. The American fruit culturist, containing directions for the propagation and culture of all fruits adapted to the United States. Fruit-culture. APPLES. 291 this means, they may be expected soon to slow down and to come into bearing condition, after which time a moderate or light annual pruning should keep them in shape. Scrape off the hanging bark. Spraying with fungicides and insecticides should be begun with the other treatment. The way to make apple-trees bear well is to give good and thoughtful treatment from the time they are set. To begin with such treatment late in life is necessarily
. The American fruit culturist, containing directions for the propagation and culture of all fruits adapted to the United States. Fruit-culture. APPLES. 291 this means, they may be expected soon to slow down and to come into bearing condition, after which time a moderate or light annual pruning should keep them in shape. Scrape off the hanging bark. Spraying with fungicides and insecticides should be begun with the other treatment. The way to make apple-trees bear well is to give good and thoughtful treatment from the time they are set. To begin with such treatment late in life is necessarily only corrective, and too much should not be expected of it. Bearing orchards commonly lose their vigor, and give small and poor fruit, when allowed to grow in grass-land, without any cultivation. If the soil is naturally rich, a shallow plough-^ ing and an occasional harrowing will restore their vigor. Or if ploughing cannot conveniently be given, they may be much improved by being converted to pasture for sheep, adding occasionally a top-tressing of manure in autumn. These ani- mals will serve in part to enrich the land, keep the grass grazed short, and pick up the prematurely fallen fruit, in- fested with worms or insects. The amount of cultivation or top-dressing to be given to such orchards must be determined by the annual growth of the shoots. If less than a foot in length, more vigor must be imparted to them. If more than a foot and a half, they are quite thrifty enough. Pruning.—The mode of treating large trees has been already adverted to in the chap- ter on pruning. There are some owners of or- chards who most errone- ously suppose that when trees become old, heavy pruning will restore their vigor in the ab- sence of good cultiva- tion; while the correct mode of treatment is very moderate and grad- ual pruning, in connec- tion with the best of cul- tivation. The forego- ing correct portraits of actually existing specimens of bad. Fig. 348.—Illustration of Bad Pruni
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectfruitculture, bookyea
