280 



BULLETIN 226. 



large limbs is done without cause. In the orchard shown in Fig. 48, 

 the trees had too many of these as a result of neglect, but it would 

 have been better to have thinned the tops by the removal of small 

 branches than by cutting out the scaffold limbs. It takes more time 

 to prune by the former method, but the time is well spent. The ulti- 

 mate death of most 

 trees can be traced to 

 the careless removal 

 of large limbs. The 

 wound is too large to 

 heal, or the cut is made in 

 such a way that it can not 

 heal. Wood-rot fungi get a 

 foothold and soon the tree has 

 a hollow trunk. The wind then 

 breaks off the branches one by one 



till the tree is gone (see Figs. 52 

 and 54). 



Stub pruning. Much can be done 

 to prevent the fungi and bacteria from 

 getting a foothold. If the limb is cut 

 close to the body of the tree, and parallel 

 with it, the tree will be able to heal wounds 

 of considerable size before decay sets in. The 

 pruning should be done in such a manner that 

 no portion of the amputated branch is left. If 

 a limb is cut an inch from the body the wound 

 requires much longer to heal than it would if 

 no stub were left. A stub several inches long 

 seldom heals over. It has no life of its own, 

 and so must depend on material that comes from 



other branches to heal it ; but a projecting stub is out of the line of move- 

 ment of the sap it is sidetracked. Instead of healing over the end of 

 the stub, a roll of new growth is thrown up around its base where the cut 

 should have been made. 



In a little over sixteen per cent of the orchards examined bad stubs 

 were left, varying in length from one or two inches to one foot 



'IG. 49. Long stubs left 

 when pruning. These 

 cause the trunks to de- 

 cay and finally result in 

 broken trees. 



