72 



BEGINNERS GUIDE TO FRUIT GROWING 



cutting out wood wherever it can best be spared, so 

 as to permit the growth of an equal quantity of 

 virgin wood. The men whose trees have been left 

 largely to their own devices during their formative 

 years will naturally continue to let the trees have 

 their own way. And, so far as anyone can prophesy, 

 both men will reap reasonable harvests of fruit. 

 Both sets of men will practice enough pruning to 



cut out dead and diseased 

 and broken branches or 

 those which are rubbing or 

 interfering with one another. 

 This kind of pruning is 

 chiefly an exercise of good 

 practical horse sense. In so 

 far as it is a scientific prob- 

 lem, involving the applica- 

 tion of principles of plant 

 physiology, nobody knows 

 enough about it to give any- 

 one else any directions. It is 

 greatly to be hoped that the 

 time may soon come when 

 we shall have a logical and 

 scientifically founded system 

 of pruning adapted to 

 American requirements; but 

 we may as well confess that for the present our knowl- 

 edge of these matters is lamentably crude and inade- 

 quate. 



PRUNING TOOLS 



The principal tools used in pruning are the fol- 

 lowing : 



The hand. Many young shoots can be pinched 



FIG. 33 QUINCE PKUNED 



