PRUNING IN THE SPRING * 



J. m'p. ROSS, TORONTO. 



1DO net know any gardening oiDeration 

 that gives as much pleasure to the re- 

 l^cotive mind as pruning. Every bud has 

 an individuahty of its own, as it contains the 

 dupHcate of the stem or brauch it is on. No 

 brancli should be removed without a reason, 

 and the trained horticulturist can see at a 

 glance why such and such a limb should be 

 cut back or thinned out. The pleasure 

 comes in feeHng that your work is done un- 

 derstandingly. 



Priming is identical with cultivating. As 

 the gardener hoes out the weeds betw'eeii the 

 rows and thins the plants in the row for the 

 purpose of giving sun and air to those that 

 are left, knowing that when they are de- 

 veloped they will require all the space 

 left, so the intelligent pruner thins out the 

 branches on the shrub, vine or tree so as to 

 allow the sun and air to benefit the fruit. 

 By the removing of the surplus growth he 

 sends the sap that would have otherw'ise 

 gone to supply branch, leaf and fruit into 

 the remaining branches, foliage and fruit, 

 making sturdier branches, larger foliage 

 and finer fruit. 



It is a great pleasure to the pruner when 

 'he comes to a tree or bush that is full of 

 wood, misshapen and neglected, to put it 

 into proper shape, that is, to have the 

 branches nearly balanced all round, to prune 

 so as to leave the stems or branches all about 

 the same dimensions; if the growth is too 

 much to one side to shorten that well back, 

 thus sending the sap to the weaker side. 



We prune to produce form, to produce 

 fruitfulness and to restrain fruitfulness. To 

 produce fruitfulness summer pinching is 

 practised. When a tree is growing luxu- 

 riantly and not fruiting the reason is that 

 the roots are revelling in rich soil with 

 abundant food and sending up sap so freely 

 that it is simply making wood. To check 

 this, when the young shoots are, sav, six 

 inches long, nip the end off with the fingers. 



This checks the growth and induces the tree 

 to form fruit buds which will fruit next 

 year. Bending the branches down by tying 

 on weights is another system. Any method 

 will answer that retards the sap. Root prun- 

 ing is also effectual. This is done by 

 digging a trench around the tree and cutting 

 the leading roots with the spade, which is 

 almost akin to transplanting. This gener- 

 ally results in throwing the tree into fruit 

 bearing. Going over the tree when in full 

 growth and pinching back the leading shoots 

 two or three times is the most effectual. 



Some seasons are so cold and wet when 

 the trees are in bloom that the bees and in- 



Gooseberry Untrimmed 



sects cannot fly, and the blossoms are not 

 fertilized, and sometimes late frosts are rea- 

 sons for loss of fruit. 



OVER PRODUCTION. 



To restrain over production of fruit prune 

 the limbs hard back. This removing of the 

 wood leaves fewer buds on the tree, and 

 when they grow^ having more sap to draw 

 on they produce larger leaves to draw the 

 sap, inducing a healthier, thriftier growth- 

 all round the tree, entirely renewing the 

 wood. Old trees exhausted by bearing can 

 thus be renewed into bountiful growth and 

 a new' lease of life of fruit hearing. 



Very few flowering shrubs should be 

 trimmed at this time of year, but should be 



* A paper read at the April meeting of the Toronto HorticuUural Society. 



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