October, 1910 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



109 



if the fruit is allowed to be eaten up by 

 insects or disfigured by diseases. 



The most common cause of failure is 

 probably simple starvation. In many cases 

 crop after crop of apples has been removed 

 without the application of a single pound 

 of fertilizer to make up for the continuous 

 drain upon the supply of plant-food in the 

 soil. Not only have repeated crops of apples 

 been removed, but annual crops of hay and 

 pasturage have often been taken from the 

 orchard plot. Apples grown under such 

 conditions are usually small and lacking in 

 flavor. The effect of starvation is just as 

 clearly manifested in the apple as the effect 

 of poor feeding upon the quality of pork 

 or beef. 



Next to starvation the most frequent form 

 of neglect is the failure to control the com- 

 mon insects and diseases that affect the 

 apple. The San Jose scale is responsible 

 for the destruction of thousands of trees in 

 Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, 

 and is now rapidly spreading northward 

 through Vermont, New Hampshire, and 

 Maine. If an infested tree is not sprayed, 

 it may as well be grubbed out, for it will no 

 longer produce fruit fit for consumption 

 except possibly in the form of cider. The 

 tree may struggle along for many years and 

 produce more or less fruit, but it will always 

 be a source of infection for the other trees 

 in the neighborhood. 



It is very difficult to estimate the ac- 

 tual loss from the ravages of scale in New 

 England, for the depredations are not 

 limited to the commercial orchards. On 

 the contrary the greatest loss has been 

 sustained by small 

 growers who believe 

 that the few trees 

 behind the house or 

 along the roadside 

 do not warrant the 

 trouble and expense 

 necessary for their f\V V 

 protection. ^^"^ 



IS IT WORTH WHILE ? 



Before spending 

 any time or money 

 on an old apple-tree 

 we must first decide 

 whether it is worth 

 while. Many trees 

 are so closely con- 

 nected with the fam- 

 ily traditions that 

 they form an inher- 

 ent part of the home. 

 Others are so agree- 

 ably situated in the 

 home surroundings 

 that they have an es- 

 thetic value that can- 

 not be expressed in 

 mere money worth. 

 These extrinsic con- 

 siderations need not 

 affect the present dis- 

 cussion except with 



regard to the age at tMs tree has been pruned 



which trees may be 



profitably renovated. From the stand- 

 point of dollars and cents it will seldom 

 pay to attempt the renovation of a tree that 

 is over fifty years of age, but the lives of 

 trees much older than this may be greatly 

 prolonged by judicious treatment. The 

 maximum age of an apple-tree grown under 

 favorable conditions is not known, but, 

 in spite of neglect, there are many sturdy 

 specimens in New England that have passed 

 the century mark. 



Among other factors that s.iou.d be con- 

 sidered in a venture of this kind may be 

 mentioned vigor, soil adaptation, the form 

 of the tree, and the attitude of the owner. 

 The rejuvenat'on of trees that have become 

 much weakened from the attacks of San 

 Jose scale, canker worm, or other pests is 

 a difficult task, and the chances for success 

 are much greater with trees that have simply 

 been starved or otherwise neglected. Trees 

 with long trunks, or those that have been 

 headed very high, are very difficult to handle 

 and as a rule would be more profitably used 

 as fire-wood. The success of the under- 

 taking will depend more upon the attitude 

 of the man than upon any other factor. The 

 chief qualifications on his part are courage, 

 determination, and common-sense. 



PRUNING 



There are no hard and fast rules to be 

 followed in the matter of rejuvenating an 

 apple-tree. It is doubtful whether any two 

 men would employ the same methods, and 

 it is doubtful also, so far as pruning is con- 

 cerned, whether any two trees should be 

 treated in the same way. Briefly stated, it 



as sliown by the bruslx, but it is too higli and should be 

 point indicated by the "white line 



consists simply of pruning to correct the 

 faults of previous management and of ra- 

 tional tilling, feeding, and spraying to main- 

 tain a normal growth. 



Many of the orchards are so closely planted 

 that the branches are locking arms in mortal 

 combat, and the owner must take a hand in 

 the fight if he wants to get the most from his 

 trees. This is best done by taking out every 

 alternate row, diagonally, of the orchard, 

 leaving the trees of the second row opposite 

 the trees of the first row. Care should be 

 observed in selecting the diagonal rows that 

 have in them the greatest number of unde- 

 sirable trees. A chart should be prepared 

 during the summer, indicating the position 

 of every tree. The desirable, the undesi- 

 rable, and the missing trees may be desig- 

 nated by different marks. From this chart 

 it will be easy to decide which diagonal rows 

 will include the largest number of desirable 

 trees. The trees may be removed at any 

 time, but is usually done during the dormant 

 season when the work of pruning is in 

 progress. 



It will require courage to remove strong 

 healthy trees, but it will pay and should be 

 regarded as one form of pruning. We do 

 not hesitate to remove a large branch for 

 the benefit of the remaining portion of the 

 tree, so why should we hesitate to remove 

 an occasional tree when we know that it will 

 benefit the rest of the orchard? To get the 

 best results there should be an open space 

 surrounding each tree for the purpose of 

 admitting light and air and to facilitate the 

 various orchard operations. It has been 

 demonstrated by examining the records 

 of hundreds of or- 

 chards, that the far- 

 ther apart the trees 

 are, within certain 

 limits, the greater 

 the yield, and the 

 benefit will not be 

 so much in the in- 

 creased yield as in 

 the improved ap- 

 pearance of the fruit. 



THINNING OUT 



The next step after 

 removing the super- 

 fluous trees is to thin 

 out the ■ individual 

 trees. All dead 

 branches must, of 

 course, be removed 

 and as a rule two- 

 thirds of the living 

 wood should come 

 out. The important 

 point about this work 

 is to thin in such a 

 way as to leave a 

 well-balanced struc- 

 ture. Trees vnih a 

 central leader should 

 have the entire centre 

 removed. To avoid 

 injury to the remain- 

 ing portion of the 

 tree, it is often nec- 



' dehorned " at the 



