Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1883-04-12
Orchard Pruning.
]. G Plumb in Western wis Farmer.

"When shall | trim my orchard!
is the often repeated question, and that
in our own case has two sides to 1t; one
of expediency as We II as OF proprlety'
It is a well settled fact in horticulture
that heavy pruning should be done dur
ing the dormant period, but that llght
trimming should be done manly our
ing the growing season.
Following out this rule we prune our
nursery from June 1st to December,
and would do light pruning In the or
chard at the same time.
Wounds made during this period
will not cause decay, for the cut sur
face hardens so quickly and complete
y, that it is self preservative.
Heavy trimming during the growing
season should be avoided, as it IS too
great shock to the tree, destructive OF
its forces.
On the other hand, if done in winter
or early spring, the first flow of sap
may blacken the wounds, and cause
dick decay. Therefore we say all
heavy pruning should be done OF
the end of the groaoi'lg season; or
when the leaves fail, usually in October
and November. This will cause no
loss of root, and the tree will adjust 1T
self to the change at the next growing
season. Winter pruning causes a more
vigorous wood growth, while summer
pruning develops fruit buds.
Thus we have the true basis Of prun-
ing. Yet many other considerations
come in, and that of expedieucy is a
strong point. The month of March is
perhaps the time of most leisure with
the farmer and it may be 'now or
never" on such matters as trimming
the trees.
So we reason and so we practice.
We are now giving our orchards the
general overhauling they should have
had last October, and we follow the
same with an application of hot wax,
painted on from kettle carried around
in small portable furnace, and heated
with petroleum lamp. The WAX we
use for this purpose is made of resin
softened with boiled oil One-half gil
of oil and one pound of resin, melted
and we'll mixed over slow fire, APP
piled with brush.
For this work choose a still, warm
day and apply smoking hot to the
wounds. This same composition, with
: the addition of a little heeswax, We
use for out door grating, as it shoulc
be worked at lower heat for grating
Remember that too much oil, or if no
properly mixed, the oil will kill as tal
as it penetrates the wood.
Professional grafters have these diff
ferent grades of wax prepared and IL
cakes ready for use beforehand to ac
commodate different temperatures II
working it. The most Of orchard trim
ming at this time is best done with ;
good, stiff cross.cut hand saw, KEEP
very sharp. Much of the work we do
with the hand pruning shears, and ou-
summer pruning is mostly done will
the shears.
The first thing to do is to remove thu
sprouts and suckers which spring VI
around every neglected tree, which i
dest done with the axe or grub-hoe
Then remove old, dead wood and cross
limbs which ere forming bad crotches
Then some long, lanky limbs vii
need to be shortened one.half, NOR,
or less, to give the proper balance t.
the tree. All of this may now b
done at one operation if needful, bu
later in the season, when the tree is il
full growth, the trimming should b
done little at time. Always leav
as many limbs and as much shade a
: possible on the south west side to she
ter the stem of the tree from tn,
noon day sun.