CHAPTER VII. 



PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING. 



A GREAT deal has been said and written on this subject, and 

 much bad practice still prevails. Orchards are seen all through 

 the country which have either been never pruned or, if the 

 work has been performed, it has done more harm than good. 

 Trees with trunks trimmed up to three times the proper height, 

 mutilated by the needless lopping of large branches, one-sided 

 and totally destitute of symmetry, or filled with a mass of 

 brush, may be seen through the country. A perfect orchard 

 is a rarity. The same remark will apply to nurseries. The 

 trees have been grown and trained with very little attention 

 to a perfect shape, the chief object of the owner being to raise 

 large trees in as little time as possible. The purchasers of 

 such trees, after setting them out, either give little attention, 

 or, if they cultivate them well, allow them to form their own 

 heads. They may be too tall or one-sided, or distorted and 

 irregular, no attention being given to shaping the heads when 

 they are young. 



Pruning Young Trees at Transplanting, When young trees 

 are dug from the ground, the roots from necessity are more or 

 less bruised or mutilated. All these bruised or torn surfaces 

 should be pared off smoothly with a sharp knife. If left un- 

 touched they induce decay, and are unfavorable to the best 

 healthy growth of the tree in the same way that a broken or 

 bruised limb above ground would furnish a dead stub or make 

 a bad scar, while pruning it smooth will cause it to heal over 

 readily. Most nurserymen prefer the pruning-knife, Fig. 121. 

 for trees at this stage of their growth, considering that it makes 

 a cleaner cut but the pruning-shears, Fig. 166, now made 

 make a drawing cut, which leaves a clear and unbruised sur- 

 face, and can be used much more rapidly. 



Pruning the Tops. Thrifty young trees usually have roots 

 90 



