June, 1915. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



147 



peopl-e, when they spray, have in mind 

 only the aeeessity of keeping the apples 

 clean, free from diseases, so that they 

 may look more attractive, keep better 

 and fetch a higher price. But spraying 

 does more than that. It prevents the 

 premature dropping of fruit and keeps 

 the trees in good liealth, so that they not 

 only produce more fruit but actually 

 destroy the scale insects that suck the 

 life-blood out of the trees. We can 

 understand how the destruction of these 

 pests increases the vitality of the or- 

 chard." 



"While the orchard represents Mr. 

 Pineo's prime interest, he recognizes 

 that there are other means of making a 

 liveliliood on the farm. He has an aver- 

 age of forty acres under oats, thirty 

 under cotu, forty under rye, seventy 

 under hay, and ten acres under roots. 

 He keeps one hundred head of cattle, 

 seventy-five hogs, and ten horses. He 

 uses a pure-bred HoLsteiu bull with his 

 herd of high-grade Holsiteins, and the 

 resulits are most satisfactory. His cows 

 are giving an average of from thirty- 

 five to sixty pounds of milk per day. 



"The cry about over-production of 

 apples does not worry me," said Mr. 

 Piueo, "or I shouldn't be setting out 

 ten additional acres under apple trees 

 this year. But there is no good reason 

 wliy an orchardist should Jiot have more 

 than one string to his bow. Dairying 

 and orcharding fit in very satisfactoTily 

 together. The fruit grower who keeps 

 live stock has an immediate, a conveni- 

 ent, and a profitable market for his 

 culls. A large quantity of manure is 

 produced and returned to the sod. 

 Moreover, while the beginner is waiting 

 for the young orchard to grow, the 

 cows help pay the bills. Then, by rais- 



ing some cas-h crops, such as small fruits 

 and potatoes, he is enabled to make a 

 fair living, and when the trees begiji 

 to bear the apples seem to come almost 

 like a present. The combination oC 

 dairying and orcharding enables the 

 grower to furnish steady employment to 

 his -mein during the entire year, thus 

 solving the help questioaa in a measure, 

 for it is when men are idle in the winter 

 moniths that they become restless and 

 wish to get away to some other coun- 

 try." 



Mr. Pineo keeps careful records of his 

 farming operaitions. By reference to his 

 books he was aible to furnish the writer 

 with the following statement of his 

 ycvarly expenditures and receipts per 

 aci'e of bearing orchard : 



Kent of land $30.00 



Value of fertilizer used 20.00 



Hauling and spreading manure. . 3.00 



Sowing fertilizer 1.00 



Discing and harrowing 2.00 



Seed for cover crop 2.00 



Sowing cover crop 25 



S-praying 3.00 



Barrels 27.00 



Picking, packing and truckage. . . 25.00 

 Other expenses 1.00 



$114.25 

 Bach acre of full bearing orchard 

 yiekls an average of about one hundred 

 and ten barrels. This, at two dollar*, 

 gives him a gross income per acre of 

 two 'hundred and twenty dollars, and, 

 less the expenditure, gives him a net 

 income of one hundred and five dollars 

 and seventy-five cents. Mr. Pineo has 

 several times picked three hundred and 

 fifty barrels from one acre in a season. 

 Those were, of course, exceptional 

 crops. His average crop over a large 

 acreage is as stated. His average total 

 crop per year is 5,000 barrels. It must 

 be remembered that this is not a bit of 

 farming on paper, but the concrete re- 

 sults that follow the intelligent efforts 

 of a skilled orchardist. 



Pruning Principles Simplified 



PRUNING is one of the oldest of 

 orchard practices, and a very es- 

 sential one; but without soil fer- 

 tility, spraying, and cultivation, 

 pruning will be of little value. Our 

 object in pruning is to make the plants 

 vigorous ; to give them some desired 

 shape ; to strengthen the framework of 

 the trees; to make them fruitful; to 

 allow sunlight and air and to regulate 

 the heat and sunlight so as to prevent 

 sunburn ; to aid in such orchard work 

 as spraying, thinning and harvesting. 

 In situdying pruning, we must make 



• Pnper read at Grand Forks Farmers' Insti- 

 tute. \ 



A four-year-old peach tree before pruning. 



ourselves acquainted with the general 

 principles, and we should make a spe- 

 cial study of the buds. In many cases 

 heavy top pruning will produce heavy 

 wood growth, and have a tendency to 

 rejuvenate the tree. Too heavy prun- 

 ing may develop a strong growth of 

 watersprouts, which is an indication of 

 a lack of balance between top and 

 roots, and causes one part of the tree 

 to live at the expense of the other. 



The growth habits of trees vary a 

 great deal. Some have a close and up- 

 rig'ht habit of growth, while others are 

 spreading growers. Some are strong 

 and others are weak growers. These 

 factoids must all he considered in prun- 

 ing the difl:"erent varieties. Fruit bear- 

 ing becomes very much a habit with 

 trees. We are able to change this habit 

 to some extent by pruning. 



Summer pruning, if done at the right 

 time and moderately, will have a ten- 

 dency to produce fruit buds, while on 

 the other hand, winter pruning has a 

 tendency to produce wood growth. 

 Summer pruning is usually practiced 

 on young trees which are producing 

 excess wood growth at the expense of 

 fruit spur formation, up to about the 

 sixth year. The time to summer prune 

 will depend upon the different varieties 

 and the length of the growing season, 

 as we find some varieties grow much 

 later than others, and also our trees 

 will grow much later one year than in 

 another. 



We should aim to summer prune 

 just before growth stops, by pinching 

 back or cutting back part of the ter- 

 minal. Pruning at this time tends to 

 produce fruit buds. If you summer 

 prune too early, you will get second 



