A Bulletin on Orchard Practice 



faces may dry, they should be covered with some kind of dress- 

 ing to exclude air and moisture and prevent decay. Wax, 

 varnish, or paint, may be used for this purpose. Thick white- 

 lead paint is one of the best dressings, and is easy to apply. 

 Make clean cuts with a sharp pruning saw, pruning shears, 

 or a sharp knife. The size of cut to be made will determine 

 the tool to be used. 



Pruning the tree during the active stages of growth dis- 

 turbs the harmony of action between roots and top and causes 

 a check to the wood development. In other words, summer 

 pruning tends to dwarf hard wooded plants. Prof. J. A. Bal- 

 mer makes comparison of the effects of winter and summer 

 pruning as applicable to the extreme eastern and western sec- 

 tions of this state, in the following: "Let us first observe the 

 conditions prevailing in Eastern Washington." (Above the 

 irrigated valleys.) "Here we have a long, dry summer, with 

 a fierce, scorching sun, and strong, drying winds, with a 

 maximum rainfall of probably less than eighteen inches per 

 annum, followed by a severe winter with fluctuating tempera- 

 tures, and sudden changes. In portions of the fruit belt there 

 is barely enough natural moisture in the ground to sustain 

 a tree. Under these conditions who can wonder that trees on 

 the east side come to maturity at an early age, and produce 

 fruit at a time in their lives when they ought to be making 

 wood growth, and establishing a strong, healthy frame for 

 future usefulness. There is no question in my mind, as to 

 what is the proper method to adopt in pruning our fruit trees 

 on the east side of the mountains. We must prune in the win- 

 ter and prune hard. The tendency of all our young trees is 

 to run to premature fruiting. Cherries carrying a crop of 

 fruit at two years old, and pears and apples bearing full 

 crops at five and six years old. To overcome this tendency in 

 our trees we must practice a system of pruning that is con- 

 ducive to wood and leaf growth, and to discourage all forms 

 of summer pruning and pinching." 



"Trees on the west side of the mountains should be treated 

 a little differently. In most sections on the west side, and 

 especially in the warmer valleys, trees make an extraordinary 

 wood growth. It is no uncommon thing to find young prunes 

 and cherries making a growth of six to ten feet in a single 



