Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



June 



aatural upright habit. The ratio of the 



total pounds of marketable fruil during 

 four years was 100 — 88 in favor of the 

 trees which were allowed l<i assume 

 their natural shape. This only bears 

 out the practical advice of earlier hor- 

 ticultural writers. <>n the subject H. 

 Bailey writes as follows (The Pruning 

 Book, p. 150): "The most rational 

 pruning — when fruil and the welfare 

 of the plant are chief concerns — is that 

 which allows the plant to take its nat- 

 ural form, merely correcting its minor 

 faults here and there." Gardner (Ore- 

 gon Station Bulletin 130, p. 5(5, 1915) 

 favors the thinning out rather than the 

 heading in of apple branches for the 

 purpose of increasing the formation of 

 fruit spurs, under Oregon conditions. 



The summer-pruned plots 5 to 8, in- 

 clusive, show only a small amount of 

 variation well within the realm of 

 chance. The average of these plots 

 again fell below the Plots 1 and 2, 

 which were similarly pruned in the 

 dormant season only. The comparison 

 is as follows: Average pounds of fruit 

 per tree for four years on winter- 

 pruned plots — 1,055, summer-pruned 

 plots — 937 pounds, or a reduction of 

 112 pounds per tree. If the entire 

 orchard had been summer pruned it 

 would have caused an average produc- 

 tion in yield during the past four years 

 of 257 boxes per acre (this is based on 

 50 pounds of fruit per box; there are 

 115 trees per acre in the orchard under 

 consideration), or an average of (54 1 / 4 

 boxes per year. With the Gano variety 

 there was an increased yield on the un- 

 pruned Plot 9 of 101 pounds per tree 

 compared with Plots 1 and 2, which 

 were winter pinned. This is more than 

 offset, however, as will be seen later by 

 the difference in the quality of the fruit, 

 and the added cost in thinning. It will 

 be interesting to see whether the un- 

 pruned plot can continue its annual 

 large crop production and outyield the 

 pruned plots. Bedford (Woburn Exp. 

 Farm Bpt. 7, 1907) and Pickering re- 

 port that unpruned trees outyielded 

 pruned trees nearly three to one at the 

 end of twelve years' experimentation. 

 The unpruned piot averaged 219 pounds 

 per tree more for the four years than 

 the summer-pruned trees. This is 

 approximately a box per tree per year, 

 or a yearly reduction of 115 boxes per 

 acre, charged against his style of 

 pruning. 



It should be noted here that the 

 orchard under experimentation is far 

 from being an unproductive orchard. 

 The winter-pruned plots produced very 

 satisfactory commercial results. Sum- 

 mer pruning, therefore, was not under- 

 taken in an attempt to cause barren 

 trees to become fruitful, but rather to 

 test the value of summer pruning in 

 connection with winter pruning where 

 trees were already producing crops at 

 least equal to average of the region. 

 The color of the fruit on the several 

 plots has not varied materially, except 

 the unpruned Plot 9 has gradually be- 

 come slightly inferior concerning this 

 factor. This was most noticeable on 

 the lower limbs. During the season of 

 1914 the fruit on Plot 9 had only about 



70 per cent as much color as the other of thinning the fruit and improving the 



plots. This more than offset the in- color by opening up the dense growth 



crease in yield of this plot as compared of the tree, the moderate winter prun- 



with the pruned trees. No difference ing is advisable. 



whatever could be detected between The above results may apply only to 

 the color of the fruit on the summer- young, vigorous bearing apple trees of 

 pruned plots and those pruned only in the Jonathan and Gano varieties when 

 the winter. All of these trees had a planted on a rich, sandy loam, free 

 small percentage of sunburned fruit, from seepage, in semi-arid climate, with 

 but the crop as a whole was very evenly an abundance of irrigation water avail- 

 colored on all parts of the trees. The able. These varieties under the above 

 size of the fruit was largely equalized conditions show a tendency to over- 

 by thinning the several plots. It cost bear soon after reaching a productive 

 about 25 per cent less per tree to thin age, and are usually thinned; summer 

 the pruned trees than the unpruned pruning reduces the area of fruit-bear- 

 ones; the actual price being 20 cents ing wood, and the vitality and produc- 

 and 15 cents, respectively. As a means tivity of the tree. 



table I. 



Showing Average Yield of Jonathan Trees Under Different Methods of Pruning. 



f Average Yield Per Tree ., 



Yield Yield Yield Yield Tolal 



Plot Method of Pruning Hill 1912 1913 1911 Average 



lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 



1. Winter pruned only* 50 208 82 327 667 



2. Winter pinned and all suckers removed from tree 



during summer 37 150 69 389 6 15 



3. Winter pruned with excessive growth in top of tree 



removed to outside lateral limbs II 200 31 323 568 



4. Winter pruned, also summer pruned third week in 



June** 33 141 66 356 596 



5. Winter pruned, also summer pruned first week in July 41 141 50 281 513 



6. Winter pruned, also summer pruned third week in 



July 16 125 8 200 349 



7. Winter pruned, also summer pruned first week in 



August 16 116 32 'Ml 368 



8. Winter pruned, also summer pruned third week in 



August 20 112 57 312 501 



9. Unpruned 35 14: 59 342 577 



* All winter pruning done during February or March. 



•* Summer pruning consists of removing suckers and opening up dense growth. 



TABLE II. 

 Showing Average Yield of Gano Trees Under Different Methods of Pruning. 



r Average Yield Per Tree ^ 



Yield Yield Yield Yield Total 



Plot Method of Pruning 1911 1912 1913 1914 Average 



lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. lbs. 



1. Winter pruned only* 73 400 147 441 1061 



2. Winter pruned and all suckers removed from tree 



during summer 1"7 243 221 478 1019 



3. Winter pruned with excessive growth in top of tree 



removed to outside lateral limbs 78 243 117 497 965 



4. Winter pruned, also summer pruned third week in 



.Tune** .' 106 193 179 478 956 



5. Winter pruned, also summer pruned first week in July 93 225 165 470 953 

 fi. Winter pi lined, also summer pruned third week in 



July 100 131 22 1 120 875 



7. Winter pruned, also summer pruned first week in 



August 92 185 232 446 955 



8. Winter pruned, also summer pruned third week in 



August 81 175 251 138 948 



9. Unpruned 39 228 312 517 1156 



* All winter pruning done during February or March. 



** Summer pruning consists of removing suckers and opening up dense growth. 



Grafting Tardy Walnut Trees 



By Chas. L. McNary, Salem, Oregon 



THE culture of walnut trees for their to incite further investigation into this 



fruit in the adaptable portions of profitable field of labor, and to throw 



the Pacific Northwest has not reached such light upon the darkness of this 



the station where it may he said that question as my limited experiments 



nil problems confronting the grower have taught. 



have been satisfactorily solved. This An interested observer sojourning 



situation is mainly attributable to the through the country in the month of 



recentness of the industry and to the June, will have his or her attention 



indisputable fail that greater skill is arrested by the number of walnut trees 



required to produce superior walnuts in seedling groves that have the appear- 



than is necessary in the culture of most of lifelessness on account of their not 



fruits. By the f< nee of experiments and having entered the period of foliation, 



through observations covering a sub- This condition is frequently apparent 



stantial period <i! time, we have clearly in individual trees standing alone., yet 



demonstrated the practicability of wal- is more noticeable in cluster planting, 



nut growing in our Northwest country. Upon a close examination of these 



Mans factors affecting the' industry belated trees, you will discover that 



have been studied by enthusiastic in- they are not dead, but are sleeping, and 



vestigators, bid none more interesting if you will continue your observations, 



than the attempt to change the behavior you will notice that about July 1st, 



of a misbehaved tree by top working to these trees become aroused and then 



a scion taken from a perfectly behaved enter upon' I heir short season of 



tree. This article is therefore intended growth. Scarcely is it necessary to re- 



