CHAPTER IV. 



PRUNING. 



Careful watching, pruning and care are necessary in the 

 handling of a fruit plantation if the best results are to be 

 obtained. The day is past when the successful orchardist can 

 afford to set his trees and let nature take care of them. He must 

 spray and prune. Under natural conditions nature prunes sur- 

 plus branches and trees, but when those trees are grown in an 

 orchard and plenty of room is given for growth and development 

 certain shaping and training must be given to get symmetrical 

 and useful trees. 



Reasons for Pruning. — Trees are pruned for a variety of 

 reasons, among which are the following: 



(1) To remove dead and diseased wood. Nearly all trees 

 have dead and diseased limbs some time during the year, which 

 must be removed in order to keep the tree healthy. 



(2) To allow sunlight and air to get into the branches and 

 aid in keeping the tree healtlay. If the branches grow too thick 

 the fruit in the tree will not color up as it should. 



(3) To aid in the production of first class fruit. Too much 

 wood will form on a tree, thus causing the tree to bear too heav- 

 ily and consequently produce small, poorly-colored fruit. 



(4) To secure shape and size that will enable spraying, cul- 

 tivating and picking to be easily and economically done. 



(5) To protect the tree from injurious winds and injuries 

 resulting from climatic conditions, as sunscald, sleet storms, etc. 



(6) To rebuild and give more vigor to weak trees or weak 

 limbs. It is often best to replace trees of this sort with new ones. 



(7) To remove bruised or injured branches or roots. 



(8) To restore the balance between roots and top in the 

 case of setting out young trees. 



The effect of pruning and the necessity for pruning depend 

 upon climatic conditions to some extent. In a humid district 



