FRUIT GROWING 147 



one ton per acre or 300 to 500 pounds of sulphate of 

 potash per acre. If the trees are making a slow 

 growth of wood from 100 to 300 pounds of nitrate of 



FIG. 49 An Apple Tree One Year FIG. 50 An Apple Tree Three Years 

 After Grafting. After Grafting. 



soda sown just as the buds begin to swell will force the 

 growth of wood early in the season and produce an 

 early ripening of the fruit in the fall. 



Pruning Fruit Trees. 



All fruit trees will grow out of shape and condition 

 for producing the most and best crops of fruit if left to 

 themselves, and they may be either improved or injured 

 by pruning. The apple orchard of the Eastern United 

 States as a rule has been seriously injured by pruning. 

 We have usually planted too closely, then as the trees 

 grow together the lower branches become weak and we 

 cut them off, and the process is kept up until we have 

 but a few long bare branches stretching high into the 

 air (Fig. 51). 



The sap moves slowly in these long bare branches, the 

 leaves are small and the fruit imperfect in color, small 



