SOME PECULIARITIES OF FRUIT SPURS. 



BY n. L. HUTT, PROFESSOR OF HORTICULTURE, O. A. C. , GUELPH. 



In the last two articles I dealt at some 

 length with those forms of branches com- 

 monly known as fruit spurs. The import- 

 ance of a thorough understanding of 

 these, and the many erroneous ideas con- 

 cerning them, is my excuse for again re- 

 verting to the subject. Only last week 

 I received a letter from a correspondent 

 who has been observing some of these for 

 years, which shows something of the gen- 

 eral lack of knowledge concerning such 

 things, not only by men who care for 

 trees, but by those who are expected to 

 give information to others about them. 

 In the course of his letter, he says : 



" Five years ago I noticed, when prun- 

 ing the Ben Davis apple trees, a small 

 knot or bunch on the branches. Now it is 

 spreading all through the Ben Davis trees. 

 I send by this mail a sample of the knots. 

 A question concerning them was asked at 

 our last Farmers' Institute meeting, but 

 could not be answered. I pruned 20 

 young Ben Davis trees last week, and, if 

 this disease keeps on spreading, I think 

 the trees should be destroyed." 



I was, of course, pleased to inform him 

 that such drastic measures were unneces- 

 sary, as this was not a disease, but a natu- 

 ral result of the fruiting of the tree. 



The accompanying illustration, which is 

 about three-quarters of the natural size, is 

 made from a photograph of some of the 

 knots in question. At the beginning, we 

 may say that the swellings are more no- 

 ticeable in the Ben Davis than in most 

 other varieties of apples, although they 

 are often quite common in pears. 



They were at one time supposed to be 

 something of the nature of a reservoir for 

 the storing up of nourishment for the de- 

 velopment of the fruit, but careful investi- 

 gation has shown that this is not the 

 cause. Prof. Bailey, in his Pruning 

 Book, says : " They are swellings result- 

 ing from the strain of fruit bearing, and 

 are not to be looked upon as conducing in 

 any way to subsequent fruitfulness." A 

 little study of the annual growth in fig. 2321 

 shows the correctness of this theory, and 

 may help to a better understanding of the 

 formation of such branches. Beginning 



