I 



THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK 



left between each pair of branches on the trunk, the idea being 

 that a much stronger tree will result. Where the branches are 

 close together they pull against each other, so that often under a 

 load of fruit or of ice and snow they often break down. Par- 

 ticularly bad cases of this kind are afforded by those nursery 

 trees that arrive with two evenly developed branches or what 

 will in time become trunks. Sometimes more than two are found. 

 I have seen one tree with eleven branches starting upward from 

 one point. Ruin is ahead for all such trees ; for when a branch 

 breaks down close to the trunk the tree is sadly weakened and in 

 time will break again at this point. 



Y-crotches, as these cases are called, may be treated in three 

 ways : the inferior of the two branches may be removed entirely 

 and at once ; it may be cut back to a rather long stub which is 

 to be cut off a year or so later; or in case the tree has made 

 several years' growth before the Y has been noticed a living 

 brace of wood may be developed between the two arms of the Y. 

 This is easily done by braiding two twigs from opposites sides of 

 the Y and fastening them so that as they develop they naturally 

 graft themselves together. Such cases are makeshifts; they 

 serve their purpose well but are inferior to the removal of one 

 of the branches while young. 



The tools to use while the trees are small are the pruning knife 

 and the hand shears. For the amateur the knife is to be pre- 

 ferred because if sharp it makes a superior cut. The shears are 

 best for the commercial orchadist because of the greater speed 

 with which work may be done. Points to look for in the former 

 are good steel, and thickness of the blade which should taper 

 from back to edge without becoming thin quickly. The edge, 

 while it should be always maintained sharp, should come to this 

 edge by a rather blunt angle, the idea being to keep the cutting 

 edge as thick as possible so as to avoid making notches in the 

 blade. A thin-bladed knife may be ruined in a few minutes, 

 whereas one with a thick blade may be used much more severely 

 and yet be uninjured even after years of service. 



Shears should always have narrow points so they may be 

 pushed into even narrow quarters, which blunt shears cannot. 

 They should have handles that may be reversed in the hand so as 



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