natural” open-center shape with a scaffold of three strong branches is best. In pear trees,
the  two  or  three  main  branches  are  set  at  angles  of 40  or  50  degrees  or  drawn  out
horizontally,  and  all  the  other  smaller  branches  pruned  during  the  winter.  A  modified
leader  system  is  said  to  be  best  for  persimmon  trees,  so  leader  growth  is  checked  by
nipping the tip, and many branches either cut back or removed altogether.
Is Pruning Really Necessary?:  I would like to turn back now and look at why pruning
is necessary, why growers must remove so many branches and leaves. We are told that
pruning is essential because lower branches get in  the way during tillage, weeding, and
fertilization, but what happens when we eliminate the operations of weeding and tillage?
We no longer have to worry about the convenience of the tree shape for any operations
other than fruit-picking. Pruning has always been just something that fruit growers felt
they had to do to bring the shape of the tree in line with the form they visualized as ideal
for all other orchard operations.
Pruning is necessary for another reason as well. Like the transplanted mountain pine to
the  top  of  which  the  gardener  takes  his  shears,  once  pruned,  a  tree  cannot  be  left
untended. The branches of a tree growing naturally never cross or entangle, but once even
the smallest part of a new shoot is damaged, that wound becomes a source of confusion
that follows the tree for life.
As long as the shoots on a tree emerge in an orderly fashion according to the natural
law for that species, guarding the correct angle front and back, left and right, there is no
crossing  or  entangling  of  the  branches.  But  if  the  tip  of  just  one  of  these  branches  is
pinched off, several adventitious buds emerge from  the wound and grow into branches.
These superfluous branches crowd and become entangled with other branches, bending,
twisting, and spreading confusion as they grow.
Because even lightly pinching new buds on a pine seedling totally alters the shape of
the emerging branches, the young tree can be trained into a garden pine or even a bonsai.
But although the first pruning can make a bonsai of pine, once a bonsai, the pine can
never be restored to a full-size tree.
The gardener prunes the young shoots of a pine planted in the garden and the second
year several suckers grow out from each of these wounds. Again he cuts the tips of these
and  by  about  the  third  year,  the  branches  of  the  pine  become  entangled  and  crooked,
taking on an incredibly complex shape. Since this is precisely what gives it its value as a
garden tree, the gardener delights in topping confusion with more confusion.
Once  the  pruning  shears  have  been  taken  to  the  tree and  branches  emerge  in
complicated shapes, the tree can no longer be left alone. Unless it is carefully tended each
year  and  each  branch  meticulously  trained  and  pruned,  the  branches  entangle,  causing
some to weaken and die. Seen from a distance, there may not seem to be much difference
between a garden pine and a mountain pine, but on closer inspection one can see that the
confused and complicated shape of the garden pine has been artificially modified to allow
sunlight to fall on each  branch and leaf, while the natural pine achieves the same goal
without any help from man.
The question of whether a fruit tree should have a natural form or an artificial form is
directly analogous to the question of which is preferable, a natural pine or a garden pine.
A fruit tree sapling is first dug up and the roots  trimmed, then the stem is cut back to a
length of one or two feet and the sapling planted.  This first pruning operation alone robs
the tree of its natural form. The sapling begins to put out buds and suckers in a complex
and  confused  manner  that  requires  the  fruit  grower  to  be  always  at  the  ready  with  his
pruning shears.
People  will  stand  in  front  of  a  citrus  tree  and,  saying  that  these  branches  here  are
growing  so  closely  that  they  are  shutting  off  sunlight,  casually  make  a  few  quick  cuts
with the shears. But they never stop to consider the enormous impact this has on the tree.
Because of this single pruning, the grower will have to continue pruning the tree for the
rest of its lifetime.
Just by nipping one bud at the tip of a sapling, what should have grown into a straight
pine  with  one  trunk  develops  instead  into  a  complex tree  with  several  leaders;  a
persimmon  comes  to  resemble  a  chestnut  and  a  chestnut  takes  on  the  form  of  a  peach
tree. If the branches of a pear tree are made to crawl along a net like trellis seven feet off
the ground, then pruning is absolutely indispensable. But if the tree is allowed to grow up
straight and tall like a cedar, initial pruning is no longer necessary. Grapevines are grown
over  metal  wires,  but  they  can  also  be  grown  upright  like  a  willow  tree  with  pendant
branches. How the first leader is trained determines the shape of the vine and the method
of pruning.
Even  slight  training  of  the  branches  or  pruning  when  the  tree  is  young  has  an
enormous  effect  on  the  later  growth  and  shape.  When left  to  grow  naturally  from  the
start, little pruning will be needed later on, but if the natural shape of the tree is altered, a
great deal of intricate pruning becomes necessary. Training the branches at the start into a
shape close to the natural form of the tree will make the pruning shears unnecessary.
If  you draw a mental picture of the natural form of a tree and make  every effort to
protect the tree from the local environment, then it will thrive, putting out good fruit year
after year. Pruning only creates a need for more pruning, but if the grower realizes that
trees not in need of pruning also exist in this world and is determined to grow such trees,
they will bear fruit without pruning. How much wiser and easier it is to limit oneself to
minimal  corrective  pruning  aimed  only  at  bringing  the  tree  closer  to  its  natural  form
rather than practicing a method of fruit growing that requires extensive pruning each and
every year.
The Natural Form of a Fruit Tree
The art of pruning fruit trees is the most advanced skill in orcharding, and is even said
to  separate  the  good  farmer  from  the  bad.  Although  I  have,  as  I  advocated  in  the
preceding section, grown fruit trees without pruning, I found this very difficult going at
first because I did not know what the natural forms of the different types of fruit trees
were. To learn of these forms, I began observing various plants and fruit trees.
The natural forms shown from time to time in journals on fruit growing are not at all
what they are made out to be. These are just abandoned trees of confused shape that have
been left to grow untended after having been initially pruned and otherwise cared for. It
was relatively easy to determine that the natural form of most deciduous fruit trees is a
central  leader  system,  but  I  had  a  lot  of  trouble  determining  the  natural  form  of  citrus
trees, and especially the Satsuma orange.
I  first  tried  applying  the  methods  of  natural  farming  to  an  established  grove  of
Satsuma orange trees with a couple of hundred trees to the acre. Trees at the time were
trimmed  in  the  shape  of  a  wineglass  and  the  height  held  to  about  six  or  seven  feet.
Because I simply discontinued pruning, letting these trees grow untended, large numbers
of  scaffold  branches  and  laterals  grew  out  at  once. Before  I  knew  it,  these  began
crisscrossing,  doubling  back,  and  growing  in  strange,  twisted  shapes.  Places  where  the
branches  and  leaves  grew  tangled  became  disease  sites  and  drew  insects.  One  dying
branch caused other branches to wither and die. The confused shape of the tree resulted in
irregular fruit formation. Fruit grew either too far apart or too close together and the tree
produced a full crop only every other year. After this experience, even I had to admit that
abandoning the trees to their own devices was a sure path to ruin.
To correct these gross disorders I then tried the reverse: heavy pruning and thinning. I
left  only  several  of  the  rising  suckers  remaining.  Yet,  because  four  or  five  primary
scaffold branches were still too many, there was too little space left between adjoining
branches  and  there  may  also  have  been  too  many  laterals.  In  any  case,  growth  at  the
center of the trees was poor and the inner branches gradually withered, causing a sharp
drop in fruit production in the interior portion of the trees. Well, this experience taught
me that abandoning the trees was the wrong way to approach their natural form.
Following  the  end  of  the  war,  specialists  began  advocating  a  natural,  open-centered
system. This consisted of removing scaffold branches at the center of the tree, but leaving
several  scaffolds  projecting  outward  at  angles  of  about  42  degrees,  with  two  or  three
laterals growing from each scaffold branch. Since abandoned wineglass-shaped trees on
which the rising scaffold branches had been thinned closely resembled this natural open centered form, I gave some thought to moving in this direction.
Yet my ultimate goal remained to practice natural farming and so the question I faced
was how to make it possible not to prune. I thought that pruning would not be needed if
the tree assumed its natural form. As I went from a wineglass shape to a neglected tree
form to corrective pruning, I began to ask what shape was truly the natural form of the
citrus tree. This led to my doubts about existing views.
The  natural  forms  shown  in  illustrations  in  technical  books  and  journals  all  showed
hemispherical shapes with several scaffold branches meandering upwards. But my own
unpleasant  experiences  had  taught  me  all  too  clearly  that  these  so-called  natural  forms
were not true natural forms at all, but the shapes of abandoned trees. A natural tree does
not die of its own accord. This is the result of some unnatural element. For reasons I will
get  into  later,  in  my  search  for  the  natural  form,  I  was  to  sacrifice  another  400  citrus
trees—about half of those in my care.
If a tree dies when left pruned, this can be explained scientifically as the result of
overcrowding between adjoining scaffold branches and laterals, which implies a need to
know  the  proper  spacing  of  these  branches.  These  spacings  can  eventually  be
determined—or so it is thought—through experimentation and the application of human
knowledge, and the proper number of inches calculated for given conditions. But never
do we get a definitive spacing that is okay for all situations. A different result is obtained
for  wineglass-shaped  trees,  for  trees  with  natural  open-centered  shapes,  and  for  every
other shape. The conclusion that each has its merits and demerits leaves the door open to
continuous change with each passing age. This is the way of scientific agriculture.
If  one  takes  the  viewpoint  of  natural  farming,  however,  there  is  no  reason  why  the
branches  and  foliage  of  trees  having  a  natural  form should  ever  become  tangled  and
wither. If the tree has a natural form, then there  should be no need for research on the
desirable number of scaffold branches, the number and angle of the lateral branches, and
the proper spacing between adjoining branches. Nature knows the answers and can take
care of these matters quite well by itself.
Everything  is  resolved  then  if  we  let  the  tree  adopt  its  natural  form  through  natural
farming. The only problem that remains is how to induce the tree to grow in its natural
form. Simply abandoning it leads only to failure. Before being abandoned, my citrus trees
had  been  trained  and  pruned  into  a  wineglass  shape. The  trees  had  an  unnatural  form
from the moment they were transplanted as saplings.This is why, when left unpruned,
they did not return to a natural form but became instead increasingly deformed.
Obviously,  the  proper  way  to  grow  a  citrus  tree  having  a  natural  form  would  be  to
plant the seed directly in the orchard. But the seed itself, if I may press the point, is no
longer  truly  natural.  This  is  the  product  of  extensive  cross-breeding  between  different
varieties  of  artificially  cultivated  citrus  trees;  if  allowed  to  grow  to  maturity,  the  tree
either reverts to an ancestral form or produces inferior hybrid fruit. Direct planting of the
seed, therefore, is not a practical option for fruit production. Yet this is very helpful in
gaining an idea of the natural form of the citrus tree.
I planted citrus seed and observed the trees growing from these. At the same time, I
allowed  a  large  number  of  various  types  of  citrus  trees  to  go  unpruned.  From  these
results, I was able to divine with considerable certainty the natural form of a citrus tree.
When  I  reported  my  findings  at  a  meeting  of  the  Ehime  Prefectural  Fruit  Growers
Association, stating that the natural form of the citrus tree is not what it had been thought
to be, but a central leader type form, this created a stir among several specialists present,
but was laughed off as just so much nonsense by the farmers.
The  natural  form  of  a  citrus  tree  is  constant  and  unchanging  in  natural  farming  and
permits pruning to be dispensed with. Whatever new pruning techniques may arise in the
future, knowing the true natural form of citrus and other fruit trees and how to train a tree
to its natural form can never be a disadvantage.
For  example,  even  when  performing  surgery  on  a  tree in  a  mechanized  orchard,  it
makes more sense to work on  a tree trained on a single stem than to allow the tree to
grow  as  much  as  it  can  and  later  cut  it  with  a  saw. The  closer  the  form  of  the  tree  to
nature,  the  more  reasonable  on  all  counts.  When  for purely  human  reasons  there  is
absolutely no alternative, then the wisest choice is to adopt a form that is basically natural
but makes some compromises.
The very first thing that one must do when preparing to grow a type of fruit tree by the
methods of natural farming is to know the natural form for that fruit tree. In the case of
Satsuma orange trees, the scaffold branches do not grow all that straight because the tree
is not very vigorous. As a result, there is a great deal of individual variation between the
trees, making it most difficult to discern the natural form. Few trees are as sensitive as
these in the way they take on myriad different forms upon the slightest human tampering
or injury. To determine the natural form of citrus trees, I chose to look at a cross-section
of  hardier  and  more  vigorous  citrus  varieties  than  the  Satsuma  orange.  The  summer
orange  and  the  shaddock  were  especially  useful  in  this  regard.  Both  are  clearly  of  the
central leader type.
To determine the natural forms of persimmon, chestnut, pear, peach, and other trees, it
was  necessary  to  look  at  these  from  a  broad  perspective.  Of  course,  each  is’grown  in
many different forms, but all are basically central leader type trees. Their differences in
form  arise  primarily  from  the  differing  number,  angle,  and  directions  of  the  scaffold
branches that grow from the central leader. In form, they resemble forest trees such as the
cryptomeria, Japanese cypress, pine, and live oak. People have merely been misled by the
various forms that these fruit trees have taken after being disturbed by their environment
and human intervention.
Examples of Natural Forms:
early-ripening Satsuma orange   low, pyramidal form
late-ripening Satsuma orange   tallish, cypress-like conical form
summer orange, shaddock, persimmon,  tall, cedar-like conical form
chestnut, pear, apple, loquat
Attaining the Natural Form: The shaddock and summer orange tend to have an upright
central trunk and  a height greater than the spread.These can even  resemble a cedar in
aspect,  whereas  the  Satsuma  orange  generally  has  an irregularly  flattened  or
hemispherical  shape,  This  basic  central  leader  type conical  shape  can  occur  in  an
essentially infinite number of variations depending on the type of tree and the cultivation
conditions. The fact that few mandarin orange trees grown in their natural form take on a
central leader type form, but adopt instead various modifications indicates that these trees
have  weak  terminal  bud  dominance  and  tend  to  develop  an  open  crown.  They  are
frutescent,  having  several  scaffold  branches  extending  with  equal  vigor  that  produce  a
confused form. It is clear then that while many types of trees do fully retain their innate
character, other trees have natural forms that are easily upset during cultivation.
Natural  Form  in  Fruit  Tree  Cultivation:  I  adopt  the  natural  form  of  a  tree  as  the
model for the basic tree shape in citrus cultivation. Even when something causes a tree to
take on a shape that deviates from the natural form or adapts to the local environment,
any pruning and training done should attempt to return the tree to its natural form. There
are several reasons for this.
1. The natural form permits tree growth and development best suited to the cultivation
conditions and environment. No branch or leaf is wasted. This form enables maximum
growth and maximum exposure to sunlight, resulting  in maximum yields. On the other
hand, an unnatural form created artificially upsets the innate efficiency of the tree. This
reduces the tree’s natural powers and commits the grower to unending labors.
2. The natural form consists of an erect central trunk, causing little entanglement with
neighboring trees or crowding of branches and foliage. The amount of pruning required
gradually  decreases  and  little  disease  or  pest  damage  arises,  necessitating  only  a
minimum  of  care.  However,  in  natural  open-center  systems  formed  by  thinning  the
scaffold branches growing at the center of the tree, the remaining scaffold branches open
up  at  the  top  of  the  tree  and  soon  entangle  with  adjacent  trees.  In  addition,  secondary
scaffold branches and laterals growing from several primary scaffold branches oriented at
unnatural  angles  (such  as  in  three-stem  systems)  also  crisscross  and  entangle.  This
increases the amount of of pruning that has to be done after the tree has matured.
3. In conical central leader type systems, oblique sunlight penetrates into the interior
of the tree, whereas in open-center systems, the crown of the tree extends outward in the
shape  of  an  inverse  triangle  that  reduces  the  penetration  of  sunlight  to  the  base  and
interior  of  the  tree,  inviting  the  withering  of  branches  and  attack  by  disease  and  pests.
Thus, expanding the shape of the tree results in lower rather than higher yields.
4.  The  natural  form  provides  the  best  distribution  and  supply  of  nutrients  to  the
scaffold  branches  and  laterals.  In  addition,  the  external  shape  is  balanced  and  a  good
harmony exists between tree growth and fruit production, giving a full fruit harvest each
year.
5. The root system of a tree having a natural form  closely resembles the shape of the
above ground portion of the tree. A deep root system makes for a healthy tree resistant to
external conditions.
Problems with the Natural Form:  Although having many advantages, the natural form
is not without its share of problems in fruit growing.
1. The natural forms of young grapevines and persimmon, pear, and apple trees have
low branch, leaf, and fruit densities, and thus produce small yields. This can be resolved
by discreet pruning to increase the density of fruit and branch formation.
2. Fruit trees with a central leader system grow to a good height and may be expected
to pose climbing problems when it comes time to pick the fruit. While this is true when
the  tree  is  still  young,  as  it  matures,  scaffold  branches  grow  out  from  the  leader  at  an
angle of about 20 degrees to the horizontal in a regular, spiraling arrangement that make
it easier to climb. In tall trees such as persimmon, pear, apple, and loquat, this forms a
framework that can be climbed much like a spiral stairway.
3.  Creating  a  pure  natural  form  is  not  easy,  and  the  tree  may  deviate  from  this  if
adequate attention is not given to protective management at the seedling stage. This can
be corrected in part by giving the tree a modified central leader form. To achieve an ideal
natural form, the tree must be grown directly from  seed or a rootstock tree grown in a
planting bed and field-grafted.
4. Enabling the seedling to put out a vigorous, upright leader is the key to successfully
achieving a natural form. The grower must observe where and at what angle primary and
secondary scaffold branches emerge, and remove any unnatural branches. Normally, after
five or six years, when the saplings have reached six to ten feet in height, there should be
perhaps  five  or  six  secondary  scaffold  branches  extending  out  in  a  spiral  pattern  at
intervals  of  about  six  to  twelve  inches  such  that  the  sixth  secondary  scaffold  branch
overlaps  vertically  with  the  first.  Primary  scaffold  branches  should  emerge  from  the
central trunk at an angle of 40 degrees with the horizontal and extend outward at an angle
of  about  20  degrees.  Once  the  basic  shape  of  the  tree  is  set,  the  need  for  training  and
pruning diminishes.
5.  The  tree  may  depart  from  a  natural  form  and  take on  an  open-center  form  if  the
central  leader  becomes  inclined,  the  tip  of  the  leader  is  weak,  or  the  tree  sustains  an
injury. There should be no problem though, as long  as the grower keeps a mental image
of a pure natural form and prunes and trains the tree to approach as closely as possible to
that form. A tree that has become fully shaped while young will not need heavy pruning
when  mature.  However,  if  left  to  grow  untended  when young,  the  tree  may  require
considerable  thinning  and  pruning  each  year  and  may even  need  major  surgical
reconstruction when fully grown. Considering the many years of toil and the losses that
may otherwise ensue, it is certainly preferable to  choose to do some formative pruning
early on.
Armed with confidence in my understanding of the natural form of these fruit trees, I
saw clearly the basic approach I had to take in fruit cultivation. Later, when I extended
my orchard by planting a new slope with fruit trees, I began with the goal of achieving
this  natural  form  in  all  the  trees.  But  because  this  involved  planting  several  thousand
additional trees almost single-handedly, I was unable to establish the natural form I had
intended.  Still,  these  were  closer  to  the  natural  form  than  the  previous  trees  and  thus
required far less pruning. In fact, I managed to get by with almost no pruning at all.
Here then are the greatest merits of using the natural form in fruit growing.
1.  Attaining  the  natural  form  through  early  formative  pruning  minimizes  waste  and
labor on all counts, and enables high fruit production.
2.  A  deep-rooted  tree  adapted  to  the  local  environment,  in  which  there  is  a  good
balance between the above ground portion of the tree and the root system, grows rapidly,
is healthy, cold-hardy, frost and drought resistant, and stands up well to natural disasters.
3. The absence of unnecessary branches minimizes the amount of pruning. Good light
penetration and ventilation reduce the possibilities of bearing a full crop only in alternate
years and of attack by disease or insects.
4.  Should  the  form  of  the  tree  have  to  be  changed  to  adapt  to  local  topography  or
mechanized practices, pruning back can be done smoothly and without undue difficulty.
5. The pruning techniques used in fruit growing tend to change with the times, but the
natural  form  of  a  tree  remains  always  the  same.  Use of  the  natural  form  is  the  best
approach  possible  for  stable,  labor-saving,  high-yield  fruit  cultivation.  Success  is
especially easy with trees such as the persimmon, chestnut, apple, pear, and loquat, which
can readily be trained to a natural form. Considerable success can also be had with vines
such as the Chinese gooseberry and grape.
Conclusion
Fruit growing today relies heavily on practices such as weeding, tillage, fertilization,
and  pruning.  I  have  described  above  the  basics  of  an  alternative  way  of  orcharding,  a
natural method founded on a return to nature that allows a young sapling to grow into a
tree with a close-to-natural form. Weeding is not used; instead, the living orchard soil is
preserved  and  actively  enriched.  The  fruit  trees  grow  up  sturdy  and  healthy  without
fertilizers,  orderly  and  beautiful  without  pruning. These  principles  of  no  weeding,  no
fertilization,  and  no  pruning  cannot  be  achieved  independently;  they  are  closely  and
inextricably tied to each other.
Soil management techniques such as green manure cultivation and sod cultivation that
eliminate  the  necessity  of  weeding  and  tillage  at  the  same  time  make  fertilizer-free
cultivation possible, but attempts to suddenly do away with fertilization or weeding are
not likely to succeed.
With pest and disease control it is the same; the best method of control is no control at
all.  In  principle,  disease  and  pest  damage  do  not  exist.  If  a  fanning  system  without
weeding, fertilization, or pruning is established,  crop damage by diseases and pests will
gradually decline.
One reads in the news these days of how rangers are spraying mountain forests with
fertilizers  and  herbicides  to  stimulate  growth,  but this  is likely  to  have  the  undesirable
effect  of  inducing  disease  and  pest  damage,  thus  necessitating  even  more  complex
spraying  and  fertilization  operations.  Plants  grown without  fertilizers  in  rich  soil  have
strong,  healthy  roots  and  tops  that  are  resistant  to  disease.  Weeding,  fertilization,  and
pruning confuse the soil and the tree, and reduce its disease resistance. The result is poor
ventilation,  branches  and  leaves  not  reached  by  sunlight,  and  infestation  by  disease
microbes and insects. It is this that has created need for disease and pest control. Today,
by  spraying  their  orchards  with  pesticides,  fruit  growers  increase  disease  and  pest
damage; by pruning, they create strange, misshapen trees; and by applying fertilizer, they
promote nutrient deficiencies.
Whether man will decide ultimately in favor of scientific farming or of natural farming
will depend entirely on what it is that he seeks.