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growth and to give the wood a chance to mature sufficiently 

 to withstand the rigors of a New England winter. This 

 early spring and continued cultivation, I have found, forms 

 a dust mulch which retains the water in the soil and so 

 proves of the greatest value to trees and bushes during the 

 periods of summer drouth. 



PRUNING 



I prune my currants either late in the fall or early in 

 the spring with hand clippers, removing about one-third of 

 the bush, all weak new wood and a large portion of the 3- 

 year-old wood. My apple, pear and cherry trees I prune in 

 March and April. My young apple trees I head back from 

 6 inches to 1 foot. My pear and cherry trees I prune light- 

 ly, cutting out the chafing and interlocking branches. In 

 pruning the latter trees always remember to leave room for 

 the sun to get at the cherries if you would harvest the finest 

 fruit. 



Plum trees should be pruned in April. Some varieties 

 should be headed in severely, cutting back as much as 2 feet. 

 Others, especially the Burbanks, should be encouraged to 

 grow upright, b.y leaving the lateral bud on top of the limb 

 where the cut has been made. 



Peach trees should be pruned during the latter, part of 

 April, at the time of their blossoming. This affords an op- 

 portunity to cut out the unfruitful and the weaker branches. 

 I have found that vigorous pruning gives the best results. 



SPRAYING 



Dormant spraying I have found to be the best. Abso- 

 lutely ALL fruit trees and bushes should be sprayed, and 

 THOROUGHLY. I use lime-sulfur and find that it will 

 keep in check all kinds of scale if applied to ALL parts of 

 the tree or bush. Spraying 90% of a tree is very unsatis- 

 factory. My trees run in rows North and South. In spray- 

 ing I go over each tree twice, once with an East wind, once 

 again with a West wind or vice versa. If no wind is blow- 

 ing at the time, I spray both sides of the tree. 



FEEDING AND MULCHING 

 In the late fall, after the foliage has fallen I use stable 

 manure to the extent of 6 or 8 cords to the acre, placing it 



