The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1874-12-10

lOuDu the muskel Dall ldu STRUCK El0l
on the head, cracking the skull and
glancing off, as none of the balls pen
etrated his hide | learned a thing in
this struggle, and that is, that bear will
never do TO tie TO"
Pruning-Nhy and When We Do 1t.
THERE is great diversity of opinion
among horticulturists upon the subject
of pruning. All are agreed as 10 the
necessity of this labor, but in the ques-
ton of time and amount of pruning
necessary, and as to the manner in which
it shall be done, there are wide differ
enccs of opinion. This is not surprising.
There are differences in soil and climate,
in the conditions of the soil and temper
allure, even on the smallest farms. For
these reasons, if not for others that might
be mentioned, the individual cultivator
must study the plants to be pruned, and
decide for himself as to the manner of
doing the work, as well as the proper
time of doing it.
There are three principal reasons why
we prune, and here nearly every practi-
cal man will agree We prune for wood,
prune for fruit, or we prune for
symmetry of shape. There Is also q
pretty general agreement that we prune
to induce wood growth between the
falling of the leaves and their reap
pearance, and that we prune in the
summer TO induce the formation of
fruit spurs. 1t must be evident that
when we prune for symmetry it must be
done both in winter and in summer; in
the winter, to bring the tree into the
general shape we require, and in the
summer to check the superintendent
growth in any particular direction. The
summer pruning should be principally
confined to shortening rampant growth,
and, if attended to in season, may be
mostly, if not entirely, done with the
thumb and finger. 1t must be admitted
however, that there are but few persons
whose Discrimination is so nice that they
can distinguish accurately where and
how to pinch while yet the wood is so
tender that it may be nipped with the
thumb-nail and finger.
The natural inclination of the sap is to
reach the extremity of the branches and
the more upright these are the more this
flow to the extremity is induced. This
is, undoubtedly, one of the reasons why
upright growing trees, like the Northern
Spy, are long in coming into bearing
and for this reason bending the branches
to make them pendent, ringing and
twisting, roOi-pruning-i fact, anything
which has the effect to check the flow of
the sap during the growing season-tends
TO change the leaf-buds into fruit-budS
For this reason trees having attained a
proper size are often thrown into fruit
from the occurrence of very dry season,
and II the later summer and autumn con
unue dry these buds are kept dormant
and thus are enabled TO stand far great
er degree of cold during the succeeding
winter than If the reverse were the case
The peach, nectarine, apricot and other
members of the peach family have an es-
pecial characteristic in the prolongation
of the stems, from the flow of sap towal d
the terminal buds Hence, shortening
in of the branches not only tends to
equalize the sap and to force the buds
along the branches, thus checking the
sap and inducing fruitfulness, but il also
keeps the tree in shape by clothing it
more uniformly with leaves than would
otherwise be the case
In pruning for fruit, therefore, we
must bear in mind that ANYTHING which
will tend to check the flow of sap and
produce a uniform and regular dis
tribution will tend to the production of
fruit. AS an aid toward this end we
have mentioned bending down the tips
of the branches, disbarking, ringing, etc
The two latter are not to be recon-
mended unless fruitfulnesS is desired in
order to test peculiar fruit, and, even
then, the fruit SO produced will be no
close indication of its real merits, except
to one conveTsant with pomOlogy.
We have always held and still hold,
that, in the West, all that is necessary
for the orchardist is, so to prune that the
tree may take its natural form; the
principal efforts of the operator being
directed to the removal of weak and
crowded branches. One OF our first
lessons in pruning was given Us hv an
".Obio Dutchman who removed to Hi
nois many years ago. He said: Take
out all uprights, downrights and cross
rights" 1t Immediately occurred to our
mind, what would there be lcft2 and we
asked the question. After going into a
brown study for a short time, he
answered: "DOt ish sho-but the up
rights won't bear fruit, the crossrights
gall each other and the downrights look
bad. And, he added after a little farther
thought, anyway, you must keep the
u
can't ripen." Here lies the great mis-
take of Western farmers who follow the
books and the way stereotyped in the
minds of those who pin their faith on
English authority. or those book-makers
who have compiled from these authori-
ties
The real facts are that, in the West,
the thicker the head the better the tree,
and consequently the fruit In England,
pruning which would seem excessive to
US Is admissible, since the temperature
is cool and the seasons are moist. On the
seacOast of the United States the same
conditions are prevalent, but in a modi-
fed form. Nevertheless. severe pruning
is not practiced to such an extent as for
merry, and in the seaboard States they
conform their standard, measurably, to
the practice of the hest cultivators in the
West. 1t is a mistake that the fruit must
be borne in the sun to be perfect. The
best fruit is really ripened on such trees
as have abundant foliage, and conse-
quently where the fruit is shaded The
leaves are the evaporating and elaborat
ing organs OF the plant, and the more
leaves plant can carry, each having its
due share of air and light, the better.
In fact, severe pruning is always fol
lowed by an effort on the part of the tree
to repair the damage by throwing suck
ers and shoots from the dormant buds
on the surface of the trimmed boughs.
Therefore, bear always in mind that no
healthy tree needs the knife except to
equalIZe the growth-to prevent the
abrasion of the branches one upon the
Other-and to allow suCL access of air
that each leaf shall get its due proportion
of light as near as may be according to
the habit of the tree If this is carefully
studied and the tree be taken while
young but little pruning will generally
be required.
One of the greatest mistakes made and
one natural to beginners is removing the
leaf buds and small shoots that make
their appearance on the stems of the
young trees. If persisted in the stem
will invariably be found slender and
spindling; for the Office of these side
shoots and their leaves is TO elaborate
the sap that is to be deposited in the
stem, thus rendering it stocky and strong.
Any one may convince himself of the
truth OF this proposition by observing
that the formation of wood is always
strong at the junction of the limb and
the tree; and that the stems of such
trees as are deprived of their lower
limbs are always weak and spindling;
while those that have been allowed to
retain these shoots for few years, with
4 10 tnr o1 l. II III