The Monmouth inquirer., 1889-04-04
FARM, FIELD AND GARDEN.
NOTES AND COMMENTS INTERESTING
TO GARDENERS AND FARMERS.


Some Common Sense Advice ON the Art of
Pruning Fruit Trces-Pruning for yigor,
Fruit and the Formation of shapely Trees.
Habits of Growing.
Consider what is sought for in pruning
fruit trees. The operation is simplified
by a knowledge of its principles. First,
then, prune to preserve the health and
prolong the life of the tree; second, to
secure plenty of good fruit; and third, to
promote the convenience of the orchardist
in regard to the position of the branches.
Following is some advice relating to the
above text, recently given by DIR. 7. FL.
Hoskins one of Rural New Yorker's val
ued correspondents:
When trees branches are i'll placed
and crowded, there is tendency with
some of them to dwindle and die. In this
way a tree becomes, to some extent, self
pruning. Some orchardists regard this
as sufficient, and only seek to aid nature
by neatly removing branches that are be-
ginning to perish. 1t is easy to be seen
that these falling branches will produce
but little fruit, and that of inferior quail
ity; so not only the first principle. but
also the second, requires their removal.
These i'll placed branches are also much
in the way of gathering the fruit. They
are mostly either in the interior of the
tree, or near the ground, III both cases
being shaded by exterior and superior
branches of more vigorous growth. If
these principles are kept in mind from
the first, and the owner has enough
imaginative power to form in his minds
eye picture of the tree as it will become
in its successive stages of growth, he will
be able to select for removal such growth
as will clearly become injurious as the
tree enlarges. In thus anticipating the
work of nature, he will be led to remove
i'll placed branches when quite small,
thus obviating the necessity for large
wounds, which heal slowly. and mean
time give chance for fungi to enter, and
produce decay of the trunk. AS he pro
ceeds with this work, he will see that
trees often have their main branches inn
properly placed. either forming forked
trunk (sure to split down under load
of fruit) or being too near together and
too numerous.
The formation of forks with a sharp
angle should not be allowed, either in
trunk or branches. The main limbs
should he few, and so placed that even
when they become large they will not be
opposite to each other, or too near to-
/ Inv or loI hi
of growth; others low, spreading habit
and still others struggling. irregular
manner of growth. 1t is possible, to
some extent, to modify these peculiari-
ties by pruning; but it is not well to re-
move large branches for this purpose
alone.
Pruning for fruit is much treated of in
the books, but in the ordinary way Ct
managing apple orchards in this country.
if the above named principles be aG-
| hered to, we have done about all that
can be done to promote fruitfulness.
With peaches and pears it is somewhat
different. The peach especially requires
severe cutting back, owing to its pecu-
liarities of growth; while with the pear.
pruning for fruit is more efficacious than
with the apple. Pruning for high
trunk is insisted on for apple orchards
by many; and in sections of the country
where the climate is mild and equable,
this convenience may be secured without
other loss than what results from de
layed fruiting. But where the winters
are very cold, and especially in spots
where the suns rays reflected from the
snow cause the destruction of the bark
on the southwest side of the trees, low
heads will often be preferred. AS varie-
ties best adapted to such localities are
usually moderate growers, or short
lived, the disadvantage of low branching
is not so manifest as elsewhere.