The Delta independent., 1911-02-10
Getting Ready for Pruning.

In pruning fruit trees there are
certain points that everybody should
know something about, such as the
wood that is going to bear fruit, etc.
If the orchardist fully understood the
anatomy of the tree there woulo
not be so many mistakes maze III
pruning. A tree has an anatomy as
well as a human being and we
should understand these plants. In
fruit trees, for instance, there are
two kinds of buds produced, the
wood buds and the fruit buds. II
is necessary to be able to tell WOOD
bud from a fruit bud and just where
they are produced.
Take an apple tree for instance
and the fruit buds are produced on
wood that is over two years old, put
they do not become too old to pro-
duce fruit spurs. The wood buds
are somewhat different from the ap-
pie buds. They are fiat and broad'
while the apple buds will be rather
bulky and round. Apple buds are
never found where the wood buos
ought to be, on the small branches.
The fruit spurs range in length from
one-fourth inch to six inches. They
ale very crooked and sometimes in
experienced pruners think the ap-
pearance of the tree is better with
the little crooked limbs cut out, so
it is essential that we know where to
look for the fruit buds.
The pear produces fruit buds very
similar to the apple tree and any
one who can pick out the fruit
spurs on an apple tree will have no
trouble doing so on a pear tree, but
when it come down to the peach
tree a different proposition is pre-
sented. The peach tree as grown
under irrigation in this country has
the habit of producing fruit buds
on the wood that grew the previous
season. For instance, the wood that
grew last season will produce our
fruit the coming summer. so the 10
cation of these buds determines TO
some extent what kind of bloom they
will carry in the spring. The first
thing. OF course, is that we prune
to produce fruit and another thing
we prune for is to keep the tree
within bounds so it will not grow
out of reach and necessitate the use
of forty-foot ladder in order to
pick the fruit.
We also prune to keep the trees
in good health. T rees are subject
body and If limb becomes broken
and we do not cut ii off the tree be-
comes unhealthy and begins to de-
terorate rapidly, while II we prune
the damaged member the place will
heal up and we could never notice
the difference. One important thing
in pruning is the tools we are go
ing to use. The first thing we use
on the young tree is the shears. A
pair of these can be purchased at
any hardware store at about 81. or
s1.25 per pair and should be about
ten inches long. They are strong
enough to cut of a good sized limb
and the operator can get close TO
the tree when a limb is to be cut
of.
The next thing is a pair OF branch
shears. which are very strong. /
like the kind that have a sliding
joint, so they can have a draw cut.
The next kind of shears is the kind
that are known as the long branch
or pole shears. The best type are
about ten feet long and are ar
ranged so that the branches may be
cut out of the top of the tree with
out step-ladder. Get a good sub
stantial pair. / did not mention the
saw, but II is necessary to have
one and the type having two edges
both coarse and fine edge,
is best. Eliminate the axe. know
some pruners who still use the axe.
One of the most important things
to include is the paint bucket and
brush. Do not forget 1t. for II is
to the pruner, what the sticking
plaster is to the surgeon. 1t is
medicine and covers up the surface
to prevent the water from getting
in and to prevent the sap from get
ting out. What is in we want to
keep in and what is on the out
side we want to keep there.
Charles A. Green European