PRUNING 831 



Other reasons may occur to the experienced orchardist, yet I am 

 sure a careful analysis of the situation will show that they arc 

 nearly all embraced in the above trinity. This question and the 

 answers imply that the pruning should never be done merely from 

 habit or because it is a part of orchard practice, but only for 

 specific reasons. 



MOST TREES OVERPRUNED 



Taking the orchards as a whole the country over, I am sure that 

 there is too much rather than too little pruning. This is true in 

 spite of the fact that frequently we see orchards containing so many 

 dead and diseased branches and the living ones so thick as to 

 preclude the possibility of the fruit ever attaining size or color. 

 Not infrequently the infected limbs are the result of unwise 

 pi-lining, and when such orchards are taken in hand they are likely 

 to be so over pruned as to destroy in part or as a whole their future 

 productiveness. A safe and wise rule to follow is never to take out 

 a branch or twig without a good reason. When once removed it 

 can never be put back, but if left it can be removed at any time ; 

 in a word, prune as little, not as much, as possible. At the same 

 time, grow and maintain a symmetrical and well-balanced tree, free 

 from disease and mutilated branches and superfluous growth, such 

 as " suckers," or water sprouts, and one that is left open enough to 

 allow free circulation of light and air. 



No one can prune intelligently unless he is gifted with imagina- 

 tion. He must be able to form a mental picture not only of how 

 the tree will appear immediately after pruning, but also of what 

 its form and general condition will be a decade hence. 



PRUNING YOUNG TREES 



Following the statement of these general principles, I will take 

 up in logical order the matter of pruning, beginning with the 

 young tree. This, too, has usually been overdone. One must 

 consider the age of a tree and its variety as well as the vigor 

 or the lack of it. A yearling can frequently be trimmed to a whip 

 or single stalk to advantage, since comparatively little growth has 

 to be removed, and danger of shock to the tree is avoided. The root 

 system in such trees is small- and does not require the same amount 

 of leaf surface to sustain it as does an older tree. It should always 



