1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



305 



ON" PRUNING APPLE TREES. 



i.D habits — and 

 *•' ( ^l Wki especially bad 

 ones — cling to 

 people with 

 wonderful te- 

 nacity. So do 

 old practices. 

 Some persons 

 cut their grass 

 to this day with 

 a hand scythe, 

 who can well 

 afford to own 

 mowing machine. 

 [any farmers, keep- 

 g a large stock of 

 cattle and horses, did this 

 for several years after 

 mowing machines were well tested, 

 and boasted of the advantages of 

 the hand scythe over the mower in 

 point of economy ! 

 But the most persistent and ruinous prac- 

 tice still prevails of ■pruning apple trees in the 

 spring. The change, however, in this respect, 

 has been very great, as not more than one- 

 third as many persons do it now as formerly 

 did. Why- should any do it? The charitable 

 answer would be, perhaps, because they are 

 not aware of the injury caused in so doing. 

 If this be so, it shows the importance of inves- 

 tigating every branch of farm labor for our- 

 selves, instead of blindly following the prac- 

 tices of others. 



A good deal has been said and written as 

 to the best time to prune apple trees. Saying 

 and writing, however, do not always con- 

 vince, and the only thing that will is a care- 

 ful study into the nature and habits of the 

 tree, and actual experiments upon it. One 

 of the largest orchardists in this region habitu- 

 ally pruned his trees in the spring ; beginning 

 in March and cutting until the work was fin- 

 ished. But he frequently complained of the 

 condition of his trees. The land was occa- 

 sionally cultivated and enriched, and care 

 used in keeping off insects and in gathering 

 the fruit. . All this he did, and pruned in the 

 spring, as his father and grandfather had done 

 before him. 



At length, upon complaining to a visitor 

 who was passing through one of his orchards 



with him, and pointing out to him the discol- 

 oration of the bark, and decayed portions of 

 many trees that ought to have been in the 

 very prime of their vigor, the visitor replied 

 that his theory was that spring pruning was 

 the cause. The proprietor asked for the rea- 

 sons of the visitor's theory. They are simply 

 these, said the visitor: — "In the month of 

 March, April and May, while the tree is start- 

 ing its buds, blossoms and leaves into a vig- 

 orous growth, the sap-vessels are filled with 

 sap on its way to the branches and twigs, to 

 sustain this work. In the midst of this, you 

 cut off the sap-vessels, and the sap, instead 

 of mounting to the branches, oozes from the 

 wounds made, and trickles down the outside 

 bark of the tree." 



Here, then, are two causes of injuring the 

 tree. First, in weakening its power to per- 

 fect its blossoms, leaves and fruit, and sec- 

 ondly, in the effect of the wasted sap upon the 

 health of the tree. The owner thought the 

 reasons sound, put them into practice, and 

 never prunes now in the spring. 



It must have been noticed, we think, by 

 every person who has passed through an or- 

 chard, that the bark on a portion of some of 

 the trees has turned black. If he has cut 

 into these places, he has found, also, that the 

 discolored bark is dead through its entire 

 thickness. In some cases it has become dry, 

 and may be cleaved off from the tree. 



When a tree is found affected in this* way, 

 the injury may always be traced to a wound 

 inflicted upon it. On looking up, a long line 

 of discolored bark may be seen, and some- 

 times extending from the place cut, several 

 feet to the ground. Running against a tree 

 with the plough in the spring, or striking it 

 with the hub of the cart wheel, at that season, 

 will have a similar effect, but will not prove 

 so injurious as when the sap-vessels are cut 

 apart. 



The sap that escapes through a wound in 

 an apple tree, seems to undergo a remark- 

 able change on coming to the air. It soon 

 becomes sharp, bitter, quite offensive to the 

 taste, and in this condition proves fatal to 

 many trees. 



The best authorities in this country and in 

 Europe agree in condemning the practice of 

 pruning apple trees when the sap is in active 

 motion. Most of the agricultural papers take 



