Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-03-28
The Care of a Plum Orchard

'"s Sa'e oi rum Orchard.
Ihere are two things the plum grow
er must do if he is looking for success
writes a. A. Halladay of Vermont in
the New England Homestead Ha
must cut back all new growth from, ono
haif to one-third. and thin tho frui,
Inc former should be done anv Tina
aIter the leaves fall and when there i;
10 irost In the wood. The best time IS
VI warm days early in March or AprjI
IL TIE cutting is done when the wood i,
frozen the stub is likely to die hack J.
ieM ihcheS from the cut. and the wound
WI Hot neal readily. This cutting back
HeilS materially in thinning the frui.
- II ieaNes less bearing wood. espa
cldiiy on the Japanese sorts The best
loois are long pruners which are used
Ior the taller branches. The ordinary
hahu pruning shears are very useful
lor the lower branches, but | much prc-
Ter the longer and stronger pruner.
known as hedge or briar cutter With
good pair of these cutters large limbs
can be Topped of and smoother cut ~.
leit thah with the saw. For cutting
the new wood they are very useful.
The Japan and Japan hybrid sorts as
European or domestic types. The diff
Ierent varieties require quite different
treatment. The Burbank. being very
Tow spreading. needs severe side prun-
ing 10 keep the tree within bounds. The
same Is also true of Red June. Hall
Ch3bot and others. Wickson ana
Abundance. being quite the opposite !
habit Of growth. should be shortened
back 1T the top and well thinned in the
middle of the head, 50 as to give the
tree as near an open head as possible.
Care should always he taken to remove
all interfering branches and to leave
the tree is an symmetrical shape as
possible.
by carefully attending to the trees
each year. there viii be little need TO
removing any very large branches. So
| far as possible one person should over
see the pruning each season. thereby
insuring some uniform system being
carrie! out.
| | have always praCticed very severe
pruning or heading back of all varieties
Of plums. II makes the trees more COM
! pact and easier to spray. The fruit *
more accessible and the trees ar
much less liable to injury when loaded
with fruit, from heavy winds More
| trees may also be planted to the acre
| Good judgment must be used at al
| times by the man behind the pruning
shears. No set rules can be given that
will apply to all conditions or in all
places.
| Thinning the fruit when partly grown
or as soon as possible after the June
drop" is an important and expensive
| job that must be attended to if the best
| fruit is wanted. Many of the Japan
eSc and some of the domestic ami
American classes have a great tendency
to over bear. which WeakenS the trees;
aud in many cases kills them outright
The size of the fruit is reduced, tho
quality impaired and the crop is rem
,dered less valuable. One bushel Of well
grown, properly thinned plums will
bring more money than two bushels OF
small. unthinred fruit of the same va
rictieS.
| Hand thinning is the only practical
method | know Of. The process is
slow and expensive. but not as expen-
sive as allowing the trees to go un-
thinned. The Burbanks and I-ombards
are most subject to ovcrbearinG. with
NiagarIS and Saratog5iS a close second.
This close pruning and thinning is :,
great factor in securing annual crops
of plums. If tree is left to oVerbe2r
one year. it is pretty certain to rest the
next season. 1t requires nerve to 60
into Il plum tree and strip off nine
tenths or more of the fruit. but after
the results Of the trees that wera
thnncd and those that We're not ara
compared, it becomes quite easy.