SOUTHERN ORCHARD PLANTINGS 31 
The amount of pruning required for different trees must be taken into con- 
sideration. The head of an apple tree should be ;iept open and all weak branches 
cut out each year. Watch for dead lipibs and cut them out as fast as they appear. 
Do not let the tree fill up with small spindling branches. Aim to make the head 
low. Fruit can be gathered easily from low trees, and thus save picking expenses. 
Pear trees must be pruned if you want a low 
tree. Otherwise they will grow straight up, and 
it will be more difficult to gather the fruit. Prune 
from the top. Cut above a bud that points 
outward. Do this every year for a few seasons 
and you will have an open-headed tree. Seckel 
pear trees do not require pruning. L/cave them 
alone; they will do better. 
Peach trees should be headed when young. 
Prune out the small branches. This directs the 
tree's energy toward fruit-making. Each spring 
go over your peach trees and cut out about 
one third the length of last year's growth. 
Mr. W. N. Hutt, the State Horticulturist 
of North Carolina, gives the following pruning 
pointers: (i) Start the tree right; (2) Don't 
cut out large limbs; (3) Keep your tools sharp; 
(4) Don't prune in freezing weather; (5) Leave no stubs — cut close to 
shoulder; (6) Prune annually but never heavily; (7) An axe or hatchet is 
not a pruning tool; (8) Do your pruning yourself; (9) Keep the tree free 
from suckers; (10) Paint over the wounds; (ii) Never allow your stock to 
prune trees. These simple instructions should be closely followed. 
Hedges should not be trimmed too closely. Some will stand more than 
others. California privet and Thunberg's barberry can be trimmed short, but 
it is best not to go too close. Ordinarily a pair of pruning-shears, used two or 
three times during the summer, will be enough to maintain the shape you 
desire. If you prune but once a year, the young growth is apt to develop and 
you will have thick stubs left when you prune. By going over your hedge a 
few times during the summer months and keeping it even, you will have an 
excellent appearing hedge that will require but little care. 
About Spraying Fruit Trees 
The ravages of the numerous insects that attack fruit trees make it absolutely 
necessary to spray if profitable crops are looked for. Much of the imperfect 
fruit you so often see is directly traceable to insects that could be kept away 
by spraying. Sprayed fruit always brings better prices; so, if you intend to 
make a profit from your orchards, it will pay you to spray the trees and the 
fruit at the proper time. 
Apple trees should be sprayed at least three times a year. The first spraying 
should be given in late winter. This will act against the pests that live on the 
tree over winter and awake to activity in early spring. For this first spraying, 
commercial lime-sulphur should be used. The mixture should be one gallon 
of the chemical to eight gallons of water. 
The first spring spraying should be done as soon as the leaf-buds open. This 
will attack the early sucking insects that draw their sustenance from the sap 
of the tree through the bud. Commercial lime-sulphur should be used in the 
proportion of one and one-half gallons to fifty gallons of water. 
The important spraying period is soon after blooming time, for it is at this 
stage that the codling moth lays its egg in the open flower, thus producing wormy 
fruit. The spray must be put on just when the blossom petals have fallen; if 
you wait longer, the poison cannot reach the insect. For this spray use a solution 
