CARE OF TREES AND PLANTS. 239 



Many thousands of trees are annually lost from the depre- 

 dations of rabbits, and trees can be protected at a less cost 

 than 1 cent per tree. 



PRUNING. 



While the commercial orchardist will commence work dur- 

 ing the sunny days of December, because he has so many 

 trees, it will take the whole winter to prune his orchard, yet 

 the farmer or planter who has only a family orchard should 

 defer pruning until March, the reason therefor being- that if 

 pruning is done just before active circulation of sap starts 

 in the spring, the cut surface dries and checks less and the 

 wound heals over more quickly. 



In pruning, in the case of young trees, start the tree with a 

 sufficient number of branches to make a rather open head. 

 From season to season prune sufficiently to keep the head of 

 the tree well balanced and reasonably open. A tree with an 

 open head can be sprayed more thoroughly than when the 

 tree is allowed to grow at will. It is usual to cut out the 

 suckers or water sprouts, the dead wood, and the broken 

 branches. 



It should be remembered that the cherry tree requires very 

 little pruning. The cherry is more sensitive to the loss of 

 wood or the cutting away of any portion of its top than other 

 varieties of fruit trees and rarely requires more pruning than 

 to remove the branches which interfere wath each other by 

 crossing. 



Plum trees require comparatively little pruning. In the 

 case of young trees, shorten in the strongest shoots which out- 

 grow the others to the extent of unbalancing the form and 

 symmetry of the tree. 



Considerable amount of pruning might be done in the 

 month of June, if there were at that season of the year time 

 for the work. The average planter, however, finds the season 

 crowded so full of duties that lie must prune in winter or not 

 at all. 



