XI. 



MISTAKES IX PEUJSriNG. 



IT IS a prevalent idea among persons who are 

 not professional fruit growers, but who have a 

 small orchard to furnish fruit for their own use, 

 that when trees begin to fail to bear they need 

 pruning. I have in mind an old apple orchard on 

 gravelly soil which had gradually ceased to bear 

 profitable crops of fruit. The land had been regu- 

 larly planted to field crops as long as I could 

 remember, in the same manner as other parts of 

 the farm. The owner had given little attention to 

 the trees beyond gathering the yearly crop of 

 apples, but now that they had practically ceased to 

 Dear he saw that something must be done. Some 

 one who wanted a job said that the trees needed 

 [iruning. So men were sent into the orchard with 

 ladders, saws and axes, and in a short time the trees 

 were relieved of a large portion of their tops. 

 Lower limbs which interfered with cultivation 

 were removed entirely. Some of these were as 

 large as a man's leg. The branches which remained 

 were trimmed up as high as possible and still leave 

 a "well balanced" top. The next year the core 



t88) 



