34 AGRICULTURE OF MAIXE. 



this we should, at the time we plant the trees, cut the main 

 stem off where we want to form the head of the tree. From 

 three to five limbs should be allowed to start out on different 

 sides of this cut-oft' trunk. These limbs, when loaded with 

 fruit, will not bend together, as in the straight central stem top 

 but will spread apart, thus exposing a larger surface to the sun- 

 light. Also, these limbs must not be allowed to grow one above 

 the other. Pruning is more of an art than any other part of 

 apple growing and mere words cannot teach the art any more 

 than painting may be taught by words. It is surely a most 

 fascinating part of orchard work, for it is here that the hand of- 

 man steps in and completely changes the natural tendency of the 

 apple tree. Instead of producing seeds and a minimum amount 

 of edible matter, the tree is made to produce the smallest amount 

 of seed and the largest amount of the fleshy part of the fruit. 



spr.\ying; the necessity of this operation. 



Those who may be acquainted with the success and prom- 

 inence of the potato industry in the State and likewise know 

 what a prominent part spraying has played in developing that 

 industry, ought to be most easily convinced of its merits when 

 applied to the production of fine fruit. Cultivating the ground, 

 feeding the trees and pruning them so that they may have an 

 abundance of God's glorious sunshine are most essential in apple 

 culture, but today with the great prevalence of insect and 

 fungous pests, spraying is most necessary and it is, in fact, one 

 of the prime essentials in producing fruit of a high grade. I 

 would assert that spraying will add fifty cents per barrel to the 

 value of one's crop, besides the greater pleasure in handling fruit 

 more free from apple worms and fungous blemishes. To many 

 the operation is a bugbear, but it is like many another mental 

 and physical problem, as one gets close to it the mountain 

 becomes a mole hill. Accept the premises that no operation 

 involved in fruit growing adds so much value to the product, 

 also that with the relatively cheap and efficient spray pumps now 

 on the market and with the bulletins of experiment stations so 

 easily available, there is not much left but for the apple grower 

 to go to work and spray his orchards. Two sprayings, where 

 orchards are located on high ground ought to entirely eliminate 



