Sept. 2, 1901.] 
THE TKOPIOAL AGRICULTURIST. 
155 
PRUNING FRUIT TREES, 
The general principles of pruning have already 
been discussed in the previous issue of the Journal 
of the Department of Agriculture, and to these the 
reader must be referred. Several of the most ap- 
proved methods of vine pruning have also been 
reviewed and illustrated by means of diagrams in 
the same publication. In this chapter the shaping 
and the pruning of the several varieties of those 
temperate clime fruit trees grown in our orchards 
will be more particularly referred to. 
General Principles. 
There are a few rules, however, which are ap- 
plicable in every circumstance, and which should 
be borne in mind whatever the system of training 
or the kind of tree to be pruned may be. Thus, 
when pruning, cutoff all dead wood; also one of 
any two branches which may happen to cross and 
rub against each other, thus chafing the bark and 
injuring the limb. Supress water shoots and suck- 
ers. When cutting to a bud do not leave a atump 
above the bud ; but on the othor hand do not cut 
the wood off too close to that bud. "When com- 
pelled to out large limbs, pare off the wound with 
a sharp knife, and cover the wound with some 
dressing, such as already recommended in the pre. 
vious chapter on pruning (p. 316), or even with clay, 
which, while preventing the air and the dampness 
from drying and rotting the wood, will not pre- 
vent the young bark overgrowing the wound and 
gradually healing it. Before cutting the limb cff 
try to see what the result of your action is likely 
to be a few years hence, and thus save at an 
early stage the possible necessity of having to cut 
large limbs at some future period. 
Should it be found necessary to out a large limb, 
saw it a short distance from the bottom first. 
Then saw down from above, and the limb can be 
removed without fear of splitting off below. Under 
the climatic conditions which prevail here, it is 
better to err on the side of cutting hard back, so 
as to keep the tree low, than on the side of spar- 
ing the tree the first year of its growth, and let- 
ting it run np a high stem, topped with long 
lanky branches. 
Systems of Training and Shaping Fruit Thees, 
Climatic conditions to a great extent influence 
the methods of training trees. Thus in colder 
climates they often trained Cordon, fashion, or in 
Espaliers, Then again the Pyramid shape was for 
a long time a favorite in warmer climates, until 
the Low Standard or Vase system supplanted it. 
This latter method of training fruit trees has 
been found by long experience to be the form best 
suited to the Australian climate ; it is also the one 
best adapted to Oalifornian conditions. Unlike the 
pyramid shape, which has the cone pointing upwards, 
the wse, (joUet or inne-glasg form, fis it ia at times 
20 
called, rests on its cone, and directs its brauoheo 
upwards and outwards 
Amongst the advantages it offers it is simple to 
understand and to master; it is applicable to all 
kinds of fruit trees ; it is suitable to all localities 
where frnit trees can be grown out in the open 
without artifiicial shelter; it forms a vigorous, stocky 
tree, well balanced, easy to prune, spray and pick ; 
it efficiently shelters the stem against sun scald; 
it resists the onslaughts of heavy gusts of wind 
better than the other forms of training ; it requires 
less space than the fiyramid form ; it offers greater 
facility of approach to the stems by the horses when 
cultivating. 
First Pruning. 
Young budded trees in nursery rows present the 
first season of their growth the appearance of a 
straight switch, with good buds all along the stem. 
Sometimes they grow so vigo- 
rously that they throw out 
laterals. Both such young 
trees are found in nur- 
series. As their customers 
like to see as much growth 
as possible, nurserymen gen- 
erally send out their trees 
without cutting them back. 
Experienced orchard owners 
generally prefer, when order- 
ing from the nursery, one year 
old trees, which are merely 
straight switches with good 
buds all along the stem. 
These they can cut back to 
the height they prefer, with 
a length of stem pretty well 
uniformly the same all through 
the orchard. If they plant 
trees with a head ready form- 
ed in the nursery they cut it 
short back on the laterals. 
Those who, on the other 
hand, have little or no ex- 
perience of fruit growing, 
would do wisely to select 
from the nursery trees with 
their heads ready formed. 
When cutting back, especial- 
ly in the warmer and drier 
localities, a stem, 12 to 18 
inches high, will be found the 
best. In the cooler districts 
it can be given a height of 18 
to 24 inches. Cut back to a 
good bud, care having been The 
taken that the tree has not where to cut back when 
been planted too deeply, but planting.— Barry. 
that its collar, or point of junction between the 
roots and the stem, be as nearly as possible flush 
with the surface of the ground. If the tree has 
suffered much, and the buds are very small, the 
bark leathery and wrinkled, the stem somewhat dried 
and the roots much injured, it is advisable to cut 
the stem lower still, say at a height of about 9 in- 
ohea from the ground, or even lower, but in every 
case above the graft. In such cases, however, the 
proper height should be given to the stem, either 
by pmchmg the straight shoot which will grow from 
it, as soon as it reaches that desired height, or by 
cutting it back later on at the time of winter prun- 
ing. From stem topped to a height of 15 18 
A Yearling Tree 
WITHOUT Branches. 
cross line shows 
