PRACTICAL PAPERS—FRUIT GROWING. 32 1 ? 
and are broken down by winds and the weight of fruit. While 
advocating the training of trees higher than is the practice of 
some, I am by no means in favor of high training. I would 
have the branches, after the tree comes to bearing, afford pro¬ 
tection to the trunk from the summer’s sun—using a board 
for this purpose before, if necessary. Trees should be trained 
high enough to secure the growth of the branches at nearly right 
angles with the trunk, otherwise they will form what the late Mr. 
Cover called mal-formed crotches, by the natural tendency of 
the lower branches to an upright growth. Every tree, perfect 
in form, should have a central shaft upon which the branches 
should be regularly distributed, never allowing three or four 
branches to cluster together, or any side branch to take the 
lead of the center. 
I believe in pruning as a necessity and I regret that any one 
should advocate the theory of no pruning. There is negli¬ 
gence and slovenliness enough manifested in the care of or¬ 
chards without any one advocating it as necessary. If it is right 
to prune any where, it is right to prune here; nor is there any 
more danger of injury to orchards here, than any where else if 
done rightly and at the proper season. I regard the last half 
of March as the best time to prune in this latitude. Pruning 
in June is practiced ,to some extent and is well enough for 
young thrifty growing trees. Pruning at that time checks the 
wood growth, and so far is somewhat injurious to trees where 
the tendency is to fruit rather than growth of wood. 
The usual method of propagation is by grafting small seed¬ 
lings on the root. It has been quite thoroughly demonstrated 
that many of the tender varieties may be grown with certain¬ 
ty by re-grafting such hardy trees as Transcendent, Duchess, 
etc. Most of the so-called tender varieties injure in the bodies ; 
as the tree puts on new growth of wood upon the outside, de¬ 
cay goes on within, until at length the tree breaks down show¬ 
ing a mass of decayed wood, unable to perform its office of 
sustaining the tree in position. 
With the majority of farmers nothing seems more difficult 
to learn than that an orchard needs care and culture like other 
