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THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



the only object, chop off the limbs in order 

 that the ploug-h and horses may find their 

 way and the pickers find the apples. 



A case came under my notice last fall where 

 a picker had to carry an axe in order to open 

 up a way to pick the fruit, the majority of 

 which were only fit for hog feed, some in fact 

 sour enough to make him squeal. But where 

 a tree is not as bad as depicted above there 

 is a higher and nobler aspiration to be kept 

 in view ; that is to develop its fruits to the 

 highest stages of perfection, to enrich our 

 income from the sale of high colored and 

 luscious apples. To do this there are many 

 things to look after, but one of which is un- 

 doubtedly pruning. 



Prune annually ; never neglect this no more 

 than you would neglect to pay your taxes. 

 If you did so you would find it much easier 

 to attend the latter obligation. Now let us 

 go out to the orchard with our pruning 

 shears and saw ; leave your axe behind. 

 Now before commencing see what you want 

 to cut; see how a certain limb or branch cut 

 will affect the appearance of the tree or the 

 development of the remainder, or see the 

 effect if left uncut or what would be the ulti- 

 mate result in a year or two. If you think 

 a certain limb will materially affect others or 

 is likely to in a future year, cut it off. A 

 mistake often made is the cutting out of the 

 centre instead of pruning on the outside, 

 cut off all interfering branches, leave plenty of 

 space in which the sun, light and air may 

 reach the centre and you will have nice choice 

 apples in the centre. 



Again, we often see large limbs utterly 

 devoid of branches except on the extreme 

 end, and there you will find a mass of limbs 

 and branches like a brush heap ; cut off a few 

 of the large branches, then cut out this brush, 

 check the growth at the end and in the course 

 of a few years you will have a limb nicely 

 distributed with fruiting branches from the 

 trunk to the end. We very often see a long 

 row of suckers on limbs. Suckers are na- 



ture's protectors to the limb from the hot sun. 

 Nature leaves man the privilege to exchange 

 these suckers for fruiting branches. After 

 a very heavy pruning these suckers shoot 

 forth. But if thorough and systematic prun- 

 ing is carried on yearly you will have very 

 few. 



Again we find long slender limbs extend- 

 ing far out without a twig. There seems 

 nothing to prune about this, but is you cut 

 off the end, check the flow of sap, laterals 

 will start out and what was an unproductive 

 limb will become fruitful. Give each branch 

 plenty of room for development, allow the 

 sun and light to penetrate through every 

 twig when filled with fruit. Two limbs may 

 appear far enough apart in the pruning 

 season but when the fruit is on there is a 

 mass. In pruning look to this and secure a 

 lot of thriving light, a heavenly gift free and 

 boundless without which higherlife would be- 

 come extinct. Where light and sun penetrate 

 fungi recedes ; it will prove a saving on 

 your copper sulphate. The leaves are the 

 respiratory organs, it has been observed that 

 plants throw off oxygen gas in order to make 

 this light as required ; carbonic acid gas is a 

 most necessary food for plants, it is decom- 

 posed by light, the carbon becoming incor- 

 porated with the tree and the oxygen thrown 

 off into the atmosphere. The light helps to 

 mature the blossom and paints the apfle with 

 its red and golden hues. What is more 

 tempting to a purchaser than highly colored 

 fruit. Light improves the flavor, and in or- 

 der to have light in abundance, prune. 



Another essential of pruning is the renew- 

 ing of wood. If you would prune annually 

 you will have better prospects of fruit annu- 

 ally. In all young and growing parts there 

 is more activity within the cells. We study 

 from botany that a plant or a tree is com- 

 posed of cells each distinct and so small that 

 there are millions to a cubic inch ; within 

 each of these cells there is a substance called 

 protoplasm, the seat of the whole vital activity 



