PROPER PRUNING 85 



severe pruning. Whenever a branch is removed a wound is made, 

 and so far as the healing process is concerned, the best time to 

 prune is toward spring, just before the beginning of growth. If 

 the cut is made in the fall or early winter, there can be no healing 

 until growth starts, and the cut surface may be exposed a long while 

 to the action of the weather or to the attacks of insects or fungi. 



Summer pruning may occasionally be practiced in midsummer 

 or late in July, but it must be kept in mind that it is always a 

 weakening process. Sometimes, however, with overvigorous, rank- 

 growing, nonproductive trees, it tends to check overgrowth, with a 

 resulting tendency toward the formation of fruit buds. We cannot, 

 however, say that the mere operation of pruning will result in fruit- 

 fulness. The production of fruit depends upon many factors, — 

 of which pruning is but one, — such as character of soil, variety, 

 tillage, plant food, spraying, or on a combination of several of 

 these factors. 



Root pruning. A certain amount of root pruning before the trees 

 are planted seems to be necessary to get the best results. Long, 

 straggling roots should be cut off, but it should be remembered that 

 when apple trees leave the nursery row their root surface is usually 

 only about half what they possessed normally. In addition to the 

 heavy nursery pruning, it is generally advisable to thin out all 

 crowding and interlacing roots, and to remove all broken ends of 

 the remaining roots, leaving clean cuts. This latter point, however, 

 is not being emphasized as much now as formerly. 



The Stringfellow method of pruning roots is practiced in the 

 South, but hardly at all in the North. This is a very severe system, 

 consisting in the practically complete removal of all roots except 

 small stubs. The opportune time for this pruning is on the arrival 

 of the trees in the fall. When the trees do not arrive until spring, 

 the pruning may be done just before planting. 



Pruning the top. With the root system so severely cut back, the 

 balance of the tree between the top and the roots has been very 

 much upset. In most climates, if trees are left without the tops 

 being pruned, many will perish, because their much shortened root 

 systems cannot give the necessary support. The top of the tree, 

 therefore, must be pruned back to enable it to withstand the shock 

 of transplanting. The actual pruning can be done after planting. 



