FOR FROFIT. 35 



by an overcrop is emphasized by the fact that most 

 early fruits (whether Apples, Pears, or Plums) are as 

 a rule more regular bearers than later kinds, because 

 the tree has time to recover its lost power between 

 the gathering of the crop and the fall of the leaf, 

 when nature's repose comes on. Evidently, therefore, 

 it is on these lines that rational pruning should be 

 done. 



In dealing with this subject from a grower's point 

 of view, we are naturally at once met with the cost 

 of the operation, and it is here that we are at a 

 disadvantage compared with the cheap labour of the 

 Continent ; but I would suggest that growers should 

 teach their sons to look after this most interesting 

 operation, and I am sure they would enjoy it, as I did 

 looking after our orchard some years ago. The next 

 point is: — How to go to work. I can remind you that, 

 in dealing with some fruits, growers are already on 

 the right track as cultivators, but I want to see the 

 system extended. Take, for example, your Red Currants 

 and Gooseberries after pruining; a novice would at 

 once say you had ruined them entirely, whereas you 

 know by experience that your berries are twice as 

 large as when the trees are unpruned, and your 

 Currants, too, are larger in the berry and longer in 

 the bunch, while, in some cases, you summer-prune 

 as well, to let in the sun to ripen the wood. If this 

 pays in the case of the small soft fruits, it will also 

 pay in the case of the harder " top " fruit ; and you 

 all know too well that it is the best samples from 

 reputed growers which command the highest price ; 

 under-sized fruits and spotted samples really bring 

 down the value of an entire crop. In a warm summer 



