lioii ANNTJAI. REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



about answering sucli (lupstioiis f(»r yourselves. I tlierefore pass 

 to the next fundaiueulal leuef ol" oiiluird iiuinageuient — pruning. 



Relatively, few orcliai-ds llie country over, are jiroperly jjruned. 

 In fact, a sur})risingly large uuiuber ;ire not jtruned at all. It will 

 help at the outset to have clearly in mind some of the more import- 

 ant reasons lor pruning. They may be stated as follows: 



1. To keep the trees shapely and within bounds. 



2. To remove dead or interfering branches. 

 :>. To make trees more stocky. 



4. T<. thin the fruit. 



5. To open the tree tops to admit air and sunlight. 



6. To make thorough spraying possible. 



7. To facilitate harvesting. 



8. To reduce the struggle for existence in the tree tops. 



9. To pri (luce more fruit of better quality. 



With this enumeration of the reasons for pruning I do not 

 ki.<;W tliat very much more need be said, though each reason given 

 o' course might be considerably amplified. If the truths contained 

 in the several captions given are self-evident, as most of them must 

 be, to take time to comment about them is to uselessly multiply 

 words. 



If a word of explanation is needed at all, it is in regard to Cap- 

 tion 8. Perhaps few realize that there is a struggle for existence 

 going on in the top of a crowded tree top but such is the case. 

 The fingers of one's hand are about as close together as they can 

 well be but they are not in the way of one another and there is no 

 struggle or competition going on among them for room or for food 

 supply. Each has its own allotted amount which is sufficient. If 

 one suffers for lack of nourisliment or in any other way, all the 

 others sutler with it. Not so in a dense tree top ! Every limb 

 and branch is competing with every other limb and branch, every 

 bud with ever}' other bud for room and sunlight and air and food. 

 Often the struggle in this competition becomes so sharp that whole 

 limbs die for lack of room and sunlight and plant food. The com- 

 petition is a merciless one. Now if we keep the tops sufficiently 

 thinned out, all is peace. There is no struggle to the death and 

 as a result everj^ bud has food enough to deposit within its folds 

 a goodly supply besides making its normal growth ; we have a 

 well-fed tree and fruit buds strong and vigorous enough to with- 

 stand many vicissitudes of climate that would kill outright weaker 

 buds. 



To make such a discussion as this complete of course it should 

 include some reference to spraying but you have wisely provided 

 for that as a subject by itself for discussion, hence it calls for no 

 comments here, only to say that the developments in spray mix- 

 tures during the past two or three years mark an advance in orchard 

 practice which perhaps means more to the fruit industry than any- 

 thing else that has occurred since the value of fungicides and insecti- 

 cides became fully recognized. 



Another advance step which I believe will eventually be group- 

 ed with cultivation, pruning, spraying, etc., as an orchard practice 

 is orchard heating or smudging to prevent frost injury. Great 



