Il8 THE AMERICAN PEACH ORCHARD 



be brought around for a few years of profitable busi- 

 ness. 



Efforts should first be directed to cleaning up the 

 ground and putting the soil under a good system of 

 clean cultivation. The trees should then be moder- 

 ately headed back, the pruning following rather 

 closely the lines suggested above for the treatment 

 of frozen trees. A severe spraying campaign should 

 follow, directed toward the subjugation of scale and 

 other insects and the elimination of fungus diseases. 

 This work can usually be begun in the fall or the 

 winter. Profitable results should show within two 

 years. Two or three market crops, however, are all 

 that any man should expect to receive from any 

 orchard saved from a term of serious neglect or ex- 

 perience of severe winter freezing. 



PRUNING TOOLS 



Probably the best of all pruning tools is the 

 human hand. The important work of summer prun- 

 ing can be very largely accomplished with it alone ; 

 and if the workman finds it a trifle wearing on his 

 bare palms, he can put on a pair of coarse gloves 

 such as western cornhuskers wear. Then the work 

 will go as easily as any labor ought to. 



Next to the original implement the best pruning 

 tool is the hand shears. These are made in various 

 sizes and at various prices, but the shears of medium 

 weight and very best manufacture are best. At 

 least it does not pay to buy the cheap hand shears 

 sometimes offered in the department stores. 



Larger shears to be operated with two hands are 

 sometimes convenient. More generally useful, 

 however, is the tool known in all the catalogs as a 

 pole pruner. This has a handle in the form of a 



