STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 21 



break. We have had too much copying of western methods, 

 just because they were successful there, not only in the care of 

 the trees, but also in the packing of the fruit. We must remem- 

 ber how different our conditions are, and develop a practice that 

 fits our own conditions. 



This shows an apple tree in the famous Vergon sod mulch or- 

 chard of Ohio. I want you to notice what an immense amount 

 of bearing surface it presents. The unit of production m an 

 apple orchard is the amount of bearing surface, not the number 

 of trees. This one tree has as much bearing surface, or poten- 

 tial ability to produce apples, as half a dozen badly crowded 

 trees. This tree is an argument for wide setting, which is forty 

 feet apart with us. It is also an argument for the use of every 

 device and art in pruning to keep the tree low. Some varieties, 

 however, you cannot keep low, as they tend strongly to take an 

 upright form. 



Pruning bearing trees. This shows part of my bearing or- 

 chard in the winter, after being pruned ; it shows how thin I try 

 to keep the tops. There is a good old Methodist hymn it would 

 be well to sing or to whistle while pruning: 



"Clear the darkened windows. 

 Open wide the doors. 

 Let a little sunshine in." 



Sunshine makes color in apples — not potash nor any other kind 

 of fertilizer, but sunshine and the degree of maturity. The 

 more sunshine around the apples, the redder they will be. As 

 our grading laws become more stringent, color will count more 

 in the selling value of apples. 



Here is a tree top in which there is a constant struggle for 

 life between the different limbs. You cannot expect good apples 

 when the limbs are cramped by their neighbors. Neither can 

 you expect a long lived tree when the wounds are unpainted and 

 unhealed; the tree soon becomes rotten-hearted. This picture 

 illustrates what follows when pruning is neglected for several 

 years and then all the surplus limbs that have been accumulat- 

 ing are cut out at one time; you get a forest of water sprouts. 

 Here are some safe rules : Cut back young trees heavily the 

 first two years, to make them stocky and branch low, and cut 

 out all but the scaffold limbs. After this let the pruning consist 

 merely of thinning out. Never prune bearing trees heavily any 



