The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1903-10-21
Grating and Pruning Trees.

ed how should trees be treated so as to
get the best results in guilty and price.
There are as many opinions on the sub
iect as there are varieties of fruit.
Nearly every man has his own pet
theory on the subject. The writer has
had ten years experience in this particu-
lar branch of the fruit business, both in
this valley and California; and it is not
strictly belongs to the grower himself.
1t is true that a great many worthless
trees have been unloaded on the farmers
of this valley by unreliable nurserymen,
yet this can be remedied very easily.
We find all around the country many
trees of worthless varieties of fruit and
the growers still taking care of the trees
and attempting to market fruit when
practically there is no demand for it.
The proper thing to do as soon as it is
discovered that there is a tree in your
orchard that is not standard variety is
top work it. That is best done by graft
ing, and will make the best tree. All
varieties will do better grated than
budded, except peaches, which can only
be successfully changed by budding.
The cost of top grating is very little.
Eighteen cents per tree will cover all
expense. And the grower will find that
L.. e I,.,,,
results as the tree will bear considerable
of crop the second year after grating.
Much care should be taken the first year
as the wind is very liable to blow some
of the young shoots off. The trees should
be gone over several times during the
warm weather, as the wax is very liza
BILE to melt and let the air in, and in so
doing the scions would more than likely
die 1t is better to keep all surplus
growths off the trunk of the tree so the
young shoots may have the full strength
The scions should be cut in the win
ter and put away in the cellar where
they will keep little moist, heeled in
the ground two or three inches.
The proper pruning of tree is one of
great Importance and very few ever
give them the right kind of treatment
they need. Some people do not believe
in very much knife work, but it is very
essential that a tree should be pruned.
In not doing so, it is only little while
until the tree resembles brush pile, and
the fruit is small and of poor quality,
without any color to speak of, and it is
the highly colored fruit that sells the
best
In setting out an orchard, trees should
be headed on an average of about eigh-
teen inches from the ground so the
stalk may be strong enough to support
the top. In less windy country than
this. trees could be started higher. All
trees should be cut back from one year
to three Peaches can be let 90 much
earlier than other varieties. The trees
should be kept well thinned all surplus
limbs removed from around the bottoms.
If not it will only be short time until
n mass af brush will be there, and will
only act as harbor for insects and will
interfere in the cultivation. The centers
of the trees should be kept well opned
so as to admit the sunshine, keep out
all cross limbs and broken ones and
have the limbs far enough apart so the
fruit will not be rubbed by interfering
branches. Pruning may be done with
perfect safety any time after the fol-
iage falls until the leaves come in the
spring Peach trees should be cut back
every year. so as to force new fruit
wood Allow your trees to keep on grow
ing and in little while all the fruit
will be in the tops and not in the center
where it should be.
The cost of pruning is not very great,
considering the fact that the fruit is of
a much more marketable quality, and
saves a great deal of time and money in
thinning. 1t is to be hoped that the
orchardists in this valley will see the
error of growing so many poor varieties
of fruit and will change to Others more
nroffohla