200 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



You may take that mass of fine roots and spread them out as nicely 

 as you want to, and they will not make as good a growth as if they 

 had been cut back. 



Mr. Pearce: I want to speak one word in regard to that pruning 

 business. I believe I have set as many trees as any tnan in Minne- 

 sota. I want to give you a practical illustration. Two or three years 

 ago I had a lot of trees pitted, and the pocket gophers got into the 

 pit and ate the roots off; there was not a root on them. I cut off fhe 

 top a little and set them out, and those trees outgrew any others I 

 set out, and those trees produced more fruit than any trees I ever 

 planted — and a inan who does not practice root pruning makes a 

 great mistake. I will get four feet growth where he will get one. 

 That is the difference. There is no plant food two feet below the 

 surface for the roots to feed on, no matter how large you dig your 

 hole or how much you spread out your roots. Everything comes 

 from above. If you cut them off as short as two inches you get all 

 the substance there is intheground,andit will do no particle of good 

 to get them any deeper. Your tree will grow, and it will grow three 

 times faster than where the whole root is left on. It is an entirely 

 wrong idea. I trim everything, I trim everything short. I cut those 

 roots right square off. Then I get a healthy plant, and I get nice 

 roots. I do not want anybody to follow iny tracks, but I merely give 

 you luy idea; I tell you what I know. 



Mr. Elliot: I want to emphasize one idea that has been brought 

 out here. In years gone by we heard a good deal about the "long 

 haul" and the " short haul " on railroads, and people did not know 

 why freight rates should be so inuch higher for a short haul than 

 they were for a long haul. The point is this: in pruning those 

 roots a callous is formed, and new roots thrown out which immedi- 

 ately begin feeding and they have only a short distance to carr3' the 

 sap, whereas, if the roots were left long the sap must pass a long 

 way through the roots in order to sustain the life of the tree; and if 

 you will apply the principle right through you will find it is true 

 of all plants. 



Mr. Hirschinger, (Wisconsin): Mr. President, I am not from your 

 state, but with your perinission I want to say a few words. I 

 shall not have much to sa}'- about berries during my stay with you, 

 because I know more about apples than I do about berries, but I 

 think you have got things mixed a little. You started out to talk about 

 the blackcaps and pruning the blackcaps, and then you turned off on 

 apple trees and forest seedlings and other plants. You try to prove 

 that it is policy to prune an apple tree or a currant bush, and one 

 gentleman talked about cutting off all the roots to within two inches 

 of the stem so as to get plant food. He said that trees need plant 

 food. When you set that tree, can it get plant food any better if the 

 roots are two inches long than if they are two feet long? 



Mr. Pearce: There is no plant food two feet below the surface. 



Mr. Hirschinger: I am not talking about roots below, but run- 

 ning out. A currant bush will grow whether it has a root or not. I 

 have had a good deal to do with raspberry plants, and I have found 

 that whenever we get a good, strong root, that is, where the tips are 



