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11.

is commonly used; while in Florida the native D. virginiana is preferred. This has been tried experimentally in Central America and does not seem as promising as D. kaki. It suckers very freely; it is not rare to find root suckers appearing 20 or 30 feet away from the kaki tree which was grafted on a rootstock of this species.

Trees may be shield budded like citrus, or cleft grafted. For shield budding, stocks should be about half an inch in diameter and buds somewhat more than an inch in length. When cleft grafted, it should be remembered that in the tropics generally it has been found that scions should not be too long; they should not protrude more than a couple of inches - one or two nodes - above the graft.

So few kakis have been planted in tropical America that cultural data based on experience are lacking. It seems obvious, however, that the trees will not need to be planted farther apart than 18 or at most 20 feet. For planting in the orchard, George C. Roeding of California writes: "The tap-root should be cut back to 18 inches, and fresh cuts made on all the fibrous roots. After the trees are set, head them back at least one-half. In the second, third and fourth years pruning of the tree should be continued to fashion it into the typical goblet form."

On poor soils, it is recommended to fertilize the trees, nitrogen being the element most needed. Probably a program suitable for oranges would be better, in order to play safe. While it has been stated that grafted kaki trees should come into bearing at four years of age, this has not been the case in tropical America. Because they usually are planted at considerable elevations, they do not have hot summers to produce the rapid growth which is characteristic of important kaki-growing regions.

Kaki fruits cannot well be left on the tree until fully ripe