ORCHARD NOTES. 6l 



ones will serve to the improvement of the remaining ones. In 

 other words, pruning is a necessity, and the pruning given by 

 nature in a neglected orchard or forest is more severe than the 

 average man would dare to attempt. 



It is often urged that pruning should be commenced when 

 the tree is planted and continued annually throughout the life 

 of the tree. It may be a question, if a proportionate amount of 

 time is really saved, however, or a better growth of the trees 

 secured, by early pruning. In other words, it is doubtful 

 whether equally good or better results may not be obtained by 

 removing superfluous branches at 4, 5, or 6 years of age, rather 

 than by severe pruning very early in the lifetime of the tree. 

 This question is under consideration at the Experiment Station 

 at the present time. 



Owing to the natural balance between the foraging capacity 

 ■of the plant and its superficial growth, if the root system of a 

 tree is active and effective, the top will be correspondingly 

 large. If a large part of the top is removed, there is at once an 

 endeavor to restore the balance by an unusually rapid growth, 

 and the development of a large number of dormant buds in the 

 form of "water sprouts." Pruned trees are almost always more 

 vigorous than unpruned ones, because the food taken up by the 

 roots is concentrated into a smaller number of branches. Prun- 

 ing must, in a measure, then, have the same effect as manuring, 

 since the stimulating effect of the new growth must be felt in 

 a reflex manner upon the root system also, causing a rapid 

 •extension into new foraging grounds. If, then, in combination 

 with the stimulative pruning, the new foraging grounds reached 

 are provided with suitable plant food for the nourishment of the 

 trees, the best possible conditions for rapid development are 

 provided. 



A common, though erroneous, notion is that the removal of 

 large limbs from a tree is necessarily injurious. In the prac- 

 tical operations of orcharding, as is well known, the removal of 

 large limbs is frequently a necessity. A plant is largely what 

 food supply and other environments make it. The removal of 

 a portion of it, therefore, cannot be injurious unless the portion 

 cut away is so great as to interfere with the nutrition of the 

 remaining parts. The vitality of a plant is largely determined 



