20 



REASONS FOR PRUNING. 



of the tree to a certain degree, for the number of apples is 

 (liminishefl in proportion to the severity of the pruning and 

 consequently, with the sanu' amount of food and root force that the 

 whole crop would luive had, the itniaining fruit is much increased 

 in size. Had the labor expended in pruning been directed to 

 thinning the fruit, or in the application of more plant food, there 

 would have been a much greater gain in the crop of fruit and no 

 loss in the vigor of the trees. But four good reasons can be given 

 for cutting off large branches from fruit trees: 



1. To Improve the Form. — It sometimes is the case that a tree 

 becomes one-sided from the influence of prevailing winds, or other 

 causes, when a little judicious cutting of branches may be necessary 

 to rectify the troiible. 



2. To Enable Team^ to Work under their Branches.— The re- 

 moval of large branches for this reason is sometimes necessary, 

 but in most cases the desired end may be accomplished by cutting 



oft" the end at an upright branch, 

 as illustrated at «, Fig. 15. 



3. To Enable the Pickers to 

 Gather the Fruit Easily. — As trees 

 become older, especially if they 

 have been subjected to the "annual 

 pruning," suckers come out in 

 large numbers upon the main 

 branches, and make it very diffi- 

 cult to gather the fruit tipon the 

 inside of the tree. These suckers 

 are the result of the effort of the 

 plant to overcome the injury 

 caused by the action of the sun 

 ^>o- 15. j^,jf^ (jol(^ upon the bare branches, 



and should be tliimied out only enough to accomplish the desired 



end, and to allow some of tin- m )st vigorous branches to develop 



more fully, and thus renew 



the tree. 



4. To Remove such Branches 



OS are Dead. — The removal of 



dead branches is best accom- 

 plished in the summar when 



the foliage is upon the trees. 

 When large branches must 



be removed, the wound should ^ 



be covered with linseed oil 



and lead paint, or grafting 



wax, to preserve the injurecl 



part from decay until it has 



healed over. Tliis paint may 



be made the color of the bark 



of the tree by the addition of 



