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Show FRUIT TREES PRUNED JUDICIOUSLY ALL YEAR Good Working Implements Are the First Essential Begin Work on the Ground and Continue on Up to the Top. p ' "V.- , ..vi''V.VV. , : . , ; "WjjA ''"Sk- ' v r ' "' ' How to Prune Fruit Trees. Then the tree may still have toe many branches. In removing them avoid cutting entire branches origin ating directly from the trunk, which would make large wounds. By not healing over quickly these wounds would eventually makes holes in the trunk. Of course such branches ought to have come off while the tree was young, but now it is too late. Be satisfied, therefore, with thinning out the smaller branches, taking care that air and light can sufficiently penetrate pen-etrate to all parts of the tree and that fruit bud development is encouraged en-couraged on parts which, in the coming com-ing summer and fall, will be able to support the weight of the rfuit. All this having been done, it will nevertheless be important to pick over the fruit after it has fairly well formed. Break out all the small and unsightly fruit; it is certainly more profitable, be it from the commercal standpoint or simply for home use, to have one big, juicy, well-formed, well-colored and well-ripened apple than four or five small, unsightly and unsavory ones. Fruit trees may judiciously be pruned the whole year around, but the time when the work can be most easily eas-ily done commences with the dropping drop-ping of the leaves in the fall and ends with the appearance of the new growth in spring, writes Gerhard Kol-ligs Kol-ligs in Garden Magazine. Tools for pruning season pruning scissors, pruning saw, knife, and, for tall trees, the long-handled pruning hook must be kept sharp and the scissors and hook also lubricated. Besides these tools it is desirable to have a three-legged three-legged stepladder, which is especially constructed for orchard use. Before starting to prune, consider what you are going to do. Take a good look at the tree about to be pruned and make your plans. The actual work commences on the ground. Water shoots springing from the ground should not be cut off merely mere-ly on the level with the ground's surface sur-face dig down to the origin, of them and cut close to the root or stem, or wherever they may spring from. This done, remove or mend all broken branches. Always aim to close up empty spaces caused by broken limbs. You may do this by bending and tying certain limbs, or by encouraging en-couraging the growth of neighboring branches. Walk around the tree and shorten short-en last year's growth on the lower branches about one-third, always aiming aim-ing toward giving a circular shape to the whole tree. Take the step ladder and again go around the tree, trimming trim-ming last year's growth higher up but somewhat shorter than on the lower branches. So continue to the top of the tree, going around it several times until, when finished, the tree presents an almost globular shape, the top branches being shortened to less than a quarter of their previous year's growth. Never attempt to save time by pruning the entire height of the tree on one side; if you do this you will certainly give the tree an ugly shape. The higher up you go, the oftener will it be necessary 'to cut out, of two or three branchlets, one or even two. In this case cut out the weaker ones or those growing to the Inside of the tree, provided they are not necessary to fill empty spaces. This is the pruning of an orchard tree, which has been attended to regularly reg-ularly every year. It is more difficult to prune a tree which has been neglected neg-lected for two or more years, and it is very .difficult to bring an unshapely tree to a presentable appearance. Trees allowed to grow ad libitum for two or more years will sometmes need heavy cutting back. The more straggling and irregular the growth and the more slender and numerous the branches, the more heavily the tree has to be pruned. On stone fruit trees it is not advisable advis-able to cut back to the old wood and this should never be done except in the case of a broken limb. If such is the case, be sure the wound is closed with paint, wax or tar. On apples or pears you may, without injury to the tree (provided it is attended to regularly regu-larly afterward), ciit off the growth of several seasons, but always see that you cut above dormant buds. "Dormant "Dor-mant buds, situated at the base of each year's growth, are often hardly noticeable. Above them fruit buds may have formed very conspicuously. !t seems a pity to cut them away, but what good would they do? They will only produces small fruit, or, by the amount of the fruit produced, will break the branches which are too weak to support the weight. Confronted with a tree out of shape or of too thick a growth, remove first the branches growing to the Inside and even to the opposite side of the tree, unless by removing them you cause on open space. But such a branch, having been allowed to grow from one side of a tree to the other, and which could not be dispensed with this year, ought to be treated in a way to allow :fs removal in a suc-cefcding suc-cefcding year; that is, the branches must be trimmed in order to allow the growth of the neighboring branches to close in and gradually fill the space now taken up by this perverse one. |