522 



Pruning Fruit Trees and Bushes. [dec, 



The hay crop turned out to be substantially above the average, 

 although it was not up to the level of 1903 either in total amount 

 or yield per acre. Relatively heavier returns were secured in 

 Scotland than in England, while the Welsh returns were also high. 

 Bulking together the hay from rotation grasses, clover, &c, with 

 that from permanent grass, the total production amounted to 

 187,455,184 cwt. 



Hops — grown in England only — fell below the average by no 

 less than 3*21 cwt. per acre. A lower average has only hitherto 

 been returned in the years 1888 and 1890, in which years the 

 total production, on a larger area than that of 1904, differed by 

 only about 1,000 cwt. from this year's total ; the smallest return 

 of all being the 281,291 cwt. of 1888. 



TRAINING AND PRUNING FRUIT TREES AND 



BUSHES* 



. As soon as the trees or bushes have been planted they require 

 to be cut back, provided that the weather is not frosty. Some 

 growers prefer to wait until the spring, cutting just before the 

 buds begin to swell. The latter plan is preferable if the 

 planting is done after November, as severe frost occurring imme- 

 diately after cutting is likely to cause the ends of the shoots to 

 die back below the point of cutting, especially those of plums. 



Young apple or plum trees should have their shoots cut back 

 to half or two-thirds of their length, cutting usually closely 

 above a wood bud pointing outwards or otherwise in the 

 direction in which extension is desirable. Pears need less 

 drastic treatment. The reason of cutting back is to adapt the 

 quantity of wood above ground to the dimensions of the roots, 

 always more or less reduced in the process of digging up from 

 the nursery beds, and by the trimming off of broken and bruised 

 portions. Cherry trees usually need to have the interior shoots 

 thinned just when the sap begins to rise in the spring after 

 planting, and the outside shoots cut back about half their 

 length to a bud pointing outwards. 



* An article on Planting Fruit Trees and Bushes appeared in the November 

 number of this Journal. 



