Rocky Ford enterprise., 1894-01-18

If you will care for your vines as l
have described you will have a
nice vineyard and one to proud Of
If you have not kept it SO COM
mence this spring and cut back as
I have described, according to the
age, being careful not to leave too
much new or old wood"
Questions were then asked and
general discussion followed, par
ticipated in by almost all present,
during which the following points
were brought out: Grapes can
not be successfully grown here on
the stump, California style. Wire
trellis was objected to by some,
but III. III. Norton said they were
o. K. if posts were close enough.
Mr.. Steele was trying cedar posts,
allowing the grapes to droop over
them and he proposed also to
nail lath to the top. Mr.. McClain
suggested a trellis on which the
wires ran horizontally. Mr.. Blake
said tie up the grapes with leather
strings. Frank Crowley said the
Concord grapes would not grow
on stumps here. Mr.. Kollock
asked as to cutting off roots when
transplanting. Mr.. Crowley said
not, but keep all the roots and dig
a wide but not deep hole-the
more roots the better. Mulching
killed the vines, b. q. Dyes ex-
pertinent being mentioned. Mr..
Steele said his experience had
been the same. If the ground is
rich no manure is needed and very
little water is required. The
sweeter grapes grow on the poorer
ground.
Frank Crowley then read the
following paper:
PRUNING THE APPLE.
"The first thing to do is TO arm
yourself with a good, sharp prun-
ing knife. Ii pruning is done at
the proper time and in the proper
manner no other tools will be nee
essary, but if neglected, or too
many main branches are allowed
to grow, the saw will have to be
used. In cutting off a branch the
knife should follow the shoulder,
which we notice at the junction of
the brarch to another, or to the
main stem, and the surface of the
cut should be no larger than the
base of the branch removed. To
make cut of this kind the knife
must be drawn inward a little,
care being taken not to cut the
bark Oh the main stem. We often
see limb cut off with an outward
stroke of the knife, leaving sharp
stub at the upper side of the cut
which will require year or two
for the bark to grow over, or from
which new shoot may start. On
the other hand, we frequently see
the cut made too close to the main
stem, causing a very large wound
or peeling the bark from the top
of the cut or up the tree some dis
tance. Either of these should be
avoided. In removing a portion
of branch the proper way is to
take the branch to be operated on
in the left hand, below the place
where the cut is to be made, place
the edge of the knife on it directly
opposite the base of the bud to be
cut to, and then make firm, quick,
smooth draw-cut, sloping upwards
SO that the knife will come out on
q level with the point of the bud.
If we cut too close to the bud, SO
as to remove some of the wood
with which it is connected, the
bud will die or else make a very
feeble growth, and the bud below
it will take the lead. While if we
cut too high the wood will die
down to the bud and will make an
unsightly stub if not cut off in af-
ter-pruning.
Where the saw is used in cut
ting heavy limb, first saw a lit
tie at the lowest part SO that when
you saw through from the top the
weight of the branch will not peel
or split off some of the bark from
the main stem as it falls. Saw
cuts should be trimmed smooth
with the knife to make them heal
more quickly. It is also a good
plan to paint large cuts to prevent
the wood from drying and crack
ing into the tree too much.
In growing an orchard by irri-
cation we do not have to prune in
summer to produce fruit, nor to
prime in winter to encourage
growth of wood, as they do in the
east. This we can see by the or
chards already in bearing that
trees grow more rapidly and that
the same varieties will commence
bearing in from one-half to two
thirds the time required in eastern
localities. This, l think, is
mostly due to the fact
that if the soil is is kept uniform
ly moist the roots do not need to
go SO far nor SO deep to obtain the
food required and are settled down
1.-- L