December, 1921 



BETTER FRUIT 



Page 11 



Elemental Treatise on Pruning the Apple 



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I Here ami there a man u/io starts | 



I to read I his detailed discussion of the | 



I subject of pruning the apple tree is | 



I likely to say: "Nothing in this for | 



i me — / know all this already." Grant- | 



I ing that he spoke the truth, this | 



I magazine is amply justified in run- | 



I ning the article for its value to the I 



I manv nezc subscribers it is aluays | 



I gathering — many of them, perhaps \ 



i iiezv in the apple-grouing game. % 



I Hozvez'er, so7ne of ike things here | 



I presented are fundamental and, as | 



I such, cannot too often be reiterated | 



I and borne in upoti ez>en the experi- | 



I enced apple grower. The article | 



I deals quite fully with pruning in all \ 



I its relations to production of a max' \ 



I imuin of sound fruit. It has also the \ 



I merit of being written in plain, un- I 



I derstandable language. \ 



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L'T'NTIL recent years, in fact until 

 I the advent of commercial orchard- 

 ^ ing about the middle of the nine- 

 teenth century, popular opinion was adverse 

 to pruning on the ground that it was un- 

 natural and caused the plant to suffer from 

 shock and loss of vitality. Pruning cannot 

 cause shock as the plant has no nerves; and 

 the practise is natural for nature prunes 

 most relentlessly. Look at the forest tree. 

 What became of the thousands of buds and 

 small growth which once existed along its 

 naked trunk and branches during the early 

 stages of development? There was a con- 

 stant struggle for existence, each individual 

 twig or branch striving for light, space and 

 nourishment. As the competition became 

 keener one after another was forced to suc- 

 cumb. There is a survival of the fittest. 

 This is nature's way of pruning. 



Effect of Pruning on Vitality — There 

 is an exact balance between the feeding ca- 

 pacity of the plant and the superficial 

 growth. The larger the food supply the 

 larger the top. If part of the top is removed 

 there is an endeavor to supply the defi- 

 ciency by a very rapid growth. The loss 

 of tissue is of no consequence and does not 



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Prepared bt/ Staff Writer 



reduce the vitality, unless the nutrition of 

 the tree is injured; but greatly increases 

 the vigor by concentrating the almost con- 

 stant food supply into the fewer remaining 

 branches. The nutrition of the tree may 

 be injured by such severe pruning as to re- 

 move an excessive amount of leaf surface. 

 The leaves serve to combine the soil solu- 

 tions and the carbon of air into sugars and 

 starches which form the plant's food. The 

 removal therefore of the greater part of the 

 leaf surface will interfere to some extent 

 with the vitality of the plant by preventing 

 a sufficient amount of elaborated food from 

 being formed and distributed over the plant. 

 Reasons for Pruning — The purposes of 

 pruning should be throughlv understood 

 before one can hope to prune intelligently 

 or attain the best results. It is better to un- 

 derstand the reasons and purposes than to 

 know the rules of pruning. In fact, no set 

 rules can be made, because the purposes of 

 pruning and the conditions under which to 

 prune .are so varied that each tree becomes a 



special problem. Get the interests of the 

 tree thoroughly in mind, study the reasons 

 and effects of pruning; and have an ideal 

 toward which to work. 



Prof. Wickson of California gives the 

 practical purposes to be served in pruning as 

 lollows: "(A) Convenience of the grower, 

 (B) Health and strength of the tree, (C) 

 Regulation of heat and light, (D) Attain- 

 ment of size in fruit, (E) Attainment of 

 strong bearing wood, (F) Promotion of 

 regular bearing." 



Convenience — Low headed trees where 

 most of the work is done from the ground, 

 are most quickly, cheaply, and efficiently 

 handled in all the orchard operations of 

 pruning, spra^'ing, fruit thinning and pick- 

 ing. The lower the fruit can be grown, 

 }'et not interfering with cultivation, the 

 more profitable it is. One often hears it 

 said, "There is no profit in fruit which 

 cannot be reached from a ten foot ladder." 

 This profit line is apt to be quite low in 

 times of close competition and every effort 



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