254 BOAED OF AGRICULTUKE. 



unfortunate and receive little or no training, we may expect poor fruit, 

 and such will we get. 



No good teacher will lose sight of his scholar after graduating, but 

 will do whatever is required by giving advice and looking after his wel- 

 fare that the fruit will still be more and more abundant as he grows 

 older and ))econies established. 



The first ten years of an apple tree should be spent in preparing it 

 for later fruitfulness, and we will begin in its babyhood. First year: 

 Trim off all l)ranches except one straight shoot, being careful to keep it 

 straight and thrifty (or like Topsey, it may be left just to grow). Second 

 year: Allow one leader to grow up, being careful to allow no side 

 branches to grow beyond it; in order to allow the body of the tree to be- 

 come stocky, most of the side branches should be allowed to remain on 

 until late in the summer, when they should come off within fifteen to 

 eighteen inches above the ground. The remainder should be left on until 

 late in the winter,, then trim straight whip and top l)ack within forty 

 inches above ground. Third year: You now have a tree with straight 

 stick forty inches high: allow eight to ten branches to start from the top 

 of this stub and keep all other branches oft' by rubbing with gloves while 

 yet tender; with these eight to ten branches allow one to grow beyond the 

 others to act as leader. Select four to six evenly balanced branches 

 around the tree and cut off thg remainder, so at the end of the third year 

 you have a tree five to seven feet high, three-fourths to one inch in 

 diameter; stem of the tree, thirty to thirty-six inches from ground to 

 branches; roots, fibrous, healthy, and evenly divided around base of tree, 

 and it is ready to plant in the orchard. 



Before planting there are many things the orchardist should know in 

 order to intelligently give the tree its best training. 



Winter pruning pi'oduces growth while summer pruning retards 

 growth. A scar made in pruning will heal more quickly if made just be- 

 fore the tree begins its growth in the spring or while it is gi-owing. No 

 sear of any size should be left exposed to the air, but should be coated 

 over with some substance that will exclude the air and not he injurious 

 to the tree; I believe lead paint to be the best all round dressing. 



All main branches should be kept pruned back in the first few years so 

 as to form good, stout, stocky wood that will Ijear up the fruit when 

 loaded. 



Air and light should circulate unretarded by too heavy foliage that 

 fruit buds may form and fruit properly mature; and to obtain this the 

 head must be evenly balanced. 



Bearing this in mind you take the tree from the nursery ready to 

 transplant, and as we are not advocates of the string-fellow method we 

 would say that the average tree from the niu-sery has had the roots 

 pruned enough, but we take a sharp knife and cut off all bruised or 

 broken roots, leaving a clean cut scar: the top should be cut back one- 



