TEE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
982 
I am correct in this theory it is a little bit of scien¬ 
tific bosh for us farmers to wait for anyone else to 
take rare new varieties and try to establish fixed 
hybrids with them. There would he no such thing 
as these hybrids remaining fixed after they once 
left the originator’s hands. They would unques¬ 
tionably begin crossing right away with common 
Alfalfa and the common Alfalfa would be in very 
much larger acreages than would the pure new hy¬ 
brids. Therefore, I think that instead of waiting 
year after year, as we have been doing, for the some 
one to bring out a hybrid that was to revolutionize 
the business, it is time for us to take matters some¬ 
what into our own hands, apply a good deal of 
common sense instead of academic reasoning to 
the matter and see what we can accomplish our¬ 
selves with the new varieties. citas. r. wing. 
Summer Pruning: Theory and Practice. 
Part II. 
IIE ECONOMIC QUESTION.—In general, Win¬ 
ter pruning is less expensive than Summer prun¬ 
ing. When the foliage is off the trees one can more 
quickly and easily determine what branches should 
he cut hack or removed. Labor can also he ob¬ 
tained much more easily during the Winter months. 
Summer pruning must then prove its economic ne¬ 
cessity to the commercial orchardist. Summer prun¬ 
ing may consist of two types, the removal of entire 
branches, twigs or shoots and the ‘‘pinching back” 
or cutting hack of the tips of twigs and shoots. The 
removal of many branches and twigs from a tree 
in Summer checks its growth and is seldom good 
practice. It is only advisable in certain cases of 
excessive wood growth. It should never be prac- 
Summer Pruning Not Needed. Fig. 367. 
tised with trees making a slow to medium spread¬ 
ing growth as illustrated by the apple in Fig. 367. 
The pinching hack of branches causes the develop¬ 
ment of side branches and “thickens the top” of a 
tree as illustrated in Fig. 352. If this is done late 
in the season (he side branches are weak, make a 
late growth and are susceptible to Winter injury. 
If much pinching hack of twigs is practised at any 
season it may result in a large number of weak twigs 
and a decrease in the number of fruit buds as il¬ 
lustrated in Fig. 308. Any tree that is of good form 
and making a medium growth for the variety can¬ 
not he benefited by Summer pruning. Summer prun¬ 
ing then becomes a special practice to be recommend¬ 
ed for a few fruits such as the apple and peach, and 
certain pears and only under condition of irregular 
or excessive growth. 
SUMMER PRUNING OF NEWLY PLANTED 
TREES.—Young apple and peach trees may de¬ 
velop shoots upon the trunk near the ground the 
first Summer after planting. These can he rubbed 
off as soon as they appear without much injury to 
the tree and will remove the necessity of pruning 
them off in Winter. Some people believe that the 
removal of shoots at any time during the growing 
season increases the vigor of those that are left, but 
this is not so. The removal of many well-developed 
shoots from a young apple or peach tree in August 
of the first Summer after planting generally results 
in a smaller tree at the end of the season. To make 
a definite rule. Summer pruning of young fruit trees 
the first Summer after planting should consist only 
of removing shoots which develop low down upon 
the trunk below what are to he the main branches 
and the occasional “pinching back” of a branch that 
tends to make a long, irregular growth. All such 
pruning is to he done previous to July 10 or not at 
all in most cases. 
SUMMER PRUNING IN SECOND OR TIIIRI) 
SUMMER.—After fruit trees have become estab¬ 
lished for one season in fertile soil they may com¬ 
mence to make a rapid and dense growth. Some¬ 
times this growth may he in one direction only and 
the pinching back of the leading shoots when they 
Fruit Spurs Forced to Develop Twigs. Fig. 368. 
are about 10 to IS inches long results in a better 
balanced and a more rounded top as illustrated by 
Fig. 305). This pinching back should he done as soon 
as the leading branches are 10 to IS inches long. 
Some varieties of peaches such as Mountain Rose 
and Reeves and such pears as Kieffer and Le Conte 
may make a dense upright growth the second or 
third Summer as illustrated in Fig. 372, and the re¬ 
moval of a few of the central shoots that tend to 
become leaders is beneficial and reduces the severity 
of the following Winter pruning. All such pruning 
should he done before July 10th and the earlier the 
better. Such varieties of peaches as Carman and 
Greensboro, such apples as Stayman and King, such 
pears as Seckel and Lawrence make an open spread¬ 
ing habit of growth and would seldom be benefited 
by any form of Summer pruning except the removal 
of an occasional sucker. 
SUMMER PRUNING OF BEARING TREES.— 
Bearing trees of peach, apple and pear should be 
so cultivated and fertilized that they make just 
about the proper amount of wood growth to pro¬ 
duce fruit of high color and in maximum quantity. 
And if this condition exists Summer pruning is en¬ 
Improving Balance of Tree Head. Fig. 369. 
tirely unnecessary, in fact, injurious. If trees are 
making too much growth the quantity of nitrogen 
should he reduced in the fertilizer mixture. Sum¬ 
mer pruning, however, may he serviceable in im¬ 
proving the color of fruit upon young bearing trees 
that are making too dense a growth. Some of the 
branches may be thinned out to allow the sunlight 
to reach the fruit but this is the most expensive 
way of improving the color of the fruit. The 
amount of growth should he controlled by a proper 
August 7, 1915. 
system of culture as soon as possible. Bearing ap¬ 
ple, plum, and peach trees that are making about 12 
inches of growth annually at the tips of leading 
branches will seldom be benefitted by Summer 
pruning. m. a. blake. 
(Continued next week.) 
The New York School District System. 
I WAS very glad to see the matter of township 
school boards mentioned by Mrs. I). R. W. on 
page 799. In this section of the country the bill 
aroused violent opposition as soon as the people un¬ 
derstood its meaning. Over 98% of the voters in 
our school district signed a petition requesting our 
Assemblyman to help defeat the hill. As a result 
of the activities of the political machine, over 90% 
of our town officers are concentrated in or very near 
the two largest villages in the township. In fact 
it is a common saying here that if you want a town 
office you must move to the largest village and 
stand in with the ring. As the township school 
board bill now reads there is nothing to hinder the 
political machine from nominating and electing the 
entire membership of the school board from these 
two villages. This would leave the inhabitants of 
nine-tenths of the area of the township absolutely 
without voice in the conduct of their school affairs. 
This condition would be duplicated, perhaps not to 
the same extent, in the majority of rural townships 
throughout the State. Make the proposed school 
board consist of as many members as there are 
now districts in the town, and specify that one 
member shall be a resident of each school district 
or former district, and one of the greatest faults 
of the system will have been remedied. Then if the 
farmers in the far corners of the township want 
their children taught at home or taken eight or 
10 miles night and morning to some central school 
they will have at least something to say about it, 
or where they want the new $5,000 school build¬ 
ing which the school board is privileged to build 
each year without the consent of the taxpayers. 
As it stands now, the trustee cannot spend $50 or 
even $5 for repairs or new school buildings without 
special authorization from the taxpayers at school 
meeting. The politicians seek to take the control 
of the public money out of the hands of the farm¬ 
ers because they are not progressive enough to 
conduct the affairs of the school districts, yet what! 
department of the State government shows more 
results and less graft for the dollars expended than 
the district school system? Where can you find a 
more intelligent or progressive class of people any¬ 
where than the farmers of this State? 
As it is now it is difficult to get a man to serve 
as district trustee and attend the affairs of one dis¬ 
trict without compensation. How many towns can 
furnish nine men intelligent enough to serve on a 
school board, who would be willing to give their 
time attending board meetings once or twice a 
month the year around, and conduct the school af¬ 
fairs of the town absolutely without compensation 
unless there was a little come-back somewhere? 
The benefits of the plan have often been likened 
to those resulting from the State supervision of 
highways. True, we have better roads than under 
the pathmaster system, but under the present re¬ 
gime this township raises annually $110 per mile 
road tax. Under the pathmaster system we did not 
pay a dollar. We ought to have better roads; we 
pay for them. There may he improvement in the 
present manner of doing things, but it is expensive 
improvement, and as a usual thing the people pay 
for all they get and then some. c. c. c. 
Chautauqua Co., N. Y. 
A summary of the reports on the conditions of the 
fruit crop in Iowa for July is as follows: Summer ap¬ 
ples, 80%; Fall apples, 77; Winter apples, 05; pears, 
31 ;cherries, 35; Americana plums, 49; Domestics, 
plums, 43; Japanese plums, 41; peaches, 5; grape;, 
09; red raspberries, 68; black raspberries. 69; black¬ 
berries, 72; currants, 64; gooseberries, 71 of a full 
crop. The average condition of all fruits is 56%. or 
one per cent, higher than in the June report, and 10% 
higher than the July report for 1914. 
WESLEY GREENE, 
Sec’y Iowa Ilort. Society. 
