Pruning 



FEW understand what pruning really is, hence it is necessary 

 to explain from nature. To cause trees to reproduce them- 

 selves is Nature's principal object; she bids each grow high 

 and thick as rapidly as possible, and produce as many seeds as 

 possible, without regard to the flesh in which they are contained. 

 A tree will produce a thousand seeds for every one that possibly 

 could find a place to grow. The stronger choke back the weaker 

 and all damage themselves in the struggle for existence. 



In the orchard we have left nature's plan behind, and the 

 trees no longer have to fight for space, light and food. In the 

 sunny, cultivated spaces, where they are not kept back by one 

 another, they grow too fast and too much, and naturally pro- 

 duce too many seeds. This brings the necessity of pruning and 

 thinning, or, rather, the necessity of training the trees to so 

 shape themselves that they will ripen the largest number of 

 heavy-fleshed fruits, with less regard to seeds. 



We prune, therefore, to modify the vigor of trees; to make 

 them produce larger and better fruits; to let the sunlight in 

 to every leaf and fruit; to change their habit from wood-mak- 

 ing to fruit-making, or from fruit-making to wood-making, 

 as required; to remove useless, harmful or injured parts; to 

 give trees a longer life; to keep trees within manageable size 

 to make easier the spraying, cultivation, harvesting, and to 

 train them to a desired form. 



Trees are living things, and are affected by everything we do 

 to them. Too often they are used as though they were dead 

 posts. We cannot remove a single branch without modifying 

 every other branch on that tree. A tree thus can be trained or 

 molded to a remarkable extent, and he who prunes intelligently 

 will surely get good results. 



But pruning has to be learned by experience. We can 

 explain the principles, but to acquire skill in accomplishing 

 the results you desire, you must do the work yourself and watch 

 the effect from year to year. No two trees are alike. No two 

 branches are alike. The rules laid down must be modified to 

 fit each kind of tree and even each single tree. For instance, 

 Kieffer Pears must be handled differently from Seckel; Spy 

 apples differently from King. To work over a tree and give it 

 the care that it needs, as an individual, is one of the most 

 fascinating operations in orcharding. 



Think first of securing the best possible shape and size. For 

 all practical purposes and for most trees a low head and an 

 open head is what you want low, because you can work over 

 it better; open, to let the sunlight and air reach all the leaves 

 and fruits. (Trees feed from both roots and leaves.) There 

 are other considerations, such as having the head well bal- 

 anced, good to look upon, and carrying the largest possible 

 amount of fruit-bearing wood that the roots can feed; avoiding 

 forks that will split apart under a load; keeping branches 

 growing into the prevailing wind and away from the morning 



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