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only a start, ;ach worker .nust develop his o;\fn judgement by taking the pruning 

 shears in his ovm hands and deciding which branch stays and uiiich is cut. Then 

 the results should be studied. How else can one decide whether the pruning job 

 was a good one? Study the bushes when the fruit is ripe. This tells the story. 

 The fact that the bush "looks good" when the pruning is completed may be deceiv- 

 ing. Well trained help that can be depended on year after year is a great asset. 



In New Jersey the blueberry holdings are often large enough so that the cost 

 of pruning and the time required are very considerable. For this reason Professor 

 C. A, Doehlert has made a special study of pruning. At a recent meeting of the 

 Massachusetts Cultivated Blueberry Association he demonstrated four basic methods 

 of pruning blueberries. The first involves a very detailed cutting of individual 

 shoots and branches with a hand shears. It usually results in the highest yields 

 but is slow and costly. Returns were lowest of the four methods. The second is 

 also a hand shear method. Groups of branches are cutj that is large stems v/ith 

 much weak vrood. Fewer cuts are made, more bushes can be pruned per man day, cost 

 per acre is reduced. In the third and fourth all the pruning is done with long- 

 handled lopping shears This is the fastest and cheapest way because only a few 

 large cuts are made on each bush. In the third method the cuts are made in the 

 top of the bush. Groups of branches are removed as in the second hand shear 

 method. Pruning with the lopping shears could be done a little faster than mth 

 hand shears. It would be easier to do too much. By the fourth method large old 

 stems are cut at the base of the bush. This is not much faster than the thiixi 

 method and overpruning is much more likely to result. This method is not for the 

 inexperienced. Some of the results obtained by Professor Doehlert are given in 

 the following table. The fencocas bushes vrere in a field lightly pruned in pre- 

 ceding years; the Jersey in a heavily pruned field. 



Time to prune, min. 

 Cost per acre 

 Pints per bush 1955 

 Returns per bush 



Some of the growers at the meetihg expressed a preference for a combination 

 of methods. They like to take out a fev^r large, old stems at the base vidth lopping 

 shears and then finish the top vfith hand shears. This combination has special 

 merit where a pruning crev; of varying skill is used. The best man or two can go 

 ahead with loppers and make the big cuts. The less experienced follow with hand 

 shears. Wrong cuts made with hand shears are less damaging to the bush. 



Pruning is a very important operation in successful blueberry growing. It 

 involves the selection of a definite objective. To obtain this objective requires 

 knowledge, skill, and judgement. There are several ways in vfhich the pruning can 

 be done. The method selected will depend largely on the training and experience 

 of the worker. Pruning is still more of an art than a science, 



J. S, Bailey 



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