SOME IMPORTANT POINTS 61 



Argument has raged fiercely over this, but we hold the opinion 

 that the question is raised in a wrong form. Put in the form we 

 should like to see it, which we think would be more to the purpose, 

 the answer would be easier. We would ask " Should fruit trees be 

 pruned before they are established ? " To this we reply without 

 hesitation, " No." If the roots of the tree have established a hold upon 

 the soil and can function satisfactorily, then the head may be pruned, 

 within reason, with impunity, but to severely prune a tree before 

 its roots have recovered from the transplanting is to impose a double 

 check which it is scarcely in a condition to withstand . An established 

 tree starts into growth considerably in advance of one newly planted, 

 and the breaks at each cut get the advantage of a full season's growth 

 and are strong. The newly planted tree has to make roots before 

 it can make growth the flow of the sap is slow, therefore the new 

 breaks are late and only show half the strength of their earlier and 

 more fortunate friends. Now a tree planted anywhere between 

 mid-October and mid-November, while the soil is comparatively 

 warm, the earlier the better makes a quantity of new roots which 

 take hold of the soil and so from our present point of view is 

 virtually established and starts growing quite early ; but a tree 

 planted in December or in the spring does not begin to root until 

 quite late, and remains backward throughout the season. Thus it 

 amounts to this : Plant early and prune ; plant late and do not prune. 

 Those are the results we arrived at, not after a few isolated experi- 

 ments, but after many years' experience. 



Whatever pruning is necessary, it is generally advisable to get it 

 done by the end of the year, because the wound hardens and heals, 

 the cells close up, and there is no loss of sap, which is loss of strength. 

 This is so obvious that there should be no need for pointing it out, 

 but that we are aware how widely spread is the custom of putting 

 the work off till February. The work is as urgent and important as 

 any other, and ought not to be delayed as a mere matter of con- 

 venience. 



STONE FRUIT 



We have devoted but few remarks to the subject of stone fruits. 

 Apricots and peaches can scarcely be looked upon as orchard fruits, 

 for they are only so grown in a few favoured spots in the south-west. 



