No. 4.] PRUNING THE APPLE TREE. 169 



iiig wood sawn off smoothly, may be sealed up by tacking a piece 

 of zinc over the freshly jiainted surface. The zinc plate should be 

 slightly smaller than the wound so that the bark will heal over the 

 edge. Coal tar is the substance commonly used for sterilizing and 

 painting the wounds. 



This abnormal, treatment, however, is " butchery " rather than 

 pruning. When trees have been properly taken care of from the 

 start there is no need for such treatment. Pruning should be re- 

 garded as a work of training rather than of correction. 



Time to Prune. 

 Kegular annual pruning or training will give best results. A 

 severe pruning once in three or four years upsets the equilibrium of 

 the tree, and in the long run is not economical. As a rule, pruning 

 should be done while the tree is dormant. Some prefer to prune 

 in the early spring for the reason that wounds made at this time 

 usually heal over more readily. If the work is started in the fall it 

 is more likely to get the attention that it deserves, and when the 

 first suitable days for spraying arrive the trees will be ready. An 

 additional advantage of fall pruning is found in that wounds made 

 in the fall have a chance to dry out over winter and may be more 

 effectively sealed up with paint in the sjDring than freshly made 

 wounds. 



Summer Prune to check Growth. 

 The practice of summer pruning as applied to apple trees is al- 

 most unknown in New England. Undoubtedly there are occasions 

 when judicious summer pruning is justifiable, and in the hands of 

 the skillful orchardist it is often a very profitable procedure. It 

 should be remembered that during the growing season it is a de- 

 vitalizing process and has the opposite effect to winter pruning. It 

 is well known that when trees are making very rapid growth they 

 are not likely to set fruit, and when a tree becomes weakened from 

 any cause it immediately assumes the fruit-bearing habit. Knowing 

 these tendencies there seems to be no better way of regulating the 

 amount of growth than by seasonal pruning. The rule is to prune in 

 winter for vegetative growth and in summer for fruit. When trees 

 are making a strong growth, then summer pruning is recommended. 

 As a rule, the last }iart of .June is the best time for summer pruning. 

 It is seldom advisable to do a complete job at this season of the 

 year, but just enough of the branches should be removed to check 

 the growth. With young trees it is often advisable to summer prune 

 to start them into bearing, but with mature trees the practice is 

 seldom necessary, for sufficient check usually may be afforded by 

 withholding nitrogenous fertilizers and by allowing weeds or some 

 other crop to gi'ow in the orchard. 



