REJUVENATION OF NEGLECTED TREES 



407 



FIG. 316 OLD PEACH AFTER CUTTING 

 BACK SEVERELY 



knot of plum and 

 cherry, yellows or ro- 

 sette of peach, etc. In 

 some cases the ( whole 

 tree should be burned, 

 in others only the af- 

 fected branches ; in still 

 others spraying will be 

 s u ffi c i e n t. How to 

 make cuts, what wood 

 to leave and what to 

 remove, how to recog- 



f? nize "blind" wood and 



V "fruiting" wood, etc., 



are points already dis- 

 cussed in previous 

 chapters. 



316. How to determine the health of the trees. Trees 

 often fail to thrive even when no disease or insect, such as 

 those just mentioned, have played havoc with them. 

 Something ails them. It may be lack of moisture in the 

 soil, nearness of hard- 

 pan to the surface, lack 

 of fertility in the soil, 

 "bark binding" of the 

 trunk and branches 

 (114), or some other 

 cause that affects the 

 nutrition. Careful ex- 

 amination should dis- 

 cover the cause. In 

 most cases one of the 

 surest signs that the 

 roots are in good con- 

 dition, though the top 

 is in trouble, is the 

 abundance of suckers 



FIG. 317 OLD PEACH TREE REJUVEN- 

 ATED. FIRST SEASON'S GROWTH 

 AFTER CUTTING 



