TUE CANADIAN nOKTICCLTURTST. 



127 



gold and four silver medals: (Colorado, 

 Kansas and Nebraska had excellent 

 exhibits, and carried off a number of 

 prizes ; so also had Michigan and Iowa. 

 Many of the other states sent vei'v good 

 collections, but inferior to those already 

 referred to. 



J. Cheal & Sons, of Crawle, England, 

 showed a collection of one hundred 

 varieties of English apples, and Groux &, 

 Fils, of France, lift}'' varieties from that 

 country, but neither of these would 

 com[)are at all favorably with the Cana- 

 dian fruit, and were, of course, far 

 behind the western exhibits. 



fTo be continued.) 



THE SCAB OX THE APPLE, AND 

 TREB PRUNING. 



(For the HurticuUunst.) 



The letter of Mr. S. Cornwall, in the 

 April number, reminds us -that the 

 promised report of the committee ap- 

 pointed to experiment by the applica- 

 tion of various substances likely to 

 remove or lessen the scab on the ajiple 

 tree, never came to light ; we have had 

 it, however, in instalments from time 

 to time in these pages, from which it 

 appears no cure has yet been found. 

 It appears to me we must first find the 

 cause. 



It is encouraging, however, to leai'n 

 by reports from various sections that 

 tiie disease seems to be on the decrease, 

 although I am sorry to say such is not 

 uiy experience. 



Were I to speak of all the causes 

 suggested to me, or imagined by my- 

 self, it would till your next number 

 with matter very uninteresting to the 

 I'eader. 



Too much manure, has often been sug- 

 gested as the cause, although one man 

 (a successful fruit grower, too) assured 

 me if I would dig a cart load of good 

 manure under one tree, it would be free 

 from spots the following year. Don't 

 let any reader expect any such result. 



I have thought that yjruning may 

 have something to do with it. I have 

 pruned my orchard annually in June, 

 seldom having occasion to cut off large 

 limbs, but in endeavoring to preserve 

 an open top, have cut off large quanti- 

 ties of small branches at every pruning. 

 Have I not erred in over-jnnming ? 

 From various sources I have collected 

 the following : 



" We prune to give symmetrical 

 shape, to bring into bearing, improve 

 the quality of fruit, imi)art vigor, &c. 

 If a tree stands alone, is in health, and 

 its roots ai-e uninjured, but little yjrun- 

 ing is requii-ed. Many orchards require 

 prunuig because too much 2)ru7iiii(f hua 

 been done. Eveiy largo limb cut off is 

 a blow at the life of a tree. The leaves 

 convert the food gatheied by the roots 

 into material for wood and fruit. If 

 too much top is cut away, the leaves 

 cannot perform this duty, and the roots 

 die. Avoid pruning that will let the 

 sun shine on the limbs or the body of 

 the tree." 



The Gardeners Monthly says : "The 

 pi'uning knife often injures as much as 

 it benefits, and hence arises two schools : 

 those who prune on all occasions, and 

 those who prune not at all. Our late 

 president. Rev. Dr. Burnet, says 

 (Horticulturist, vol. 2, p. 139) : Very 

 few varieties of a];)ple trees require 

 much pruning after the early stages of 

 growth." 



In that excellent woi'k, the CanadiaJi 

 Fruit, Flower and Kitcheiu Gardener, 

 edited by our worthy secretary, at page 

 18, we read : " Every fruit tree grown in 

 the open orchard or garden as a common 

 standard, should be allowed to take irs 

 natural form, the whole efforts of the 

 pruner, going no further than to take 

 out all weak and crowded branches, 

 those which are filling uselessly the 

 interior of the tree, wliere their leaves 

 cannot be duly exposed to the light avidi 



