Pruning tKe Fruit Trees 



k. W. Starr. Wolfville, N.S. 



PRUNING should be considered as 

 a system of education for the tree 

 or plant — an effort on the part 

 of man to assist nature in developing 

 the form and shape that we wish, or 

 as near to that as possible, without 

 doing violence to its natural habit. To 

 best accomplish this we must commence 

 with the young tree as it comes from 

 the nursery, either before, or immedi- 

 ately after it is set in the orchard, 

 decide on the height at which to 

 form the head, and prune as near to that 

 as possible. Next, the position of the 

 branches forming the head must be 

 considered. They should spring from 

 a single leader. Never allow two equal 

 branches to struggle for mastery, or there 

 will be trouble in the future. Select 

 such branches as will give a desirable 

 shape and a well-balanced head, cut- 

 ting off the rest to relieve the root sys- 

 tem injured in transplanting, and 

 possibly shortening the side branches 

 if necessary, in order to preserve the 

 balance between roots and foliage during 

 the first year. 



As the tree grows older it should be 

 carefully examined each spring and all 

 superfluous branches, like bad habits, 

 be suppressed or removed before they 

 do serious injury. The aim of the pruner 

 should be to keep the branches from 

 crossing and crowding, to keep the tree 

 standing fairly on its feet. If the tree 

 has been carefully and judiciously prun- 

 ed when young, so as to carry a well- 

 shaped, evenly-balanced head, but little 

 severe pruning will be found necessary 

 in later years, except the annual cutting 

 out of such small limbs as are crowding 

 or crossing, and thus preventing the 



full development of that perfect form 

 which allows the sunlight to find all 

 portions of the tree. 



These may be considered as general 

 principles that may be applied to all 

 orchard trees. It must be borne in 

 mind, however, that it is impossible 

 to make trees follow any set pattern or 

 form ; not only has each tree fts own 

 individuality but each variety has its 

 own peculiar habit of growth. These 

 habits and peculiarities should be care- 

 fully studied, so that pruning may be 

 done to advantage, without doing too 

 much violence to nature. 



Old trees that have been neglected 

 will frequently need more severe treat- 

 ment. Dead and diseased branches must 

 first be cut off, and others that are in 

 the way 9r too much crowded taken 

 out. Care must be taken, however, 

 not to overdo the thinning. In passing 

 through the country looking at orchards 

 in general, I see more overpruned, or 

 butchered trees, than those in need of 

 severe pruning. This is especially the 

 case in some of the older orchards where 

 a system of cutting from the inside has 

 been used, and a cluster of bare branches 

 is all that remains in the centre of the 

 tree. All the foliage, and the fruit .is 

 borne on the ends of those limbs, and 

 frequently they are interlocking with 

 the branches of the adjoining trees, so 

 that the nearest approach -'to sunlight 

 to be found in such an orchard is by 

 looking skyward from the trunk of 

 the tree. In such case the pruning 

 should be done from the outside. The 

 ends of the branches should be cut 

 back and thinned, and what are usually 

 called "water sprouts" encouraged to 

 start from the large bare Hmbs. These 

 should be thinned to such as have room 

 to grow and bear fruit. They may 

 need to be pinched back or summer 



pruned in order to throw them into 

 bearing. This can frequently be ac- 

 complished in the third year. In this 

 way the bare centres can be clothed 

 with foliage and eventually with fruit. 



Extra care must be taken to preserve 

 all the fruit spurs possible. Many 

 varieties form fruit spurs on large limbs 

 and continue bearing for several years. 

 These in time become brittle and are 

 easily broken, but are seldom replaced. 

 Pickers and pruners are apt to be care- 

 less and thoughtless. They must be 

 taught to have more respect for those 

 little spurs, and, instead of destroying 

 them, try to induce the growth of more. 

 This may not seem to come within the 

 purview of pruning as a subject, but it 

 is of too much importance to be lost 

 sight of. 



In cutting branches from trees there 

 is usually only one place where it can be 

 advantageously done; that is as close 

 to the trunk or main branch as possible, 

 without making the wound larger than 

 necessary. By this method the wounds 

 heal over most quickly, and the trees 

 are least disfigured. This rule holds 

 good for limbs of all sizes. 



All pruning tools must be in good 

 order and perfectly sharp; otherwise 

 the work canaot be neatly done, and 

 the wounds will not heal readily. All 

 wounds over one inch in diameter should 

 be painted immediately. Many years' 

 experience has shown that nothing is 

 better for the purpose than pure white 

 lead and linseed oil. 



In this branch of horticulture there 

 can be few fast rules. Every tree is 

 a study by itself, and every man must 

 work according to his conditions, and 

 the amount of brain power he can 

 afford to devote to each special case, 

 for he will find no two specimens exactly 

 alike. 



Planting OrcKard Trees 



J. C. Metcalfe, Port Hammond, B.C. 

 One of tile Delegates from the Pacific Province 



AS the Canadian fruit industry de- 

 velops, orchardists are paying more 

 attention to planting and to the 

 distances ajmrt for trees and bushes of 

 the various fruits that will bring best 

 returns. The general tendency with all 

 fruits is to wider planting, so that culti- 

 vation, spraying, pruning and other 

 cardinal orchard operations may be 

 carried on more easily and to better 

 effect. In this way only can the high 

 quality of fruit now in demand be pro- 

 duced. I'illers are being commonly used 

 by leading growers. 



In a letter to The Horticulturist, 

 recently, Mr. W. H. Bunting, of St. 

 Catharines, wrote: 



"Apple trees should be set not less 

 than 40 feet each way for permanent 

 trees. If fillers are used, 40 by 50 feet 

 would be more profitable. Early varie- 

 ties, such as Duchess, Yellow Trans- 

 parent, Wealthy, Ontario and others, 

 could be used as fillers between the 

 wider distances. 1 prefer the well- 

 known and tried winter varieties, suit- 

 able for the export market, to any other 

 for profit. A practice that is being ad- 

 vocated by many is to set an orchard 

 with Talman Sweet or some such hardy 

 free-growing stock, and later, top-graft 

 to the varieties desired. 



"Growers have been planting peaches 

 too close. Peach trees should be given 



