Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-04-03
PRUNING.

From The Stockman.
The cutting and slashing sometimes
done in orchards under the name of
pruning is enough to drive people
to the opposite extreme, causing them
to insist that all pruning is wrong, In
support of this they say nature never
prunes, which is true, and there are a
good many other things nature never
does. The business of the cultivator,
however, is not to do just as nature
does, but to guide nature, taking advan-
tage of what nature does, or allows to
be done, so as to produce certain desired
results.
The extreme in pruning referred to
above, cutting off many large limbs,
would never be necessary if moderate
pruning were done as needed while the
useless or interfering branches are
small. This explains the old saying:
"Prune whenever your knife is sharp"
Good doctrine, but many pay no heed to
it, and so there comes a time when
limbs of considerable size have to be got
rid of. How large may these limbs be
and yet the pruning be safe? In spring
pruning an inch in diameter is probably
as large limb as it is advisable to re-
move. Branches larger than this, if they
must be cut off, can be separated from
the tree with more safety in September.
In the cool, moist climate of the Brit
ish Isles and Northern Europe one of
the most weighty reasons for pruning
is to open the head of the tree to
the sunshine. In the larger part
of the United States this has no place,
on account of the higher summer tenn
perature and the drier atmosphere. But
while the tree does best in full sunshine
the naked branches, and especially the
trunk, should be shaded; and this is al
ways to be kept in mind in considering
what branches to cut. Pruning is done
to keep the head of the tree well bal
anced ito take out one of any two branch
es which interfere or cross each other,
and to get rid of any limb that may be
dead or dying.
The aim should be to do neat work.
No stubs two or three inches long, or
even half an inch, should be left, but
every branch taken off should be cut
close. The objection to pruning shears
is that they can rarely be made to do
this. Only fine saw or a chisel can
can be depended on; and in either case
smooth surface should be left, which, in
using the saw, requires that the finish
ing be done with strong, sharp knife.
Covering the cut surface with wax or
something of the kind to exclude moist
ure is good, but it will hardly be neces-
sary if the branch removed is small, and
especially if the plane cut is nearly or
quite perpendicular, as it snould always
be. This allows the rain to pass off
quickly and no decay follows
Pruning after the leaves come out, or
when the tree is in bloom, is not advisa-
BILE; the check to the vitality of the tree
is too great. The best time would seem
to be when the vital processes are dor
mant, either before the beginning of
growth or when it is completed. The
latter is in September, as already men,
toned; the former is in March, just be-
fore the sap is in active circulation; and
as growth is then just ready to begin |
the work of healing will commence at
once. This explains the partiality of
the French horticulturists for pruning
at this season, as expressed in a saying
they have: "Prune early or late, no bet |
ter time than March,"
One of the cases in which pruning
is necessary to success is in transplant
ing; and while it is often necessary un- !
der other conditions the fact of its gen.
orally being more or less debilitating
demands that it be done with caution,
and always by person who is well in
formed about trees.
Reference is had in the foregoing to
the apple and pear. The cherry, after
the pruning when transplanted, rarely
or never needs the knife; and the peach
requires different kind of pruning,
called shortening-in, which will be treat
ed by itself.