THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER. 
The Oxchard. 
Pruning Fruit Trees. 
Pruning is a means to anend. 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 is a continual pruning of buds 
and branches, If every bud on the tree 
were allowed to develop the latter would 
‘become a regular bush pile. Those buds 
which are most favorably situated as 
“regards light get most nourishment, while 
those less favorably situated become 
‘starved and drop off. The lower limbs 
of trees and those within the crown 
become weakened and die from lack of 
sunlight; then the wind, nature’s 
pruning-knife, comes along and removes 
the dead branch. In this inanner, trees 
are constantly ridding themselves of use- 
less 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, hybridisa- 
tion, and cultivation, are in a highly 
specialised condition, and to be main- 
» tained so must receive7special treatment, 
“possession of the tree and 
‘cause its 
“manner that when the tree 
July 1, 1909 
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 output for the 
longest possible period. A correct undor- 
standing, therefore, of this machine and 
allits working parts is necessary to its 
most successful manipulation, 
Ji 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 
do is 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 mutilated, 
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 
within 6 to 8 inches of the tap root. All 
small roots should 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 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 
ultimate ‘death. ~ 
The roots should-be cut with 
a sharp knife, and in such 
Fig. 5 
Vig 6 
is planted the cut will face downward. 
By cutting this way, nev roots, which 
will form or rather grow from the cut,. 
will have a tendency to grow in the 
required direction — downward. The 
next step to consider is how the top of 
the tree shall be dealt with. This, of 
course, will depend largely on the age of 
the tree in question, If a two or three- 
year-old nursery 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 head is cut away, and only a» 
straight trunk left, the top of the tree 
may not shoot, but will die, and the tree 
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 well- 
grown yearling tree I would prefer. 
cutting it back to a single stem (Fig. 3). 
It must be borne in mind always that in 
moving a tree it loses the greater portion 
of its roots, and that in consequence the 
remaining 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 
