906 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



PRUNING. 



After apple trees are properly planted, but little 

 pruning will be required for about five years. The 

 trees having been given the right form at the time of 

 planting, will require only a branch to be taken out 

 from time to time, that inclines to grow toward or 

 across the centre. A study of the future form of the 

 tree will enable one to see when a branch is putting out 

 in a place where it should not be allowed to grow. 



The only pruning tool required for the first five 

 years after planting is a pocket pruning knife. If, due 

 to neglect during the early stages, large branches have 

 to be taken off later, there is not only too much shock 

 given to the tree, but it is exposed to bacterial troubles 

 by way of which diseases are introduced, shortening 

 the life of the tree and reducing its value. When 

 young trees are continuously pruned they are stimulat- 

 ed in making growth of wood, and the bearing of fruit 

 is deferred. Where but little pruning is done, fruit 

 spurs will begin to form on the lower parts or branches 

 of the trees, and orchards will come into profitable 

 bearing several years sooner than where constant an- 

 nual pruning is done. 



Allow practically all of the wood to grow, up to five 

 years, then begin gradually to take out entire branches 

 so as to give the right form. Fruit spurs will begin to 

 form, but a few specimens onlv of fruit should be al- 

 lowed to remain and mature during the first two or 

 three years. 



Each year more fruit spurs will come out, when the 

 trees will begin to steadily increase in bearing tend- 

 ency and capacity. Removing wood in annual prun- 

 ing stimulates an excessive growth which retards the 

 bearing period. 



Under this system of light pruning during the first 

 five years after planting, the writer has taken nine 

 bushel-boxes or three full-barrels of apples from indi- 

 vidual trees, in the seventh year. 



For economy of operating, in spraying, thinning and 

 picking the fruit, low trees are better than high ones. 

 The leaders should be cut back once in two or three 

 years to prevent the trees from growing too high. 

 Give an outward form to the tree rather than too much 

 of the upward. 



Prune the lower branches to give them an upward 

 growth — prune back their ends and cut oft' all branches 

 that incline to grow downward from the under side of 

 the lower branches. This will give strength to the low 

 branches near the body of the tree and help to keep 

 them up from the ground. 



Under this system of pruning, there is no more diffi- 

 culty in cultivating low headed trees than in those 

 started with high heads, for the branches hold up well 

 and are made strong and heavy, close to the bodv of 

 the tree. In pruning, a fine narrow saw should be 

 used, one that will make a smooth cut. Prune close to 

 the main branch. Do not leave stubs one or two inches 

 long. They will not heal and are attacked by bacteria 

 which produce disease, making short lived trees. Paint 

 every wound that is over one-half an inch in diameter. 

 Any kind of paint will answer, although disinfecting 

 paints may now be procured. 



After the trees come into free bearing not much 

 pruning will be required, as growth of wood will be 

 checked, and branches will then be carried outward 

 and downward by the weight of the apples, where the 

 sun will reach all parts of the tree and give the fruit 

 good color. 



Cut down and make the tops of trees as even and 

 level as possible. It is on the long shoots in the tops 



of the trees that the San Jose scale spreads, and these 

 are difficult to reach in spraying. 



The rest of the tree may be well sprayed but the few 

 live scales left on the tall shoots, breed and descend, 

 and by picking time a large number of apples will be 

 marked by them. Prune the tops down to a level when 

 this loss will be prevented. 



A good pruner needs to be somewhat of an artist or 

 architect. He must have a sense of form and be able 

 to keep in mind an ideal of the future shape of the 

 tree that will result from the pruning to be done in a 

 period of five or ten years, during which time the tree 

 is being given proper form, that is to last for a century 

 or more of time. 



In pruning dwarf-trees, start the branches down 

 within sixteen inches of the ground and keen the tops 

 down. Allow Paradise trees to reach ten feet in height 

 only, and Doucin not above eighteen feet. Cut back 

 the annual growth one-half, and thin out the branches 

 so as to have the trees well opened, that the stm may 

 shine on all parts of the foliage and fruit. 



Pruning as late as possible — the last of ]\Iay — will 

 have a tendency to check the growth somewhat and 

 keep the tree more easih- dwarfed. Pruning when the 

 trees are dormant — in the winter — will promote 

 growth, but when done late in the spring even after 

 the foliage has come out, will check excessive growth 

 of wood, whicli with dwarf trees is necessary. 



SPRAYING. 



\^'ith the great increase of insects and of tree and 

 plant diseases, spraying for their control has become 

 a necessity and is now a regular part of orchard work. 



It becomes quite necessary to understand the object 

 of spraying — when — with what — and how it should be 

 done. 



There are two purposes for which spraying is done 

 — one, for the control of insects, the other to eradicate 

 disease. There are two types of insects, each of which 

 requires different treatment. One is known as chew- 

 ing insects — those having cutting jaws and which eat 

 — the other known as sucking insects — those that pierce 

 the foliage or bark of trees and suck the sap from them. 

 As the first type eats, poisons are used in spraying. 

 For the second type, oil emulsions and caustic prep- 

 arations are used, which are brought in contact with 

 the bodies of the insects. The Aphides or plant lice, 

 which are of the sucking class, breathe through open- 

 ings upon their bodies, and in spraying oily substances 

 over them, their breathing places are closed and they 

 are destroyed. The San Jose scale is one of the most 

 serious insect pests of the apple, and belongs to the 

 sucking class. 



In these sprayings great thoroughness must be exer- 

 cised. Every part of the tree must be covered with the 

 mixtures. The San Jose scale crawls out to the tips 

 or ends of the branches and if these are not reached, 

 they will hatch during the season, crawl down upon 

 the lower parts of the trees, and before picking time 

 both the branches and fruit will be covered. 



There are several generations of the scale that in- 

 crease in a ten-fold ratio, and one pair in the spring 

 will be the progenitors of over 3,000,000 in a single 

 season. 



THINNING THE FRUIT. 



To maintain an orchard to a high degree of produc- 

 tivity it is most essential to conserve the productive 

 forces of the trees. With the soil liberally supplied 

 with plant food necessary to maintain annual growth 

 of wood and regular production of fruit, supplemented 



