ON PRUNING APPLE ORCHARDS 



421 



ed, and the fruit never attains its highest 

 flavor. * * # 



" In this climate, some varieties of apples, 

 are damaged by smutty spots on the skin, 

 (lichens) which prevent the parts so cover- 

 ed from growing as fast as the rest of the 

 fruit, &c. * * * * For this defect the 

 remedy is careful trimming." 



The above is extracted from an article in 

 the Ohio Cultivator of March 1st, last, and 

 gives the old doctrine of tree trimming, 

 which has been repeated in every book and 

 every paper, on the subject of trimming 

 "Fruit Trees," which has come under our 

 notice. A doctrine, the correctness of which 

 appears to be taken for granted, in conse- 

 quence of being so often reinforced, though, 

 we think, without proper examination. And 

 if accident had not satisfied us of its incor- 

 rectness, we should, no doubt, have been a 

 believer to this day. 



Some sixteen years since, we planted a 

 small orchard of grafted fruit. Expecting to 

 be absent for some years, we left in charge of 

 the man who had the care of our home in- 

 terest, the most approved pruning knife, 

 with directions how to use it, and an urgent 

 request that pruning itself should not be neg- 

 lected. But the knife was soon lost, and 

 the trees permitted to grow as nature direct- 

 ed. When we returned to take charge of 

 our orchard, the trees were too far advanced 

 — the limbs too large to be cut and slayed, 

 so they grew as they were wont, " without 

 let or hindrance." 



If we understand the doctrine of the above 

 extract, under the circumstances we could 

 look for nothing but small and poorly fla- 

 vored fruit; but the direct opposite is the fact. 

 We challenge the country to produce larger 

 and better flavored apples. We do not say it 

 boastingly, but for the purpose of gathering 



raising the best fruit in the neighborhood,and 

 that too on trees which were never trimmed. 



Three years ago, this past autumn, we 

 had about 160 barrels of the largest and fin- 

 est apples, as the product of about one acre 

 of ground, besides some hundred bushels 

 which had fallen from the trees, which were 

 not marketed, but were used in the shape of 

 sauce, dried apples and cider. The fruit 

 was fair, and free from blemishes ; and 

 what was remarkable, the apple crop in this 

 vicinity, the same season, was very imper- 

 fect. There were apples enough, but they 

 were small, wormy, and blemished. Our 

 neighbor, J. R. who is a good producer of 

 fruit, informed us that he would not have 

 five barrels of merchantable apples in his 

 orchard that season, owing to the defects 

 here named, yet his trees were trimmed in 

 the ordinary way. The last fall we had 

 about 150 barrels of apples, off" the same 

 lot, of superb fruit, and our orchard was 

 freer from the bitter rot, which so greatly 

 afflicted the orchards in this quarter, than 

 any one we noticed. 



But do not mistake us to argue that our 

 fruit was thus excellent, simply because our 

 trees were never trimmed. All we mean 

 to say, is, thai trimming does not increase 

 either the size or quality of the apples, but 

 that these qualities are to be secured by 

 other means of culture. However, we are 

 now of opinion, that apples will be more 

 perfect on untrimmed trees, all things else 

 being equal, than they will be on trees Irim,' 

 vied in the ordinary way. [That is to say 

 badly trimmed. — Ed.] 



Our orchard is located on a good speci- 

 men of white oak clay soil, which has a 

 tendency to send vegetation more to ear 

 than stalk — trees planted 22 feet apart. 

 The ground was kept in corn for a number 



instruction, that we have the reputation of [of years after they were planted, manuring 



