The Delta independent., 1909-03-19

cess. While in our arid climate the
first is hardly applicable. the second
should probably be doubly important.
Yet, the matter of dressing. wounds is
not so important, but that work i'm
prop rly done is worse than no treat
ment. A good lead paint is one of the
most satisfactory dressings yet found.
Rather thick paint should be used,
and careless daubing of the surround
ing bark should be avoided. Grating
wax is good dressing, but is rather
expensive and difficult to apply. Other
materials have been used, some sue
cessfully and some disastrously, and
the grower is to be cautioned about
experimenting; better stick to materi-
ais known to be safe and efficient.
Growers often overdo the matter and
waste time treating small wounds.
Surely wound less than one and one
half inches in diameter is not worth
bothering with.
Trees overpruned produce an excess
of strong, new wood with few fruit
buds. In neglected trees the spurs
become weak and spindling from con-
stant bearing; the flowers are borne
singly in the buds, when they should
be in pairs or triplets, and the tree
produces a large number Of medium
sized fruits.
The manner of pruning will depend
somewhat on the variety. but the gen.
eral plan should be to keep the fruiting
area of the tree as near the ground as
possible; to shade the trunk. to pre-
vent sunscald, and to encourage the
growth of fruiting wood throughou
the entire top. The sweet and semi
sweet varieties are upright growers
and will need some heading in to keep
them within bounds. The rapid grow h
forced by pruning must be checked by
careful watering. Unless this precau-
tion is needed immature growth will
result and, young trees especially, may
be killed outright during severe win
ters. Like the Anjou pear, some of
the cherries produce an exc IS of
fruit buds that fail to set fruit Wnen
this is found to be the case it is good
sign that the tree is not being pruned
as severely as it should be. Heavy
pruning during the dormant Sc cason
will often correct the fault. On the
contrary, lack of bloom is generally
due to excessive pruning or overwater-
ing. Occasionally we find a variety
where this fault is characteristic, but
it may generally be overcome by prop
er handling.
PRUNING THE PEACH.
There is probably no fruit tree that
gives the careful, observing pruner as
much pleasure in pruning as does the
peach. Results soon Indicate whether
the pruning is right or wrong, for no
fruit tree will suffer more from neg
lect, and none respond more promptly
to careful treatment This prompt re-
sponse, so plainly indicated, lends not
little inspiration toward the proper
training and care of the peach orchard,
and it is safe to say that, largely on
this account, no fruit tree is better
pruned than is the peach in our recog-
nized peach sections. The practice is
simple, and lack of courage is more
often responsible for failure rather
than complicated principles As men,
toned before. the peach developes its
fruit buds in the axils of the leaves.
and the fruit is borne on one-year-old
wood; a system Of fruit bearing that
makes sever pruning prerequisite to
successful peach growing.
With such system of training the
first tree will be productive at the age
Of fifteen years. while the latter, now
ten years old, must be rejuvenated by |
severe heading-in or be discarded as
Improbable. There is no fault to |
which the old peach tree more often
falls heir than that of the absence of
fruiting wood in its lower parts. Such
wood below can only be maintained by
vigorous pruning the top. The center
should also be well filled with fruiting
wood, as space may be unnecessarily
wasted by training the top too open:
the open center is not necessity in
our arid sectious where we enjoy an
abundance of sunshine The fruiting
wood in the center of the tree will
hardly appear as strong as that nearer
the tips, but, nevertheless, some of
our best fruit comes from short and