IX 



PRUNING 



PRUNING is unquestionably one of the most im- 

 portant practices in horticulture and this importance 

 has always been recognized. Yet it must be confessed 

 that our knowledge of pruning is highly inadequate to 

 our needs. The progress made during recent years in 

 other forms of pomological practice, as in tillage and 

 spraying, has no parallel in pruning. In this very in- 

 fluential matter we are hardly better off than our 

 grandfathers were. 



Pruning practice is exceedingly diverse, even among 

 successful horticulturists. Some prune in winter, 

 some in spring, some in midsummer. Some do not 

 prune at all, others cut back, their trees without mercy. 

 Some grow their trees with tall trunks; others head 

 them down to the ground. In this state of knowledge 

 and practice it is manifestly dangerous to lay down 

 stringent rules for the guidance of the novice. 



These bewildering differences of method come to 

 light immediately when we begin to discuss the prep- 

 aration of the nursery tree for planting. On the one 

 hand Mr. Stringfellow advocates cutting away nearly 

 the whole tree, root and top. On th$ other hand old- 

 fashioned gentlemen leave everything intact, using the 

 knife only to smooth broken roots of 'branches. And 

 the confusing fact is that both methods succeed. This 

 matter is discussed in its proper application, page 38. 



The next problem in order is that of forming the 

 head of the orchard tree, and here we have another 



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