SUMMER MEETING AT LOUISIANA. 47 



j\Jr. Bailies — Suiuincr i)iunin<i;-, if severe, will invariably produce 

 black heart, whether the tree be large or small. When the winters 

 have been bad it will be worse. All severe pruning should be done in 

 the spring, when the sap is not flowing so rapidly. Severe pruning in 

 June takes away the evaporating surface, so that the sap sours. 



2Ir. Patterson — There is a time when the young wood is forming- 

 very rai)idly, and then limbs can be cut off safely, for the sap is thick 

 enough to form wood rapidly. Sometimes you can remove the bark, 

 and new bark will come in three days. Then it is safe to prune. 



J/r. Burrows — In removing bark we do not disturb the wood at 

 all. I have had good experience in girdling for fruit. If you injure or 

 disturb the wood new bark will not grow. 



Mr. Bajjles — We should be governed by the condition of the tree 

 we are pruning— we can not lay down rules as to the exact time. We 

 make a pruning in the spring, and then a second one when the sa]) is 

 descending in June or July. I go by the condition of the growing tip, 

 rather than by the length of the young shoot. 



J/r. Naclinger — I think no great amount of pruning should be done 

 in June, but water-sprouts should be removed. 



J/r. Goodman — Is there not a time in which we can prune large 

 branches from old trees without injuring them much.f 



Mr. Burrows — The last half of June is the best time to girdle trees 

 to induce fruiting. You may do this and in a week it will })egin to 

 turn green, and in from four to five weeks it will be tilled up with new 

 bark. We planted trees fifteen by thirty feet, and in gii'dling each 

 alternate tree we found the last half of June was the best time for 

 fruit. When the subject was brought up at the meeting of the Illinois 

 society, some doubted its efficacy. We had girdled 5,000 trees. When 

 Prof. Turner came to our orchards and saw these trees loaded with 

 fruit he said, it was worth going a thousand miles to see. That gird- 

 ling was done for the same reason as right pruning; to check the 

 growth of wood and induce fruiting. Tackle some of your Belle Flower 

 trees. We do not girdle two years in succession, which might check 

 too much. We have also girdled pears with good results. 



Mr. Evans — My experience in girdling is that it should be done 

 just about the time the trees are forming their terminal buds. This 

 time varies with tree, the season and the cultivation. We find trees 

 in the forest now that have made their years growth in length. 



Society adjourned until 7 P. m. 



