The Florida agriculturist. [volume] (DeLand, Fla.) 1878-1911, 1878-06-26
WIN Ne ShpsId PRIME

d pruning, spoke OF some or the
advantages of pruning young trees
when first set; now l wish to speak
Of the advantage Of following it up.
The first advantage is that you eau
form just such top to your tree ss
you wish, by cutting away such limbs
ss you don't want and shortening
hose that are getting toolong, max
ing them spread out more and thin
ing out where they grow too thick
snd training up those that are inclined
TO droop and hang too low. But in
order to do this successfully, you
want to study the nature of the tree.
To illustrate, / will give some exam
pies Unfamiliar trees Take the yellow
Newton Pippin apple tree. When
il is young and thrifty, it is inclined to
shoot up very tall, with the branches
very close together, and when the
tree gets in full bearing, the top viii
be bent and twisted all out of shape
by the weight of the fruit and fire.,
9uently the tree will be all broken
down and spoiled Or if it be not
broken the long limbs will remain
bent over and throw out great many
shoots from the upper sides Of the
limbs, and thus make thick and ugly
top. Now, by proper pruning at the
right time, we may avoid this, and
this is the way to do it +; Cut off all Of
your limbs and the top Of your tree
when setting out and then prune every
year, so as to keep the top IN good
shape, by cutting back those shoots
that are growing too tall and thus
make them spread out more, and thin
out where they get too thick and
never suffer the tree to fork. When
you see two or more branches of
equal size growing out from the main
stem, cut of all but one ard let that
form the main tree. Let the branches
grow out from the sides, at proper
distances from each other, so they will
have plenty of room to bear and ma
ture the fruit, and, if properly short
ened in, they will bear their we'll
grown crops of fruit without break
ing or bending out of shape.
The yellow Bellaeur is OF the OPP
post class of trees, and needs a diff
ferent treatment in some respects
Such trees are inclined to form very
thick top.which grows low and spread
ing, ald hangs too low il not trained
upward. Such trees need a good
deal of thinning out among the small
branches, and in such way as to en-
courage the branchesto grow upward.
Now, if you commence pruning
your trees while young and follow it
mp every year Gas you should,) in q
proper way, you can form just such
i top as you want. If your tree needs
spreading out, cut the young shoots
off just above bud on the outside Of
the shoot, and if you want to train the
tree upward, leave a bud on the upper
side Of the limb where you cut it of.
These rules will apply to all kinds
Of fruit and ornamental trees and
shrubbery, .a
WELL" says one of my neighbors,
II don't go cent on your pruning
fruit trees. know several persons
about here that had the tops of
their trees sill cut off two or three
years ago, and now they are thicker
than ever-haM dozen limbs now
90 where there was one before"
That is not the kind of pruning /
am talking about. begin with my
young trees and prune every year,
using nothing but a strong pair of
hand shears; they avoiding the ne
cessity of cutting large limbs. But
old trees may be greatly improved
in the same way.
New, let US look about our neigh
bors' orchards little and see how
they look. A. has different kinds of
fruit trees in bearing that have never
been pruned, and some of them have
run up so tall that il takes very
long ladder to get to the fruit, that
is swinging out on long scattering
limbs, while others are low and
bushy, with the limbs so numerous
and close together that bird can
hardly fly through them, and they
are full of little, Stunted, worthless
fruit. But A. says they are as nature
formed them and he thinks he can't
improve on nature, and he let's them
go. ya
g. let nature attend to his trees
until she got so many of the limbs
down in his way that he would not
stand it any longer, and went for
them" with AK and saw and cleared
Lib onos.n.h 70 nnaka annther