The trees must have plenty of sunlight and air. If planted too close, the trees tend to grow too high, each one striving for the light which is only available from above. In figure 7 the upward tendency of the trees is clearly shown. Such trees, if pruned as they ought to be, have a much greater tendency to send out numerous water-sprouts than trees which have plenty of room for the tops to expand laterally. After the tops of the trees interlock and shut out the sunlight from the lower portions, the smaller branches and fruit spurs in those parts gradually weaken and die, and eventually the entire crop is produced on or near the tops of the trees, where direct sunlight is available, as shown in figure 7. The excessive upward growth of the trees, with the consequent forcing of the fruit bearing to the top, not only greatly increases the difficulty and cost of pruning, spraying and harvesting, but reduces the possible bearing surface of the trees. _Setting the Trees._—The utmost care is necessary in setting out the trees to secure a uniform stand of vigorous trees. The trees are planted much the same as other deciduous orchard trees, but care must be used to spread the roots well to secure a thorough compacting of the soil around all the roots, and to see that the trees are not planted deeper than they were in the nursery. CULTURE _Soil Handling._—The almond is one of the most exacting of fruits as regards its cultivation. The assumption is very often made by growers that because the tree will live through periods of prolonged drouth, it will also thrive under careless or poor methods of cultivation. That this is entirely erroneous may be inferred from the fact previously referred to that the almond draws more heavily upon the plant food of the soil for the ripening of its crop than any of the common orchard fruits. Experience has abundantly proved that many almond orchards are not bearing profitable crops because the requisite soil constituents are not available in sufficient quantities during the long growing season. The reasons for this condition may be one or several. First, there may not be sufficient moisture available throughout the season, or it may not be distributed evenly or in sufficient amounts throughout the entire soil area. Second, there may be insufficient aeration of the soil; and third, there may not be sufficient humus to fix the soluble plant food in the soil and render it readily available as needed by the roots. Proper distribution of moisture in sufficient quantities is essential to secure adequate solution of the mineral elements needed by the roots for the use of the tree in all its parts. Sufficient aeration is needed to provide for the normal oxidation and weathering of the soil particles, and also for the respiration of the roots themselves.