Cut back to a bud near the stem, or if you do not see any, cut back near to the stem, but not near enough to remove the bark at the base of the shoot, for there are the latent buds which should give you the growth.  This should be watched, and the best shoot selected from each point to make a strong branch, pinching back or removing the others.

For a Bark Wound.

What is best to do with an apricot or prune tree when it has been hit with an implement and the bark knocked off?

Cut around the bark wound with a sharp knife so as to remove all frayed edges.  Cover the exposed wood with oil and lead paint to prevent cracking, and the wound will soon be covered with new bark from the sides.

Bridging Gopher Girdles.

How shall I make the bridge-graft or root-graft over the trunks of trees girdled by gophers?  Has this method proved successful in saving trees three or four inches in diameter, and how is it done?

The bridging over of injury by mice by grafting has been known to be successful for decades in countries where this trouble is encountered.  Undoubtedly the same plan would work in the case of all bark injuries which can be bridged.  The plan is to take good well-matured shoots which are a little longer than the injury which has to be spanned, making a sloping cut on both ends, also a cut into the healthy bark above and below the injury, and slip the cut ends of the cutting into the cuts in the bark so that the ends go under the bark above and below, and the cut ends are closely connected with the growing layer of the stock.  If the cutting is made a little longer than the distance to be spanned, the tendency of the cutting by straightening is to hold itself in place.  When in place, the connections should he covered with wax to prevent drying out.

Soil-Binding Plant for Winter.

What would be the best to plant in an orchard on ground of a light sandy sediment which, after plowing, will move with the strong winds?  I would like to plant something that will benefit the ground.  The winds are the strongest from December to April.  This is in the irrigated district and I need something that will make a sod during that period.

We would, in all the valleys, advise a fall irrigation (if the rains are late) and the sowing of burr clover, which when started in September will have the ground well covered by December, if you keep the moisture right to push it.  Disking or plowing this under in March (or April, according to locality) will hold the sand and afterward enrich it.  You can do this every year, but probably you will not need to seed it more than once.

Bananas in California.

Is there any reason why bananas would not grow and bear in the vicinity of Merced if they had plenty of water?  Or would the cool nights at certain seasons keep them from bearing?  Would they do better in the Imperial valley?

Bananas would suffer too severely from frost to be profitable at any point in the interior valleys of California.  A plant would be killed to the ground at least every year unless under glass or other protection.  There are a few places practically frostless where bananas can be grown in this State, but there is no promise in commercial production because they can be so cheaply imported from the tropics.