304 



THE ORCHARD 



A rich, fine loam, not manure, should be carefully 

 worked around the roots in planting, and pressed down 

 with the feet. On top a loose mulch of soil is needed to 

 prevent the loss of soil water by evaporation. 



223. Pruning. After a tree has been planted it must 

 be pruned, or cut back, unless this was done when it was 



taken up in the nursery. 

 There is a natural bal- 

 ance between the root 

 and the shoot of fruit 

 trees before they are 

 dug up in the nursery. 

 By the time the young 

 stock has been trans- 

 planted, possibly one 

 half of the stem must 

 be pruned away to bal- 

 ance the root loss. 



The first pruning a 

 young tree receives is 

 particularly important. 

 A few cuts may deter- 

 mine the form a tree 

 will take for years. 

 Fruit trees are expected 

 to have a low-spreading habit. Two-year-old or three- 

 year-old apple or pear stock should be pruned to four or 

 five small limbs, which are then each cut off at an outer 

 bud, a foot from the main stem. The tree will then 

 assume the low-spreading shape desired. Peaches had 

 better be cut to a whip about 18 inches high. 



Each succeeding spring, the shears should be used on 



APPLE SHOOTS. 



unreliable nursery, or perhaps a jobber or peddler who disposes of the culls 

 that may have been bought up from firms of good standing. 



