1442 



PRUNING 



PRUNING 



ing branches receive a greater proportion of the plant's 

 energy, and they therefore make sti'onger growth or are 

 more productive in flowers and fruit. Pruning is essen- 

 tially a thinning process. 



In itself pruning is not a devitalizing process; it is 

 only devitalizing when it is carried to excess or when 

 the wounds do not heal and disease sets in. It is rather 

 an invigorating process, since it allows more nourish- 

 ment to be distributed to the remaining parts of the 

 plant. The notion that pruning is devitalizing arises 

 from false analogj^ with animals, which suifer shock or 

 injury when parts are removed. The fact that pruning 

 i,s not a devitalizing process is proved by every tree. 

 The tree is a record of successive prunings. Note the 

 number of branches on the seedling tree in the nursery 

 row or in the forest, and then consider that all these 

 branches, with the exception of the leader itself, will 

 probably perish in the course of time. The forest tree 

 develops a bole because the side limbs are pruned away 

 by natural causes. Fig. 19G4. Knots are records of na- 

 ture's pruning. In the greater number of cases the 

 limbs die and are removed when still very young, and 

 they leave small record in the grain of the wood; but all 

 visible knots are histories of the removal of large 

 branches. As a rule, it is only when the knots become 

 knot-holes that injury results. A knot-hole means de- 

 cay, and this decay may extend into the heart of the 

 tree, finally causing it to become hollow. A black or 

 decayed heart is always an indication of disease. The 

 disease originates on the outside of the plant: it is the 

 result of inoculation. This inoculation takes place 

 through some bruised or broken part; it is usually an 

 inoculation of filamentous fungi. These fungi gain a 

 foothold in the dead and dying cells of the wound, and 

 as they grow they are able to destroy the living cells and 

 therefore to produce decay. The larger the wound, the 

 greater is the liability to infection. It is very important, 

 therefore, in the pruning of trees, that the wounds shall 

 be as small as possible. This means that the best 

 pruning is that which is practiced annually, so that 

 none of the branches to be removed attain large size. 

 This annual pruning is also most desirable for other 

 reasons, as may be seen below. 



Woody plants should always be pruned when they are 

 transplanted. This is because the roots are pruned in 

 the very process of removal, 

 and the tops should be re- 

 duced in proportion. For 

 some time after the plant is 

 transplanted, it has no vital 

 connection with the soil, 



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1965. Pruning at time of 

 transplanting. 



1966. Pruning of the young tree 

 on transplanting. 



and if all the top is allowed to remain there is much 

 evaporation from it and a dissipation of the energies of 

 the plant. How much of the toj) shall l)e removed de- 

 pends on how much of the roots was removed in digging, 



and also on the personal ideals and desires of the opera- 

 tor. It is a general practice to cut back the top of a 

 plant at least one-half upon transplanting ; in some 

 cases still more of the top is removed. Quite another 

 question is the particular form in which the top shall 

 be left. Some grow- 

 ers pi-efer to remove 

 all side branches, 

 if it is a fruit tree, 

 and leave a straight 

 whip. Fig. 19C5. They 

 are then free to start 

 the new branches 

 where they like. This 

 is the better practice 

 with very young 

 trees, and it is one 

 that is nearly always 

 employed with peach 

 trees. If the trees are 

 three years old and 

 well branched, most 

 persons prefer to 

 leave three or four 

 of the main branches 

 to form the starting 

 point of the future 

 top. Fig. 19t;C. These 

 branches may be 

 headed back half or 

 more of their length. 

 Of late years a 

 method of very se- 

 vere pruning has 

 come into notice un- 

 der the name of the 

 Stringfellow or stub- 

 root system, taking 

 its name from H. M. 

 Stringfellow of 

 Texas, who has writ- 

 ten much concern- 

 ing it. The fullest 

 presentation of Mr. 

 Stringfellow's ideas 

 will be found in his 

 book, "The New Hor- 

 ticulture." It advises 

 that practically all 

 the roots be cut away and that the top be shortened to a 

 straight stick one or two feet long, without side branches. 

 It is the supposition that when trees are reduced to their 

 lowest terms in this way, the new root-branches that 

 arise will take a more natural form and the tree will 

 assume raoi-e of the root character of a seedling. This 

 method of transplanting has met with good success in 

 many places. The fundamental theories on which it is 

 founded, however, have not been demonstrated. This 

 system is, in fact, a matter of local practice rather than 

 of principle. In a great majority of cases, it will be 

 found to be better, particularly in trees that are three 

 years or more old, to prune them only moderately, allow- 

 ing a part of the original root system and a part of the 

 top to remain. 



Pruning Fruit Trees. — Fruit trees are pruned for 

 the purpose of enabling them to produce a superior 

 quality of fruit. They are not pruned primarilj' to 

 make them assume any definite or preconceived shape. 

 It is best, as a rule, to allow each variety of tree to take 

 its own natural or normal form, only pruning it suiH- 

 ciently, so far as shape is concerned, to remove any un- 

 usual or unsymmetrical growths. 



(1) The fundamental conception in the pruning of 

 fruit trees is to reduce the struggle for existence, so 

 that the remaining parts may produce larger and finer 

 fruits. 



(2) The result of pruning fruit trees should be to 

 keep the tree in bearing condition, not to force it into 

 such condition. If the tree has received proper care 

 from the time it is planted, it should come into bearing 

 when it reaches the age of puberty. Pruning, therefore, 

 is merely a corrective process and keei)s tlie tree in 

 proi)er bearing condition. When trees have been much 



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1967. Young apple tree. 

 The marks show which limbs 

 may be removed to advantage. 



