THE HOME FRUIT GARDEN 7 



thoroughly firmed about the roots to prevent drying out and to help 

 hold the tree in position. 



Pruning Before Planting. — Before strawberries are planted all 

 fully developed leaves should be picked off. The canes of raspberries, 

 blackberries, currants, and gooseberries should be cut back to about 

 6 inches at time of planting. Grapevines are usually cut back, leaving 

 only one or two buds. If fruit trees obtained from the nursery are 

 unbranched whips, 4 to 7 feet tall, they should be headed back to a 

 height of 35 to 40 inches. If they have several good-sized branches 

 well spaced along the trunk, three or four may be left. The branches 

 should be spaced about a foot apart along the trunk and should point 

 in different directions. 



Cultivation. — The cultivation of the home fruit garden is similar 

 to that of the vegetable garden. Cultivation should begin as 

 soon as the ground is dry enough and should cease about July 15. 

 Under most conditions the same methods of maintaining the fertility 

 of the soil that are followed in a vegetable garden are successful with 

 fruit. Where stable manure is available, its liberal use generally gives 

 excellent results. In this region strawberries do not often require 

 fertilizer on any soil that will raise good vegetables. Strawberries 

 should be mulched with straw to protect them from winter injury. 

 This should be done in the fall after killing frosts but before it is cold 

 enough to freeze the ground. Straw 3 inches deep after settling in 

 most areas and 6 inches deep in districts with severe winters, such as 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin, and northern Iowa, furnishes the needed 

 protection against cold. 



All berry plants should be cultivated as cleanly as vegetables. 

 Fruit trees and grapevines should be given clean cultivation for the 

 first 3 or 4 years. Thereafter apples, pears, plums, cherries, and 

 nut trees may be kept in sod. 



Pruning After the First Year. — To many inexperienced growers 

 the question of how to prune trees and bushes appears to be very com- 

 plicated. If certain basic principles are kept in mind, however, it is 

 possible for even the inexperienced grower to do a satisfactory job of 

 pruning. The purpose of pruning is to develop the tree or bush so 

 that it will have maximum strength to carry a load of fruit and maxi- 

 mum bearing capacity. A safe rule in pruning trees, particularly 

 young trees up to bearing age, is to prune them as little as will accom- 

 plish this specific purpose. Cross branches and suckers should be 

 removed and broken or dying limbs cut out. Young trees of most 

 fruits require little pruning before they come into bearing. Pruning 

 of fruit trees in general should be done during the dormant season, 

 preferably in the spring after danger of severe winter freezing is past 

 but before growth has started. 



If the growth of grapevines is rather weak during the first season, 

 it is advisable to cut the vine back at the end of the first growing 

 season to one or two buds and to train up a strong trunk during the 

 second growing season. If the vine is to be trained to a fence or a 

 two-wire system, it should be tied to a stake and carried upright until 

 it reaches the top wire. At that point it should be pinched off and 

 two laterals led out, one in each direction, along the wire. During the 

 second season lateral canes will grow from all the buds along the trunk. 

 Two of these at the height of the first wire above the ground should 

 be selected and tied to that wire to develop fruiting wood. The other 



