PRUNING 93 



amusement, it should be well made and pretty, prefer- 

 ably with an inlaid handle. Such a tool is really use- 

 ful at times in the nursery, but any man who has a 

 day's work to do in the orchard has got to have some- 

 thing besides a knife. 



Ladders are often necessary in pruning large trees. 

 For this work the same ladders may be used which 

 are used in picking the fruit. 



HOW TO. MAKE THE CUT 



The question of where and how to cut off a limb has 

 caused a good deal more discussion than its impor- 

 tance merits. Branches should always be cut back 

 close to the main stem, of course. Occasionally one 

 sets stubs left 6 inches or a foot long, but such work 

 is done only by the blundering ignoramus who knows 

 nothing about fruit growing and who will never read 

 this book. The cut should be made as close as possible 

 to the parent branch while at the same time leaving 

 the minimum surface exposed when the cut is com- 

 pleted. 



