132 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



4. Take out crossing branches. 



5. Thin the balance of the top slightly. 



The following outline may be taken as reasonably accurate for prun- 

 ing young trees of stone fruits say trees two to four years old: 



1. Examine critically the head of the tree. It should have three to 

 six main branches and no sharp forks. 



2. Shorten leaders that are running too high. Only very high leaders 

 that throw the tree out of shape, or such as have made an exceptionally 

 long growth the past season, need to be cut back. 



3. Cut out bad (sharp) forks on all main branches. 



4. Save all small shoots. 



5. Take out only very large crossing 

 branches. 



6. Prune strong-growing trees less and 

 weak-growing ones more. 



In pruning these fruits, especially the 

 peach, a large pair of hand shears will be 

 found most satisfactory. A ten-inch pair 

 of the French wheel-spring shears will be 

 found equal to almost any emergency, and 

 much of the work can be done more rapidly 

 with shears than with a saw. The operator 

 will need a saw, however, for the heavier 

 work and one of the following dimensions 

 will be found very satisfactory: 



Length 20 inches 



Width at butt 2| " 



Width at point f " 



Seven and one-half teeth per inch. 



PRUNING TOOLS. 



A Waters' Tree-Pruner. 

 B Pruning Shears. 

 C Two-edged Pruning Saw. 

 D California Pruning Saw. 

 E Pruning Knife. 



Such saws may have to be made to 

 order. Any hardware manufacturer will 

 make them and they should always be of 

 the best steel. 



Probably the ideal time to prune these 

 fruits is about a month or six weeks before 

 they start into growth. But where ^ne has 



much pruning to do, it is often necessary to greatly extend the time. It is 

 largely a question of the economical use of farm labor. There are usually 

 few expert pruners on the farm in comparison to the pruning to be done 

 and it becomes necessary to keep these men at work over a relatively 

 long period. 



Diseases, Insects and Spraying. Since the matter of diseases 

 and insects has been treated fully in the general chapters on these 

 subjects, it is necessary here only to give a very brief summary of the 

 subject. 



