HOME FRUIT GROWER 



nothing. Everything, 

 however, depends on the 

 way the grower manages 



PRUNING 



If people who plant 



fruit knew and applied a 



few general principles their 



trees would probably be- 

 gin to bear younger, con- 

 tinue longer and produce 



better fruit year in and 



year out. The bushes 



take care of themselves 



fairly well, even under 



neglect, but the trees ! 



Unfortunately, they are 



either allowed to shift for 



themselves or they are 



"pruned to death." Which 



extreme is the worse 



would be hard to say. 



And yet good management 



is not difficult when the 

 funda- 

 mental 

 principles 

 are un- 

 derstood. 

 But be- 

 fore any of the principles are applied let this axiom 

 become part of your being: Better the watchful eye 

 than the active saw! It will see prospective un- 

 desirable developments and prevent the necessity of 

 using the saw in later years. 



While standard trees are young up to the 

 fourth or fifth year about the only pruning neces- 

 sary after the orchard has started should be the re- 

 moval of branches that will sooner or later interfere 

 ,1 f^ with the ones desired, and the more or less shorten- 



ir- ing of rampant branches that threaten to rob the 



others of food, light and air. The less pruning done 

 during this time the better, because the removal of t 



X 



Fig. 36. When a stub is left where a large branch 



is cut off decay enters and the tree is doomed. This 



tree is still living but may break any day. Notice 



the Raspberry plant growing in the cavity 



Fig. 37. -Pear 

 fruit spurs 



