2818 



PRUNING 



PRUNING 



Pruning when transplanting. 



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 

 reduced in proportion. For some time after the plant is 

 transplanted, it has very little vital connection with the 



soil, and if all the top is 

 allowed to remain there 

 is much evaporation 

 from it and a dissipation 

 of the energies. How 

 much of the top shall be 

 removed depends on 

 how much of the roots 

 was removed in digging, 

 on climate, and also on 

 personal desires of the 

 operator. It is a general 

 practice to cut back the 

 top of a plant at least 

 one-half on transplant- 

 ing; in some cases still 

 more of the top is re- 

 moved. In broad-leaved 

 evergreens, some of the 

 leaves may be cut in two 

 at transplanting, to re- 

 duce transpiration. (Fig. 

 3199, after Wester.) 



Quite another ques- 

 tion is the particular 

 form in which the top 

 shall be left. Some grow- 

 ers prefer to remove all 

 side branches, if it is a 

 fruit-tree, and leave a 

 straight whip. (Fig. 

 3200.) They are then 

 free to start the new 

 branches where they 

 like. This is allowable 

 with very young trees, 

 and it is much employed 

 with peach trees, inas- 

 much as these trees are 

 planted when the top is only of one season's growth. 

 (Fig. 2792, page 2496.) If trees are two or three years 

 old and well branched, as is the case with apples and 

 pears, most persons prefer to leave three or four of 

 the main branches to form the starting point of the 

 future top. (Fig. 3201.) These branches may be headed 

 back half or more of their length. Some years ago 

 a method of very severe pruning came into notice 

 under the name of the Stringfellow or stub-root system, 

 taking its name from the late H. M. Stringfellow, of 

 Texas (page 1598, Vol. Ill), who wrote much concern- 

 ing it. The fullest presentation of Stringfellow's ideas 

 wfll be found in his book, "The New Horticulture." It 

 advises that practically all the roots be cut away and 

 that the top be shortened to a straight stick 1 or 2 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 more of the 

 root character of a seedling. This method of trans- 

 planting has not gained acceptance. 



In most cases, it will be better, particularly in trees 

 that are three years or more old, to prune them only 

 moderately, shortening them in all around, allowing 

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

 top to remain. 



Whatever the way of pruning at transplanting, good 

 live buds should be left on the tree; the practice of 

 pruning two-year-old wood to a whip is therefore to be 

 discouraged, for only dormant buds (if any) then 

 remain on it. 



3199. Pruning or cutting back of 

 orange at time of transplanting. 



Pruning fruit-trees. 



Fruit-trees are pruned for the purpose of enabling 

 them to produce a superior quality of fruit. In Amer- 

 ica, they usually are not pruned primarily 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, pruning it only sufficiently, so 

 far as shape is concerned, to remove any unusual 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 yield larger and finer 

 products. 



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 natural fruitfulness. Pruning 

 aids to keep the tree in proper bearing condition. When 

 trees have been much neglected, pruning may be the 

 means of reinvigorating them and setting them into a 

 thriftier condition. In such cases it is one of the means 

 of renovating the tree, as are tilling, fertilizing, and 

 spraying. 



3. Heavy pruning of the top in any year tends to 

 produce very vigorous growth on remaining parts. 

 This is because the same amount of root energy is con- 

 centrated into a smaller extent of top, thereby causing a 

 heavier growth. This is particularly true if the pruning 

 is performed when the plant is dormant. 



4. Heavy pruning of the root tends to lessen the pro- 

 duction of wood, because the same amount of top 

 receives a less supply of soil-water. 



5. Trees that grow much to wood are likely to be 

 relatively unproductive. It is an old maxim that check- 

 ing growth induces fruitfulness, so long as the plant 

 remains healthy. This, of course, does not mean that 

 trees of decreased vigor are more fruitful, nor that the 

 maintenance of full growth from the first is to be 

 avoided. Orchards that are kept in a vigorous thrifty 

 condition are most productive, other things being 

 equal; but when very thrifty trees do not bear, the 

 checking of the growth may induce the desired results. 

 If the tree is thrown into redundant growth every two 

 or three years by very heavy pruning, it tends to con- 

 tinue to produce shoots at the expense of fruit. When 

 a tree is to be brought into bearing condition by general 



good treatment, the aim 

 should be to keep it in that 

 condition by a relatively light 

 annual pruning. Violent 

 pruning is allowable only 

 when trees have been 



3200. Pruning peach tree at 

 time of transplanting. 



3201. Pruning of a young tree 

 on transplanting. 



