Winter Meeting. 225 



of the day, which will be of no disadvantage to them. Of course, 

 the trees should be examined spring and fall for worms ; but keep- 

 ing the ground clean is the best safeguard against borers. 



Thus far I have said nothing about pruning. But this I regard 

 as one of the most important matters connected with the care of an 

 orchard. So far as my experience and observation goes, it has been 

 "no pruning, no profit." But pruning, like cultivation, should be- 

 gin in the nursery. No tree should be allowed to grow in the nur- 

 sery with a fork. If there are two leading stems, one of them 

 should be cut off. When the trees come from the nursery they 

 should be straight stems, 41/2 or 5 feet high, with a few side 

 branches, not nearer than 21/2 or 3 feet to the ground. These side 

 branches should not come out in a cluster around the stem, but 

 should be scattered at intervals of 21/2 to 4 or 5 inches around the 

 stem or leading branch, and there should always be a leading branch 

 or head. If the side branches are inclined to start in a cluster 

 around the main stem, with a sharp knife prune some of them off 

 close to the stem, being careful not to leave two branches directly 

 opposite each other. I always expect to have to go over these trees 

 in a year or two and trim them still higher. 



If the tree forks a short way up and is inclined to send up two 

 leading stems close together, I cut off one, leaving the more upright 

 of the two. In this way I avoid the danger of having the trees split 

 when they come into bearing. When the trees are five or six years 

 old, the trunks should be from 31/2 to 41/2 feet from the ground to 

 the first limb, and the limbs should start from the trunk at such an 

 angle that the teams, in plowing, etc., can get around under the 

 trees without injuring the limbs. I have always found that in 

 bearing the limbs are inclined to get nearer the ground, and fre- 

 quently a lower limb would have to be removed, because an upper 

 limb would come down and shade it too much. 



The theory of cutting back a young tree to make it "head low" 

 has always seemed to me an absurd one. If you want a long-lived, 

 productive tree, give it room ; train it by cutting off useless branches 

 and cultivate it so as to make it grow and develop. 



If a tree is cut back so as to make it "head low," and you keep 

 it low, you make a shrub of it and not a tree, and you cannot expect 

 it to produce like a tree. Besides, if you cut back a young tree, 

 it usually puts up several sprouts, which shoot out and make a lot 

 of fine poles, fully as tall as an ordinary apple tree grows, when 

 allowed plenty of room. The tree theory is, to give the young tree 

 plenty of room, and then it will be inclined to spread and grow no 



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