Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1905-06-06

nursery business, and where, as boy,
went to get budding stock for my first
apple trees raised from the seed. sup
pose the orchard is not far from sixty
years old and should be as productive
now as it ever was, but the ground is in
grass sod and poor at that, while the
trees are messy, unthrifty and carrying
many dead branches. All through the
orchard may be seen the result of bad
pruning, stubs of limbs and great knot
holes where large branches have been
sawn off. l suppose squirrels, wood.
peckerS and other birds do not object to
such trees in which to build their nests
and rear their young, but that is not
what apple orchards were planted for.
Nor was this orchard the only one OF
the kind saw on my trip. Badly pruu-
ed trees seem to be the rule rather than
the exception as one travels through the
country. Men plant trees and perhaps
care for them few years till they come
to bearing age. Then when gathering
the fruit it is found that there is too
much top, 80 much, indeed, that one
cannot get into the tree with comfort to
gather the apples; so before another
picking season comes around the trees
are given good (:D trimming, or what
is supposed to be good. Numerous
large limbs are cut of to open up the
middle of the tree SO that one can get
round among the branches that are left.
| In one orchard | noticed that the main
branches had been cleaned of all the
| fruit spurs for some six or more feet
from the trunk. A year later these
branches will be covered with water
sprouts making the tree thicker in the
middle than before the trimming. In
almost every old orchard one will see
stubs of limbs few inches long that
are dead and rotting Some people
seem to be afraid To cut limb close for
fear of injuring the tree. Perhaps they
have at some time cut close and had the
limb split and pull off a strip of bark
from the trunk, thus leaving bad look
ing scar. This is bad enough surely,
but there is no need of splitting or tear
ing off bark. Ii heavy limb must be
removed it should be cut off a foot or
two from the tree and then BY second
cutting remove what is left. In saving
off branch or stub it is well to cut
up. on the under side part way through,
then in cutting from the upper side the
| limb will fall without tearing off bark.
However the work is done, when finish
ed the cut surface on the tree should be
smooth and solid. A thick coat of paint
is as good as anything to keep the wood
from decaying till nature can cover the
exposed surface with new growth
coming in from the sides of the cut.
The first apple trees that were planted
| in this country were intended as much
for cider making as for fruit to eat or to
cook, and it mattered little what was
the shape of the trees. The crop was
often gathered by shaking the branches
or by beating them with long poles.
Handling apples as carefully as we must
handle eggs is a comparatively recent
practice and not of universal adoption
as yet by all fruit growers. But people
are learning the lesson slowly. When
planting and training new orchard one
should look ahead and prepare for the
harvest. Since spraying has become a
necessity it is of still more importance
that the trees be so trained that they
NAV be easily reached without the use
of long ladders. Good orchardists now
| like to have the branches start low
down, not more than two or three feet
from the ground. Not too many main
branches should be allowed to start,
three TO five are enough, and they
should not all start from the same level
as that will give weak connection with
the main trunk. A forked tree is not
worth half price for it will be pretty
sure to split down when loaded with
fruit or ice. The branches are stronger
when starting several inches apart on
the trunk. | have made the mistake in
nv own orchards of letting too many
small limbs remain when the trees are
Young. A half dozen limbs an inch in
diameter growing near one another do
not look much in the way, but when
each has come to be five or six inches in
diameter there may not be room between
them to get in saw for thinning them
out. If we would have we'll shaped
trees at maturity We must look ahead
and see them as they will appear years
hence. The best fruit can only be pro-
duced upon trees that are enough open
inside to give plenty of light and free
circulation Of air among the branches
and leaves. 1t is in the tangled mass OF
foliage that fungus diseases get in their
work most easily. Again it is only
where the trees are somewhat open that
the spraying material can be readily
applied to all the leaves. Young trees
that are we'll fed by good cultivation are
apt to make longer wood growth than is
desirable. To keep tree within reach
these long growths should be shortened
in, especially those which grow up into
the air. have some Japan plum trees
that were thus neglected at a time they
were making a growth of four or five
| feet in season. / shortened them in
some but not enough and the result is
that it costs too much to thin the fruit
and to harvest it. Trees that over-bear
must be thinned or the fruit will not be
worth picking in these times. The best
fruit is always in demand at fair prices
but such as grows on many of the trees
| saw in my "trip is unstable in ordinary
years. A good, thrifty orchard of bear
ing age will sell farm anywhere be-
cause it is worth buying, but such trees
| as | saw in many places would turn away
buyer at first sight. do not see why
II OWutIS VI WOttuiSSo iAuis shSSS Wv eNs
dig them out for fuel and thus improve
the appearance of their farms. A use
| less tree is worse than useless because II
\ is always a harbor for injurious insects
and all the diseases that trees are heir to
They are a menace to good orchards by
being a breeding ground for what will
injure other and better trees. saw the
trunks of apple trees that were nearly ol
quite two feet in diameter with scarcely
a branch left, and the heart of some o.
them was all rotted out. There is nc
better wood for fuel than that of the
apple, and it is not a difficult wood tC
work up with suitable tools. have nj
doubt but many of the farmers along
the route travelled have the impression
that fruit raising does not pay in these
times, and yet right in the same distric
is large, young orchard of thrifty tree
already in bearing that does pay well
The difference is largely due to the faitl
or lack of it in the owners of the differ
emit farms.
II presume taking the country through
there is no fruit more neglected in tn
pruning than the grape. Vines II
arbors, trellises or running over fence
or trees are allowed to have their owl
way year after year till they are only |
mass Of interlaced vine-growth ant
sickly looking leaves among which ma,