January, 1919 
37 
to the making of new twigs, and these twigs 
v/ill probably spring from all sorts of unex¬ 
pected places on the branches, the trunk and 
even from the ground. 
All such wasteful development can be pre¬ 
vented by the removal of fewer of the branches 
at one time, but extending the work over two, 
three or more years. The fruit bearing habits 
of the trees are thus not upset and the reduc¬ 
tion of branches is not sufficient to cause the 
development of undesirable woody growths. 
Making the Cut 
Prune autumn set trees in March, cutting 
out superfluous branches so as to leave 
from four to seven 
blossom buds have begun to swell before prun¬ 
ing the peach, the nectarine and the apricot, 
because the buds of these fruits are often in¬ 
jured during winter. If pruning is delayed 
one can be sure of how many blossoms he is 
leaving at pruning time. 
If the policy of pruning as little 
as possible has been followed, not 
only will the trees have begun to 
bear sooner than if over-pruned, 
but they will have almost surely 
developed a larger number of 
branches, especially of interior 
ones, than will give best results 
later on. To be sure, the number 
of these interior branches may be 
kept small by regular attention 
during June. This attention con¬ 
sists of cutting off with a pocket- 
knife, or even with only the fin¬ 
gers and thumb, such twigs while 
still succulent. The plant food 
and energy that they would con¬ 
sume in their development may 
thus be directed into more desired 
channels. The process is as sim¬ 
ple as I have described it, so needs 
no further elaboration here. 
Young Trees That Are Bearing 
But when, as is usually the 
case, these twigs have been al¬ 
lowed to develop into woody 
branches, some of them perhaps 
as thick as a man’s wrist, the 
problem is very different. The 
tree may be considered in a state 
of balance, its 100% of roots and 
its 100% of branches working in 
harmonious co-operation. Now 
suppose that the owner suddenly 
decides to cut off the equivalent 
of 20% of the total branch de¬ 
velopment. He will have an 
80% top but still a 100% root. 
The result may be so serious an 
unbalance that the tree will im¬ 
mediately slacken or perhaps en¬ 
tirely suspend fruit production 
and direct this 20% root power 
The weak interior branches of pear and 
other fruit trees should be cut out. Win¬ 
ter is the time to do this 
a good plan to make a saw cut from the under 
side upward a foot or more from the trunk 
until the saw sticks, then to pull the saw out 
and cut from the upper side downward until 
the branch drops off, and finally to cut off the 
remaining stub at the proper place, close to 
the trunk or part that is to re¬ 
main. 
Dressings for Tree Wounds 
Since decay of the trunks is 
due to fungi and bacteria, the 
question naturally arises, what 
can be done to prevent the en¬ 
trance of these enemies? Many 
substances have been recommend¬ 
ed. Of these, white lead paint in 
good linseed oil has been the fa¬ 
vorite. A little coloring matter, 
such as raw Sienna, is often add¬ 
ed to make the paint less conspic¬ 
uous. But even the best of paint 
is unsatisfactory; it too often 
checks and leaves cracks through 
which the decay germs gain en¬ 
trance to the wood. 
Where trees have been prop¬ 
erly managed from the start there 
will rarely be any wounds large 
enough to need antiseptic treat¬ 
ment or painting. And upon trees 
of vigorous growth wounds less 
than about 2" in diameter will 
heal so rapidly—in a year or two 
—that no application need be 
made. But when wounds are 
larger than 2", and where the 
trees are old or not vigorous, they 
should be treated. A far better 
dressing than paint, but one that 
must be used with far greater 
caution, is creosote. This is act¬ 
ively antiseptic, but it will kill 
living tissue. Therefore it must 
be very sparingly applied, and 
then only to the cross-section of 
heart wood. The brush must be 
pressed against the paint pail so 
that no drop will “run” or spread 
{Continued on page 52) 
Before pruning, this neglected apple tree was a maize of unproductive 
shoots and small branches. The lower picture shows it properly renovated 
While it is important to remove branches in 
small amounts during any one year, it is even 
more important to make each cut at the proper 
place. There is only one proper place; name¬ 
ly, as close to the trunk as possible, even 
though the wound so made is twice as large as 
if made an inch farther away. The reason is 
that the former wound will heal more surely 
and in less time than the latter. In other 
words, the longer the shoulder or stub the 
slower will be the healing and the greater the 
danger of injury to the tree through the en¬ 
trance of decay. For unless a wound heals 
quickly the germs of decay may gain entrance 
to the heart wood of the stub and thence 
to the interior of the trunk. The inevitable re¬ 
sult will be the decay of the heart wood, per¬ 
haps ultimately to such an extent that nothing 
but a shell of living wood will be left. Sooner 
or later such a shell will give way under the 
stress of a heavy crop or a storm. 
When branches are carelessly removed they 
may split and tear the trunk or remaining part, 
due to leverage. In order to prevent this it is 
