January, 1912 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



265 



without a question, could not tell one 

 variety of apple from another, while the 

 trees are dormant, and in your dealings you 

 must rely on the honesty of the nursery- 

 man. Good stock will naturally cost 

 more than poor stock. The average man, 

 uninitiated, is likely to be deceived by 

 appearances in judging qualities of stock. 

 Take two nurseries — one where root 

 pruning was attended to regularly and 

 another where the roots were never touched. 

 Mr. Average Man would select stock from 

 the latter place simply because the trees 

 would show more growth and would look 

 more vigorous; whereas, as a matter of 

 fact, that stock is not worth to him one 

 half what the root pruned stock is. Trees 

 that have been transplanted in the nursery 

 (which is equivalent to root pruning, be- 

 cause you cannot move the root system 

 entire) have a dense ball of fibrous roots 

 and will move with absolute certainty. 

 But such trees take twice as long to de- 

 velop to saleable size. The root-pruned 

 tree suffers no shock from transplanting, 

 however, and starts growing in its new 

 place with actually increased vigor. A 

 young tree badly checked in transplanting 

 never recovers its vigor. Remember 

 that — never ! 



On a plot of ground 150 x 90 ft. you 

 can reasonably grow fruit sufficient for a 

 dozen people. I would plant on such 

 a space 6 apples, 6 pears, 2 cherries, 8 

 peaches, 2 quinces, 16 grapes, 50 black- 

 berries, 50 raspberries, 15 gooseberries, 

 16 currants, 500 strawberries. All of 

 which could be purchased for about forty 

 dollars. A practical scheme for such a 

 quantity is shown in the accompanying 

 sketch. The quantities indicated can, of 

 course, be divided in half for a family of 

 six, and otherwise in ratio. 



If the space is restricted, dwarf trees 

 can be planted and trained on trellises and 



This old orchard was pruned to give the largest bearing surface of healthy wood: this system with culti- 

 vation in summer and cover crops in winter gives maximum yields of fruit 



thus you could actually get the same 

 number of varieties in a space of 150 x 

 45 ft. The rows can run in any direction, 

 but preferably north and south, in order 

 to get the most even distribution of light. 

 The trees for the smaller area would cost 

 one-third to one-half more than the stan- 

 dard trees, for the larger space, and be- 

 sides there would be the cost of the trellis 

 added. The initial expense of the dwarf 

 tree is greater, but it has the advantage 

 of quicker returns and economy of space. 



It costs just as much to plant and care 

 for a tree of inferior quality as it does for 

 the best, yet the average person, when 

 he wants to plant apple trees, just buys 

 "apple trees" never considering that there 

 are hundreds of varieties of apples, and 

 that each variety has its own merits and 

 limitations, as adaptability to certain 

 soils, hardiness under trying circumstances, 

 or the quality of fruit. All selections of 

 varieties must be largely personal pref- 

 erence, and local adaptation. 



Pruning Dormant Fruit Trees — By w. H. Jenkens, 



New 

 York 



WINTER WORK AMONG THE ORCHARD FRUITS THAT WILL SAVE LABOR IN SUMMER 

 PREVENT DISEASE AND ENSURE BETTER FRUIT— HOW TO FEED ECONOMICALLY 



BEGIN pruning when the leaves are all 

 off the trees and at any time when the 

 weather is not actually freezing. Use the 

 brush for fuel, and so get the orchard 

 all cleaned up before spring. 



The most useful tool for the work of prun- 

 ing is a fine tooth saw about two feet long. 

 Of course special pruning saws are made, 

 but if these are not easy to obtain, buy 

 an ordinary hand saw of the size you de- 

 sire. Probably the hardware merchant 

 from whom you buy keeps short handled 

 pruning shears for one hand, and those 

 with long handles for both hands. You 

 will find both really useful, though while 

 the pruning shears will not be used as 

 much as the saw for pruning trees, they 

 are excellent for pruning cane, vine and 



bush fruits. I think the whole outfit can 

 be purchased for about two dollars. 



The healthy tree in good form and con- 

 dition for bearing, should not be pruned 

 very much in one year, for the larger the 

 leaf surface, the greater the growth. 

 About 90 per cent, of the food is absorbed 

 from the atmosphere through the leaves, 

 and every leaf-bearing branch that is cut 

 out reduces the feeding capacity of the 

 tree. We should prune not to diminish the 

 size of the tree, unnecessarily, but (1), to 

 let in the sunshine and thin the fruit so 

 that all left will ripen properly and be also 

 of larger size, and (2), to cut out diseased 

 wood. Any more pruning is injurious to 

 the tree. When the apple trees were 

 planted they should have been headed 



back to about three feet, and while pruning 

 after that strive in a general way for the 

 vase shape, but do not cut off too much 

 growth to get it. In other words use 

 common sense in pruning — just try to 

 keep the centre of the tree open, cutting 

 off branches that will grow too close to- 

 gether, but after all mostly letting the tree 

 have its own way. Young trees that have 

 been planted only a few years, will need 

 some attention now. Clip off the sprouts 

 growing in the centre, using the small prun- 

 ing shears, and have them sharp. This is 

 important in any pruning work; never 

 crush the wood, but make a clean close 

 cut that will quickly heal. 



When pruning the large bearing tree, 

 cut out all the dead or dying branches. 



