PRUNE 



PRUNING 



2817 



done, but very little is now practised in the Pacific 

 Northwest. 



The finished product is subject to considerable loss 

 from fermentation, mold, and the attack of mites. It 

 will be necessary for considerable scientific investiga- 

 tion to be made before the problems connected with 

 these losses will be entirely understood. As soon as 

 the prunes have been processed, they are taken in the 

 hot, warm condition and packed in boxes. These boxes 

 range in capacity from ten to fifty pounds. The bot- 

 tom of the box is faced. Uniform, well-proportioned 

 prunes are flattened with the ringers. This makes a 

 very attractive top for the box when it is reversed. 

 Lace paper and lithographs are used on the better 

 packs. 



In selling prunes, they are bought entirely accord- 

 ing to weight, but based on the number of prunes to 

 the pound: such as 30-40's, 40-50's, and so on, indi- 

 cating the number of prunes to the pound. The table 

 on page 2816 illustrates the method used in basing the 

 prices for any given size of prune in the Pacific States. 



The figures below the words "bulk basis," such as 

 30 to 35, 70 to 75, mean the number of prunes in a 

 pound of fruit. The figures to the right of the words, 

 "bulk basis." such as 2, 2J--g, refer to the so-called base 

 price paid for prunes. The base price is, in this case, 

 figured on the sizes running from 75 to 80 prunes to 

 the pound. Xote that the figures to the right of 75 to 

 80 are the same as the figures to the right of the words 

 "bulk basis." 



As an illustration of the way the table works, take 

 the first figure to the right of the words "bulk basis," 

 which is 2. That means then, that for prunes running 

 from 75 to 80 to the pound, the buyer will pay 2 cents 

 a pound. Should the prunes be so large, however, as to 

 run 30 to 35 to the pound, note that the figure to the 

 right of this number is 4J. Should they run, for 

 example, 55 to 60 to the pound, note that the figure 

 opposite is 3. 



Should the base price at any tune be more than 5 

 cents, one could easily enlarge this table by adding 

 2 1 4 cents to the base price for prunes running from 30 to 

 35 to the pound, and decrease the price J4 cent for each 

 smaller size in proportion to the size of the prunes. 



C. I. LEWIS. 



PRUNELLA: BruneUa. 



PRUNING is the methodical removal of parts of a 

 plant with the object to improve it in some respect for 

 the purposes of the cultivator. Much of the current 

 "pruning" is really repairing, and is now commonly 

 called "tree surgery." See page 354, Vol. I. 



Under this denomination are comprised a multitude 

 of practices and ideals. It is impossible to give any 

 advice for pruning until one has analyzed the subject 

 and knows the objects for which one is to work and 

 the underlying principles on which the practices must 

 rest. The larger part of the writing on pruning gives 

 mere advice or directions, or details some person's 

 experience, without analyzing or clarifying the sub- 

 ject. The practice must differ with every person and 

 every condition, but the principles are general. The 

 ideas that are associated with pruning may be grouped 

 around three centers: (1) pruning proper, or the removal 

 of a part of a plant for the purpose of bettering the 

 product and improving the character of the remaining 

 part ; (2) training, or the disposition or placing of the 

 individual branches, a practice that ordinarily is coinci- 

 dent with pruning proper; (3) trimming, or the shaping 

 of a plant into some definite or arbitrary form. 



The principles that underlie pruning proper may be 

 associated with two purposes, the lessening of the strug- 

 gle for existence amongst the parts of a plant, and the 

 cutting away of certain parts for the purpose of produ- 

 cing some definite effect in the formation of fruit-buds 

 or leaf-buds or in modifying the habit of the plant. 



There are more branches in the top of any plant than 

 can persist; therefore there is struggle for existence. 

 Those which have the advantage of position persist. 

 Nature prunes. Dying and dead branches in any 

 neglected tree-top are illustrations of this fact. When- 

 ever the struggle for existence is greatly lessened, the 

 remaining branches receive a greater proportion of the 

 plant's energy, and they therefore make stronger 

 growth, yield better produce, or are more productive in 

 flowers and fruit. Pruning is essentially a thinning 

 process. 



There exist the widest variations of opinion as to the 

 merits of pruning, particularly as it applies to fruit- 

 trees. Some persons oppose any pruning whatever. 

 Undoubtedly a certain type of novice places too high 

 estimate on pruning, as if it were the one essential 

 operation; others carry the practice to needless ex- 

 tremes; but the reasons for pruning he in the nature of 

 the plant, and the useful results are attested by long 

 experience. It is one of the cardinal practices in the 

 growing of many lands of plants, along with tilling, 

 fertilizing, combating pests and 

 diseases; and it is -not to be 

 considered as a thing apart or 

 as a remedy or corrective for 

 all deficiencies. 



In itself pruning is not a 

 devitalizing process; it is devi- 

 talizing only 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 

 nourishment to be distributed 

 to the remaining parts of the 

 plant. The notion that prun- 

 ing is devitalizing arises from 

 false analogy with animals, 

 which suffer shock or injury 

 when parts are removed. The 

 fact that pruning is not a devi- 

 talizing 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 

 and the side limbs are pruned awav by natural causes. 

 (Fig. 3198.) 



Knots are records of this natural 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 ah 1 visible knots are his- 

 tories 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 decay, and this decay may 

 extend into the heart of the tree, finally causing it to 

 become hollow. A discolored or decayed heart is 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 infection 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. The larger the wound, the 

 greater is the liability to infection. It is very impor- 

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

 shall be as small as possible and shall heal quickly. 

 This means that the best pruning is that which is 

 practised annually, so that the branches to be removed 

 do not attain to large size. This annual pruning is also 

 most desirable for other reasons, as will be seen. 



3198. More limbs have 

 perished than have sur- 

 vived. Nature's pruning. 



