184 Appendix. 



I have seen as much as one-half of the entire tree prnned off at this time — mucli 

 as a greenhouse gardener trims off the ranlv foliage of his tomatoes under glass. The 

 effect of this treatment is to check tlie exuberant growth and induce fruitfulness. 

 Root-pruning is also practiced to a limited extent. 



On the other hand, fruit trees in the drier inland regions come into bearing 

 very early, and run to fruit instead of wood. They often bear themselves to death 

 unless properly managed. The aim of the inland orchardist is not to reduce wood 

 growth by summer pruning, but to increase wood growth by winter pruning. 

 Practically all the pruning of this region is done in winter or early spring. 



There is a similar difference of practice in the training of fruit trees on the 

 two sides of the Cascades. On the west side, fruit trees are headed 4 to 5 feet 

 high, as in the old fruit sections of the eastern seaboard. Every effort is 

 made to elevate the tree into the air, and to keep its top well thinned, so that the 

 fruit may color and ripen well. In Western British Columbia the fruit-growers 

 do not cut back the leader at the time of planting, or at any other time. Some 

 claim that the ideal apple tree for that climate is one which does not have a 

 spreading top, but has a tall, strong, central leader, reaching high into the air, 

 with many small limbs distributed evenly along it. somewhat after the fashion 

 of onr eastern shagbark hickory. It is the "two-story" tree of Proiesor Bailey, ex- 

 tended. Of course many varieties do not lend themselves to this method of train- 

 ing ; but the aim in all cases is to get a high, thin-topped tree, so that the fruit 

 may receive as much of the color-giving sunshine as is possible in that land of 

 cloudy weather. 



On tlie eastern side of tlie Cascades, however, fruit trees .nre headed low. 

 because of the high winds prevailing in that region and because of the danger of 

 Injury from sun scald. The two extremes are 1 and 21A feet, and 18 inches 

 is the most common height for heading apple trees. The tops of the inland trees 

 are kept much thicker than those in the Coast Region and in the Atlantic States. 

 A very diffuse and spreading habit of growth is desired from the beginning. Every 

 effort is made to keep the trees close to the ground, and to shade the trunk. 

 One can easily trace a connection between this system and that so common in the 

 orchards of California where very similar, but intensified, conditions prevail. The 

 greater difficulty in tilling orchards of such low-headed trees is considered not 

 at all commensurate with tlie advantages gained in freedom from sun scald, less 

 liability of injury from high winds, and in the increased facility of harvesting 

 and spraying. It is rare that once can find within a few hundred miles of each 

 other such utterly dissimilar methods of horticultural practice as exist in north- 

 western fruit-growing. 



(.3.) Inscctm and Disraftc^. Like most otlier newly settled countries, the 

 Northwest was at first quite free from serious insect pests and diseases. On the 

 strength of this experience many of the early fruit-growers based the hopeful pre- 

 diction that fruit pests would never be serious in the Northwest, and called to 

 the aid of the argument certain peculiarities of climate which were supposed to 

 lie unfavorable to their development. In the hope that the Northwest could be 

 kept free from all the orchard pests so troublesome to eastern growers, stringent 

 Saws, which aim to exclude all diseased and infested nursery stock and fruit have 

 lieen passed. All nursery stock grown in the Northwest and all that is shipped 

 into the Northwest is supposed to be carefully inspected for injurious insects and 

 diseases before being planted. Since over two-thirds of all the nursery stock 

 planted in the Northwest comes from eastern nurserymen, the efforts of inspec- 

 tion forces have been directed thus far chiefly toward preventing infested eastern 

 stock from being planted. It should be said that many eastern nurserymen, who 

 have unblemished reputations for square dealing with their eastern patrons, some- 

 times ship very disreputable stock to their patrons in the far-away Northwest. 

 In "Wasliington. no firm is allowed to sell stock in the state without a license 

 from the Horticultural Commisioner. Every nurseryman who consigns stock to 

 this state must notify the Commissioner where it is going and when it will arrive. 

 The Commissioner then sends an inspector to examine the stock before it is 



