300 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



west of the Cascades and may be advan- 

 tageously used with shy or tardy bearers 

 anywhere. 



The Pruning of a Bearing Tree 

 An old apple tree that is in full bearing 

 should be carefully pruned every year, 

 removing almost as much wood each year 

 as it produced the preceding year. Care 

 should be exercised to keep the top open, 

 balanced, free from crossing or rubbing 

 limbs and from getting too high. A top 

 can be lowered or raised at will If the 

 pruner will study his branches. Always 

 cut back to a branch, and never leave a 

 long stub unless water sprouts are desired. 

 If the tree has been neglected for years, 

 remove the superfluous wood by degrees 

 about one-third of the total amount to be 

 removed each spring and summer until 

 the desired top is reached. Pruning is a 

 matter of common sense and should be 

 practiced as such. The young tree is elas- 

 tic anil can be easily shaped while the old 

 tree is established and must be compelled 

 by severe methods. 



W. S. Thokxber, 

 Lewiston, Idaho. 



Location of Fruit Buds 



A knowledge of how and where fruit 

 buds are formed is very necessary to the 

 best results In pruning as the ultimate 

 object of pruning is to produce fruit. The 

 best way to learn where the buds are pro- 

 duced on trees is to examine trees in an 

 orchard under the direction of some one 

 who can explain the difference between 

 leaf buds and fruit buds. We can point 

 out where they are to be found, thus mak- 

 ing it possible for one not acquainted with 

 the different buds on trees to distinguish 

 between them when a competent instruct- 

 or is not available. 



On apple and pear trees the fruit buds 

 are found on the ends of short spurs which 

 are one or more years old. The terminal 

 growth of these spurs is produced from 

 the topmost lateral bud which often 

 causes the spur to be more or less zigzag 

 in shape. When the fruit spur is making 

 terminal growth it usually will not at 

 that time produce fruit nor will a fruit 

 bud generally be formed on a fruit 

 spur the same season that fruit is pro- 



duced. It follows, then, that fruit spurs 

 on apples or pears will as a rule bear 

 only in alternate years. The leaf buds 

 are both terminal and lateral, the flower 

 bud always terminal. Flower buds may 

 be distinguished from leaf buds by being 

 somewhat larger, with a point that is 

 blunt or roiinded, while the leaf buds are 

 smaller with a sharper point. The fruit 

 buds of cherries and most plums are pro- 

 duced much the same as those of apples, 

 except that the buds are often in clusters 

 and are sometimes lateral on short spurs. 

 The fruit buds on peach trees are lat- 

 eral and are not found on fruit spurs, the 

 buds usually being formed in the axils 

 or leaves on the current year's growth. 

 In pruning peach trees the tree should be 

 pruned in such a way that a liberal sup- 

 ply of new wood is made each year, while 

 in apples, pears, plums and cherries the 

 production of new wood is not so neces- 

 sary, as the fruit spurs on these will con- 

 tinue to bear for a number of years. The 

 fruit buds on currants and gooseberries 

 are formed much the same way as on 

 apples. They are not productive for as 

 long a period, however, and require such 

 pruning as will produce new spurs every 

 three or four years. The fruit buds on 

 raspberries, blackberries, dew berries, etc., 

 are formed the same season that the fruit 

 is produced, the fruit buds being formed 

 on the ends of the shoots which grow 

 from lateral buds on the main stem the 

 same season that the fruit is ripened. 

 R. W. Fisher. 

 Bozcman, Mont. 



Tree Support by Intertwining Branches 



A method of supporting the branches 

 of a tree, without propping, has been tried 

 and found to possess considerable merit. 

 It is a method of wrapping, or twisting 

 together small branches projecting from 

 the main limbs. These branches point in 

 different directions, and tend therefore to 

 meet and to grow beyond each other. This 

 makes it possible to intertwine them, by 

 which process they tend to grow together 

 and to become permanently attached. Be- 

 coming permanently attached, they grow 

 with the growth of the tree and become 

 permanent supports completely binding 



