THE ORCHARD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1165, 29 June 1894, Page 7

THE ORCHARD.

PRUNING; f i hsre are few operations which are more important to the lire and health of the tree than that of pruning When wisely done, pruning benefits the tree; and, by benefiting the tree it will also benefit the grower. But in pruning you must remember that in cutting the branches, you are lessening the number of leaves, and, in doing so, you are interfering with the organs of respiration, which will be felt through the tree. The saw and knife are often used when no definite reason can be given for so doing. There is no operation which requires more foresight than that of pruning. A successful operator will see, in his imagination, before removing the branch or twig, what effect it will have on the tree after its removal. No branch should be removed unless a good reason can be given for doing so We have seen men pruning, and after the operation, they would go some distance and take a look at the subject under treatment; go back, and do a bit of levelling, to "suit the eye." It might have pleased the proprietor better to have left it, and have had an addition to the crop. In these notes, we will try to explain for what object the operation of pruning is performed, or ought to be performed. Of course, if there is a dead branch or stump, it must be performed for its removal. As trees are subject to diseases as well as animals, pruning is done to try to stop the ravages of the disease which is affecting the tree. The apple-tree is subject to a few diseases, amongst which is that one called u canker. " This has to be cut out, and in doing so, always cut well into the healthy wood. Pruning is also frequently done to take out or remove the superfluous growth of the previous summer—for if a tree is allowed to grow on in its own natural way, the branches will lap over one another, and grow to such an extent that the weak will have to give way to the strong, and the tree will become so dense as to shut out the light and air. But by pruning, you thin out all wood which will interfere, with the production and health of the tree, by allowing fair and equal amounts of sun, air, and genial showers to penetrate all through

it. By allowing a tree to grow in its wild state, it causes it to grow fruit of a poor quality, and also becomes a harbour for pests, whose name is legion. Although we have not as yet got them all out here, we are in a fair way of doing so, by the introduction of foreign fruit. Those we have already plague us enough. But by careless cultivation it has an injurious effect on the tree in general—or, to be plain, it will end by the tree becoming so bad that the best remedy is to dig it up and burn it. It often happens that it causes that disease, " canker," which if it gets possession of the tree, the sooner that tree is cut down or dug out the better it will be for the other trees ; but, by careful and judicious pruning, it does sometimes get stamped out. Then, again, another object is that by cutting away one portion of a tree you may benefit or develop another which needs it more—that is, it may be a branch or only a twig which is growing stronger than the rest, and, by its removal, it may develop some more latent portion of the tree. Well, of the ANATOMY OF THE APPLE TREE, and of the different habits of the varieties. Some varieties are in the opposite extreme, in their habits and constitutions, to others. All plants are developed by tho formation of more cells. The material for such development is obtained from sources outside the tree. Some of the material is taken from the air, other is sucked up from the ground by the roots in the form of moisture—such moisture being composed of the minerals contained in the ground, which the roots extract for the particular purpose for which it is ' wanted. The leaves or foliage act as the tree's respirators or lungs; hence, if the foliage gets dirty, the pores get clogged up, and they cannot perform their functions; so, by judicious pruning and thinning, it allows the foliage to get the full benefit of each shower and each ray of sun. It also gives the fruit a better chance of properly maturing—giving it that fine colour and bloom which makes it tempt the consumer. There is nothing that benefits and helps the flavour so much as plenty of sun and air. They act on the fruit by turning the saccharine in the juice to sugar, and making the fruit of the well-attended tree better than that of the neglected tree.

Although by removing these branches or twigs you certainly hurt the tree, yet the benefit to be derived by ruch an operation more than counteracts the injury done. Of course, we must all admit there is injury done by timely pinching and rubbing off of all superfluous shoots, as they appear in summer ; but it adds to the development of those desired to remain, by their receiving the nourishment the lopped ones would have consumed. Always remember that every cut, be it with axe, saw, or knife, is detrimental to the life of the tree : so by much pruning you are away part of the lungs and digestive organs, so that those which remain will have extra work to do, seeing that you have not interfered with the roots which will still be able to extract the different components necessary to the health and vigour of the tree. No tree can be in a proper state of health if it has its organs of digestion and breathing interfered with ruthlessly. The pruning of trees, AT TIME OF TRANSPLANTING, should be attended to. We do not say to cut them when you are going on with the operation of planting; it is better to leave them for a week or two—that is, if the trees have been planted in the autumn ; but if l&to in the spring do it at once. Upon no account delay pruning newly-planted trees until the sap has begun to flow, for where a tree has been dug out of the ground, it is reasonable to infer that the roots will have suffered in a less or more degree. We often hear the remark by those planting, u It will not know it has been removed." We may feel sure they know very little about the tree—for they will have had some of their mouths removed, and will not be able to supply the amount of nourishment the tree will require until it has formed fresh mouths; so it is better to cut back the tree, so to have sufficient nourishment to feed the buds when they start away in spring By the time the young shoots are pushing, the young suckers will have got formed, and all will work away smoothly, and set a good foundation for a well-shaped tree. There are a great many ways of training and growing apple trees, for which the primer has to use his foresight; but we think that the one best

adapted for our district is the "dwarf," as the wind does not then affect theuo. To facilitate this, the operation of pruning trees is to \>e resorted to ; but when a tree makes long strong growths without bearing a good crop of fruit, you will find the fault lies at the root. There would be moro good done by root-pruning at intervals than the continued cutting and pruning so prevalent every year. You must think before you operate on any tree, and look to the future, as every branch or twig we cut is waste which might have been avoided ; for if you had attended to the tree in time, and done some pinching and rubbing, you would not have had to remove so much with the knife. Then, again, as in neglected orchards, you will also find the same in gardens, where a man is employed under the nom deplume of " gardener," who is as near related to the name as the quack is to the M.D. Fruit trees (not apples alone) " pruned " so that you can measure feet between the spurs or buds, indicate a great waste—instead of the branch being full of spurs all the way up eveiy three or four inches, as in well-regulated gardens The majority of those who plant fruit trees do not give much thought or attention to them. They dig a bit of a hole, giving barely room sometimes for the roots to get into, then fill up the hole, and stamp and tread the earth, as they would do a post which was meant for a cow to rub against, and leave it without any more care; until somo day they wonder if there is going to be anything on it. To these, we would remind them of the good old maxim: " What is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." —By H. Richardson, Gore, in the Southern Standard