Pruning the Old Orchard Trees- By E. L. D. Seymour, 



New 

 York 



NOW IS THE TIME TO DO ALL THE BIG WORK AMONG THE OLD ORCHARD TREES, CUTTING OUT DEAD WOOD, THIN- 

 NING OUT TO LET IN LIGHT AND REPAIRING BREAKS — COMMON SENSE RULES THAT EVERYONE CAN UNDERSTAND 



^OVEMBER here? Then get out your 

 ■L ^ saw and your pruning shears, slick 

 up the edges, oil up the hinges and begin 

 pruning operations — at once. The con- 

 ditions we must have for winter pruning 

 should be ripe now, viz. — the leaves 

 have fallen, the wood has ripened, the 

 sap has stopped flowing, and the days 

 are crackling with that dry, cold, glad-to- 

 be-alive feeling that makes strenuous 

 work a welcome pastime. 



But, hire someone to do it for you, if 

 you cannot get the right point of view. 

 Realize, please, that in many an orchard 

 the yield is achieved not because of, but 

 in spite of the pruning the trees receive. 

 Realize, also, that there is no other one 

 factor in the care of an orchard that can 

 so effectually increase or diminish its value. 

 Yet year after year a few simple principles 

 are studiously neglected or avoided, and 



noble, willing trees are maimed, butchered 

 and weakened without a thought. Before 

 setting out this winter to "trim up" 

 your trees, bind yourself by oath to stick 

 as closely as possible by the following rules. 

 If you live up to them, the pruning ques- 

 tion will work itself out in all safety. 



i. Leave no stubs. It is easier and 

 quicker, no doubt, to cut a branch square 

 off several inches from the main limb, 

 where the saw or shears work easily. 

 But don't do it. Cut all branches flush 

 against the branch from which they spring, 

 leaving perhaps a diagonal surface twice 

 the diameter of the shoot, but smooth and 

 clean. It will heal over completely and 

 rapidly; while a stub no more than an 

 inch long will remain open, absorb moisture, 

 decay in the centre, invite the entrance of 

 disease spores, insect eggs and every sort 

 of pest, all of which will gradually work 



down into the heart of the trunk and de- 

 stroy the whole tree. In removing any 

 limb over an inch thick, cut from a quarter 

 to half an inch into it on the under side 

 first. Then saw it off from the top. This 

 not only permits the cut to open as you 

 saw (or as carpenters say, "the kerf to 

 spread") and make the work much easier, 

 but it also allows the branch to break off 

 cleanly without tearing away a strip of 

 bark beneath. If the branch is several 

 inches through, it is safer to cut it off in the 

 above manner a foot or so away from the 

 tree, and to then begin again and cut the 

 stub off smooth. Finally, whenever a pruned 

 branch is over an inch in diameter, paint 

 the wound with a thick white-lead paint. 

 It may be darkened with lamp black or 

 dull green to render it inconspicuous. 

 But even if the only thing available is 

 sky blue or iose pink, use it, for it will 



The more blossoms the better: but when the fruits set. thin out. Half the number may more than double the yield in size and quality 



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