44 BIGGIE ORCHARD BOOK 



very young trees. It pays to pick off the blossom 

 from all very young- fruit trees. Two neighbors trie 

 this in two similar cherry orchards. One man ha 

 the children pick off all blossoms each year ; th 

 other man didn't. At the end of five years the fin 

 man's trees were nearly twice as large as the secon 

 man's. (Age of trees, care and soil, were the same 

 otherwise. ) 



HINTS FOR THE HEEDFUI,. 



Don't forget to visit the young trees often and rub off a 

 shoots which are not needed, in the formation of the new heai 



Don't overlook this fact: Success or failure with an orchai 

 after it has been planted depends upon the care given the your 

 trees for the first few years. 



Many a nice little tree has been ruined because its own< 

 forgot to remove the wire label that the nurseryman put ther 

 Better look after those wires right away. 



Don't neglect, after the first heavy rain in May, to thro 

 two forkfuls of strawy manure around each newly - plante 

 tree, to keep the moisture in and to insure a good start 



If the location is a windy or unprotected one, don't forg 

 in late summer to stake the young trees. But use cloth bane 

 about the bark not cord or wire, which would probably cha 

 and injure the tender trunks. 



If the ground around young fruit trees is not kept constant] 

 cultivated, the trees should be heavily mulched all summe 

 Straw or strawy manure is a good mulch. Newly-set trees ha^ 

 no depth of root and they dry out very rapidly. 



Don't, as a rule, when pruning newly-set trees, cut "to 

 terminal buds which point inward. Why? Because, if you di 

 the new top shoots will be apt to grow in the direction the buc 

 point, thus causing crossed limbs in the centre of the new tre 

 head. 



The advantages of low-headed trees, says Prof. Bailey, ma 

 be mentioned as follows : Greater ease in picking, thinninj 

 pruning and spraying, and less damage to trees and fruit froi 

 winds. Some growers object to low-headed trees on account < 

 the greater difficulty of cultivating around them, but with prop< 

 pruning low-headed trees develop ascending branches whic 

 permit proper working with a team. 



