302 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Pruning an Old Orchard 
We have an old apple orchard hero that 
has been pruned for years in such a man¬ 
ner as to leave only a number of long 
limbs with last year’s suckers and a few 
branches on the ends. Is it advisable to 
cut off about half of these limbs, leaving 
some suckers, and weighting them down 
to prevent their growi- up'in the air? 
Can we expect such s - ers to bear fruit, 
or will such severe pruning kill the trees? 
1. Old apple tree. A good subject for 
dishorning. Leave plenty of sprouts. 
The trees are fairly healthy and yielded 
well last Fall. C. F. n. 
White Plains, N.Y. 
In answering this query I appreciate 
the position of the physician who is 
obliged to diagnose a case without seeing 
the patient. So much depends on the 
shape and condition of an old apple tree 
in determining how it should be pruned. 
From C. F. B.’s description and sketch of 
one of his trees, I take it that the few 
remaining limbs on liis trees are of the 
“telephone pole” variety. Also that the 
general direction of these limbs is out- 
2. Old apple tree with open top. Do 
not cut off old limbs. 
ward rather than upward, letting plenty 
of sunlight shine down on sprouts about 
o. Old tree of normal condition, but 
needs pruning. Cut out all sprouts. 
center of tree. This latter condition is in 
their favor, and in that case I would not 
cut off the big limbs at all, unless they are 
blighted. I would simply thin out the 
sprouts and ‘‘head in” those remaining. 
Cut to a bud or twig leading outward. (I 
have never tried weighting them down.) 
But if these long limbs extend upward 
towards the clouds, then it will be neces¬ 
sary to cut off some of them about half 
way down in order to let in some sunlight. 
Otherwise the sprouts will shoot straight 
up through the ol$ top., and at this ex¬ 
alted position they will proceed to bear 
some fruit. This whacking off or dishorn¬ 
ing process I would call “last resort” 
pruning, and I would never practice it on 
4. («) One-year-old sprout. Prune to 
bud leading outward. 
(b) Sprout two or more years old. 
Prune to twig leading outward. 
even old apple trees of normal shape and 
vitality. There should, if possible, be a 
good setting of sprouts before dishorning 
a tree in this fashion. The wounds will 
never heal over; it will simply be a race 
between the sawed-off limb dying back 
and the sprouts making enough headway 
to take up the vitality of the roots and 
trunk, thus preventing decay of the entire 
tree. Usually the tree will recuperate 
enough to bear fruit for several seasons’ 
sometimes for years. 
There is a general pruning rule by 
which a branch or limb of more than one 
year’s growth is cut only at a fork, and 
the limb remaining should be as large as, 
and preferably larger, than the one cut 
off. This is necessary if one desires to 
have the w T ound heal over. The dishorn¬ 
ing method described above is an excep¬ 
tion to this rule, and is practiced chiefly 
where old trees are much diseased or scale 
infested, or where the tall limbs without 
side branches reach so high as t;> make 
horning. Leave sprouts. Cut limbs closer 
at forks than marks indicate. 
apple picking dangerous if not impossible, 
and where it is a question of either re¬ 
sorting to some drastic measure to lower 
the top or cutting down the tree at once. 
There is no question as to bright pros¬ 
pects for good apple prices during the next 
fcw T years. The smallest kind of apples 
brought good prices last Fall, and sweet 
cider was quite “out of sight.” I would 
by all means, save the old apple tree, but 
for me he must either “do or die.” 
Pennsylvania. DAVID PLANK. 
You Can 
Avoid 
Wormy 
and produce satin finish fruit by using 
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FREE SERVICE BUREAU 
We are cooperating with \fruit growers every¬ 
where. Put your spraying problems up to us. 
Correspondence is invited. Our advice and 
directions are given free. Write us direct. We 
answer spraying inquiries personally. Get your 
name on our mailing list to receive the season¬ 
able spraying pointers and information we 
are sending out. Address as below. 
General Cliemica(r 
Insecticide Dept, 25 Broad St., New York “v. 
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[ 
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