Some Seasonable Hints on Pruning.

Otago Witness, Issue 1898, 19 June 1890, Page 9

Some Seasonable Hints on Pruning.

We will begin with standard orohard trees that bear abundantly, as many orchard trees do. It will be observed that pruning neither augments the vigour of these trees nor does it promote their f ruitfulnoss ; for m, generally speaking, they are not pruned at all, they teach a bold lesson of the non-necessity of pruning. Now we will turn to the perfeot pyramids, say of apples and pears, formed to an ideal model by long, years of prtmingjand pinohing. As pyramids they are perfeot, being of even contour, dense with foliage, with scarcely room anywhere to allow one to thrust a hand in, and they are healthy and bright from the ground line to the summit. It has to be remarked of these compact, leafy trees that they produce bo little fruit as but rarely to pay a fair return for the land they occupy, They do, indeed, occasionally present their owner with a orop, and often he is satisfied. But if we are to take measures f cr increasing the production of fruit we shall rather avoid than accept trees of this form, or if we must have them, we shall, having fruit in view, rather promote an open growth with room to thrust one's head in at many places, this form of tree being favourable to fruit production. We have in our collections many kinds of apples and pears that will not, bo matter what we do for them, conform to our ideal of the perfect pyramid. It is usual, therefore, to suffer these to grow as open, loose bushes, and the difference between them and the pinched pyramids is seen not only in the form and furnishing, but in their superior fruitfulness. Pursuing the comparison, it will be observod that pruning tends to promote secondary growth that often ia immature when the season closes. This growth, therefore, has been obtained by a false system, and its uselessness is a proper commentary on the violence done to Nature. The perfect pyramid is for ever loaded with immature wood that earns nothing, and the density of the foliage so completely excludes the light and air from the wood that fruitspurs are few and commonly unproductive. The free bushes that are not pruned at all, or but moderately pruned, are, as a rule, vastly moie fruitful than the pyramids, and the free standards are more fruitful than either. Thus, as a matter of fact, the order of fruitfulnese in in an inverse ratio to the order of the pruning. »nd we may conolude that the pruning knife is a deadly enemy to apples and paars. The natural growth of a fruit tree is definite and orderly, but much of our praotioe appears to proceed on the hypothesis tbat it is a matter of accident. There is sent forth a certain number of long rode. If these are cut back secondary rode appear, and by stopping these we obtain a lot of soft spray ; and so on for ever. But the long rods, left to themselves, throw out a few side branches and form fruit spurs the greater part of tbeir length. In daa time the fruit appears. Often, where the soil and climate' favour the business, and the varieties are naturally freahearing, the fruit may be seen to bang like sop6s of cnions ; while at the same time pruned trees of tha Belf-eame sorts are thinly dotted with fruit, so that we can actually count them, which in the other case is impossible. The unpms9d standard and bushes are free to follow the course of Nature, and we see them fruiting abundantly and frequently, while the pruned trees fruit scantily and seldom. The obvious leßssn is that long rods admitting light and air freely are more serviceable than rods iystemfttically cut back, and thereby compelled to

become densely faraißhed, forming compact treea impervious to light and air, as compared with the free treeß that delight to display their fruits in the fullest exposure. The leading shoots, therefore, should never be shortened except for some special reason. Observation and experience have taught me that summer pruning is too promotive of useless secondary growth to be advantageous ; and it tends also to keep the roots in action until late in the year, when they ought to be at reat. The effort of the tree to ripen useless wood is detrimental to its more profitable duties. Prune immediately after the fruit is gathered, first cutting out all dead wood, then cutting out cross and ill- plaoed shoots that would interfere with the free play of light and air, and then conceal the pruning knife, loot anyone should venture to cut baok the long rods, and so renew the old warfare between uneleas wood and useless fruit. Pyramid trees of many sorts of peara will acquire beauty of contour, and became regularly furnished, and will produce' abundance of fruit without any pruning whatever, as I have shown by my trees that for 15 years continuously were never touched with the knife. The lower branohea of pyramid trees never bear fruit, probably from proximity to the ground and its exhalations, aa well as from the low temperature that often prevails at that level. When left to form themselrea, or aided in an infinitesimal degree, they remain open to light and air, and Boon become woll clothed with spurs that ripen perfectly and do their duty. The dense, leafy pyramids are useless in proportion to their leafineßß, and very often it may be said that the free bushes and standards are useful in proportion to their leanness, and it must be owned that many of the lean trees are amongst the most profitable. Long rods pay ; short rods are more plague than profit.— Leoture by Mr Shirley Hibbert, at Cfaiswick.