792 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



He remarked he had tried it but had left out the sulphur as that 

 was too expensive, so he was using the lime and salt, but found that 

 it did no good. The scale had about killed all of his peach and plum 

 trees and they had now got on his large apple trees and he thought 

 of cutting them down. On parting, he said, "Doctor, if you were to 

 furnish free, enough trees to plant an orchard I would not give the 

 ground.-' This is a case of lost faith in a good cause on account of 

 mismanagement and misplaced confidence. 



But to get back to our subject, and we will start with pruning ^ as 

 this is the first and one of the most important branches of fruit 

 raising. If pruning is neglected the tree becomes worthless; if 

 properly pruned it becomes a thing of beauty and usefulness. It 

 is as susceptible to good training as a child, in fact, more so, as you 

 can form a tree as you desire. To trim intelligently you must trim 

 or prune with certain objects in vfew. You can trim for shape, for 

 wood growth, and for fruit. 



First, we must prune for tree formation. This commences with 

 planting, and in planting never accept a peach tree beyond one year 

 old, or an apple tree beyond two years old (one year preferred), a 

 straight whip four to six feet high. This is the cream of the nursery 

 and model stock with which to start an orchard. In planting you 

 begin with the roots, trim off all torn or mutilated roots and cut 

 with a sharp knife from below, outward. When the tree is set the 

 cut surface will be downward, granulations will be thrown out and a 

 series of small roots will. then shoot downward from the outer sur- 

 face of this cut, soon anchoring the tree with a new set of roots. 

 If you get a tree thickly studded with fine roots at the color, look 

 closely for wooly aphis or crown gall, and in most instances you 

 will find them; and if so, better throw the tree away as in most cases 

 it will make a poor tree. 



Having planted the trees, your next step is to cut off the tops at 

 a uniform height of 18 inches to 2 feet. Do not form your tops too 

 high. A low spreading tree will make you a stronger, more hardy 

 tree, capable of withstanding heavy winds, remaining more straight 

 and making it a much easier task gathering the fruit, which can 

 be done much cheaper from the ground and stop-ladder than if you 

 must pick from a long ladder. As warm weather comes on you find 

 young shoots coming out in regular order around the entire length 

 of the stock. When these are about one-half inch long you count 

 from top downward 6 buds. These you leave to form the head 

 of your tree. Those below you rub off by catching around the tree 

 with the hand and stripping downward which effectually trims off 

 all shoots and is quickly done. If your soil is in good condition 

 and cultivation well attended to, j^our tree makes rapid growth; very 

 little more trimming will be needed the first year. An occasional 



