The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1917-03-01

CBy II. p. GOULD, Pomologist, United
States Department Of Agriculture)
IF the best results are to follow the
planting of an orchard, it is essential
that the trees receive good cultivation.
While the details of practice differ
widely and the methods that give good
results in one section may not succeed
in some other where the conditions are
different, the frequent stirring of the
soil during the growing season is as
logical as ii is in growing a crop of
corn, potatoes or cabbages, and for the
same reasons. 1t IS true that trees are
sometimes planted in sod and never re-
ceive cultivation, yet are successful
in some measure. But in most cases
of this sort, the degree of success OBJ
tanned is probably in spite of the sod,
not because of it.
The objects of cultivation are usual
ly attained when it is done frequently
enough to maintain a good, fine soil
mulch on the surface. Cultivation
should begin as soon as the soil is In
condition to work in the spring; it
should usually cease by midseason, or
by the middle of July or first of Au-
gust.
Pruning.
The pruning of fruit trees is an OPP
Grafton that is very frequently much
neglected, yet it Is one of the most i'm
portant.
The pruning of tree at the time of
planting has been described. Suisse
quent pruning should be done each
year during the dormant period, pref
erably In late winter or early spring.
In case of young trees that have
been growing rapidly, the previous sea-
sons growth is commonly cut back
One-half It's length. Sometimes even
larger portion is cut off. The limbs
should also be thinned out enough to
keep the top sufficiently open to admit
sunlight and air. Pruning to keep the
top open should always be kept In
mind. Unless the trees are pruned
from the very beginning with this OBJ
ject in view, it is almost impossible
so to prune them later in their life
when the tops become dense and
brushy. If the tops are too dense, the
fruit cannot color well and thorough,
spraying is impossible.
Less pruning is required, as a rule,
after the trees come into bearing,
though it is just as important to give
them regular and thorough attention
after they begin to bear as it is before.
While pruning has to be modified to
suit the style of training employed
with any given plant, each species of
plant bears its fruit in peculiar man.
ner, which renders the maintenance of
wood of q certain age and character
necessary In order to secure q crop of
fruit.
Apple and Pear.
In the case Of the apple and the
pear, the fruits are borne upon spurs"
of the previous years growth only,
these spurs appear upon wood one
year or more Of age. Heading in or
shortening each shoot of the seasons
growth, therefore, must be done with
care in order not to reduce the bear
ing wood beyond a profitable limit.
With these two plants, however, the
bearing shoots are not those making
the most vigorous growth at the ends
of the branches, but they are usually
more obscurely located upon the sides
of the branches, and make a much
smaller growth, for which reason they
have been termed spurs.
Peach and Japanese Plum.
With the peach, however, 1t is the
wood Of the last seasons growth upon
which the fruits are directly borne,
and with them headlng-in may be sue
cessfully employed to limit the quanti-
ty of fruit borne by the tree. Japa-
nese plums Bear on both year-old
wood and spurs; pruning may, there
fore, be used to thin the fruit, the
same as in the case Of the peach.
Ounce.
The ounce bears its fruit at the ex-
tremity Of new shoots of the present
seasons growth, in which respect 1t
differs from both its close relatives
the apple and the pear; but as these
shoots arise from wood Of the previous
seasons growth, pruning must be so
adjusted that the fruit crop will not
be reduced.
Grape.
The grape bears Its fruit on shoots
Of the season, which In turn usually
arise from canes of the prtvlOus years