The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1914-1938, 1929-03-07
PRUNING CHERRIES
APRiCOTS AND PRUNEo
Nv M. ID. Armstrong, extension
specialist in horticulture at
College of Washington

as little pruning as any OF the de-
ciduous fruits. This is due to the
fact that the fruit spurs on the
sweet cherry continues IN profit
able production for 10 to IL years
when they are located in favorable
light conditions. Sweet cherry trees
are also more open and rangy
than NOSE other kinds of fruit
This keeps the fruit spurs in bet
ter condition. However, many cher
nv orchards are not producing the
quality of fruit which they should
and they may be helped materially
by more pruning.
Sweet cherry trees should re-
ceive an annual pruning in the dor
mant season and the weaker and
more devitaiized limbs removed.
An occasional limb can be taken
out of the tree to permit more
light to penetrate through the
tree top, benefitting all limbs sur
rounding it. Cherry trees which are
growing normally should nearly
always be pruned by thinning. If
they are devitalized, it is some
times advisable to cut back limbs
In order to stimulate more new
growth, but the best way to i'm
prove vigor is usually from the soil
standpoint. Increased fertility and
moisture supply will usually bring
response in more vigorous growth.
Many growers have been penal
lied in returns because of the
small size of their fruits. The size
of these fruits can be very directly
improved in some cases by fertil-
izing with manure or nitrogen fer
tilizer, and in other cases by tree
spacing. Unfortunately, many of
the cherry trees are entirely too
close together. This crowdinp of
the tree prevents large proportion
of the leaf surface from receiving
enough sunlight to develop a sup
ply of the substance to build the
cherries with.
The most necessary pruning in
many orchards is the removal of
from one-third to one-half of the
trees. This is simply another type
of pruning which permits the fruit
ing wood remaining in the orchard
to produce more effectively. Until
this tree removal and proper tree
spacing is accomplished. little can
be done to improve the quality of
fruit in these orchards. With the
prospect of an increasing supply
of cherries, it is quite essential
that growers secure larger sized
fruits. A combination of tree Spac-
ing and of fertilizing will secure
these results with a moderate
amount of pruning.
In time the sweet cherry becomes
too tall and it is necessary to cut
back the high limbs. This need not
be done every year. After the
cherry tree has developed above a
reasonable picking height it may
be allowed to go for three or four
years and then the top cut back
into three or four year old wood.
These high limbs should always be
cut back to strong and lateral
climb.
The apricots have a fruiting
system somewhat between that of
the peach and the apple. Usually
the best fruits are borne on vigor-
Gus young spurs. However, these
spurs Do not remain vigorous for
more than three or four years and
as they RET older the fruits are
usually 81 FER. 1t is therefore de-
sIrsvp co sttmulate a fair proper
ton Of neW growth throughout all
OF the tree For the first few years
this can be accomplished fairly
satisfactory by thinning out the
wood In the apricot tree with head
ing where limbs over-grow their
position and become too rangy. As
the trees get older, however, the
spur wood decreases in vigor and ii
is usually necessary to cut back
more of the older fruiting wood to
stimulate new small growth lower
down the tree. Some growers are
accomplishing this very nicely by
cutting a proportion of the limbs
of the diameter of not more than
one inch back to the stubs. From
these stubs or the main branch
near them, new, vigorous shoots
develop, which produce fine cots
for the next few years.
The apricot, like the peach and
cherry, requires a generous supply
of nitrogen for satisfactory annual
growth and the production of large
sized fruit. Many growers have
considered it unnecessary to prune
the bearing prune tree. However,
the prune tree in time nearly al
ways develops mass of small
fruiting brush which has very lit
tie vitality left in it. The best
.prunes will always be found on the
vigorous new wood growth and
when the old prune trees become
full of pendant, willowly fruiting
wood, which is making but little
new growth, it will be found prof
liable to do thorough job OF
pruning by thinning. In real old
prune trees which are devitalized
it is also helpful to cut back a part
of the older wood to stimulate de-
velopment of vigorous new shoot
growths lower down in the tree
which will come into production II
a year or two and produce large
fruits.
Prune trees from the age of
to IL years usually requires very
little pruning. During that periot
of their life, all of the fruitine
wood is making a very satisfact
ory growth if soil conditions are