Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1911-05-05
ART OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES.

ART OF PRUNING FRUIT TREES.
Branches Should Not Be Turned Out
Too Much-Young Trees the Best
to Train
1t is possible by skilfll pruing to
make an apple tree assume the form
of Lombardy poplar or a weeping
willow or any intermed;a form, if
you begin when the tree is small and
prune whenever necessary until your
object is attained, says a writer in the
American Cultivator. You cannot do
1t with an old tree. and you cannot
do it by going at the tree once in 10
or IL years with an ak and hand saw.
A tree that is allowed it's own way
for number of years assumes form
of its own, which you can modify but
which you cannot materially change.
Don't buy large trees. You gain little
il anything. The check to the growth
of a large tree will Offset any advan-
tage in size, and they are more diff
cult to manage. Buy small trees and
train them according to your fancy.
Examine the growth of the present
year. Notice the leaves which encircle
it, each seeming to point-in a different
direction. In the inner angle Of each
leaf stalk there is a little bud. Cut
off the twig just above bud, and that
little bud will develop into limb
that will point in the same direction
that the leaf pointed. This is the key
to the whole secret of shaping a tree.
often It costs less to prune a tree
four times in one year than to prune
once in four years. and your trees will
be immeasurably better off. Prune
moderately. Do not go to extremes
in thinning the heads of your trees.
It is true that the heads of your trees
may be too thick and bushy to produce
the most profitable crop Of apples.
But 1t equally true that they may be
too thin. Cut out all water sprouts,
weak and disgraceful branches, and
when branches rub against each other
or cross each other cut one of them.
But do not prune until you can throw
bushel basket through your trees.
A tree cannot produce fruit, except
in limited quantities. if its main
branches are pruned to bare poles.
Leave plenty of branches, and if nee
essary thin the fruit instead of cutting
off the limbs which bear the fruit.
Too much stress is often laid upon
the value of pruning. Cultivation
and fertilization are Of much import
ance Prune to shape your trees and
to remove undesirable branches. Prune
whenever you see limb that ought to
be removed. Do not wait for some
particular season through fear of in
juring the trees. One season has no
advantage over another, and any So
called advantage is merely theoretical
and so small in comparison with the
health and vigor Of the tree that it
is not worth noticing. There is, how
ever, one important exception. A tree
will develop it's dormant buds with
much more freedom II it is pruned in
the spring. Therefore when heading
back" is praoticed, better results will
follow if the tree is pruned just before
the leaf buds begin to swell. Pruning
in certain seasons has more or less
influence in securing a great variety
of results. But this cannot apply to
a tree that is kept in proper trim by
an annual pruning. And in the case
of overgrown trees, the influence is so
slight in comparison with the infiu-
ence of special fertilization that it is
better to pay no attention to it, but to
rely upon special cultivating and spec
ial fertilizing to get special results.
When pruning an overgrown and
unkempt old tree it Is sometimes nee
essary to remove large branches. But
do not remove them unless it is nee
essary. Often when main branch
hangs too low it may be remedied by
cutting off the limbs which hang from
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