374 MISSOURI STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



pointed. By all means continue tlie good work so well begun hy 

 organizing a horticultural society, attend it regularly and discuss fully 

 all point of this important subject. Remember, that whatever pays for 

 doing- pays best when well done, and if you become weary, remember 

 ^'That they who never tire never rest, and they who never hunger no^ 

 feast enjoy." 



PRUNING FRUIT TREES. 



BY TV. R. LAUGHLIN. 



[Read before Holt County Horticultural Society, April 23, 1887.] 



From first to last the main object of pruning should be to prevent 

 the growth that is not wanted, rather than to cut it off after it has been 

 made. To so prevent is a saving of labor and of the vitality of the 

 trees. 



The shaping of the trees for the first two or three years is the 

 work of the nurseryman, but after that the owner must do the work 

 himself, or trust to such skill and judgment as he can hire. 



In the spring of 1882 I planted several hundred apple trees, three 

 years old, that had not been trimmed at all in the nursery. For five 

 years I have been doing my best to get them into proper shape, and on 

 a good many of them it has been a failure. I would not take another 

 lot of such trees as a gift. Buy no trees that have not been properly 

 shaped in the nursery. 



When you have purchased trees from the nursery, you will find 

 that the tree digger or the spade has made a rough job, leaving bruised 

 wood where the roots were cut off. Look over every tree and with a 

 sharp knife make a clean cut of the end of every root, and take off" say 

 one-third of each limb, cutting back to strong buds that point in the 

 right direction. Any man who is fit to grow trees for sale wiJl know 

 that varieties have naturally very dift'erent shapes and styles, and that 



