TRANSACTIONS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN 11,1-. 337 



which has never been pruned, and has produced more apples than all 

 Others in the county ; it has always borne fine fruit all through the heads 

 of the trees — big, fair apples. There is no use in "pruning out the 

 inside of a tree so as to get into it to pick the fruit," as some claim ; 

 the way to gather apples is by ladders, placed against the outside of 

 the tree. 



I take these positions : That as good fruit can be growfi and as viiich 

 of it withoict any priming at all as by any system of pruning ; and that 

 nitie-tenths of all the pruniug done to apple orchards does more hurt than 

 good. Dr. Hull, in his last years, had arrived at the conclusion that an 

 apple tree may be kept from decay until a hundred years old, by simply 

 cutting off the extremities of the twigs and thus renewing the head. 



I will cite one more fact and sit down : A neighbor had an orchard 

 of Willow Twig apple trees, which sort, you know, is apt to split down 

 under a weight of fruit, and which he trimmed up and trimmed out on 

 the branches near the extremities, so that all the fruit must be borne on 

 the outside of the tree. The first heavy crop split down about one-third 

 of all his trees. I had an orchard of this sort about the same age, 

 which had never been pruned, and upon the same year my neighbor's 

 trees broke down, mine produced a tliird more fruit and did not break 

 down. 



Mr. Heinl (of Terre Haute, Ind.) — I prune my trees to an average 

 height of three feet, and thin out the heads somewhat in this way ; In 

 the summer I go through and shorten in the little shoots where they are 

 not wanted ; I train them while young, and then there is no necessity 

 of cutting out any large branches afterwards. I don't cut out large 

 limbs. 



The President — This subject is important, and one upon which, as 

 we see, there is much disagreement even among intelligent and experienced 

 cultivators ; yet I think that extremes are to be avoided — a tree may be 

 pruned too much or too little. A gentleman in my neighborhood (now 

 dead) once planted an orchard, and as he believed in low heads he 

 neglected entirely to prune. I told him his trees were too close-headed, 

 to which he replied that " God Almighty made them grow so, and he was 

 not going to interfere." As a result his orchard was not productive. On 

 the other hand, I know orchards in my neighborhood which have been 

 pruned too much. Whenever a branch of any considerable size is cutoff, 

 the surface of the cut on the tree should be thoroughly coated with a 

 paint or composition, to protect it against the action of the elements; and 

 the best compound for wounds made in pruning is made of coal tar and 



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