CHAPTER VIII 

 PRUNING MATURE TREES 



MANY and varied are the excuses offered by the man 

 who owns an unpruned orchard; he is ashamed of the 

 neglected trees, and tries to justify himself by advancing 

 what he considers, or more likely what he tries to persuade 

 himself, is a good reason. One holds that pruning is 

 little short of sacrilege, contrary to the laws of nature; 

 another tells of h s fond recollections of childhood, and 

 what excellent fruit he picked from the old apple tree, 

 pruned alone by nature; another says it does not pay, 

 and in his particular case it does not, for the chances are 

 that the orchard is neglected otherwise. The only excuse 

 that has any semblance of justification is that of igno- 

 rance, and that does not excuse the man who makes no 

 attempt. 



Nature's object is the production of seed, with pro- 

 vision for its distribution, and she is satisfied when a 

 cherry is produced with enough flesh to attract some 

 fruit-loving bird that may, perchance, drop the seed far 

 from the parent tree. Man grows the fruit for its fleshy 

 parts, and tries to improve these parts, as much by plac- 

 ing the plant in a more favorable environment as by 

 plant-breeding and selection. The man who has the fond 

 recollections of childhood would no doubt find them only 

 childish fancies, as did the man who returned to his 



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