Vol. LXII. No. 2771. 
NEW YORK, MARCH 7, 1903. 
II PER YEAR. 
WHY AND HOW TO PRUNE. 
The Early Education of a Tree. 
Part II. 
The time to begin the pruning of an orchard tree, 
as has already been suggested, is when it is in the 
nursery, and again at time of setting the young tree 
should be given more definite shape. The old saying 
“as the twig is bent the tree is inclined,” is true 
to a large extent with orchard trees. Although each 
particular species and variety has its natural habit 
the wise pruner can assist in giving proper shape In 
many Instances. The height of the trunk is the first 
thing to be considered, and this depends on the cli¬ 
mate and the variety under treatment. Low heads 
are the rule now in nearly all sections. The frame¬ 
work of the tree is the next thing. If this has been 
properly started there will usually be only an occa¬ 
sional branch needing removal to maintain it. The 
main branches must be well situated and developed 
to hold up the weight of fruit and leaves that a 
healthy tree should have. While the head of a tree 
should be sufldciently open to allow the free circula¬ 
tion of air and an abundance of light to color the 
fruit, there is one point right here that often misleads 
orchardists. They are apt to cut out too freely when 
RIGHT AND WRONG CUTTING. Fig. ii8. 
tlie trees are young, not realizing that as they get to 
bearing age the weight of fruit will cause their 
branches to spread. A rather close-headed tree will 
be decidedly le.ss .so as it grows older, and in any 
planning of the pruner he should bear this in mind. 
All the cross branches should be cut out as soon as 
discovered, for they will get more and more trouble- 
.some and injurious to the others as well as to them¬ 
selves. Every branch should grow away from the 
center of the tree instead of towards it. No two 
branches should be allowed to rub against each other 
or to grow so close as to be in danger of doing so 
when bending under a weight of fruit. Ordinary 
judgment will decide which branch is to be cut away. 
There is one very common mistake made by those 
who are taken with the notion that they must clear 
out their trees, and sometimes very suddenly and 
without knowledge. It is, that all the small branches, 
twigs and spurs must be cut off the lower limbs and 
from the interior of the trees. Bare branches are not 
the proper thing until the shade of the trees causes 
them to be so, and by a moderate and judicious thin¬ 
ning of the branches they will retain their spurs for 
a long time. These often bear good fruit, and they 
also serve a good purpose in strengthening the growth 
of the main branches and shading them from the sun. 
Some fruit trees have very upright habits of growth 
and need to be headed back. This is often true of the 
pears, the Kieffer being one of them. There are oth¬ 
ers which are too spreading or even drooping in habit 
and need the wise and thoughtful use of the knife to 
guide them to more upright growth. 
When it becomes necessary to cut off a branch let 
it be done decently. In heading back a branch there 
is a right and a wrong way to do it At Fig. 58 we see 
where a cut has been made fully an inch above the 
last bud left to make the growth. A, and also another 
one made properly at B. The wood will die back to 
the last living bud in every case, and a dead snag is 
sure to result if that bud or branch is not at the ex¬ 
treme end. The results of these two cuts can be seen 
at Fig. 59, a year later. The snag shows for itself, 
and in the other case there is merely a scar where 
the cut was made. 
When larger branches are cut away there should be 
no snags left. At Fig. 60 there are samples of the two 
styles of cutting. Be the snag ever so short it will die 
back to where the circulation of sap is active, in pass¬ 
ing from the roots to the leaves and also downwards. 
At Fig. 61 these same cuts are shown after nature has 
tried to heal the wounds. In the two cuts where 
snags were left by the pruner (more correctly, the 
tree butcher), they are dead, and kindly nature is try¬ 
ing to heal them over. In the course of time the dead 
RIGHT AND WRONG CUTTING.'OF LARGE BRANCHES. 
Fig. 60. 
parts will rot away if the new growth does not first 
cover them sooner; but there will be a rotten blemish 
in the tree. Where the cuts were made close to the 
main stem the healing process Is going on rapidly, 
and In one more season will have covered the wounds 
completely. 
When a large horizontal branch has to be cut off it 
is well first to saw on the under side and then finish 
from above. This will prevent the weight from caus¬ 
ing a split where the cut is made, as is almost sure to 
result where it is begun from the upper side. All 
wounds over an inch in diameter should be covered 
with some coating to prevent cracking and decay. Any 
good paint, and the thicker the better, is as good as 
anything more costly. This should not be delayed, 
but done soon after the wounds are made. The best 
tools to use in pruning fruit trees are a sharp pruning 
knife, a wide chisel, with a mallet to drive it, and a 
narrow-bladed saw. There are regular pruning saws 
made, but a medium-sized butcher’s saw, changed to 
cut wood, is about as good. The narrow blade, set 
wide and filed sharp will do the work more quickly 
and easily than a wide blade, because there is less 
friction. Chisels are sometimes made especially for 
pruning, and do excellent service. With one with a 
short handle and another long enough to reach well 
into a tree clean cuts can be made and much labor 
and climbing be saved by working from the ground. 
A good blacksmith can make as good a pruning chisel 
at small cost as can be bought, and few stores have 
them for sale. They should be drawn to a thin edge 
from both sides. Pruning may be done at almost any 
season, but early Spring seems to be the time when 
there is the best opportunity for farmers. But, when¬ 
ever it is done, let it be with a helpful, intelligent 
THE RE.‘<rLT OF CUTTING. Fio. 61. 
spirit, and not in a cruel and hurried way, as is far 
too frequently the case. h. e. van deman. 
LIME-SULPHUR WASH WITHOUT BOILING. 
In connection with a series of experiments with the 
lime-sulphur-salt wash, recently conducted by the 
New York Agricultural Experiment Station, a few 
preliminary tests were made with a method of pre¬ 
paring the wash without boiling over a fire or with 
steam. But few trees have been sprayed as yet with 
the mixture prepared in this way, and hence it is too 
early to form an opinion as to its merits. In fact, it 
should be definitely understood that no claims are as 
yet made for this method, as definite results cannot be 
obtained until further experiments are completed next 
Spring. To make the wash without boiling the same 
proportions of lime, sulphur and water were used as 
given in the formula published in the Station bulle¬ 
tins, namely, 40 pounds of lime, 20 pounds of ground 
sulphur and 60 gallons of water. In place of the salt 
either Babbitt’s potash or a ground commercial caustic 
soda were used in proportion varying from one-fourth 
to one pound to each pound of sulphur. The former 
amount seemed to be sufficient. The caustic soda 
seemed to give as good results as the potash and is 
cheaper. The lime was slaked in a convenient re- 
