THE ORCHARD.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2647, 10 November 1919, Page 2

THE ORCHARD.

Tin-: PRUNING OF STONE FRUITS. THE PEACH, THE APRICOT, AND THE PLUM. When pruning- the poach it should be remembered that it chiefly crops on the previous year’s laterals, and not on old spurs ; thus it is necessary to keep up a yearly- supply of young laterals. This can be iione if the old laterals arc taken out regularly at each winter pruning ; for the young laterals will then start from the dormant eyes at their bases.

Care should be taken when cutting out the old laterals (writes Mr. C. Allen, in the N.S.W. “Agricultural Gazette’’), not to cut close enough to damage the dormant eyes. In sc a sons when there is a bad showing of fruit eyes it will be necessary to leave some of the two-year-old laterals that are carry-ing sub-laterals, or temporary- spurs showing fruit ey-es ; but this is to be avoided as much as possible, for the longer the

laterals arc allowed to remain after the second year the harder it is for the dormant eyes at the base to start into growth. | If the trees have been topped in the previous pruning, Tt will probably be necessary- for a number of leaders to be thinned out this season, for if the top is allowed to bcj come 100 thick, the trees will not ; furnish fresh laterals along the main i branches too readily. It has also been found that in very vigorous trees, which have their shape well established, it is well to thin out the leaders only, and not | to lop them back for a season. This ; non-topping also encourages the furnishing of laterals below, j The apricot bears its crop both on ! the previous y-ear’s laterals and on ■ older spurs, but on most varieties the tendency- is for these spurs to die : out after two or three seasons, starting- from the base of the lateral ; consequently the laterals soon produce fruit only towards their tips. This may be avoided by following a system of renewal very- similar to that described for the ’peach. Plums, on the other hand, mostly- deyelop permanent fruiting spurs. These can generally- be obtained by- leaving the laterals long in the trees, and shortening them back in later y-ears, when the spurs are established and the trees are making less growth. In older trees, where spurs have multiplied too numerously, they should be thinned out in order to prevent over-setting, and the consequent production of small fruit ; exhausted spurs should also be removed to encourage the growth of new spurs or laterals that will subsequently- form fresh sjmrs. A PRIMER OF PRUNING. The “Country- Gentleman” gave the following excellent rules for pruning under the signature of Prof. F. A. ; Waugh. Pruning without any- clear purpose | in view, or without a definite idea { of how that purpose fails to be ac- I compJished, is certainly- a silly- I waste of time. Yet unquestionably- ; hundreds of fruitgrowers do that j Very tiling. They- prune for the sake of pruning, because they have a ; vague notion that the business re- j quires it-. i

The following statement sets forth briefly the more important purposes for which pruning is practised : 1. To remove dead or diseased portions of the tree.

2. To correct undesirable habits of growth. Some varieties are too spreading, others too upright. 3. To direct the formation of the tree tup in young trees. It is obviously necessary, in order to accomplish anything in this direction, that the operator should have a perfectly clear ideal of the tree he is trying to form. T. To open out fruiting tree tops so that the sun and air may be admitted. o. To shorten in the tops of times young or old. Such work is especially necessary to keep trees within easy reach of the modern spray pump. (j. To reduce the amount of fruiting wood, thus practically thinning the crop. Thinning the fruit is now generally considered good practice. 7. To promote fruitfulness. It is a general principle that fruit bearing and wood growth aim, within limits, complementary processes, and that anything that checks wood growth tends to induce fruit bearing. Summer pruning and root pruning should, theoretically, have this effect. In actual practice this theory works out with considerable partiality and uncertainty.

Some men seem to think that an axe is about the right weapon for pruning. In most cases they are correct, for the man who knows no better than that would do well to follow the old proverb and “lay the axe to the root of the tree." The sooner his trees are chopped down and the land planted to corn or potatoes the better it will be.

In place of an axe or hatchet a saw should be used. The pocket priming knife is one of the best tools in the kit, and soon comes to be the main I’cliancc of the man who lives with his trees. A heavy knife with a blade like a pirate’s cutlass is not needed. A knife with a single strong, straight blade three inches long is about the thing. When a man goes out to do a day’s work with the knife it is still better to use the form that combines a strong rigid blade in a turned wood handle—the kind that does not shut up.

The grasp is better, and the greater rigidity of the tool makes it decidedly more comfortable as well as safer. It is also considerably cheaper. To the above we may venture to add the advice that the best pruning instrument, apart from the knife for the finer work, is a light, fine-tooth-ed saw. Those now sold, consisting of a thin bandsaw in a frame, with screw at the end to keep it taut, will,

make a cut almost as line as any* knife. Where it is necessary to prevent undue bleeding- of the tree,make a paint with.equal parts of clay and cowdung, which will serve the purpose much better than the oil anJ white lead sometimes advocated.