22 



4. As a precaution against sun-scald it is best in Northern sections to 

 allow the trees to form low heads, with trunks about two feet high. Prune 

 the lower branches up to the desired height, and leave three or four main 

 branches to form a well balanced top. In southern sections the head may be 

 formed at any desired height. 



5. Prune regularly every spring, thinning out as much of the new wood 

 as may be necessary to prevent the top becoming too dense. Careful annual 

 pruning avoids the necessity of cutting out large limbs when the trees get 

 older. 



6. Do not allow adjoining crops to encroach upon the trees. To insure 

 good growth, it is best to give clean, thorough cultivation from early spring 

 till about mid-summer, after which the trees should mature their wood for 

 winter. 



7. A cover crop of some kind, such as rye, clover, or hairy vetch, sown 

 after the last cultivation in mid-summer, is valuable for root protection in 

 winter, and to enrich the soil when it is plowed under next spring. 



8. The fertility of the soil about the trees may be most economically 

 maintained by the judicious use of leguminous cover crops, and occasional 

 applications of unleached wood ashes, spread evenly over the ground as far 

 out as the roots extend. 



9. Guard against girdling by mice by banking earth against the trunks 

 in the fall, wrapping the trunks with building paper, or tramping the snow 

 firmly around the trunks from time to time after the first heavy snowfall. 



10. Watch out for borers on the trunks near the ground every summer. 

 and cut them out as soon as they are found to be at work. 



11. Protect the trees against the ravages of insects on the foliage by 

 spraying, or by removing the insects by hand until the trees get too large 

 for such a method. 



12. Experimenters wishing fuller information on any of these points 

 should send for our Bulletin on Apple Culture, which will be sent free on 

 application. 



The reports are made on a printed form, summarized and published. 

 This is the form used : — 



Remarks 



For information regarding' co-operative work in horticulture, address 

 Horticultural Department, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



Hardy Perennial Borders. 



Many schools, which cannot undertake formal gardens, have suc- 

 cessful borders along the walks or fronting the building. They afford 

 good material for observation, composition and art work. These borders 



