PRUNING AND TREATMENT OF SUCKERS 41 



"It is somewhat difficult to explain on paper in a 

 manner so that the beginner may grasp the details, the 

 essential operation of pruning, but I will see what can be 

 done by introducing dates. There exists a diversity of 

 opinion as to the correct time and manner of pruning ; still 

 there are certain tried and proved systems which, if 

 followed, will be found fairly correct. But at the same 

 time I must state that it is a known fact that even on 

 the same property different fields require larger and 

 smaller peepers * to be left according to the exposure or 

 conformity of the land ; this therefore calls for individual 

 experiment. It is well to remember this, as a mistake 

 once made need not be repeated. 



" I will deal with Plants first, and I will suppose that 

 the cultivator is planting in a new field so as to reap his 

 crop in the spring months of 1913. If the seed suckers 

 have been planted, say any time between October 1911 

 and March 1912, and the weather conditions and soil 

 fertility have been at all favourable, the plant suckers 

 should have attained their full size by the end of October 

 1912. From the time of planting to August all followers 

 should have been removed from the root of the parent 

 plant. After August I would not advise any suckering 

 until October 1, when a peeper 4 to 6 in. high should be 

 left on each sucker if planted 14 by 14 ft., making two to 

 each stool ; if 11 by 11 ft., only a single peeper would be 

 retained. In the higher mountains and cold valleys I 

 advise leaving a peeper 12 in. high at this time. Any 

 backward sucker whose growth indicates lateness for spring 

 prices should have a correspondingly large peeper or 

 sword sucker left, if such be present. The parent plant 

 will represent your spring crop for 1913, and the peeper 

 the 1914 crop, these latter taking eighteen to twenty-one 

 months from peeper to crop. 



" On Ratoons, peepers, instead of being selected in 



* " Peeper," a small pointed sucker, of about 4 to 12 in. high, starting 

 below the level of the ground and sprouting through the earth, developing 

 later into a " sword-sucker." 



