CHAPTER XIIL 



Pruning an Orange Orchard. 



Some horticulturists consider pruning a necessary evil. It 

 would be a superfluous operation, if the tree would grow sym- 

 metrically without it and in the best form to produce the best 

 crops of fruit. There is much diversity of opinion on this im- 

 portant branch of the science of horticulture. Various methods 

 are pursued, from that of allowing the trees to branch at the 

 ground, to that of commencing to form the top at an unreason- 

 able and undesirable hight; from that of severely letting them 

 alone, allowing nature full and unrestrained sway, to that of a 

 continuous cutting and hacking. Perhaps so wide a difference 

 of opinion and practice does not exist among our fruit-growers 

 on any other branch of fruit culture. 



November, December or January is the proper season for 

 general pruning. The trees grow less during these months than 

 at any other time. January is immediately prior to the season 

 of blooming. The annual pruning should be done before the 

 fruit forms. At all seasons of the year, however, all superfluous 

 sprouts on the trunk, and all stray branches that threaten to 

 throw the tree out of balance, should be removed without delay. 

 Pruning should be done with a sharp implement, to make a 

 smooth cut that will heal and be covered with bark in a short 

 time. A rough, haggled cut does not heal readily, and in some 

 instances it never heals. It has doubtless a tendency to injure 

 the tree constitutionally, from which injury it never fully re- 

 covers. All cuts made with a saw should be pared down smooth 

 with a sharp knife. When large limbs are removed, and it is 

 sometimes necessary to remove them, the cut portion ought to 

 be painted with shellac in proper solution to spread easily. 



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