110 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



OCTOBEH, 1910 



essary to remove this large branch in sec- 

 tions. The final cut may be as large as eight 

 or ten inches in diamter. Trees that have 

 not this upright tendency will simply need to 

 be thinned out and cut back or "dehorned." 



The severity of the treatment in this 

 respect will depend upon the age and vigor 

 of the tree. A tree that is fairly vigorous 

 should not be so severely treated as an old 

 and seriously neglected one. Some very 

 weak trees will stand to be cut back to a 

 point not more than three or four feet from 

 the trunk. A high-headed tree should be 

 more severely dealt with than one that is 

 naturally low and spreading in habit. Some 

 people prefer to cut back about half of the 

 branches the first season and the other half 

 the following year. Good results may be 

 expected from either method. The essential 

 point about the whole operation is to form 

 a new head at a position nearer the ground 

 so that the various orchard operations may 

 be more conveniently performed. The final 

 result should be a well-balanced structure 

 that will carry a large crop of fruit and that 

 will admit plenty of air and .sunlight. 



All side branches should be cut off smooth- 

 ly and parallel with the parent branch. In 

 heading-in, the large branches should be cut 

 back .to a side branch. This treatment 

 will allow the wound to heal over readily 

 and will avoid the dead stubs so commonly 

 observed in neglected orchards. All the 

 large wounds should be painted over to 

 prevent the access of wood-destroying fungi. 

 Paint suitable for the purpose may be made 

 from ordinary white lead and boiled oil. 

 A little coloring matter may be added if 

 desired. The painting is best done a few 

 days after the pruning, to allow time for the 

 cut surface to dry. 



AU "moss" and rough bark should be 

 scraped off. A dull hoe with a short handle 

 is best suited for this purpose. The scraping 

 should be done lightly to avoid injury to the 

 living bark. Only the dry scales or the dead 

 bark should be removed. The work of 

 scraping is not especially necessary, but will 

 facilitate the matter of controlling insects 

 and will give the trees a better appearance. 



WHEN 10 PRUNE 



Pruning may be done any day from the 

 time the leaves begin to drop in the fall till 



the sap begins to run in the spring. With 

 trees that have been severely pruned in the 

 winter there is usually a great growth of 

 suckers or water-sprouts the following season. 

 It is often advisable, therefore, to remove 

 some of these water-sprouts during the 

 month of July of the first season. This 

 work consists simply in selecting the most 

 desirable sprouts for the new head, and cut- 

 ting out all others. If in doubt about the 

 most desirable ones to retain, it would be 

 well to leave several and make the selection 

 the following winter. 



CHANGING VARIETY BY TOP-GRAETING 



Around most country homes may be found 

 a number of "wild apple-trees" that produce 

 an abundance of inferior fruit. It is a 

 common thing also to find in most orchards 

 a few trees of worthless varieties, or varie- 

 ties not well adapted to the local conditions. 

 Such trees, especially those that are in a 

 thrifty condition, may be readily "worked 

 over" to some other variety. This practice 

 has become quite common in New England, 

 where many of the plantings were limited 

 to two or three varieties and where the owner 

 desires to have a succession of varieties 

 throughout the season. 



Of the several methods of top-working 

 fruit trees the process of cleft-grafting is 

 more commonly employed. The first step 

 is to select the branches to be grafted; there 

 may be as many as eight on a fuU-grown 

 apple-tree. They should be selected with 

 the ultimate result in mind, and for this 

 reason it is well to pick out branches near 

 the lower part of the tree; and they should 

 be well distributed. The larger branches 

 are not so suitable for this purpose as the 

 smaller ones. Best results will follow the 

 use of branches not more than two inches 

 in diameter. With vigorous trees it is 

 usually best to graft about half the desired 

 number of branches the first season, and the 

 remainder the following year. 



WHEN TO GKAET 



The work is always done during the grow- 

 ing season. Best results will be had if it is 

 done when the sap is flowing freely. The 

 scions, the small cuttings that are used for 

 the purpose, should be gathered during 

 the previous fall just after the leaves drop. 



They are usually packed in moist sand and 

 stored in a cool cellar or are buried in soil 

 on the north side of a building. The scions 

 should be selected from well-ripened wood 

 of the last season's growth and from trees of 

 the desired variety. A twig that is a foot 

 in length will make about three scions. 

 Each scion should have about three buds. 



When everything is in readiness, the work 

 consists simply in making a cleft by splitting 

 the stub to a depth of not more than three 

 inches and inserting a couple of scions that 

 have had their bases cut in the form of a 

 long slender wedge. The wedge part of 

 the scion is usually made a little thicker on 

 one side than the other. The scions are 

 placed at opposite sides of the cleft and with 

 their thicker edges outward. The essential 

 thing about the work is in getting the inner 

 bark of the scion in contact with the inner 

 bark of the stub. For this reason the scion 

 is usually inserted in a sloping position so 

 that the inner barks will come in contact at 

 the point where they cross. A wedge is 

 usually placed in the cleft to hold it open 

 while the scions are being inserted, and re- 

 moved when they are properly adjusted. 



The final operation consists in waxing 

 over the wounded surface to exclude air 

 and moisture. A suitable wax may be 

 made by melting together one pound of 

 tallow, two pounds of beeswax, and four 

 pounds of resin. The melted wax is then 

 poured into cold water to harden. When 

 cool enough to handle, it should be pulled 

 like taffy until it turns light yellow. The 

 wax may be prevented from sticking to the 

 hands by occasionally dipping the latter 

 into oil. The scions that make a strong 

 growth during the first season should be 

 "pinched back" to prevent injury from 

 strong winds and to induce a spreading 

 habit. If both grafts grow, the weaker 

 one may be sawed off, making a sloping cut 

 through the shoulder of the stub. The 

 subsequent treatment of a graft should not 

 differ much from that of a young tree. If 

 more grafts grow than are needed, they may 

 be cut out in the fall at the time of removing 

 any remaining brush of the old variety. 



CULTIVATION AND FERTILIZATION 



As soon as the ground is dry enough to 

 work in the spring, the turf should be broken 



Trees that liave become very weak from tlie effects of scale or other troubles 

 should be severely dealt with 



Trees so closely planted as this should be thinned to one-half, 

 long limbs with a bouquet at the top 



Nothing but 



