16 FEUIT GROWING FOR HOME USE IN THE GREAT PLAINS. 



Yearbook Papm.— No. 50, Pear Blight: Its Cause and Prevention; No. 386, The 

 Principal Insect Eneriiies of the Peach; No. 433, Lime-Sulphur Washes for the San 

 Jose Scale; No. 4G0, The Codling Moth or Apple Worm; No. 480, Information about 

 Sprajdng for Orchard Insects. 



These publications are all for free distribution and may be secured 

 upon application to the Secretary of Agriculture. 



PRUNING. 



A great many of the fruit trees now growing in the region in ques- 

 tion are in serious need of judicious pruning. The chief fault at 

 present is that too many branches have been allowed to grow and 

 the tops of the trees have become too brushy. They have not been 

 kept sufficiently open for the best results. 



Of course the other extreme is also accompanied by serious results. 

 The top must not be too open. If large limbs, and especially the 

 trunks, are exposed to the direct rays of the sun, "sun scald," as the 

 splitting of the bark in the spring is usually called, will often occur. 

 This will greatly injure the tree. 



It is difficult to give specific directions for pruning, as every tree 

 presents its own problems and difficulties. But with the objects of 

 pruning and the dire results of both extremes fully in mind, a desir- 

 able mean sliould not be difficult to reach. 



The aim should be to cut out all branches that cross or in any way 

 interfere with others that are more important and to thin out the tops 

 enougli to keep them comparatively open for tlie admission of air and 

 sunlight. Where a vigorously growing tree is allowed to go year after 

 year with no pruning, the limbs that compose the top become much 

 crowded. The struggle for existence grows so intense that only weak, 

 poorly nourished buds develop. 



If the orchard is looked over every year during the winter or early 

 spring and such branches removed as may be necessary to meet the 

 ends in view, very little pruning will need to be done in any one year. 

 Only rarely will there be occasion to remove large limbs. 



In pruning the first year to form the head of the tree it will often 

 be possible to leave branches which will effectively shade the trunk 

 from the sun, especially if the tree is headed quite near the ground. 

 Tliis will make possible the development of an open-headed tree 

 without danger of any serious secondary results. Leaning the tree 

 toward ''the afternoon sun" when it is set out, as previously sug- 

 gested, will also reduce the danger of injury which might result if the 

 tops were made too open at any time. 



Another reason for thinning out the tree tops as much as is consist- 

 ent with their healthfulness and crop-producing capacity is its rela- 

 tion to the soil moisture. This feature is generally overlooked in this 

 semiarid rop;ion. Within certahi limits the more branches there are 



[Cir. 51J 



