FRUIT CULTURE. 



185 



will be likely to come to grief in af high wind 

 or under a big load of fruit. The branches 

 should be taken alternately so as to allow 

 the strain to be divided and not to fall on 

 the main crotch. See Fig. 19. 



The head should start about four feet and 

 a-half from the ground, Figs. 20 and 21 

 showing the shortening back process of a 

 young tree which had got too tall. 



During the first summer's growth, if 

 proper care is exercised and undesirable 

 shoots pinched off, the tree (Fig. 19) will, 

 by the fall, be like Fig. 22, which may be 

 considered a well formed head. When the 

 general shape of the top has got well estab- 

 lished, and this should be done by the end 

 of the first three years, all the pruning re- 

 quired will be the removal of limbs that cross 

 or rub each other, or that make the head of 

 the tree too dense. The best time for prun- 

 ing in Ontario is probably at the close of the 

 winter, and just before the sap starts. By 

 systematic work, as suggested, a sharp knife 

 will do all the pruning, and the tree will be 

 spared the shock of losing large 

 limbs. It is necessary, however, 

 sometimes to take off good-sized 

 branches, and there is a right way 

 and a wrong way of accomplishing 

 such work. The wrong way — of- 

 ten practised — is to saw off the limb, 

 leaving a stub of wood sometimes 

 several inches long. Without go 

 ing too deeply into this question 

 may be said briefly that the healin 

 of a wound is entirely dependent on 

 the flow of the cambium, or sap, 

 layer. The following illustrations 

 from Prof. Bailey's excellent pub- 

 lication, "The Pruning Book," will 

 point the moral and adorn the tale. 

 A limb removed as in Fig. 23, sim- 

 ply means the existence of a dead 

 stub, through the base of which rot 

 is likely to attack the tree. Fig. 

 24, where the limb is cut close to 



the tree, shows that the healing process from 

 the flow of the cambium layer is rapidly tak- 

 ing place. Large limbs should be removed 

 just before growth begins, and the wounds 

 should be coated with paint. But, most im- 

 portant of all, " the cut should always be made 

 close to, and perfectly even ivith, the outline 

 of the trunk, without regard to the size of the 

 ivound made. " 



CULTIVATIOX OF THE ORCHARD. In the 



chapter on "General Principles," this mat- 

 ter has been treated at some length, but the 

 question arises, what crops may be grown 

 in the orchard till it reaches bearing age ? 

 Grain and hay should certainly not be, as, 

 apart from the plant food they take from the 

 soil, the amount of moisture they rob the 

 trees of is incredible. If such crops are 

 grown, there should be a sp>ace of at least 

 four feet of cultivated ground next the tree 

 row. The best crop for the young orchard 

 would be root crops, potatoes and corn, and 

 every year the trees should have more room. 

 Fig. I, 2 and ^ show how extensive is the 





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