The Portland daily press., 1877-04-11
THE FARM AND HOUSEHOLD.
Spring Pruning.

Spring Pruning.
Judicious pruning is one the secrets at the
bottom of good and abundant fruit. The
majority of fruit bearing vines, shrubs and
trees are ruined by overbearing,and portion
of the remainder are ruined by overpruning,
Not that the grower gains anything by this
overbearing, but on the contrary, the tree,
exhausted by the excessive draft upon its
vitality, either sheds its burden prematurely,
or bears a plentiful crop of worthless fruit.
Let any person pick from pear, peach or
apple tree, or from a curIant bush, one-half
or three-fourths of the fruit that sets a plen-
tiful year, and the remainder will, lat leastequal
in weight and far Imore than equal in quality
and value all that tree could have possibly
borne. This thinning of the fruit is kind
of pruning and only means to the same end.
By ordinary pruning we reduce the too ram
pant growth OF the tree, remove useless wood
that robs the fruitful portion of its sustenance
and equalze the burden OF the plant with its
productive strength. No farm work is gen.
orally done with less judgment or greater
want of purpose than pruning. Trees are
often hacked out of all shape with saw and
axe at this season; butchered, in fact, by
those who could give no reason for their
manner of cutting and slashing. 1t is too
late to remedy much of this sort of damage,
for it is already done in many orchards. But
for those who are late in setting about it we
offer few suggestions.
The principal objects in pruning are to cut
out useless wood, to balance the growth of
the tree and form symmetrical shape, to
check redundant growth in those parts where
it is not desired and to force it where it is
wanted, and to cut away the surplus of bear.
ing wood $50 as avoid overtaxing the pro-
ductive powers of the tree. 1t is obvious that
to do all this effectively some plan of cutting
hn odnpfnI hot xuill fha III;
aimed at
To commence with small fruits, we take
the common Versailles or red Dutch currant
bush as it generally appears in the farmers
garden. We then have what appears like
the stump of worn-out broom-a mass OF
dead or whitening or interfering sprouts. We
cut away, first OF all, the dead wood infested
with borers and hollow from end to end, then
we take out all the last years shoots that are
not well placed, so as to form a well shaped
bush with something of the figure of vase,
and leaving only three or four thrifty ones oil
these for future supply of fruit buds. AL
branches that cross or interfere with Others
are taken out, and all low-growing spreading
ones that lie near the ground. Then all low.
spreading laterals are taken off. The busI
then consists of ten or dozen healthy
strong shoots, bearing fruit buds and spread
ing evenly from the root. The fruit from
these branches will form full clusters of large
berries, which will sell. or at least have sold
in the market for the more valuable, but nc
better, cherry currant. Indeed, experts in
sist that the large cherry currant is only the
old Versailles-the common variety-wel
grown.
We then take grape vine, which. by the
by, should be pruned at once. The straggins
growth of last year is cut away to three eyes
upon the strongest shoots and leaving only sc
many OF these spurs as will supply the neet
for fruit, and furnish wood for next years
bearing. If the vine has two or three arms
shoot from each may be left to run if it il
desired to cover an arbor; if not, none should
be left. The vine is thus not reduced to two
or three struggling bare arms, naked excep
at the extremities, but there is wood enough
to bear fruit, and foliage sufficient to vitalizt
the vine.
The pear or apple will always set more
fruit than it should be allowed to, or car
healthfully bear. 1t is not advisable to prune
these so closely as would confne them to the
production of minimum quantity of fruit
The excess of fruit can easily be thinned ou
after it is set. The main need is to remove
misshappen or interfering branches; the Ions
sprouts which grow from the central limbs
the tangled masses of twigs which grow il
forks of the limbs; and to cut back the weed,
sprouts which grow here and there, ant
which in time would give too great prepond
erance to the tree, on this side or that Will
this one may be content. A tree must be moi
only expected to bear fruit, but should also
be thing Of beauty and joy as long as il
may be made to last; and the first end as
well as the latter may be reached best by
moderate and skillful pruning. Pruning
should be made study, and before tree i.
touched by one who is not an expert land
alas, by many who are too expert, also) il
should be well examined, and system o
pruning be laid out specially for it.-Ne,
York Times.