FIFTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 121 



for just as surely, and as truly, and as scientifically as the 

 dairy cow is cared for by the best dairymen in the country. 

 We hesitate when we say we are going to set out an orchard, 

 and that we must care for those trees a hundred years. Do 

 you know that an apple tree in New England will grow for 

 a hundred years if it is well cared for, and produce fruit all 

 that time? Now you see when we start out in apple produc- 

 tion in New England, we are starting out on something that 

 is for our own good, and our children's good, and our grand- 

 children's good. Everyone should have a special time to 

 prune, but I don't think it matters much when that time is, 

 not so very much. I always prune in the spring of the year 

 after the snow gets off, and I try and get it done before the 

 •other work is crowding me ; and when you have an orchard 

 of a hundred or a thousand trees to prune, large trees of a 

 bearing size, you want to get right at it and see it is all pruned, 

 because if you leave a portion of it undone, you are going to 

 leave it that way the whole year round. Now about the imple- 

 ments for pruning. The pruning saw is the best implement 

 •of all ; that is an implement that is used more than anything 

 else. The shears are a very good thing, but I want to say 

 right here that the crosscut saw with two handles on each 

 end is a wonderful good thing, and you should always have 

 it in your orchard at pruning- time. If you have a gang of 

 three or four men pruning, very often you want to cut off a 

 large limb, and you can do the work quicker with that than 

 you can with anything else, and it is quickly done, and you 

 can move right on and do something else. Look out for 

 your implements, and see that they are well taken care of 

 iDefore you begin your pruning. The next subject for us to 

 •consider is the soil cultivation. 



Mr. Hale: When you cut off that big limb with the saw, 

 what are you going to do with that wound? 



. Mr. Kinney : We will cover that wound with something 

 like shellac or wax, but if you don't do that up in our country 

 it ain't going to die, it goes right along and it will heal over 

 in a little while. But that is an important ])oint and worthy 

 of our consideration. In order to not mar the beauty of that 

 tree when you cut off a large limb, you ought to cover over 



