320 State Board of AGnicuLTuiti;, &.c. 



giving an occasional dressing of manure as the trees require 

 it. In orehard culture it must be remembered thattl)c reots 

 fill the whole surface of the soil. That the small fibrous 

 roots whicli take up ])lant food are at a great distance from 

 tlic body of the tree. Consequently the ap])lication of 

 manure about the trunk of the tree can do but little irood. 

 Fertilizing material should be apjdied broadcast over the 

 \vliolc surface, and worked in with the cultivator. In culti- 

 vating an orchard, extreme care must bo exercised that the 

 roots are not injured by deep plowing, or the bodies of the 

 trees mangled and bruised by the carelessness of the work- 

 men. 



Pruning is a portion of the sul)ject upon which there is an 

 almost endless variety of theories and practices. All admit 

 that pruning is necessary. But consult fruit growers, or 

 men who have written upon the subject, and note their 

 replies. The first will tell you to prune any time M'hen 

 your saw is sharp, never when it is dull. This advice has 

 the advantage of being partly right, for we never should 

 prunu with a dull saw. The next will tell you that there 

 are fifty-two days in the year on which tree pruning should 

 not be done, viz. : the fifty-two Sundaj-s. One will advise 

 to prune in the fall ; another in March; another in June; 

 60 that there is probably no month in the year that has not 

 been recommended I)y somebody as being the the vci-y best 

 time to prune fruit trees, and each has given his I'casons. 

 Now in view of all this diversity of pra(;tice and contradic- 

 tion of theory, it is not strango if the novico finds himself 

 in a haze of bewilderment, and from fear that he \\ill go 

 wrong, leaves his ])i-uniug entirely undone. 



