64 MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. I907. 



course to pursue, in attempting to get fruit every year, is to 

 change the bearing year of entire plants throughout the orchard 

 and allow these to bear one year and others the next. It is not 

 to be understood that these results will always follow, but the 

 tendency is in the direction indicated. 



The season in which pruning is done has some influence 

 on fruit bearing, since winter pruning tends to produce wood 

 while summer pruning does not. The healing of the wound is, 

 however, but slightly affected by the season in which the cut 

 is made. Theoretically, the best time to make the cut, so far 

 as healing is concerned, is in the early part of the season, since 

 the healing process then begins without delay. More work can 

 be accomplished in the longer, warmer days of April and May, 

 but many prefer to go through the orchard on the crust of a 

 deep snow. 



Too much emphasis cannot be laid upon the importance of the 

 manner of severing limbs. The wound made by removing the 

 limb heals best if the cut is made close to the trunk or branch. 

 A stub two or three inches long seldom or never heals, and 

 "becomes a lodging place for spores of fungi and bacteria which 

 cause decay and death of the tree. Wounds of any consider- 

 able size should be given a coating of paint or some other suit- 

 able substance. A suitable dressing must contain two distinct 

 properties. It must check the weathering of the wound and 

 prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi, and it must be of such 

 a nature as not to injure the surrounding bark. The dressing 

 is of no value in the healing of the wound, except that it pre- 

 vents decay. 



For general purposes a pure white lead paint is satisfactory. 

 It is an antiseptic and it adheres closely to the wood. Wax, 

 shellac, tallow, etc., are lacking in these respects. Bordeaux 

 mixture would be an admirable material for these purposes 

 were it more durable. 







