. The American farm and stock manual. Agriculture; Home economics. ORCHARD AND VINEYARD, 105 Pruning Versus Mutilation.—There is, perhaps, no one item in hor- ticulture about which so httle is really understood as the principle which should govern in the pruning away of Umbs and branches from trees The following illustj-ation will serve, perhaps, better than a long homily, to show how we Avould prune a tree and keep it in condition from year to year, healthy and productive. Fig. 1 exhibits a tree which has had little or no pruning; its top branches have become rather crowded, and some seasons
. The American farm and stock manual. Agriculture; Home economics. ORCHARD AND VINEYARD, 105 Pruning Versus Mutilation.—There is, perhaps, no one item in hor- ticulture about which so httle is really understood as the principle which should govern in the pruning away of Umbs and branches from trees The following illustj-ation will serve, perhaps, better than a long homily, to show how we Avould prune a tree and keep it in condition from year to year, healthy and productive. Fig. 1 exhibits a tree which has had little or no pruning; its top branches have become rather crowded, and some seasons the fruit is not well colored. We take our long stepladder and a pair of good, strong pruning shears, set our ladder just outside, underneath the Umbs, and with our sharp shears cut away the small spray and limbs that cross one another and crowd the extremities, so as to prevent the sun's rays penetrat- ing to the center of the tree. The dark, short marks indicate some of the cuts that we should make in pruning the tree. Fig. 2, shown on next page, exhibits the tree as it is often found after the mutilator, not pruner, has operated upon it. Vandals roam the country every spring claim- , -,; ^ ^^ ^1 ^ ing to know how to prune trees. We hope what we have here said and illustrated may save at least one good orchard from this sys- tem of murderous pruning. Pruning for Fruit. — By arresting or removing the little faults of his children as soon as they are shown, the wise father prevents their attaining such in- veteracy as will not submit to correction, but burst out imme- diately with fresh misdeeds. So with orchard trees. It is a great mistake to let growth nin on without restraint for two or three years, and to suppose that a pruning then will set all to rights. The fundamental rule of the art is to take away all young shoots that are not fitted to make per- manent bearing branches. Ee- move these, the sooner the better, but remove no others. Cut out and flup- press all wild
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubj, booksubjectagriculture
