650 Mr. Spencer U. Pickering [Feb. 21, 



another plantation where 117 different varieties of apples are grown, 

 fonr trees on the one stock, and fonr on the other ; in each case one 

 half of them have been pruned lightly, and one half heavily, and in 

 both cases the crops from the latter have been less than one half of 

 those from the former. [Slide shown.] 



What has surprised us is that the heavier crops in these cases have 

 not been accompanied by any serious diminution in the size of the 

 individual fruits ; there has been some diminution, which would 

 mean a reduction in the market value of the produce, but not nearly 

 enough to counterbalance the great increase in the total weight of 

 the crop. 



It is thus established as a fundamental principle, that the less 

 pruning there is, the more will a tree grow, and the more fruit will 

 it bear. But this does not mean that we should dispense with prun- 

 ing altogether. The chief object in training a young tree is to make 

 it sturdy and well shaped, so that it will be capable of bearing a 

 heavy crop when it comes to full maturity ; to effect this, the extension 

 of the branches must be checked so as to give the stem and main 

 branches time to fill out, and occasionally a branch will have to be 

 removed altogether, either to admit light and air into the tree, or to 

 prevent it rubbing against other branches. To what extent this 

 pruning should be carried, and for how long it should be continued, 

 must depend on the habit of the tree. The instance which has already 

 been shown of an unpruned tree, where the absence of pruning had 

 very little injured the shape and sturdiness of the tree, is that of a 

 variety which is a strong grower and does not bear heavy crops in its 

 youth ; but a similar treatment of a weak grower and precocious 

 bearer produces very different results [Slide shown] ; the branches are 

 all bent out of shape, and, when loaded with fruit, much of this will 

 be on the ground or whipped off by the wind. Instances such as this 

 may be seen in nearly any farm orchard throughout the country ; 

 but examples of over-pruning are almost as general, and are to be 

 found in most private gardens, where the stunted trees throw out 

 every year thickets of twigs, serving no other purpose than that of 

 feeding the bonfire. [Slide shown.] The proper amount of pruning 

 in each individual case, can only be determined by common sense 

 and experience, the guiding principle being to reduce this pruning 

 so far as is consistent with the formation of a sturdy well-shaped tree. 



Besides the annual branch-pruning there are other operations in- 

 cluded under the term pruning, but the only one to which I can 

 now allude is root-pruning. In this the roots are unearthed and cut 

 back, with the view to increasing the fruitfulness of the tree. The 

 check which such an operation gives to the growth is very severe, 

 and if carried to excess, will kill the tree entirely. [Slides shown.] 

 It is evidently one which should be undertaken only under very 

 exceptional circumstances, such as where the tree is showing rampant 

 growth, and will neither flower nor fruit. We hear little of root- 



