I6b 
Pruning Fruit Trees. 
Pruning is a means to an end. Under 
natural conditions trees are being con- 
stantly pruned. Every fall nature strips 
the trees of their leaves, This is their 
regular annual pruning. In addition to 
this there isa continual pruning of buds 
and branches. 
were allowed to develop the latter would 
become a regular bush pile. Those buds 
which are most favorably situated as re- 
gards light get most nourishment, while 
those less favorably situated become 
starved and drop off, The lower limbs 
of trees and those within the crown be- 
come weakened and die from lack of 
sunlight; then the wind, nature's prunin’ 
knife, comes along and removes the dead 
branch. In this manner,-trees are cons- 
tantly ridding themselves of useless 
branches, and the pruning so effected is 
undoubtedly a benefit to the branches 
which remain, and to the general growth 
and improvement of the tree. Orchard 
trees, by virtue of selection, hybridisation, 
and cultivation, are in a highly specialised 
- condition, and to be maintained so must 
receive special treatment. In a sense the 
fruit tree is a machine for manufacturing 
fruit, and intelligent pruning is one of 
the means by which it can be made to 
manufacture the most fruit of the best 
quality in the shortest time, and to keep 
up the cutput for the longest possible 
period. A correct understanding, there- 
force of this machine and all its working 
parts is necessary to its most successful 
manipulation. 
Tt is as well to begin with the tree from 
the very start, which is at the time when 
it is transplanted from the nursery to 
the orchard, as a good beginning is half 
the battle Assuming that a tree is about 
to be planted out, the first thing to dois 
to examine the roots carefully to ascertain 
how they fared in their removal from the 
nursery, as it is often found that the roots 
have been badly multilated, especially in 
this country, where proper tree lifters or 
diggers are seldom used. Before planting 
all roots which have been broken or 
damaged should be cut away, and all the 
young roots cut back to from 6 or 8 
inches of the tap root. All small roots 
_ may be removed, leaving only the larger 
ones, as by digging up a tree which has 
been planted for some time it will be 
found, except in very rare cases, that the 
very small roots never throw out any 
young rootlets, but wither away and die, 
becoming a hiding- place, perhaps, for the 
white ants, which often in time, through 
such medium, take possession of the tree 
and cause its ultimate death. ‘Lhe roots 
should be cut with a sharp knife, and in 
such manner that when the tree is planted 
the cut will face downward. By cutting 
this way, new roots, which will form or 
rather grow from the cut, will have a 
tendency to grow in the required direc- 
tion—downward. The next step to 
consider ig how the top of the tree 
If every bud on the tree -4 f 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
‘shall be dealt with. This, of course, de- 
pend largely on the age of the tree in 
question, If a two or three-year-old nur- 
sery tree, it may be advisable to leave 
either three or four short arms (as shown 
in figs 1 and 2), as it is found that if the 
iz 
+ 
Fig. 2 Fig, 3 
head is cut away, and only a straight. 
trunk left, the top of the tree may not 
shoot from the root. This is often the 
case with the peach, but where a few 
shoots are left this danger is avoided. ~ If 
a wellgrown yearling tree I would prefer 
cutting it back to a single stem (Fig. 3). 
It must be bornein mind that in moving 
a tree it loses the greater portion of its 
roots, and that in consequence the re- 
maining roots are unable to sufficiently 
support or nourish the growth above 
ground, for which the whole root system 
was intended. We must therefore 
shorten the top in such a way as to re- 
establish the lost equilibrium, and the 
planter must bear in mind that it is 
always better to cut a newly planted tree 
back rather severely than to leave it. with 
too much top, as by so doing it will re-: 
cover more quickly, and in the end make 
a much better tree, It will be seen by a 
reference to the figures shown that 
although the young trees may be about 
the same size and | shape when 
planted, yet, after the first pruning, they 
may present the shapes and forms illus-_ 
trated. 
After the {first summer’s growth and 
before the second pruning, they will 
present about the above appearance, (See 
Vigs. 4, 5, and 6). 
By adopting a system of allowing only 
one leader’or main branch to grow from 
~ each of the shoots (igs 1 and 2) and 
three starting from different points 
around the trunk of Fig 3 the tree will 
present a fairly good appearance at 
Fig. 7 
July 1, 1908 — 
the time of the first witter’s pruning, 
(that is, the winter twelve months after 
the tree was planted in orchard form), 
which pruning will consist in cutting back 
severely, leaving each arm or branch © 
about 16 inches in length, When the 
€-5 aati a 7 
Fig. 8 Fig. 9 
tree represented by Fig 6 is pruned it 
will only have four arms left, as shown 
in Fig|8; and 4 and 6 will have only three 
arms each left, as shown in Figs 7 and 9. 
It may be considered by many that this 
isa rather drastic treatment of young 
trees, but it must be remembered that 
while the tree is young our object is toso 
train it as to produce a well-balanced tree 
with good arms, and that in consequence, 
until the tree is three years old, our aim 
is to attain this, which is best accom- 
plished by pruning fur shape and strength 
and not for fruit. In performing the 
work it is often necessary to prune so as 
to spread the tree,as many trees are of © 
very upright-growing habit, and therefore 
it is best to cut an outside bud, cutting 
the branch diagonally across, as in this 
way it is more easily severed, and the 
risk of bruising the back is reduced to a 
minimum. 
Durlng the second summer's growth 
the tree will reyuire as much labor, or 
even more spent upon it in directing and 
guiding its growth, as by the remvval of 
certain young shoots and the encourage- 
ment of others, the secondary arms can 
be started from almost any point; and 
where the trees are given this summer 
attention the task left for the pruner in 
the summer is very light. The sesond 
winter the trees would present an appear-— 
similar to those shown in Figs 10, 11 
and 12; aod after pruning operations 
should have the appearance of those 
shown in Figs 13, 14 and 15 respectively. 
When Fig 14 has four main arms and 
